10/20/16

The Change Song

The Change Song -- Mutatis mutandis
Tune: These Boots are Made for Walking by Nancy Sinatra

Heracleitus said these words quite early:
You can’t step in that same river twice!
Change is all that’s constant, know it surely -- 
That’s what gives our life that extra spice!

     Mutatis mutandis!
     Is where it’s at, that’s true!
     And every single day, 
     Those changes wash up over you!

Whitehead said each moment we’re evolving –  
We’re not the gal or fella’ that we were;
Life is just a problem for the solving, 
And that is all that we can know for sure!  

       Mutatis mutandis!
       Just try not to stew! 
       You can master change, 
       It doesn’t have to master you!

The path you’re treading may seem harsh and cruel,
Hard luck striking like an ugly toad,
But strife and evil may conceal a jewel,
Hidden in the dust along life’s road –

      Mutatis mutandis,
      Cheer up, don’t be blue!
      Adversity has sweet uses, 
      If you look you’ll see that’s true!  

So when those changes roll into your station,  
Hop aboard and ride for all you’re worth,
You may not know the final destination,
But what a way to travel on this earth!

      Mutatis mutandis!
      No matter what you do!
      You can’t fight it, 
      Learn to love it, let it work for you!  
  

Lyrics © 2000 Joan Levin

NOTE: Mutatis mutandis, Adverb.
Pronunciation: The "a" in mutatis rhymes with "ah."
The "a" in mutandis rhymes with "and" in the U.S. (and "ah" in the U.K.)
Literally this means: Things having been changed that have to be changed.
But in academic use it also means: With the changes having been made, or, the differences having been considered.

And more: 

Mutatis mutandis

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mutatis%20mutandis


mu·ta·tis mu·tan·dis | m(y)o͞oˌtädəs m(y)o͞oˈtändəs, myo͞oˌtādəs myo͞oˈtandəs |

adverb

(used when comparing two or more cases or situations) making necessary alterations while not affecting the main point at issue: what is true of undergraduate teaching in England is equally true, mutatis mutandis, of American graduate schools.

ORIGIN

Latin, literally ‘things being changed that have to be changed’.