The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #140097   Message #4110147
Posted By: Steve Gardham
14-Jun-21 - 01:51 PM
Thread Name: Origins: I'm not in the navy, a sailor boy I sit
Subject: RE: Origins: I'm not in the navy, a sailor boy I sit
If it helps these songs are generally referred to as 'teasing' songs.
However, the asterisks and bleeps intrigue me. All of the British teasing songs I know do not have a break for a bleep or asterisks, the substitute word that starts off the next line simply takes the place of the rude word. a la;

There was an old farmer who sat on a rick
ranting and raving and waving his
Arms to the people who sat on the walls
Teaching their children to play with their
Bow strings and kite strings as in days of yore
When along came a lady who looked like a
decent young lady who walked like a duck
She said she'd invented a new way to
Educate children to read and to write
While the parents in the farmyard were shovelling
Refuse from the back garden round to the front
While the maids in the tavern plucked hairs from their
Pullovers and jumpers ...... (No pauses)

It goes to an old Spanish waltz tune.