THE GREAT AMERICAN BUM
(traditional)
Come all you jolly jokers if you want to have some fun
And listen while I relate the tale of the great American bum.
From the east and west and north and south like a swarm of bees they come.
They sleep in the dirt and they wear a shirt that's dirty and full of crumbs.
(chorus)
I am a bum, a jolly old bum
And I live like a royal Turk.
And I have good luck and I bum all my chuck
And the heck with the man that works.
It's early in the morning when the dew is on the ground,
A bum arises from his nest and gazes all around.
While going east they're loaded, and going west sealed tight,
"I reckon we'll have to ride aboard the fast express tonight."
(chorus)
Well, I met a man the other day that I never met before,
And he asked me if I wanted a job a-shovelin' iron ore.
I asked him what the wages was and he said: "ten cents a ton."
I said: "Old fellow, scratch your …neck, I'd rather be on the bum.
(chorus)
Oh, lady would you be kind enough to give me somethin' to eat,
A piece of bread and butter and a tender slice of meat.
Some apple pie and custard just to tickle me appetite,
For really I'm so hungry, don't know where I'll sleep tonight.
(chorus)
Some sources attribute the song to Harry McClintock, who wrote "Big Rock Candy Mountain." Dick Greenhaus, you know about these things - did McClintock write "Bum"?? I found the song in the Silverman "Folk Song Encyclopedia," with no songwriter named.
MIDI file: GREATA~1.MID
Timebase: 192
Name: The Great American Bum
Text: By (traditional)
TimeSig: 6/8 24 8
Start
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EndThis program is worth the effort of learning it.
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ABC format:
X:1
T:The Great American Bum
M:6/8
Q:1/4=120
K:C
GG2EE2|EE2EE2|EE2EF2|ED5|DD2DDD|DD2DDD|DG2GFE|
DC4G|GG2EE2|EE2EE2|E/2E/2E2EF2|ED5|DDDDDD|
DD2DD2|DGGGF2|DC5|GG2EE2|EEEEEE|EEEEF2|ED5|
D/2D/2D2DDD|DDDDDD|DGGGF2|DC5|-C2||
Click Here for 1928 recording and sheet music by Harry McClintock