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Lullaby Songs
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Many years ago when I had small children I used to rock them and sing them to sleep with a series of folk songs that they never tired of. Other than my Grandad’s horses and my dogs they were the only sentient beings that ever approved of my singing voice. I have tried below to set down the words to the songs that I used to sing. In writing down these words I did not consult books nor others but rather put down what is in my memory of the words. Printed versions of the songs may vary widely from what I sang and what I remember that I sang may vary widely from what I actually sang. So be it. Below are the words I remember: Several of these songs are in German and they like the others are just as I remember them. None oif the kids spoke German of course but they liked to hear the songs in German---and one or two in French.
The Fox
The fox went out one stormy night.
He prayed to the moon for to give him light
For he had many a mile to go that night
Before he reached the town-oh.
The town-oh the town-oh,
He had many a mile to go that night
Before he reached the town-0h
He ran till he came to a great big pen.
The ducks and the geese were put therein
"A couple of you will grease my chin
Before I leave this town-0h."
The town oh, the town-oh,
A couple of you will grease my chin
Before I leave this town-oh.
So he grabbed the gray goose by the neck,
Threw the ducks across his back,
And he didn t mind their "Quack, quack quack"
Or their legs all danglin' down-oh.
Down-oh, down-oh
He didn t mind their "quack, quack, quack"
Or their legs all danglin down-oh
Old Mother Hibble-hobble jumped out of bed
Ran to the window and poked out her head.
She cried "John, John the gray goose is gone
And the fox is on the town-oh."
The town-oh, the town-oh,
The gray goose is gone
And the fox is on the town-oh.
John he ran to the top of the hill,
He blew on his horn both loud and shrill,
The fox he said "I better flee with my kill
For they'll soon be on my trail-oh"
Trail-oh, trail-oh
The fox he said " I better flee with my kill
For they will soon be on my trail-oh"
The fox he ran to his cozy den,
There were his little ones eightnineten.
They said, "Daddy better go back again
For it must be a mighty fine town-oh"
Town-oh, town-oh
They said "Daddy , better go back again
For it must be a mighty fine town-oh."
Now the fox and his wife without any strife
Cut up the goose with a fork and a knife,
And they never had such a supper in their life
And the little ones chewed on the bones-oh.
Bones-oh, Bones-oh.
They never had such a supper in their life
And the little ones chewed on the bones-oh.
The Sloop John B.
Oh, I came on the Sloop John B.
My Granpappy and me
All around Nassau town I did roam.
Drinking all night, Got into a fight.
I am so break-up, I wanna go home
So hoist up the John B. sail,
See how the mainsail sets
Call for the Captain ashore
And let me go home, I wanna go home,
Why won't they let me go home?
I am so break-up I wanna go home.
Now the First Mate he got drunk,
And tore up the peoples's trunk,
The Constable came and had to take him away.
Oh, Sheriff John Stone, please leave me alone,
I am so break-up, I wanna go home!
The First Cook he caught fits,
He took away all of our grits,
And then he ate up all of our corn.
I wanna go home, Why don't youi let me go home?
This is the worst trip since I been born.
The Erie Canal Song
We were forty miles from Albany, forget it I never shall,
What a terrible storm we had that night on the Er-I-E Canal.
Oh the Er-I-E was a-risin' and the gin was a-gettin' low
And I scarcely think we'll get a drink till we get to Buffalo-o-o
Till we get to Buffalo-o-o-o
Now the Captain he came up on deck with a spy glass in his hand,
And the fog it was so tarnal thick, that he couldn't spy the land.
Yes, the Er-I-E was a-risin', and the gin was a-gettin low
And I scarcely think we'll get a drink till we get to Buffalo-o-o
Till we get to Buffalo-0-0-0
Now the cook she was a grand ol' gal and she wore a tattered dress,
So we heisted her upon a pole as a symbol of distress
Yes, The Er-I-E was a risin' and the gin was a gettin' low
And I scarcely think we'll get a drink till we get to Buffalo-o-o-o
Till we get to Buffalo-o-o-o
Nicodemus, the Slave
Nicdemus the slave was of African birth, and was bought for a bag full of gold.
