Constantinople and New Angoulême
I like the song Istanbul (not Constantinople) by They Might Be Giants. The lyrics are quite simple, saying on a swing music that "Istanbul was Constantinople / Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople / Been a long time gone, Constantinople / Now it's Turkish delight on a moonlit night". Do not look for more cultural hints that the changing of name, really - and Byzantium is not even uttered. But there is a line about "old New York" being "once New Amsterdam" that I had to check, because I thought New York was once New Angoulême, being French thanks to Jacques Cartier. It was indeed the name of the city, around 1524. Then the Dutch settlements gave the area of Manhattan Island the name of New Amsterdam. Both the song and i were right! See how well I'm preparing myself for my New York trip? - that will happen - fingers crossed - next September...
Comments
or maybe we should go to Istanbul before... It's what I understand in this song !