Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: Rustic Rebel Date: 28 Apr 05 - 07:20 PM Red Green does a lot of short songs. Here's one Life is like a river, it winds and ebbs and flows. And in the end, it'll probably shoot, water up your nose. |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: Folkiedave Date: 28 Apr 05 - 03:02 PM A you're adorable, B you're adorable, C. you're adorable too....... Dave |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: GUEST,Puffenkinty Date: 28 Apr 05 - 02:50 PM "Where have you been all the day, Randall, my son? Where have you been all the day, My handsome young one?" "None of your business, Mother." |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: JennyO Date: 28 Apr 05 - 12:07 PM The answer my friends The answer my friends The ants are my friends They are my friends. |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: GUEST,Pete Date: 28 Apr 05 - 11:33 AM The valiant ship The Anthracite, she sank in Plymouth Sound |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: GUEST,Bill the Collie Date: 28 Apr 05 - 02:13 AM Sorry, last guest wis me! |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: GUEST Date: 28 Apr 05 - 02:12 AM My old grandmaw when she very very old used to sing a song at family parties (in our house they were called drunken-auntie parties, can't remember why): Ye banks and braes o bonnie Doune I've jist stood up noo I'm gonny sit doon |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: GUEST,lamarca (cookieless) Date: 27 Apr 05 - 06:44 PM Parody of Willy O'Winsbury (learned from Martyn Wyndham-Read) Young Willy's knocked up the king's daughter Janet Now her apron strings won't tie down The king, bein' a pansy, Young Willy did fancy Now he's next in line for the crown... |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: Naemanson Date: 27 Apr 05 - 05:39 PM In Alan Lomax's Folk Songs Of North America there is one called My Sweetheart's A Mule. It's attributed to GG Korson's Minstrels Of the Mine Patch (1927) My sweetheart's a mule in the mines, I drive her without any lines, On the bumpers I sit and tobacco I spit, All over my sweetheart's behind. I learned it but my (ex-)wife hated it when I sang it. |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: Kim C Date: 27 Apr 05 - 04:51 PM Her Majesty's a pretty nice girl But she hasn't got a lot to say Her Majesty's a pretty nice girl But she changes from day to day Wanna tell her that I love her a lot But I gotta get a belly full of wine Her Majesty's a pretty nice girl Someday I'm gonna make her mine, oh yeah Someday I'm gonna make her mine. ---The Beatles. |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: ConcertinaChap Date: 27 Apr 05 - 04:40 PM Martin said to his man, "Sod off" Chris |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: frogprince Date: 27 Apr 05 - 04:35 PM Grab: pay attention; do you think that, 50 years ago, I heard Carl Sandburg sing an excerpt from a Garth Brooks song? Sandburg specifically referred to it as "the shortest blues song"; Brooks messed with that by including it in his song. It ticked me off when I heard Brooks do that. |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: JennyO Date: 27 Apr 05 - 11:15 AM The Oz version: "I'll sing of John Howard and the good things he's done." This is not a song, but a poem: "There was movement at the station For the word had passed around, That the colt from old Regret had got away - So they went out and brought him back." |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: Abby Sale Date: 27 Apr 05 - 08:40 AM There's a difference between travesties (for which you really need to know the base song) and genuine short ballads which stand alone. Here's my favorite: I Was Standing On the Corner (From Ed McCurdy) I was standing on the corner Just as lonely as could be, When up there came an ugly man And tied his horse to me. --- Actually, I've been collecting these for some while. Here's a few others: Bessie Bell and Mary Grey (Child #201) Bessie Bell and Mary Grey, They were twa bonnie lasses. They biggit their bower on yon burnside And thackit ower wi' rushes. They thackit ower wi' rushes green, They thackit ower wi' heather; But the plague cam' fae the borrow toon An' burried them baith thegaither ------------------------------------------- The Colorado Trail Eyes like the morning star, Cheeks like the rose, Laura