I'm casting my net far and wide with my search for songs to parody in Blasphemy! The Musical, and what sometimes makes it difficult is that I have set myself a rule that I'm only allowed one song from each musical show/movie. If I wasn't doing that, it would be easy - five songs from 20 shows and bang - job done. The 'one per show' rule is to appeal to as many people as possible, and it's certainly made me find musicals I'd never even heard of. But putting together an eclectic collection of songs also throws out some unexpected weirdness too...

I've obviously heard of 'Saturday Night Fever', and am currently mixing up the words for 'Stayin' Alive', but looking on the YouTube page for the video I noticed that people kept mentioning they were being taught CPR with this song. WTF?! But, yes, a quick Google finds this:

CPR Gives "Stayin' Alive" New Life
Bee Gees Pop Song Has the Right Beat for Performing CPR Chest Compressions

Oct. 17, 2008 -- The Bee Gees disco song "Stayin' Alive" might help people stay alive when they get cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) -- if their rescuer knows the 1977 tune.

It turns out that "Stayin Alive" has a beat that's in sync with the recommended pace for chest compressions given during CPR. So researchers put the pop tune to the test.

In a small study, 15 adults -- mainly doctors, most of whom had performed CPR in recent months -- got a refresher course in CPR. During that class, they listened to "Stayin' Alive" and were asked to time their chest compressions to the beat.

Five weeks later, participants took a CPR test. This time, no music was played.

Participants said they felt they were better and more confident at CPR while listening to the music, note the researchers, who included David Matlock, MD, of the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria, Ill.

"Properly performed CPR can triple survival rates for cardiac arrest, but many people hesitate to jump in because they don't feel confident about maintaining the proper rhythm," Matlock says in a news release. "Our research subjects felt that listening to "Stayin' Alive" improved their ability to perform chest compressions at the proper speed, and indeed their performance even five weeks later was excellent," Matlock says.

The results, which will be presented on Oct. 27 in Chicago at the American College of Emergency Physicians' annual meeting, are "encouraging" but should be checked in larger studies, write Matlock and colleagues.

And of course it's even more bizarre that the title of the song is 'Stayin' Alive'. Weird!

PS Sorry if you were expecting the usual 5-day update - I'm a little behind because of a family illness, but I hope to catch up again soon. Stay tuned!

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Update:
CNN has more on this story here, with video of someone doing CPR to the music, and the hilarious point that Queen's 'Another One Bites the Dust' also has right beat... but completely the wrong message!

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Update 2:
Er... try this version!