Credits
COMPOSITION & LYRICS
Mark O'Brien
Songwriter
Lyrics
When working with computers
And with smart phones it's the same
They very often want you
To supply your name
That's when I hit a problem
And it's not infrequent too
For being a descendent of
Brian Boru.
I start to type my surname
A message is displayed
A character unlawful
Has had to be waylaid
Surprise, surprise they're not describing me
They refer instead to my apostrophe.
My illegal character
Banished from my name
My illegal character
I'm launching a campaign
To convince the general public that it's awful
How apostrophes are treated as unlawful.
It's used in names from Ireland
And France and Italy
Which must have gone unnoticed
By some within IT
For with ignorance that truly is pathetic
They've made the surname strictly alphabetic.
My illegal character
Banished from my name
My illegal character
I'm launching a campaign
To convince the general public that it's awful
How apostrophes are treated as unlawful.
Sometimes it shows possession
Or letters that have gone
Its use in simple plurals
Nowadays is frowned upon
But its presence in my name is no infraction
The grammar police need take no further action.
My illegal character
Banished from my name
My illegal character
I'm launching a campaign
To convince the general public that it's awful
How apostrophes are treated as unlawful.
I've never had a hyphen
An umlaut or a space
I don't know if they're treated
With any better grace
But when apostrophes encounter validation
It often ends in character assassination.
My illegal character
Banished from my name
My illegal character
I'm launching a campaign
To convince the general public that it's awful
How apostrophes are treated as unlawful.
My illegal character is lawful.
Written by: Mark Edward O'Brien