was a pretty girl, Everybody knows. Weep all ye little rains, Wail winds wail, All along, along, along, The Colorado Trail. ---------------------- Dog Tick (from Peggy Seeger) Dog tick, dog tick, dog tick, 'bacco worm, Why can't a dog tick dance like a 'bacco worm? ------------- The Lady in Red (From Dr. IS Posen) See the lady in red, Makes her living on her bed. For fifteen cents she'll do it once; For twenty-five cents she'll do it twice. Here I stand With a nickel in my hand... Hey buddy, can you spare a dime. (Legman notes that the 15 cent price is part of the joke as it's ludicrously low. Typical depression-era low-cost cost was about $2, rising to $5 with the War. He suggests that the song may include the hidden admonition "that the reward of sin may not always necessarily be death, but it ain't much." ----------------------------- Bob-Tailed Mare As sung by Phil & Sid Taylor (Sifalid) of near Edinburgh Of all the horses in the merry green wood The bob-tailed mare bears the bells away. There is "Hey," there is "Ree," there is "Whoa" there is "Gee," But the bob-tailed mare bears the bells away. "Hey, Ree, Whoa, Gee," But the bob-tailed mare bears the bells away. --------------------------------------- There's many more verses but I think probably 99% of the times its actually sung, "Cottoneye Joe" is simply: Where did you come from? where did you go? Where did you come from, Cottoneye Joe? I come for to see you, come for to sing, Come for to show you my diamond ring. --------------------------------- The 1930'S (by Bob Davenport) The 1930's was always on my mind, So a steady job was the thing to find. Now as Wall Street totters and a slump grows near, Thank the Lord, I've got a barber's job...in a maternity ward. --------------------------------- Ye Can't Put Yer Muck in Oor Dustbin (Glasgow street song) Ye can't put yer muck in oor dustbin Oor dustbin, oor dustbin. Ye can't put yer muck in oor dustbin Oor dustbin, fu' --------------------------------- WAD YE DO THAT? (Robert Burns, in _Merry Muses of Caledonia_, page 14 Tune: John Anderson, my jo) Gudewife when your gudeman's frae hame, [away from] Micht I but be sae bauld, As come to your bed-chamber, When winter nichts are cauld; As come to your bedchamber, When nichts are cauld and wat; And lie in your gudeman's stead; Wad ye do that? Young man an ye should be so kind, When our gudeman's frae hame, As come to my bed-chamber, Where I am laid my lane; [alone] And lie in our gudeman's stead, I will tell ye what, He f---s me five times ilka nicht, [fucks, every] Wad ye do that? ------------------------------------- Supper Is Na Ready (Robert Burns, in _Merry Muses of Caledonia_, page 45, Tune: Clout the Cauldron - as they all are- learned from MacColl. That is, I did. I don't know where Burns got it.) Roseberry to his lady says, "My hinnie and my succour. "O shall we do the thing you ken, "Or shall we take our supper." Fal lal &c. [MacColl didn't sing "Fal lal &c."] Wi' modest face, sae fu' o' grace, Replied the bonny lady; "My noble lord do as ye please, "But supper is na ready." Fal lal &c. ---------------------------- My Brither Bill (Glasgow street song, per MacColl) My brither Bill's a fireman bold, He pits oot fires. Only twenty-three years old, He pits oot fires. He went to a fire the other night When somebody shouted, "Dynamite!" Wherever he is, he'll be all right. He pits oot fires. ---------------------------- My Ma's a Millionaire (Glasgow street song, per MacColl) My ma's a millionaire, Big feet and curley hair, Walking down Buchannan Street With her big banana feet My ma's a millionaire. ------------------------------ "Old Aunt Kate" (From Peggy Seeger) Old Aunt Kate she baked a cake She baked it 'hind the gar-den gate. She sift the meal and gimme the dust, She baked the bread and gimme the crust, She eat the meal and gimme the skin," And that's the way she took me in. ----------------------------------- Old Mother Riley (learned from Phil & Sid Taylor & in _101_ Scottish Songs) Old Mother Riley at the pawnshop door, Baby in her arms and a bundle on the floor. She asked for ten bob, she only got four, And she nearly pull't the hinges off the pawnshop door. ------------------------------------ Oor Cat's Deid (learned from Phil & Sid Taylor & in _101_ Scottish Songs) Lingle lingle lang tang oor cat's deid Whit did she dee wi'? Wi' a sair heid! A' ye that kent her When she was