Animal Songs

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: JenEllen
Date: 30 Dec 99 - 01:43 AM

Susan: William the Streak sounds perfect...thanks

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Susan A-R
Date: 30 Dec 99 - 09:46 PM

I'm pretty sure Bob Franke does have a website. I ran across it about three years ago, so I'd guess it is still there, with lyrics. We also had a thread on a great song about a pig

[TAILS AND TROTTERS]

What'll I be when I get older
You're bacon, butt and picnic shoulder
All my sons and all my daughters
are hocks and hams and tails and trotters.

The piglet does escape and becomes executive pork. I believe it's on the Bok Muir Tricket So May We Yet album.

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: kendall
Date: 21 Feb 00 - 06:27 PM

O'Gradys Goat??

...they were having a party at McNills and they were having fun,
all of a sudden An earthquake come and everybody run,
the oyster stew fell on the floor and nearly drowned the cat,
the stove was smashed to smithereens and O'Grady's goat done that..

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Osmium
Date: 21 Feb 00 - 06:39 PM

How about the Beatles "Blackbird singing in the dead of the night" - or is this to knew to be folk yet?

Subject: Lyr Add: BONGOLO / BONGOLOLO
From: Osmium
Date: 21 Feb 00 - 07:05 PM

I grew up in Africa and there was a legendary beast called Bongolo which was a jet black centipede about 6 inches long who would always turn up in the playground when least expected. We would play for a while and then in a moment of distraction the bongololo would have disappeared although quite how would be a mystery as it always seemed to move very slowly but disappear very quickly. Later said Bongolo would turn up wherever we went and the modern myth is that it's in fact the same one. So I wrote this song to celebrate a bit of my childhood.

And whether great or whether small
my favourite animal of all
Has a thousand legs or maybe more
and goes bongololo when he's sure

First he looks this way and then he looks that
as if he was waiting to take off his hat
But hat he has not, nor tail, nor ears
and when long thin and black maybe no fears

When moving along he goes at great speed
one bong and a go, one lo and a bong
which is why we gave him a name to pay heed
to follow these moves takes animal creed

But there is one secret I have to tell
look away for a sec and all won't be well
For when you look back he's sure to be gone
and the theory of this is the rest of my song

for when you are watching my little black friend
his legs go very fast but his body's no end
and when you are not his legs go very slow
but his body goes BONG as a rocket might go.

there's another verse but my finger is tired. I don't have a tune for it - any suggestions?

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Molly Malone
Date: 22 Feb 00 - 12:15 PM

Scroll down here and look for Ded Bob's Dysfunctional Farm. You can change the name...but I thought you might enjoy it.

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Bert
Date: 22 Feb 00 - 12:51 PM

The old sow song

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: GUEST
Date: 22 Feb 00 - 01:31 PM

Sow took the measles,
Derby Ram,
The Peeler and the Goat,
The Wonderful Crocodile,
Mairzy Doats,
Three little fishies,
Carrion Crow,
Three Ravens,
Bangum and the Boar,
St. George and the Dragon,
Scewball,
Creeping Jane and a host of Westerns involving horses,
Leather-winged bat,
Possum up a gum tree,
Cow-cow boogie,
and on and on.

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Amos
Date: 22 Feb 00 - 01:56 PM

And the Unicorn song...

..there! I said it! And I'm glad, d'ye hear me! GLAD!!!

(Exit stage right pursued by three green alligators, and a long-necked goose, en route to the Neil Young Centre...

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Gypsy
Date: 22 Feb 00 - 06:34 PM

And I second the Unicorn Song! And Puff the magic Dragon!

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: JenEllen
Date: 22 Feb 00 - 06:38 PM

Aw crap...we'll be killed......

Thanks all for the new leads. 10 days till showtime. Elle

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Osmium
Date: 22 Feb 00 - 07:11 PM

This is a test of line breaks /B/ and

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: GutBucketeer
Date: 23 Feb 00 - 12:01 AM

I found one of my favorite song books in my local library.

Check out your local library for "Animal Folk Songs For Children" by Ruth Crawford Seeger. There are two matching cassettes put together by the Seeger Kids that sing most of the songs.

It is a great source for traditional songs about animals and the cassettes are fantastic.

