Finding Ethel Merman
Jan. 15th, 2011 10:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
marinessSo our local library has a pretty cool system called Freegal which allows you to download three – exactly three – songs per week, DRM-free. This is awesome, but equally awesome is the completely incomprehensible search function. It works something like this:
Me: Huh. For some inexplicable reason, I don't have The Animals "House of the Rising Sun" and I want to sing along to it and scare the cats. I'll type in "Animals."
Freegal: Based on this, I shall return songs by Yo-Yo Ma and Dora the Explorer.
Me: Hmm. You did notice that I was doing ARTIST search.
Freegal: Dora the Explorer is one real animal.
Me: Ok, let's try song title. "Rising Sun."
Freegal: John Williams! Cadillac of the Skies! Oh, and Ethel Merman, Annie Get Your Gun. Because, well, I love Ethel Merman and she sometimes sings songs with the words "Rising" and "Sun."
Me: For god's sake. I know you might not have anything by the Animals [which turns out, sadly, to be true] but I know you have Dylan and Dolly Parton. How did you not return these?
Freegal: ETHEL MERMAN.
Me: TRY AGAIN.
Freegal: Jose Feliciano! AND ETHEL MERMAN.
Me: Hmm. Ok. "House of the Rising Sun."
Freegal: Susan Boyle!
Me: Susan Boyle recorded a cover of "House of the Rising Sun"?
Freegal: No, not at all. But it's clear that people who love Ethel Merman LOVE Susan Boyle!
Me: No, no it is not. Ok. Hmm. Well, since clearly I am not going to be downloading "House of the Rising Sun," and since you previously announced that more Ben Lee music would be coming soon, let's try Ben Lee.
Freegal: Oooh, I LOVE this one. Lee Roy Parnell! Except, you can't actually download that since it's just COMING SOON. Also, John Williams, The Music of Star Wars, and Julie Andrews, Sound of Music, and Henry Mancini, and the Body Snatchers, and Lee Greenwood, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, and Hot Club of Cowtown, and Aretha Franklin, and Blondie, and Johnny Cash, and Kate & Ben, and Billy Joel and Jerry Lee Lewis AND ETHEL MERMAN.
Me: Sigh.
Freegal: ME LOVES THE ETHEL MERMAN.
Searching under all Artists under "B" does show that yes, Freegal does offer a number of Ben Lee songs (this same sort of search was how I realized the Animals problem) but you certainly wouldn't know that from the search function.
It's kinda like stepping back several years to those initial wild search functions on the internet that so rarely brought you what you were looking for. Good times, really. Good times. And now, I suppose I should probably listen to some Ethel Merman. Just to follow the mood.
Me: Huh. For some inexplicable reason, I don't have The Animals "House of the Rising Sun" and I want to sing along to it and scare the cats. I'll type in "Animals."
Freegal: Based on this, I shall return songs by Yo-Yo Ma and Dora the Explorer.
Me: Hmm. You did notice that I was doing ARTIST search.
Freegal: Dora the Explorer is one real animal.
Me: Ok, let's try song title. "Rising Sun."
Freegal: John Williams! Cadillac of the Skies! Oh, and Ethel Merman, Annie Get Your Gun. Because, well, I love Ethel Merman and she sometimes sings songs with the words "Rising" and "Sun."
Me: For god's sake. I know you might not have anything by the Animals [which turns out, sadly, to be true] but I know you have Dylan and Dolly Parton. How did you not return these?
Freegal: ETHEL MERMAN.
Me: TRY AGAIN.
Freegal: Jose Feliciano! AND ETHEL MERMAN.
Me: Hmm. Ok. "House of the Rising Sun."
Freegal: Susan Boyle!
Me: Susan Boyle recorded a cover of "House of the Rising Sun"?
Freegal: No, not at all. But it's clear that people who love Ethel Merman LOVE Susan Boyle!
Me: No, no it is not. Ok. Hmm. Well, since clearly I am not going to be downloading "House of the Rising Sun," and since you previously announced that more Ben Lee music would be coming soon, let's try Ben Lee.
Freegal: Oooh, I LOVE this one. Lee Roy Parnell! Except, you can't actually download that since it's just COMING SOON. Also, John Williams, The Music of Star Wars, and Julie Andrews, Sound of Music, and Henry Mancini, and the Body Snatchers, and Lee Greenwood, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, and Hot Club of Cowtown, and Aretha Franklin, and Blondie, and Johnny Cash, and Kate & Ben, and Billy Joel and Jerry Lee Lewis AND ETHEL MERMAN.
Me: Sigh.
Freegal: ME LOVES THE ETHEL MERMAN.
Searching under all Artists under "B" does show that yes, Freegal does offer a number of Ben Lee songs (this same sort of search was how I realized the Animals problem) but you certainly wouldn't know that from the search function.
It's kinda like stepping back several years to those initial wild search functions on the internet that so rarely brought you what you were looking for. Good times, really. Good times. And now, I suppose I should probably listen to some Ethel Merman. Just to follow the mood.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-16 12:37 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-16 02:44 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-16 04:15 am (UTC)