alive Come to her funeral Atween four and five. --------------------------------------- Siembamba (a S. African mother's song, per Marais & Miranda) Siembamba, momie's baby, Siembamba, momie's baby, Twist his neck and hit him on his head, Throw him in the ditch and he'll be dead. Siembamba, momie's baby, Siembamba, momie's baby, Just for love she throws him in the ditch, Momie's sweet little, sweet little.........baby. ============================================================= Some years back, Paul Stamler began to count words, seeking Shortest Stand-alone ballad. He offered the above-mentioned, "Papa loved mama" as being only 14 words. |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: Grab Date: 27 Apr 05 - 08:34 AM Frogprince, that's part of a longer song by Garth Brooks. Excerpts don't count! :-) Tom Paxton has lots of short songs. I like this one:- (Tune: Twinkle twinkle little star) "Tinky Winky must be gay", I heard Jerry Falwell say. "He is purple - and what's worse, Tinky Winky has a purse. That triangle on his head Is a symbol," Jerry said. But I think it's just a sign That Jerry has too much free time. |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: Big Al Whittle Date: 27 Apr 05 - 08:07 AM oh when I was just a wee liitle lad Full of health and joy My Grandad homeward came one night and he brought this toy it was a lovely sight to see all pretty colours bright i only started to have me doubts when he pulled off grandma's tights Cos she went oooh when it moved and ooooooooh when stopped and oooooooooooh when it stood still it was a rubber penis on a black and decker drill! |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: CStrong Date: 27 Apr 05 - 07:32 AM You'd better watch out You'd better not cry Better not pout, I'm tellin' you why: Santa Claus is dead." Don't sing it at the kids' show... |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: GUEST,Guest, Adam Date: 27 Apr 05 - 04:22 AM I hate to lengthen one of your short songs, but the B part of the Irish Washerwoman is: McTavish he suffered from peritonitis, His brother he suffered from chronic arthritis, And both of them died and oh my, how they cried When each of them found that the other had died. Pat Shuldham Shaw passed it on to lots of folk. |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: Lanfranc Date: 27 Apr 05 - 04:00 AM Another "Greensleeves" variant, from Derek Craft of 1812: "My darling, you look a bit of a mess When you wipe your nose on the sleeve of your dress It's most unhygienic you must confess It's no wonder the boys call you Greensleeves" And, to the tune of the Can-Can (Derek Craft again): "I know a girl called Lisa, she's a little teaser And she lives in Paris with a rich old geezer. So beautiful is Lisa, if she went to Pisa I am sure the tower would stand up straight" Alan |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: GUEST,Seaking Date: 27 Apr 05 - 03:16 AM Billy Connoly sang one about goldfish Oh the goldfish is a fine fish And he swims round and round Chorus ...and round and round, and round and round, and round and round , and round and round Repeat Chorus |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: GUEST,banjoman Date: 26 Apr 05 - 09:46 AM Heard this Pete Seeger rendition a few years ago: Why do Scotsmen leave the country Why do Scotsmen emigrate They're all following the whisky Thats exported by the crate. |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: GUEST,The Barden of England at work Date: 26 Apr 05 - 08:54 AM "Were you ever in Quebec"? - "Non" |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: GUEST Date: 26 Apr 05 - 08:44 AM The Corries used to sing: My brother Bill's a fireman bold, he pits oot fires. He's only twenty seven years old, he pits oot fires. Oneday a fire he did fight, Somebody shouted dynamite. Where he is now he'll be alright. He pits oot fires. |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: GUEST,Redhorse at work Date: 26 Apr 05 - 08:26 AM As the B side of one of his records, Shel Silverstein recorded: "All my friends keep telling me my songs are much too long So I've just gone and wrote myself a twenty-six second song". There was a one verse intro, or it would only have been thirteen seconds nick |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: Naemanson Date: 26 Apr 05 - 07:59 AM You want short songs? I heard this one at Mystic several years