Old Time Computing

Lyrics © 1984 Stephen Savitzky. CC-by-nc-sa. To the tune of ``Old Time Religion'' (traditional)

Lyrics [pdf] [txt] [cho]

C

Give me that Old Time Computing

G C

Give me that Old Time Computing

C F

Give me that Old Time Computing,

C G7 C

It's good e nough for me.

	C
	Oh the slide-rule's age is hoary

	G	C
It has	passed its hour of	glory

	C	F
	But lives on in song and	story

	C	G7	C
And it's	good e	nough for	me.

Oh the decimal system lingers

Used for counting on your fingers

Good for children and filk singers

And it's good enough for me.

Charles Babbage got things started

But he's long dead and departed

Left poor Ada brokenhearted

But he's good enough for me.

The machine designed by Turing

Has a history quite stirring

And it slowly keeps on whirring

And it's good enough for me.

Oh we all adore Grace Hopper

After COBOL you can't stop her

There is no-one who can top her

And she's good enough for me.

Herman Hollerith is cursed de-

signed the punch card and what's worst he's

Buried face down nine edge first he's

Buried deep enough for me.

Dear old FORTRAN's still among us

Just keeps spreading like a fungus

But for crunching jobs humungus

It's still good enough for me.

Algol 60 had recursion

And though some say it's subversion

We've rejected the new version

60's good enough for me

LISP has deeply-nested EXPR's

CONSes CADDAR's and FEXPR's

So it's only used by experts

But it's good enough for me.

Old computers dwarfed their makers

With their tubes and circuit breakers

And they sprawled about for acres

But they're good enough for me.

Oh the IBM six-fifty

Had a memory quite nifty

On a drum revolving swiftly

It was good enough for me.

Oh the sixteen-twenty's famous

Couldn't add so who could blame us

When we called it ignoramus

It was good enough for me.

Well the B Fifty-Five Hundred

Thought in Polish and we wondered

Whether Burroughs might have blundered

But it's good enough for me.

Though computers seem like magic

We can think of other adjec-

tives that border on the tragic

And that's quite enough for me.