As CNN has noted, today is National Punctuation Day. In honor of the day, let’s all sing that immortal Cole Porter classic, “Night and Day“, as Allan Sherman presented it on his album “Allan in Wonderland“:
Like the beat comma beat comma beat of the tom hyphen tom,
When the jungle shadows fall.
Like the tick hyphen tick hyphen tock of the stately clock,
As it stands against the wall.
Like the drip comma drip comma drip of the raindrops,
When the summer shower is through.
Some voice within me keeps repeating
Colon, quotation mark.
You comma
you comma
you exclamation point.
Close quotation, period, dash.
Night and day, comma.
You are the one, dash.
Only you comma
beneath the moon comma
and under the sun
Semicolon.
Whether near to me or far, dot dot dot,
It’s no matter comma darling comma where you are, dash.
I think of you, comma.
Night and day, period.
New paragraph.
Night and day, exclamation point.
Under the height of me. Dash.
There’s an oh such a hungry yearning comma
Burning parenthesis inside of me.
Close parenthesis, period.
Spoken: Well, “inside of me” is a parenthetical phrase that describes where the yearning is burning.
And my torment won’t be through
Until you let me spend my life making love to you. Asterisk!
Chorus: (Asterisk Asterisk Asterisk Asterisk)
Spoken: There’s a footnote at the bottom that tells who’s making love to who.
Spend my life making love to you.
Day and night?
Night and day, question mark.
Chorus: Night and day.