ago. It is sung to the tune of The Mermaid. The title is longer than the song. The title is "The true Story of the only voyage of His Swedish Majesty's Famous and Most Powerful Warship, The Vasa." And the song goes: It was Friday morn and we set sail, And we sank to the bottom of the sea. |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: GUEST,Fullerton Date: 26 Apr 05 - 05:44 AM Mr. Carthy once sang....... As I was a goin to the fair in a fie, I spied a girls petticoat hanging to dry, So I took off my trousers and hung 'em close by, For to keep that girls petticoat warm. The petticoat flapped and it made a loud noise, It flounced and it fluttered, lost feminine poise, And it wrapped round the legs of me old corduroys....... Oh Trousers I hope your on form Anyone know where this came from? |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: GUEST,Fullerton Date: 26 Apr 05 - 05:39 AM My love he has listed .... to fourty -five degrees |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: GUEST,scouse Date: 26 Apr 05 - 04:57 AM Then there's.... I went down to Sammy's Bar...It was closed!! Tom Pierce,Tom Pierce,Lend I your grey Mare...No!! Were have you been all day Henry my Son...Out!! As Aye, Phil |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: George Papavgeris Date: 26 Apr 05 - 04:12 AM The good ship Agamemnon - sank |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: Mark Cohen Date: 26 Apr 05 - 03:26 AM It's words that have been put to the bugle call "Taps": Day is done Gone the sun From the lakes, from the hills, from the sky All is well Safely rest God is nigh We learned it summer camp in Pennsylvania back in the 60s. Aloha, Mark |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: matai Date: 26 Apr 05 - 03:22 AM Nobody has come up with this so far day is done gone the sun --- -- --- --- -- --- --- -- --- all is well safely rest god is nigh Some kind of salute isn't it and can you fill in the missing words? |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: Mark Cohen Date: 26 Apr 05 - 03:15 AM Out in the West Texas town of El Paso, One little kiss, and Felina, goodbye Or a variant from o'er the ocean: Out in the West Irish county of Mayo I fell in love with a Mayonnaise girl Alan Sherman had a bunch on his "My Son the Folksinger" album--longer than two lines, but still fun: I gave my love a cherry, it had no stone I gave my love a chicken, it had no bone I gave my love a baby, and then you see My love got very angry and she said to me "I didn't mind the cherry, without the stone I didn't mind the chicken, without the bone But when you give a baby, there's just one thing You oughta give at least an engagement ring!" Jascha got a bottle of Geritol, Geritol, Geritol Jascha got a bottle of Geritol And he knocked a hole in the wall That's all No wall Oh, I'm Melvin Rose of Texas And my friends all call me Tex When I lived in old New Mexico They used to call me Mex When I lived in old Kentucky They called me Old Kentuck I was born in old Shamokin Which is why they call me Melvin Rose Aloha, Mark |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: Sandy Paton Date: 26 Apr 05 - 02:46 AM Has anyone posted this 'un? My sweetheart's a mule in the mines; I drive her without any lines. On the bumper I sit, I chew and I spit All over my sweetheart's behind. Or this one that I learned from John Greenway in Boulder, Colorado, 1959: Pa didn't raise no corn this year, Pa didn't raise no termaters. He had bad luck with the cabbage crop, But, oh, my God, them 'taters! Sixty cent pertaters! Right nigh six-bit pertaters! He had bad luck with the cabbage crop, But, oh, my God, them 'taters! And Jeannie Robertson sang this one for me (Aberdeen, Scotland, 1958): Maggie, Maggie, Come and kiss your Sandy. Come awa' and spoon wi' me In beneath this bramble tree. Oh, Maggie, Maggie, Ye set my heart on fire. If it wasnae for my wife I'd mak' ye Mrs. McIntyre! And, finally, from Mike Meyers, in England, 1957: Oh the black cat piddled in the white cat's eye, The white cat said "Cor Blimey!" The black cat said, "You silly sod, You shouldn't stand behind me!" Enuff, already! |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: Liz the Squeak Date: 26 Apr 05 - 02:44 AM Let every man so pitch his somg, Then start again, he's got it wrong..... Bluebells are blue bells, bluebells are blue. Bluebells are blue because blue bells are