JAB

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Joe Offer
Date: 05 Sep 04 - 12:51 AM

Take a listen to the tunes Gargoyle submitted for "Bestiary" and "Doolan's Cat." "Doolan's Cat" has a tune reminiscent of parts of "The Marvelous Toy."
Thanks, Gargoyle.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: GUEST,Observer
Date: 05 Sep 04 - 04:04 PM

What about Mr. Rabbit??

Subject: Lyr Add: SKUNK SONG (aka ZaZuZa)
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 05 Sep 04 - 07:16 PM

Kids truly love this song (they will sing it till adults want to scream)

First heard at a kid's campfire circa 1962.

SKUNK SONG (aka ZaZuZa)

CHORUS:
ZaZu, Za Zu, ZaZU, ZA
ZaZu, Za Zu, ZaZu, ZA
ZaZu, Za Zu, ZaZU, ZA
ZaZU, Za Zu, ZaZu, ZA

I'm a stinky little skunk
Hiding under someone's bunk
I'm as sad, as I can be
Nooo-o-body want's to play with me.

CHORUS:

I'm a stinky little skunk
Hiding under _____(give name and point)'s bunk
I'm as glad, as I can be
I found someone who smells like me.

CHORUS:

Sincerely, Gargoyle

---

Click to play

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Joe Offer
Date: 06 Sep 04 - 06:47 PM

I just added Gargoyle's transcription of the "Skunk Song" tune. Sound to me like a tune I heard as a kid, a song in which every line ended in "tiny-o." That's all I can recall. Can anybody help me remember?
-Joe Offer, foggily-

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: GUEST,Murkey
Date: 06 Sep 04 - 07:02 PM

Another good Leon Rosselson song is, The Neighbour's Cat..

Trad. wise, try the excellent Broomfield Hill, where the lord complains to his hawk and horse they didn't wake him up so he could kill the lady!

Murk

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Jen M
Date: 06 Sep 04 - 08:44 PM

Joe, It's the tune to Tideo

Pass one window tideo
Pass two windows Tideo
Pass three windows Tideo
Jingle at the window Tideo
jinglen Jinglen Jinglen Joe
Jingle at the window Tideo
jinglen Jinglen Jinglen Joe
Jingle at the window Tideo

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 07 Sep 04 - 12:43 AM

Jen M - when / where did you first hear "Tideo"

Enquiring minds want to know.


Sincerely,

Gargoyle

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Jen M
Date: 07 Sep 04 - 07:01 AM

I really don't remember when I first heard it, I refreshed my memory of it when my daughter (a music ed major) was getting ready to teach it in a summer class. I'll be teaching it today as I once again sart the school year substitute teaching in elementary music. ( And me unable to play a single instrument!)

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: rumanci
Date: 07 Sep 04 - 10:57 AM

Forgive me if they've been mentioned already ........but I don't think they have.
There are two volumes in print available of Richard Digance's "Animal Alphabets" ....... mostly humorous, and all eminently singable ....at least by him *g*

Subject: Lyr Add: CROCODILE ROLL + BUDGIE SONG
From: Muttley
Date: 21 Apr 07 - 11:34 AM

Dunno if you've had these suggested:
BILL THE CAT

We had a cat: His name was Bill
He caught our budgie on the window-sill
One holy day; One Sunday morn
Left only feathers on our back lawn

Oh, no, Bill! You can't do that
You silly pussy; You stupid cat
So we took him down: Our family pet
And we left his balls, with the family vet

[strumming and cat yowling sounds in background]

Well the very next day, he packed his bags
Left all his Penthouse and Playboy mags
How could we do it; To the family pet
Go and leave his balls with the family vet

[spoken] Well we get no postcards; No telephone calls
         He's out in the bush somewher - with no balls
         And he's obsessed, with sweet revenge
         So eats our parrots. And our fairy wrens.

[chorus] Yes He's mortified and we all regret
         That we left his balls with the family vet [repeat]

[change of key]

Now he's highly sought, by the feral choir
For his new-found talent, to sing much higher
Has no more time; For female friends
Just for parrots - and Fairy Wrens

[spoken] No sense of humour. Ex-family pet
         It still hurts: He can't forget
         He's still angry: He's still upset
         That we left his balls with the family vet

[chorus to finish]

OR

CROCODILE ROLL

Hav'n a barbie by the river - with no-one else around
A tropical honeymoon; Knockin a four-ex down
She was standin in the water, eatin a pumpkin scone
when (chomp) - - - she was gone!