He was reckoned as part of the salt of the earth and he died long ago very old.
Twas his last sad request as they laid him to rest in the trunk of an old hollow tree,
"Wake me up!" was his charge, "At the first break of day. Wake me up for the great Jubilee".
Nicodemus was never the sport of the lash though the bullwhips had oft crossed his path
There were none of his masters so bold or so rash as to cross such a man in his wrath.
But his great heart with kindness was filled to the brim, he obeyed who was born to command.
But his longed for the day which then was so dim, tis the day which now is at hand.
There is a great time a'comin and its not far off, its been long long long on the way,
So go tell Elijah to hurry on home and meet us by the gumtree down in the swamp
For to wake Nicodemus today.
Abdul Abulbul Amir
The sons of the prophet are brave men and bold
And quite unaccustomed to fear,
But the bravest by far in the ranks of the Shah
Was Abdul Abulbul Amir.
If you wanted a man to encourage the van,
Or harass the foe from the rear,
Storm fort or redoubt, you had only to shout
For Abdul Abulbul Amir.
But the heroes were plenty and well known to fame,
In the troops that were led by the Czar,
And the bravest of these was a man by the name
Of Ivan Skavinsky Skavar.
One day this bold Russian did shoulder his gun,
And put on his most insolent sneer,
Downtown he did go and he trod on the toe
Of Abdul Abulbul Amir.
"Young man ", said the Bulbul "Has life grown so dull
That you wish to end your career?
For infidel know that you have trod on the toe
Of Abdul Abulbul Amir."
Said Ivan, "My friend, your remarks in the end
Will avail you but little I fear
For you never will survive to repeat them alive
Mr. Abdul Abulbul Amir".
"So take your last look at sea, sky and brook,
And send your regrets to the Czar;
For by this I imply, you are going to die
Count Ivan Skavinsky Skavar."
They fought all the night neath the pale yellow moon,
The din was heard from afar,
And multitudes came so great was the fame
Of Abdul and Ivan Skavar.
The Sultan drove by in his red breasted fly
Expecting the victor to cheer,
But he only drew nigh to hear the last sigh of
Abdul Abulbul Amir.
Czar Petrovich too, in his spectacles blue
Rode up in his new-crested car.
He arrived just in time to exchange a last line
With Ivan Skavinsky Skavar.
Oh a tomb rises up where the blue Danube rolls,
Engraved there in characters clear,
Are , stranger when passing pray for the soul
Of Abdul Abulbul Amir.
A Muscovite maiden her lone vigil keeps
Neath the light of the pale polar star
And the name that she murmurs so oft as she weeps
Is Ivan Skavinsky Skavar.
When I was very young I have been told that I frequently requested this lullaby before I was old enough to pronounce the words in the title clearly.
Old Dan Tucker
I went to town the oither night'
I heard a noise and I saw a fight,
All the folks was runnin' round'
Cause Old Dan Tucker was comin' to town.
Hey . Get outa the way for Old Dan Tucker
Come too late to get his supper,
Supper's over and dinner's cookin'
Old Dan Tucker just stood there lookin'.
Well Old Dan Tucker he come to town
Ridin" a Billy Goat and leadin' a hound,
The hound dog barked and the billy goat jumped
They threw Old Dan Tucker a-straddle of a stump
Well Old Dan Tucker come home drunk
He jumped in the fire and kicked out a chunk,
Got a live coal down in his shoe
And you just look at how the ashes flew.
Old Dan Tucker was a fine old man.
He washed his face in a frying pan.
He combed his hair with a wagon wheel'
And died wuith a tooth ache in his heel.
Hey get outa the way for Old Dan Tucker
Come too late to get his supper..
Supper's over and dinner's cookin',
Old Dan Tucker just stood there lookin.
As a child I felt very sorry for Old Man Tucker. He was deprived of his supper, got hot ashes in his shoe and no body seemed to want to help him.
Frankie and Johnnie
Frankie and Johnnie were lovers
Lordy how they could love
They swore to be true to each other
Just as true as the stars above.
