Istanbul (Not Constantinople)
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Istanbul (Not Constantinople) is a swing-style song originally performed by The Four Lads in 1953, and was written by Jimmy Kennedy and Nat Simon. It is based on the music for Puttin' on the Ritz, written by Irving Berlin in 1929.
The lyrics humorously remind the listener that the city of Istanbul is no longer called Constantinople, and profess uncertainty about how and why cities' names change.
The song was later famously covered by the rock group They Might Be Giants, who released it on their LP Flood in 1990, and on its own EP that same year. This version of the song was used for a music video in an episode of the animated children's series Tiny Toon Adventures.
The song was also featured in the 2003 film Mona Lisa Smile, the Pierce Brosnan episode of Muppets Tonight, and it appeared at the end of The Simpsons episode "Mobile Homer".
In 2005, the song was featured in Konami's Dance Dance Revolution ULTRAMIX 3, for Microsoft's Xbox console.
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