And they were doin' the Crocodile Roll: The woman and the reptile
Doin' the Crocodile Roll; In the middle of the river

Down came her husband. with a gun and a carving knife
To slaughter every crocodile for takin 'is darling wife
[spoken with a pronounced stutter - in whiney old man's voice]

Y-you c-c-can't g-g-g-go round eatin' Q-Q-Q-Queenslanders you overgrown g-g-g-goannas; I'll turn you all into sh-shoes (CHOMP) oooh!

And they were doin' the Crocodile Roll: The husband and the reptile
Doin' the Crocodile Roll; In the middle of the river

Down came his bloodhound; with mangy, curly hair
Picked up the scent; away he went; bum in the air
Then the dog got carried away and ran out on a log
An' (CHOMP) Guess what! No more dog!

And they were doin' the Crocodile Roll: The canine and the reptile
Doin' the Crocodile Roll; In the middle of the river

Down come a wild pig: rootin' all around
The little swine drank some wine and really pigged it out
Then the crocodile chased him 'round
An' the little pig yelled "Up Yours!"
(CHOMP) Into another croc's jaws!

And they were doin' the Crocodile Roll: The porker and the reptile
Doin' the Crocodile Roll; In the middle of the river

There's no moral to the story; just a brand-new dance
Grab your partner by the neck and swing your crocodile pants
Dip your toe in the water, are you ready for romance?
Swirl your tail around the floor; c'mon take a chance!
Now you'rE doin' the crocodile roll; stirrin' up the mud
Doin' the crocodile roll in the middle of the river
They were doin' the Crocodile Roll: stirrin' up the mud crabs
Doin' the Crocodile Roll; In the middle of the river.


OR

THE BUDGIE SONG

Well it cost me thirty bucks to fix me Budgie
When the little blighter only cost me five
The veterinary surgeon saw me coming
But I had to keep my 'feathered friend' alive

He was shakin' on his perch; the kids were crying
The family gathered 'round hi little cage
I said "I think it's time we got a new one"
That's when the family went into a rage!

Oh the waiting-room ponged like a rat-house
With heart-worm and lung-worm and lice
And a Persian had its eye on the shoe-box
I suppose she thought our Budgie might be nice.

Well the bird shit on the veterinary surgeon
I heard him say "the dirty little chick"
Guess he wondered why I didn't use m' brains
And hit him over the head with a brick

[chorus]Oh! Antibiotics for his colour
       Three drops a day on his beak
       Some powder on the nose for his feathers
       And clean out his cage twice a week

Well it cost me thirty bucks to fix me Budgie
When the little blighter only cost me five
And the bludger wakes me early in the morning
It's got me puzzled how he survives

One night I'll feed him to the tom cat
Instead of worrying about him when we go away
No-one wants to feed a shitty Budgie
When everyone's on holiday

[finish with the chorus - twice]

You can clean it up by singing 'pooped' instead of shit in V4
and skungey (pronounced 'skun-gee') instead of 'shitty' in V6

OR
OLD MAN EMU

Let me tell you bout an interview with an old man emu
He's got a beak and feathers and things
But the poor old feller ain't got no wings
Aren't you jealous of the wedge-tailed eagle
'oom-ba-da-little-la-dah-dah
While the eagle's flyin' round an' round; I keep me two feet firmly on the ground
Now I can't fly, but I'm tellin' you -
I can run the pants off a kangaroo!

Ba da doo doo da doo doo doo: Doo da doot doot doo doo
He can't fly but i'm tellin you -
he can run the pants off a kangaroo.

