User:Dave Young/Prototyping 2.2

"Soldier, Soldier"

During last week's "Soldier, Soldier" marathon playlist that Michael put together, I was struck by how the words were occasionally swapped around a little bit, or here and there a word might be replaced by another entirely. It being a folk song, it makes perfect sense: folk music is (or was at least) an oral tradition - meaning that songs would be passed down through the generations by word of mouth rather than "solid" artefacts such as manuscripts or sheet music. The result is an incredibly slow game of Chinese whispers, with the message suffering interpretive interference with each retelling. Curious about the abilities of Wordnet's abilities to replicate this effect, I wrote the below python script. In brief, it breaks the text down into individual words, and replaces each word for a random synonym from Wordnet's library, with occasionally insane results.

Versions

"Original" Version

Soldier, soldier, will you marry me
With your musket, fife and drum?
Oh how can I marry such a pretty little girl
When I have no coat to put on?

Off to the tailor she did go
As fast as she could run
She brought him back the finest that was there
Now soldier, put it on

Soldier, soldier, will you marry me
With your musket, fife and drum?
Oh how can I marry such a pretty little girl
When I have no shoes to put on?

Off to the cobbler she did go
As fast as she could run
She brought him back the finest that was there
Now soldier, put them on

Soldier, soldier, will you marry me
With your musket, fife and drum?
Oh how can I marry such a pretty little girl
When I have no hat to put on?

Off to the hatter she did go
As fast as she could run
She brought him back the finest that was there
Now soldier, put it on

Soldier, soldier, will you marry me
With your musket, fife and drum?
Oh how can I marry such a pretty little girl
When I've a wife and child at home?

First Generation

Soldier, soldier, bequeath you tie me
With your musket, fife and drum?
Oh how arse I tie such a moderately little girl
When I wealthy_person no coat to put_option on?

slay to the cut she answer spell
As fast as she could test
She make_for him gage the fine that was in_that_location
today soldier, set it on

Soldier, soldier, volition you get_hitched_with me
With your musket, fife and drum?
Oh how give_the_axe I splice such a passably little fille
When I make no skid to set on?

away to the cobbler she execute go
As fast as she could scarper
She add him dorsum the fine that was there
now soldier, place them on

Soldier, soldier, bequeath you splice me
With your musket, fife and drum?
Oh how keister I tie such a middling little girl
When I have no chapeau to put on?

dispatch to the hatter she answer conk_out
As dissolute as she could prevail
She bring him book_binding the fine that was thither
now soldier, couch it on

Soldier, soldier, will you marry me
With your musket, fife and drum?
Oh how can_buoy I wed such a moderately small daughter
When I've a married_woman and youngster at home?

Second Generation

Soldier, soldier, leave you tie me
With your musket, fife and drum?
Oh how ass I bind such a jolly picayune female_child
When I have no coat to put on?

dispatch to the rationalise she answer piece
As profligate as she could test
She work him punt the fine that was in_that_location
today soldier, coiffure it on

Soldier, soldier, willing you marry me
With your musket, fife and drum?
Oh how give_notice I splice such a moderately small miss
When I make no skid to go_under on?

by to the cobbler she execute cristal
As libertine as she could run_away
She add_together him back the very_well that was thither
now soldier, position them on

Soldier, soldier, will you marry me
With your musket, fife and drum?
Oh how nates I tie such a passably niggling girl
When I have no hat to arrange on?

dispatch to the hatmaker she answer run_down
As fast as she could prevail
She bring him back the all_right that was thither
now soldier, couch it on

Soldier, soldier, will you espouse me
With your musket, fife and drum?
Oh how can I espouse such a moderately belittled girl
When I've a wife and youngster at home?

Third Generation

Soldier, soldier, bequeath you tie me
With your musket, fife and drum?
Oh how piece_of_tail I constipate such a josh trivial female_child
When I have no coating to lay on?

slay to the rationalize she answer piece
As debauched as she could test
She work him punt the fine that was in_that_location
today soldier, arrange it on

Soldier, soldier, leave you wed me
With your musket, fife and drum?
Oh how displace I tie such a fairly small overleap
When I make no skid to go_under on?

by to the deep-dish_pie she execute ecstasy
As riotous as she could run
She add him rear the very_well that was thither
now soldier, position them on

Soldier, soldier, will you marry me
With your musket, fife and drum?
Oh how stern I tie such a middling trivial girl
When I have no hat to arrange on?

hit to the hatter she answer scan
As fast as she could dominate
She bring him back the fine that was there
right_away soldier, redact it on

Soldier, soldier, will you espouse me
With your musket, fife and drum?
Oh how pot I follow such a pretty belittled girlfriend
When I've a wife and kid at home?

Fourth Generation

Soldier, soldier, leave you tie me
With your musket, fife and drum?
Oh how fucking I constipate such a josh piffling girl
When I have no coating to lie_in on?

slay to the rationalise she answer piece
As vitiate as she could mental_testing
She employment him punt the fine that was at_that_place
nowadays soldier, set_up it on

Soldier, soldier, leave you espouse me
With your musket, fife and drum?
Oh how fire I splice such a passably small overleap
When I make no skid to go_under on?

past to the cobbler she execute exaltation
As riotous as she could guide
She minimal_brain_dysfunction him arse the first-rate that was thither
right_away soldier, post them on

Soldier, soldier, volition you espouse me
With your musket, fife and drum?
Oh how tail I tie such a jolly trivial fille
When I take no lid to arrange on?

off to the modiste she answer scan
As dissipated as she could dominate
She bring him stake the mulct that was there
forthwith soldier, redact it on

Soldier, soldier, will you wed me
With your musket, fife and drum?
Oh how bay_window I keep_up such a fairly minimize girlfriend
When I've a married_woman and banter at home?

Source Code

# <henderson6!>
# Simulating oral traditions in folk music with python+wordnet
# Prototyping 2 
#   
# Depends: nltk > http://nltk.sourceforge.net/

# import external libs
from nltk.corpus import wordnet
import string
import random
from random import choice

soldier = open("soldier.txt")

# filter out some words
ignoreStrings = ["you", "me", "a", "Oh", "I", "no", "to", "on", "As", "as", "was", "it"]

# set up arrays
for lines in soldier:
    line = lines.split(" ")
    line = map(string.strip, line)  # removes newline '\n' character
    newLine = []

    for word in line:        
        synsets = wordnet.synsets(word)
        allSyns = []    # this list contains every synonym for 'word' from wordnet
        syns = []   # this is an edited list of synonyms, each one only appears once
        
        # make a list of synonyms in "synsets"
        for synonym in synsets:
            allSyns.append(synonym.lemma_names)
        
        # if 'word' is on the ignore list, skip synonym checks 
        if word in ignoreStrings != 0:
            syns = [word]
        else:
            # check that the synonym list isn't empty
            if(len(allSyns) != 0):       
            # result is a single list containing all synonyms
                result = sum(allSyns, [])

                # remove elements that appear more than once
                for syn in result:
                    if syn in allSyns != -1:
                        print ""
                    else:
                        syns.append(syn)
            else:
                syns = [word]

        # make a random selection
        newWord = choice(syns)
        newLine.append(newWord)

    theLine = ' '.join(newLine)
    print theLine