I needed to know the exact title of that doo-dah song - you know, wonderful feeling, wonderful day and so on - last week and my mind was a blank.
It was Zip something, but I had no clue how to spell it.The Internet came to my rescue.
I typed "song lyrics" into my Web browser and came up with a half dozen useful sites.
My first choice: the International Lyrics Server (http://www.
lyrics.ch). I searched for "doo dah" and in seconds I had it. It's Zip-A-Dee Doo-Dah.
The International Lyrics Server is located in Switzerland. Pascal de Vries and a friend created the site after a similar server at the University of Wisconsin closed in mid-1996.
"As a member of a cover band, I was always in need for song lyrics, and when this resource was shut down due to copyright issues, I decided to start my own lyrics server," de Vries told the Deseret News.
The pair officially launched the site last February. It now receives more than 30,000 visits a day, de Vries said.
De Vries said publishing companies have forced other lyric sites to close after complaining about copyright infringement. "We are quite safe in Switzerland for the moment," he said. "The law is a bit different here."
The International Lyrics Server lists more than 62,000 songs.
You can search the site by artist, album, song or even bits of lyrics.
And if you don't find what you're looking for, you can put a notice on the "Songs Wanted" page. Last week someone wanted lyrics to "9 to 5" by Dolly Parton and "License to Kill" by Gladys Knight.
Prompted by my experience with the International Lyrics Server, I scouted out other song lyric sites.
I found another gem: the Shanties and Sailor Songs site (http://www.acronet.net/(tilde)robokopp/shanty.html). Sailors, shipyard and railroad workers and other laborers popularized shanties, which had their heyday from 1820 to 1920.
Can't remember the fifth verse of "Blow Bullies Blow?" You'll find it here ("What do you think they'll have for dinner, blow, boys, blow! Why, monkey tails and bullock's liver, blow, boys, blow!") Don't know the tune? Many songs posted include audio files you can listen to.
Richard Kopp of Kenosha, Wis., is the dedicated soul making sure the world's shanty tunes live on.
His labor of love began after he joined a German's men's choir and needed lyrics to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. He found the lyrics on the Web.
That gave him the idea of starting a site to share his collection of German songs. He began the project in August 1996, eventually adding airs, ditties, folk and Christmas songs and hymns from several countries. You can find the page at (http://www.acronet.net/(tilde)robokopp/folkindx.htm).
Kopp added the shanty page this summer after touring Germany with the choir - which is now directed, ironically, by former BYU graduate Paul Busselberg. While in Germany, he met a German Shanty Choir that wants to tour America in 1999.
"They figured if they had English lyrics to go along with it, it might go over better," Kopp told the Deseret News. So he agreed to post English lyrics on the Web so the choir could easily pull off what it needed.
To his surprise, the shanty site is receiving 70 to 100 visits a day. "I really posted it for those German guys and all a sudden everybody in the world started coming on," Kopp said.
Kopp spends about 15 to 20 hours a week researching lyrics and adding new songs to the site.
Another page you may find fun: The College Football Fight Songs site (http://spot.colorado.edu/(tilde)mcgraw/football/ftblfightsongs.htm). An offshoot of the College Football Fans Page, it lists words to spirit songs from the University of Alabama to the University of Washington. And yes, you'll find Brigham Young University's "Rise and Shout" Cougar anthem here.
You can also find sites dedicated to particular musical artists there are scads of Grateful Dead sites - and tributes to certain genres, such as the Anime Song Lyrics Home Page, which catalogs lyrics from Japanese Animation shows (http://home1.pacific.net.sg/(tilde)mlchoy/index.html).
And finally, you can test your musical prowess at the Lyric Quiz page which the author notes is "not for kids, children, novices or folks just surfing around." It's at (http://www.tiac.net/users/ireneg/trivia.htm).
Quizzes are based on lyrics from top songs from 1965 to 1989. You get a one-word clue from which to identify the song title and artist. The weekly prize? A boost in pride.