Newsgroups: sci.math
From: Dan Hoey <haoyuep@aol.com>
Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2011 15:57:32 -0400
Subject: Re: On lists of songs and Russell's paradox

Apart from the spurious connection to Russel's paradox, the topic of
self-referential songs may be of some interest.  However, it is
generally the case that only the _lyrics_ of the song contain song
references, and a performance of the same music with different lyrics
is often spoken of as a performance of the _same_ song.

This is the case, for instance, in "Leaves that are Green", which
Simon and Garfunkel sing with the lyric
  I was twenty-one years when I wrote this song.
  I'm twenty-two now, but I won't be for long.
Presumably this lyric was not used when the writer was twenty-one.

In song whose lyrics refer to its music, neither the lyrics nor the
music is, strictly speaking, self-referential.  This prompts me to
consider two questions.  Are there songs whose lyrics refer explicitly
to those same lyrics?  Or are there songs in which a self-reference is
somehow encoded in the music itself?

Dan