He was her man, but he done her wrong.!
Frankie she was a good woman
Just like everbody knows
She gave her man a hundred dollars
Just to buy a suit of clothes
He was her man, but he done her wrong!
Johnnie went down to the corner
And asked for a bottle of beer.
Frankie went down in an hour or so
And asked "Has my lovinest man been here?"
He is my man but he is doin' me wrong
Now I ain't gonna tell you no stories
And I ain't gonna tell you no lies.
Your lovinest man was here about an hour ago
Makin' love to Nellie Bligh,
And if he is your man, then he is doin you wrong.
Frankie went home in a hurry
And she didn't go for fun.
She hurried there to get her
Great big forty-four gun.
He was her man but he he was doing her wrong
Frankie went down to the hotel
Right up to Room 329.
Then she could hear her lovinest man
Makin' love to Nellie Bligh
He was her man but he was doin' her wrong.
Frankie pulled out the revolver,
Aimed it right down at the floor
Rooty toot toot three times she shoot
Right through that hardwood door.
He was her man but he was doin' her wrong.
Bring on your rubber tired hearses
Bring on your rubber tired hack
Johnnie is gone to the graveyard
And he ain't comin' back.
He was her man, but he was doin' her wrong.
Lollie Tu Dum
As I went out one morning
For to get a breath of air.
Lollie tu Dum, tu dum, Lollie tu dum day.
I overheard a mother a-talkin to her daughter fair
Lollie tu dum tu dum Lollie tu dum day.
Oh, you better go wash them dishes
And hush that prattlin' tongue
Lollie tu dum, tu dum, lollie tu dum day
For I know that you want to get married
And that you are too young
Lollie tu dum tu dum lollie tu fdum day.
S'posin' I was willin' where would you find a man?
Lollie tu dum tu dum lollie tu dum day
S'posin' I was willin' here would you find a man
Why lawdy mercy mammy, I'd marry that handsome Sam
Lollie tu dum tu dum Lollie tu dum day
S'posin' he should spite you, like you done him before?
Lollie tu dum tu dum lollie tu dum day
S'posin' he should spite you, like you done him before?
Lawdy Massey Mammy, I could marry a hundred more
Lollie tu dum tu dum lollie tu dum day
Well now my daughter's married and well fer to do,
Lollie tu dum tu dum lollie tu dum day
Now my daughter's married and well fer to do,
Gather round young fellers, I'm on the market too
Lollie tu dum, tu dum lollie tu dum day.
The Eddystone Light
Oh me father was the keeper of the Eddystone Light
And he slept with a mermaid one fine night
And from this union there came three
A porgy and a porpoise and the other was me.
Yo Ho Ho The wind blows free
Oh for a lif e on the rolling sea
One night as I was a-trimmin' of the glim
Singing a verse from the evening hymn
A voice from the starboard shouted "Ahoy!"
And there was my mother a-sittin' on a buoy.
Yo Ho Ho The wind blows free
Oh for a life on the rolling sea.
"Oh say my son can you tell me,
What has become of my children three?"
"One was exhibited as a talking fish,
And the other was served in a chafing dish"
Yo Ho HO The wind blows free
Oh for a life on the rolling sea.
Now the phosphorous flashed in her seaweed hair,
I looked again and my mother wasn't there.
But a voice came echoing from out of the night
"To Hell with the Keeper of the Eddystone Light".
Marianka
Narianka, Komm lasz dich kussen
Was willst du wissen?
Das ich dich von herzen Liebe?
Wie die Sterne, aus den weiten Ferne' Strahlen die Beiden fur uns Eine
Marianka wenn willst du mein.
Freut Euch Das Lebens
Freut Euch das Lebens
Weil noch das Lampchen gluht.
Pfluchet die Rose, eh' Sie verblueht.
Mann schaeft Sich gern
Mit Sorg und Mueh
Sucht Dornen aus und findet Sie
Und laesst das Veilchen unbemerkt
Das auf dem Wege bluht
Freut Euch das Lebens
Weil noch das Lampghen gluht
Pfluchet die Rose, eh' sie verblueht..
