"Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" is a 1953 novelty song, with lyrics by Jimmy Kennedy and music by Nat Simon.

Jazz historian Will Friedwald mentioned that the song is an answer to "C-O-N-S-T-A-N-T-I-N-O-P-L-E", written by Harry Carlton and recorded in 1928 by Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra.

[7] Big Muffin Serious Band, a ukulele-based music performance group from New Zealand, released a cover on their LP "Jabberwocky Goes To Town" in 1987.

[8] One of the best-known versions of "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" is the cover by the alternative rock band They Might Be Giants (TMBG), who released it on their album Flood in 1990.

TMBG's version of the song is prominently featured in the Tiny Toon Adventures episode "Tiny Toon Music Television", as the soundtrack to a segment featuring Plucky Duck as a private detective hired to find a missing statue.

It later appeared in the first season of the Netflix series The Umbrella Academy, as well as an ending to an episode of The Simpsons, "Mobile Homer".

Electro swing duo Bart & Baker covered the song for their album "The Jet Lag EP" (2012).

[13][14] In Season 2, Episode 4 (U.S. release October 12, 1997) of the television series Muppets Tonight, portions of the song were performed by a quartet of rats in kaftans and fezzes.