During the BeBop era, a lot of the artists would rewrite the tune over the
chord changes of current (or older) tunes (such as "Whispering" or "Back
Home in Indiana") and copyright the result.  This would allow them to play
arrangements of current pop songs royalty free.  Chord progressions and
titles are not copyrightable, only a succession of notes.  Parker would go
so far as spell out the title backwards, or something like that.

Most of the tunes that are registered today are done as lead sheets, and
I'd bet that a lot of the older ones are also simple melody and chords,
not full blown compositions.  This is different if we are talking about
stock arrangements.

So if Doug Rhodes wants to really tweak noses, don't play the tune, just
the variations, and spell out the title backward.  Make sure at least one
of the variations is close enough to cue the audience, but different
enough to be a "parody."

"eulb fo seye, owt toof evif" or "six foot three, she's for me".

George Bogatko

 [ That looks like "mirror writing"!  Or Old Celtic!!  -- Robbie ]