In Der Nacht
In der Nacht ist der Mensch nicht gern aleine
Denn die Liebe beim hellen Mondesheine
Ist die shoenste---Sie wissen was ich meine
La te da te da la la te da??????
Bell Bottom Trousers
Singin' of bell bottom trousers
And coats of navy blue
Swing into the riggin'
As your father used to do.
A simple little country girl
Thinking it no harm
Climbed into the sailor's bed
Just to keep him iwarm.
Countless verses more---Then there is a take off on this called
Zoot suits and parachutes
And wings of silver too......,,.
Lili Marlene
Vor der Kaserne, vor dem grossen Tor
Stand eine Laterne und steht sie noch davor.
Und alle Leute sollen uns sehen wenn wir vor der Kaserne stehn
Wie einst Lili Marlena, wie einst Lili Marlen
Schon rief die Posten, sie blieszen Zapfenstreich
Es kann drei Tag gekosten, Kamerad Ich komm ja gleich
Und alle Leute sollen uns sehen, wenn wir vor der Kaserne stehen
Wie einst Lili Marlena, Wie einst Lili Marlen
I've Got Sixpence
I've got sixpence, jolly jolly sixpence
I've got sixpence to last me all my life.
I've got tuppence to spend,
And tuppence to lend
And tuppence to send home to my wife--poor wife.
I've got four pence, jolly jolly fourpence
Ive got four pence to last me all my life
I've got tuppence to spend
And tuppenjce to lend
and no pence to send home to my wife-poor wife.
I've got tuppence, jolly jolly tuppence
I've got tuppence to last me all my life.
I have tuppence to spend
And no pence to lend
And no pence to send hoome to my wife---poor wife
No cares have I to grieve me
No pretty little girls to deceive me
I'm happy as a lark believe me
As we go rolling rolling home.
Roilling home! Rolling home!
By the light of the silvery mooooooiiooin.
Happy is the day when the Navy gets its pay
And we go rolling rolling home.
Crawdad Song
You get a line and I'll get a pole, honey.
You get a line and I'll get a pole, babe
And we'll go down to that crawdad hole, honey. baby mine.
Yonder come a man with a sack on his back, honey
Yonder come a man with a sack on his back babe
Yonder come a man with a sack on his back
Giot more crawdads than he can pack honey, baby mine.
Man fell down and broke that sack, honey
Man fell down and broke that sack, babe
Man fell down and broke that sck
Look at them crawdads backin back, honey baby mine
What you gonna do when the creek goes dry honey?
What you gonna do when the creek goes dry babe?
What you gonna do when the creek goes dry?
Sit on the bank and watrch the crawdads die, honey baby mine.
Three Little Fishes
Down in the Meadow
In an itty bitty pool
Swam three little fishies
And a mama fishy too.
"Swim", said the Mama fishy
"Swim if you can"
And the three little fishies
Swam right up to the dam.
Boop, Boop Dittum Dattum Wattum SSHSHSHSH
And the three little fishes swam right up to the dam.
"Come back", said the Mama fishy,
"Come bacl or you'll be lost"
But the three little fishies
Didn't want to be bossed
So they swam and they swam
Right over the dam
Boop Boop Dittum Dattum Wattum SHSHSHSH
So they swam and they swam right over the dam
I have forgotten the rest of the elegant words to this song but I remember that the three little fishies swam
"right down to the sea" where they metr a shark who scared hell out of them and they swam back and jumped oveer the dam
and were happily re-united with Mama Fishy---the moral to this story is "Don't Be Out and About too Much"
Blue Tail Fly
When I was young I used to wait
On Master and give him his plate
And ass the bottle when he got dry
And brushw away the blue tail fly
Jimmy Crack Cornj, and I don't care
Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care
Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care
My masters gone away.
When he would ride in the afternoon
I'd follow him with a hicklory broom
The pony being rather shy
When bitten by the blue tail fly
Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care
Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care
Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care
My master's gone away
One day he rode around the farm
The flies so numerous that they did swarm,
One chanced to bite him on the thigjh
The Devil take the blue tail fly.
