Bester’s Bestest
BTW, on the subject of Tenser, said the Tensor, I’ve never actually found the jingle all that hypnotic. It comes from Alfred Bester’s The Demolished Man, where the protagonist is trying to get away with murder in a society where telepaths are routinely employed in law-enforcement. He occupies his mind with a compelling jingle to keep them out. The jingle goes, in part: “Tenser said the Tensor, Tenser said the Tensor, Tension, Apprehension, and Dissension have begun.” Tensor has a longer explanation here.
Maybe it’s the lack of music, but while I’ve never had any trouble remembering the jingle, I’ve never really had it stuck in my head annoyingly the way certain songs do (say, Wake Me up Before You Go-Go). But Alfred Bester clearly had a talent for memorable jingles, even if they didn’t reach the level of O God Make it Stop!
My favorite of his is the immortal
In brightest day, in blackest night,
No evil shall escape my sight.
Let all who worship evil’s might,
Beware my power,
Green Lantern’s light![1]
If I’m ever charged with forming a group of star-spanning sheriffs, we are so using that oath.
I have a friend who tells me he was once at an SF convention where Bester was a guest. Bester mentioned in passing how he had briefly worked as a writer on Green Lantern, which he didn’t suppose anyone remembered, and my friend stood up and recited the oath. (What, it’s a surprise that my friends are all big geeks too?)
He says Bester seemed both amused and surprised.
1 – this replaced the Golden Age Green Lantern’s Oath, which is so much less compelling that I had to Google it, since I couldn’t recall the exact words.
And I shall shed my light over dark evil,
For the dark things cannot stand the light,
THE LIGHT OF THE GREEN LANTERN!