Check out this new video to the classic tune, “The Tongue Twister Weather Song.” See if you can figure out which set of lips matches which member of the Swanson family.
Kudos to my wife, Meredith, for directorial inspiration.
I was inspired to write the song because of a weather station that I borrowed (on a permanent basis) from the TV station I worked at in Fort Smith, AR (KHBS-KHOG 40/29). When I would take it around to schools, I would comment to students that there are a lot of “ometers” in weather, because “ometer” means measure, and that is how meteorologists get information about the atmosphere.
Just pronouncing “anemometer,” which measures wind speed, is a bit of a tongue twister — hence the song’s inspiration. And since “twister” is a nickname for a tornado, the song practically wrote itself. Sometimes I’m asked by teachers to share my lyrics, so here they are:
The Tongue Twister Weather Song
Words and music by Bob Swanson, ©2003 Mortgage Hill Music, BMI
To be a weatherboy or a weathergirl, there’s one thing you must learn
A meteorologist must come to terms with a lot of terms
Now rain, snow, sleet and hail they may seem simple to the brain
But it takes some skill to spit them out so it’s your tongue that you must train
Try the tongue twister weather song, it makes your mind and mouth more strong
So easy on the ears you’ll want to sing along
Just like Peter Piper picking a peck of pickled peppers
It takes a tricky tongue to try to tie it all together
This tornado for the tonsils . . . the tongue twister weather song
There are lots of instruments that are used to measure weather
But to properly pronounce them’s another story altogether
It’s easier done than said and easier said than sung
‘Cause they’ll be dancing in your head and twisting on your tongue
To take a typical temperature, trust your rusty old thermometer
To put a pinpoint on the pressure, you must monitor your barometer
And when you hear a pitter-patter on the windowpane
Check your groovy pluviometer to tally up the rain
Try the tongue twister weather song, it makes your mind and mouth more strong
So easy on the ears you’ll want to sing along
Words bounce around like rubber baby buggy bumpers
Some tumble off the tongue and some are simply stumpers
This adventure for the dentures . . . the tongue twister weather song
The water that we use today it once was dinosaur spit
If that takes a tinge from off your thirst try not to think of it
Just think about the steps it takes for water to recycle
To go from spit to Perrier, we need our friend the water cycle
The sun heats lakes and mudpuddles to cause evaporation
Water vapor forms cloud droplets, that’s called condensation
Cloud droplets get together and it’s, “Look out folks below!”
Before you know it precipitation hits as rain, hail, sleet and snow
It’s the tongue twister weather song, it makes your mind and mouth more strong
So easy on the ears you’ll want to sing along
Selling seashells by the seashore leads to prosperity
This song leads to mental and dental dexterity
An earthquake-i-a for the trachea . . .
Will put your epiglottis in a knot-is . . .
And put your uvula on the move-u-la . . .
The tongue twister weather song