CHORUS
The pony jump, he start, he pitch,
He throw my master in the ditch.
He died and the jury wondered why
The verdict was the blue tail fly
CHORUS
Now he lies buried 'neath the 'simmon tree
His epitaph is -plain to see.
Beneath this stone I'm forced to lie,
The victim of the Blue tail fly.
Wreck Of The Old 97
Now they gave him his orders in Monroe Virginia
And they told him he was way behind time
"This is not 38, This is ol' 97
You gotta put her into Spencer on time
Then he turned around and said to his black greasy fireman,
"Shovel in a little more coal,
And when we cross that White Oak Mountain,
You just watch ol' 97 roll.
And then a telegram come from Washington station
This is how it read,
"Oh that brave engineer that run ol' 97
Is a-lyin' in Danville dead."
"Cause he was going down a grade making 90 miles per hour
When his whistle broke into a scream.
He was found dead in the wreckage with his hand on the throttle
A-scalded to death by the steam.
Oh now all you ladies you'd better take warning
From this time on and learn
Never speak hard to you lovin' husband
He may leave you and never return.
Little Brown Jug
My wife and I live all alone
In a little log hut we call our own,
She loves gin and I love rum
And don't we have a lot of fun.
Chorus:
Ha, Ha, Ha, you and me
Little brown jug don't I love thee
\Ha Ha Ha, you and me
Little brown jug don't I love thee.
When I go toilin' on the farm
I put the little jug under my arm
Then I put it under a shady tree,
Little brown jug its you and me.
CHORUS
'Tis you who makes me friends and foes,
Its you who makes me wear old clothes
But seein' your so near my nose
Tip her up and down she goes
CHOIRUS
If I had a cow that gave such milk
I'd dress her in the finest silk
Make her fat on oats and hay
And milk her twenty times a day
CHORUS
Now when I die don't bury me
Just pickle my bones in alcohol.
Put a bottle of booze at my head and feet
And then I know that I will keep.
CHORUS
The rose is red, my nose is too
The violets blue and so are you
And yet I guess before I stop
I'd better have another drop.,
I've Got Spurs That Jingle, Jangle, Jingle
I've got spurs that jingle, jangle , jingle
As I go ridin' merrily along.
And they sing "Oh ain't you glad your single?"
And that song ain't so very far from wrong
Oh,Lilly Bell, Oh Lilly Bell
Though I may have done some foolin that's why I never fell
I've got spurs that jingle, jangle, jingle. As I go ridin' merrily along,
And they sing, "oh ain't you glad you're single?"
And that song ain't so very far from wrong.
Oh, Sally Jane, Oh Sally Jane
Though I'd love to stay forever this is why I can't remain,
I've got spurs that jingle, jangle, jingle. As I go ridin merrily along,
And they sing "Oh ain't you glad you';re single?"
And that song ain't so very far from wrong
Oh Betsy Lou, Oh Betsy Lou,
Though we did a heap o' dreamin this is why it won't come true,
I've got spurs that jingle, jangle , jingle As I go ridin' merrily along,
And they sing "Oh ain't you glad you're single?"
And that song ain't so very far from wrong.
I'm Going Back
I'm going back to whur I come from
Where the hoineysuckle smells so sweet it durn near makes you sick
I used to think my life was humdrum
But I sure have learned a lesson that is bound to stick.
I used to go downj to the statrion
Just to see the Pullman train come rollin in
And then one day, that great tempotation
Got the best of me and led me to a life of sin.
I took my hat and fourteen dollars
And started on the life of trouble that always follers
When your rich and huintin' romance
But my huntin days are over I can tell you that
I met a man in Kansas City
And he winked at me and asked me if I'd like toi step around
And I said "YUP, thats what I'm here fur"
And he took my fourteen dollars and there must have bveen a mixup.
He's been gone since Thursday evening
And I got a hunch I'll never see that guy no more.
I'm going back to whur I come from
Where the honeysuckle smells so sweet it durn near makes you sick.
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