Well he was the model for the fifty cents
Oom ba da ... (etc)
The designer should've had more sense
Oom ba da ... (etc)
If ya take a look it'll prove to you ...
I ran the pants of the kangaroo
Ba da doo doo da ... (etc)

Ya can't loop-theloop like a cockatoo
oom ba da little la dah dah
Swoop an toss like an albatross
oom ba da ...(etc)

[spoken]
Ya silly galah, I'm better by far
Than a white cockatoo or a budgerigah (pron: Budge-er-ee-gar)
They squeak an squawk an try t' talk
Why me an them's like cheese an' chalk

Ba da doo ...(etc)

Dingo came around one day
oom ba da ...(etc)
Hey there, emu; Ya wanna play?
Oom ba da ... (etc)
But the emu was too smart for him
walked right up an' kicked him in the shins

Ba da doo doot ...(etc)

Well the last time I saw old man emu
oom ba da ...(etc)
He was chasing a female he knew
oom ba da ...(etc)
As he shot past I heard him say
[very heavy panting followed by narration in TOTALLY puffed out voice]
She can't fly but I'm tellin' you ......
She can run the pants off a kangaroo!

Well there is a moral to this ditty
oom ba da ... (etc)
Thrush can sing, but he ain't pretty
Oom ba da ... (etc)
Duck can swim, but he can't sing, nor can the eagle on the wing
Emu can't fly but I'm tellin' you
He can run the pants off a kangaroo
Well the kookaburra laughed and he said "it's true"
Oom ba da ... (etc)
Ha ha ha ha hoo hoo hoo! He can run the pants off a kangaroo.

OR (a sensitive one)
GOODBYE BLINKY BILL

Oh goodbye Bunyip Bluegum; Goodbye Blikky Bill
And beautiful little Nutsie; I can't believe it
Our koalas are all dying can it really be?
A national disaster; a world catastrophe

Shiny little black nose and fluffy little ears
Furry little bundle, soaking up the tears
Oh Snugglepot and Cuddlepie are crying in the rain
And Wombat's gone into his hole and won't come out . . . .

[chorus]
Oh pass the hat around between your friends
There's no time to contemplate
Maybe if we show some love; maybe it's not too late

'Cause Blinky Bill is dying: Cross him off the list
Knock on doors, ring the bell, save the Eucalypt
I don't think I could stand the shame, knowing that I could ...
Have saved the world from losing something beautiful and good

[chorus]

One doctor on the job is hardly enough
One little hospital: Wake up, Australia!
It's our corner of the world; time to pull our weight
What would we tell our children about our little mate?

[Repeat verse one]

[finish with chorus]

NOTE:

Blinky Bill, Nutsie and Wombat are all characters in favourite traditional children's story books "The Complete Adventures of Blinky Bill" by Dorothy Wall; while Snugglepot and Cuddlepie are "Gumnut Babies" - the creation of English-born writer May Gibbs who, after settling in Australia, decided we needed our own 'indigenous' fairy stories and traditions. And so "The Complete Adventures of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie" was born

These songs are all the creation of Australian songwriter and singer John Williamson. His 25th Anniversary CD of "True Blue" should have all five songs and I can supply chords as I play them as well.

I can also answer any questions on colloquialisms and Australianisms you might find 'odd'.

Muttley

There are also

"Somebody's Moggy" by Eric Bogle - sung in a barber-shop quartet-like mode or "Nobody's Moggy" sung to the tune of "No Man's Land - the Green Fields of France". I can supply the words to both of these as well if you wish

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Muttley
Date: 21 Apr 07 - 11:42 AM

Sorry: Buggered up a couple of lines.

From - CROCODILE ROLL

The verse with the husband SHOULD have ended:

Y-you c-c-can't g-g-g-go round eatin Q-Q-Q-Queenslanders you overgrown g-g-g-goannas; I'll turn you all into sh-shoes (CHOMP) oooh!
It was in the news!

And they were....... etc

And from OLD MAN EMU

The chorus after the "dingo" verse is different to the other choruses. It SHOULD read:


Ba da doo doo da doo doo doo: Doo da doot doot doo doo
He can't fly but i'm tellin you -
he can run the pants off a dingo too.
(Oh, Yeah! But 'e 'ad t' kick me in the shins, first!)

Sorry

Mutt

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: GUEST,Jennifer
Date: 22 Jun 07 - 12:53 PM

Hi there, I've been searching for the words of the Animal Song, We're off to the Animal Fair (Wild West Show, and you have written one of the verses

Oh, We're goin' to the Wild West Show:
We'll see the elephant and the wild kangaroo.
Never mind the weather, As long as we're together.
We're going to the wild west show!

I've been searching everywhere for this song, do you have any other verses?

