UNCLE BUD / BUGLE BLUES Words and music by Bob Miller
VERSE: Now I got a brand-new song And it ain’t so very long. It’s all right but the bass sounds wrong. Now, honey, this is how I started on the verse: I played some blues and it didn’t sound so worse, And then I had it haunt me, Bugle Blues! Yes, it originated down in Tennessee. That’s where they “thunk’d” up blue harmony. That’s why we named this melody Bugle Blues. Now you play this strain again, This jazzy bugle strain ’cause it leads to this odd refrain:
CHORUS 1: Uncle Bud is a man in full. Lordy, how he can shoot the bull! Uncle Bud, Uncle Bud, Uncle Buddie, Buddie, Buddie, Uncle Bud.
CHORUS 2: some folks say Uncle Bud is slow, But I laugh just because I know Uncle Bud, Uncle Bud, Uncle Buddie, Buddie, Buddie, Uncle Bud.
EXTRA CHORUSES FOR UNCLE BUD
3. I like whiskey; I like rye. Won’t drink corn ’cause it’s full of lye.
4. A mule is stubborn, will make you curse, But a prohi is even worse. [prohibitionist?]
5. My gal smokes and my gal chews. She’s getting smart readin’ Police Gazette news.
6. Uncle Bud, so they do tell, Knows just how to make moonshine well.
7. Uncle Bud sure can step ’em high. Gals all love him; just hear them cry—
8. When he’s mad, why, we clear the hall So we’ll have a good place to fall.
9. If Mack Sennett saw that gal of mine, I’d own his bathing beach in a little time.
10. McCormack sings well and always will, But my wife’s voice is better still.
11. When it rains, why, we leave it rain That’s what we do in Tennessee. [I don’t understand why this doesn’t rhyme.]
12. Little drug store, you’ve waited long. Now you’re admired by an anxious throng.
13. Moonshine’s daughter just pines in the hill. Don’t you worry; Uncle Bud loves your still.
14. Some folks say I was born a fool, But I got better sense than manicure a mule.
15. You can strut ’em clean to the pole If you got an ace in the hole.
16. Four aces beats a flush; that’s true; But if five naturals show, why, we’re gonna bury you.
17. You say you love me but you want a home. I’m gonna dig you one in some sandy loam.
18. I never hunger till I’m broke, Then I crave a pork chop poultice hanging round my throat.
19. Plead, sweet papa; plead your best. Little mama done found another nest.
20. Stay away from my door. Got another papa; can’t use you no more.
21. As I walked on through the hall, Found another mule in my stall.
22. Corn, white corn, look what you done: Made a little rabbit make the big lion run.
23. Death, O Death, where is thy sting? Sweet smellin’ mama done give back my ring.
24. Skeeter and bumblebee playing seven-up. Skeeter won but is afraid to pick it up.
25. The sun comes east; the sun sets west, But I know who can make moonshine best.
26. Uncle Bud is long and thin, But he’s a good man for the fix he’s in.