Ob-La-Di   P-Log-P
Lyrics by Bob McEliece
(To the tune of "Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da" by John Lennon and Paul McCartney)

Shannon wrote the paper back in 48
Most of us were children or not born
Now in San Diego come and celebrate
By proving theorems all night long until the morn.
          Obladi entropy channel C bra
          Lala sum of p log p
          Obladi entropy channel C bra
          Lala sum of p log p.

Huffman found his prefix code in 52
Average length was small as it could be
Huffman huffed and puffed until his face turned blue
But still he couldn't beat the sum of p log p.
          Obladi entropy channel C bra
          Lala sum of p log p
          Obladi entropy channel C bra
          Lala sum of p log p.

In a couple of years we had built
A subject cheery (da da da   da da da   da da da   da da)
With students getting their Ph.D.'s
In information theory. (ha ha ha ha)

Happy in our labs and universities
With results both practical and broad
Have your fun my friends but don't forget O please
That we all owe it to a clever guy named Claude.
          Obladi entropy channel C bra
          Lala sum of p log p
          Obladi entropy channel C bra
          Lala sum of p log p.

In a couple of years we had built
A subject cheery (da da da   da da da   da da da   da da)
With students getting their Ph.D.'s
In information theory. (ha ha ha ha)

Happy in our labs and universities
With results both trivial and flawed
Have your fun my friends but don't forget O please
That we all owe it to a clever guy named Claude.
          Obladi entropy channel C bra
          Lala sum of p log p
          Obladi entropy channel C bra
          Lala sum of p log p.

Chorus   And if you want some fun --- sing sum of p log p.