If I'm going about this the wrong way, please forgive me, I've never partaken in 'Threads (?)" before
Many thanks

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Rog Peek
Date: 22 Jun 07 - 01:35 PM

I don't think anyone has mentioned 'The Vicar and the Frog'.

If they have then apologies.

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Debbie in Utah
Date: 22 Jun 07 - 07:59 PM

Some I remember my father singing include -

Song of the Birds:
"Oh," said a shike-poke (?) to a crane,
"What would happen if it didn't come rain?
The lakes and the ponds would all go dry,
If it wasn't for the tadpoles, we'd all die,
If it wasn't for the tadpoles we'd all die."
(5 more verses)
The Swallow Song:
Come wander quietly and listen to the wind.
Come here and listen to my song....
*it's on this website, but I haven't yet mastered a "blue clicky"

The Jealous Rooster:
Well a hen and a rooster lived away out west,
Said the rooster to the hen, "Hun, I love you best."
Said the hen to the rooster, "Hun, oh how you lie!
I saw you in the alley with a big Shanghai."
CH: "Oh, ain't it so?" "Honey I don't know."
"Honey don't you lie to me,
Cuz I ain't as dumb as I used to be."
(5 more verses)

NOBODY MENTIONED "LA CUCARACHA!!!" Hard to believe...

Or, The Preacher and the Bear....

Or Strawberry Roan, or Zebra Dun...

The last one that comes to mind at the moment is "Wee Wang," in the language of the Meewak Indians of the northern Sierra in California. Chief Leme (means Rippling Waters) taught it to my father back in the 1930's. It's about a fawn who sees his mother killed by a hunter and cries (breaks your heart to hear it in the song). He decides to go into the valley where the grass is plentiful, and when he becomes an old stag he will return to the place where his mother was shot and let the hunter kill him too. It contains the word Ah-Wah-Nee (ever heard of the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park?), which means Deep grassy Valley.

I have a little more info on some of these from my father's notes, if anyone is interested, but I haven't had time or internet access until recently to do proper research on them.

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Joe_F
Date: 22 Jun 07 - 08:53 PM

Among Flanders & Swann songs, in addition to the hippopotamus & the gnu already mentioned, I am fond of the sloth and the armadillo (Vive l'amour, vive l'armadillo).

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: LeTenebreux
Date: 14 Jan 08 - 09:37 AM

I must confess a certain fondness for a Greek children's song called "To Kokoraki". Flanders and Swann sang it to great comic effect.

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: GUEST,Bill Ladmer
Date: 24 Aug 08 - 10:43 PM

Looking for a song Pete Seeger used to sing at shows. It was about dogs at a party having to leave quickly so they grabbed the wrong behinds, and that's why to this day they smell other dogs' behinds trying to find their own. Can anyone help? [The Dogs' Party?]

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 25 Aug 08 - 02:54 AM

Heard it as a story, not a song. Used to be whole (no pun intended) repertoire at one time of how various animals.......etc
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 25 Aug 08 - 03:21 AM

The Cat Came Back is brilliant.

Have you considered Eric Bogel's Song of the Humpback - haunting and contains message that sympathises with plight of whale.

Song of the Humpback lyrics

For humour - there is Will the Turtle be Unbroken, sung to the tune of Will the Circle be Unbroken by Les Bqarker (I think).

Will the Turtle Be Unbroken lyrics

Good luck and wishing your event much success.

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Aug 08 - 04:50 AM

Paddy McGinty's Goat and Delaney's Donkey

Subject: Lyr Add: THE HEN AND THE ROOSTER
From: GUEST,greg
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 08:19 PM

This is a follow-up on Debbie from Utah's post above.
Here are all the words to the hen and the rooster from my dad's version, but if anyone knows more verses, I'd be happy to have them:

The hen and the rooster lived away out west,
said the hen to the rooster, "hun, I love you best"
said the rooster to the hen, "hun, I know you lie,
since I saw you in the alley with a big Shanghai".

Ain't it so
now listen honey, I don't know.
Now sweetie don't you lie to me,
cuz' I'm not as dumb as I used to be.

I once knew a doctor by the name of Peck.
He fell into the well and broke his gosh-darned neck.
It served him right that he broke his bones,
he should have tended to the sick and left the well alone.

