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Octopus oracle Paul inspires a theme song

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Color us excited: Our favorite novelty-animal-song writer, Parry Gripp, has penned an ode to Paul the octopus (or, if you prefer, ‘el pulpo Paul’), the so-called oracle who recently went 8 for 8 in predicting the outcomes of World Cup matches.

‘He picks the winner / when he eats his dinner,’ the lyrics note, referencing the fact that Paul’s predictions were made by selecting a mussel from one of two clear boxes marked with flags. ‘Your tentacles are magical / They pick the winning team / You were born in England / Now you live in Germany,’ the song continues. Elvis Costello-style wordplay it is not, but has Elvis ever written a song about a soccer-predicting octopus? To the best of our knowledge, no.

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Paul has officially retired from the prognosticating game, although public relations expert Max Clifford told CNN that he could still make a mint by appearing in commercials and print advertising campaigns. The German aquarium where he lives has said that it is vetting offers ‘to see if there are opportunities to spread Paul’s fame even further, without involving the canny cephalod directly.’ Meanwhile, PETA Germany is asking Paul’s fans to sign a petition to free him.

We’re not sure if Gripp’s ‘Paul the Octopus’ rivals his earlier masterpieces -- among them ‘That Skunk Is Mad,’ ‘Shopping Penguin,’ ‘Spaghetti Cat (I Weep for You)’ and our personal favorite, ‘Cat Flushing a Toilet’ -- but it’s still, in our opinion, the best psychic-mollusk song out there.

RELATED STORIES ABOUT PAUL:
Paul the octopus oracle picks Spain to win World Cup amid media frenzy, death threats
Soccer prognosticating octopus Paul picks Spain over his own Germany in World Cup game

-- Lindsay Barnett

Video: Parry Gripp via YouTube

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