blue. second verse, same as the first, little bit louder, little bit worse BLUEBELLS ARE BLUE BELLS, BLUEBELLS ARE BLUE. BLUEBELLS ARE BLUE BECAUSE BLUE BELLS ARE BLUUUUUUUUUUUUUEEEEEE!! (blame Lady P for that one.....) LTS |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: Ernest Date: 26 Apr 05 - 02:18 AM by Mark Gillespie, as far as I know: Here`s a little song it`s not too long It`s almost finished and now it`s gone |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: Cap't Bob Date: 26 Apr 05 - 12:17 AM Mason Williams: Them Hors D'Oeuvres: How about them Hors D'oeuvres, ain't they sweet? Little piece of cheese and little piece of meat! Cap't Bob |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: Scotus Date: 25 Apr 05 - 10:12 PM At Auchtermuchty Festival about 9 years ago, during the last night final mass sing I started 'Oh dae you see yon high hill, a' covered wi' snaw'. John Watt seated in the front row shouted "NO" Jack Beck |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: Micca Date: 25 Apr 05 - 05:37 PM " I'll sing you one oh" Oh No you wont you know "Were you ever on the Congo River?" No " Somewhere the sun is shining away up in the sky " but its pi**ing down here " Alas, my love, you do me wrong, To cast me off discourteously. For I have loved you well and long, Delighting in your company. Greensleeves was all my joy Greensleeves was my delight, Greensleeves was my heart of gold, Until she dyed them Chocolate brown" |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: GUEST,Jim I Date: 25 Apr 05 - 05:34 PM I you were the only girl in the world And I was the only boy Nothing... |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: kendall Date: 25 Apr 05 - 05:29 PM My Bonnie leaned over the gas tank It's contents she wanted to see She lit up a match to assist her Oh, bring back my Bonnie to me. |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: PoohBear Date: 25 Apr 05 - 05:20 PM On the bosum of a young abigail Was written the price of her tail. And upon her behind, for the use of the blind, Was the same information in Braille Courtesy of The Corries. PB |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: Kitty Date: 25 Apr 05 - 04:40 PM These are just getting better and better the other Kitty |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: Herga Kitty Date: 25 Apr 05 - 04:30 PM The keeper would a shooting go But on the way he dropped his bow. It's true my love has listed to 45 degrees. Did you ever see a wild goose sailing over the ocean? - no Kitty |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: Bill D Date: 25 Apr 05 - 04:27 PM "You done stole my wiiiiiiiffeeee.....you hoss thief" |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: Bill D Date: 25 Apr 05 - 04:26 PM Michael, row the boat ashore, For I fear I've lost my oar. |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: frogprince Date: 25 Apr 05 - 04:15 PM Heard live on television, long years ago, sung by Carl Sandburg: "Papa loved mamma; mamma loved men; mamma's in the graveyard; Papa's in the pen". Using it as part of a longer song is a sacrilige, dammit! |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: Severn Date: 25 Apr 05 - 03:04 PM As far as actual traditional ones, I always loved this one (to the tune of "The Irish Washerwoman"): Oh, MacTavish is dead and his brother don't know it His brother is dead and MacTavish don't know it They're both of them dead And they're in the same bed And there's neither one knows that the other is dead It was Frank Warner I first heard sing it, if memory serves. I always thoughtit would be the perfect thing to tack onto the end of a long instrumental medley. |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: Malc R Date: 25 Apr 05 - 02:52 PM a bluesy type number "I woke up yesterday morning...." stop - start again "I woke up this morning..." stop - start again "If I wake up tomorrow morning .. that'll be three in a row" Mal |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: NH Dave Date: 25 Apr 05 - 02:42 PM Ill submit one that the RNZAF folks used to sing about the British, I'll sing you a song That's not very long All Pomes are bastards! This was ammended in our honor with the last line, You Yanks can't play cricket! Dave |
Subject: RE: Really really short songs From: GUEST Date: 25 Apr 05 - 02:37 PM The end |
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