Ain't it so.....etc

We put some Easter eggs under our old hen,
for the kids to find on Easter morning,...then
the rooster came in and saw the green and red
Hopped the fence and killed the neighbor's peacock dead.

Ain't it so....etc

I bought a pair of combination underwear,
to keep out the cold and the wintery air.
I wore 'em six months, and without exaggeration,
when I went to take them off I had forgot the combination.

Ain't it so....etc

I went to a dance last Saturday night,
when all at once, I had a terrible fright.
I heard a loud rip, and I knew at a glance,
that I was quickly losin' my desire to dance.

Ain't it so.....etc

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: maple_leaf_boy
Date: 19 Nov 08 - 09:02 PM

Carrion Crow.

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: GUEST
Date: 04 Jan 09 - 12:30 AM

Pls advise if somebody has lyrics of Richard Digance's poem The Bear, started as follows:

"When a bear held a fancy dress party...?"


from "The Nation's Favourite Children's Poems" of BBC?

Rgds,
Alex, Odessa, Ukraine

Subject: Lyr Add: I HATES ELEPHANTS (SPB Cooperator)
From: SPB-Cooperator
Date: 04 Jan 09 - 03:50 AM

I hates elephants, I do!
I hates elephants, I do!
Elephants they are not nice
And while I'm at it, I don't like mice
I hates Elephants, I do!

I hates Aardvarks, I do!
I hates Aardvarks, I do!
I don't like the Aardvark's nose
And I hates hippos I suppose
I hates Aardvarks, I do!

I hates lions, I do!
I hates lions, I do!
I don't lik ethe lion's roar
And I don't like the tiger's claw
I hates lions, I do!

I hates wallabies, I do!
I hates wallabies, I do!
I don't like the way they jump
And camels just give me the hump
I hates wallabies, I do!

I hates peoples, I do!
I hates peoples, I do!
Peoples just get in the way
Why can't they all go away?
I hates peoples, I do!

I don't want to go home!
I don't want to go home!
Why must we go? Why can't we stay?
Why can't we be at the zoo all day?
I don't want to go home!

hates elephants, I do!
I hates elephants, I do!
Elephants they are not nice
And while I'm at it, I don't like mice
I hates Elephants, I do!

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: GUEST,koko
Date: 28 Aug 10 - 11:45 AM

someone mentioned "I'm Proud to be a Moose"
It's a Dave Van Ronk original that was on his Peter & The Wolf album

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: GUEST,koko
Date: 28 Aug 10 - 11:48 AM

apologies...it was preformed by DVR, but it's written by Willie Nininger(sp?)

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: MorwenEdhelwen1
Date: 27 May 11 - 01:06 AM

"My Donkey Wants Water", also called "Hold 'Em Joe" and "Sly Mongoose" are about animals.

Subject: Lyr Add: IF I WERE A MOOSE (Fred Small)
From: wysiwyg
Date: 04 Mar 16 - 07:50 PM

IF I WERE A MOOSE
Fred Small
© FREDERICK E. SMALL D/B/A PINE BARRENS MUSIC


1. If I were a moose and you were a cow
Would you love me anyhow?
Would you introduce me to your folks
Would you tell your friends, "No moose jokes!"
If I were a moose and you were a cow

2. Would you invite me to your club
And risk a cruel bovine snub
Would you lead me down the receiving line
And boldly boast, "This moose is mine!"
Would your parents watch us graze
Shake their heads, "It's just a phase"
Or would they thank the stars above
Their precious heifer's found her love?

3. Would your grandparents change their will?
They'd really expected a Holstein bull
"For this, we toiled before the plow
You bring home someone who's not even a cow
"There's lots of proper stock around
Like that nice young Guernsey at Farmer Brown's
Or that last one we ridiculed and cursed
On second thought you could do worse

4. "But if you think this thing will last
Could he learn to moo and eat our grass
Shed his antlers in the dirt
Could you persuade him to convert?"

5. If our anatomies did not quite fit
Would you make the best of it
Would you nuzzle up so near
And hum sweet cow tunes in my ear?
Or would you sadly break it off
When all the hillside sneered and scoffed
"You know these moose are all the same
They're lazy, they're stupid, they come from Maine"

6. It's true things slip a moose's mind
That cows remember all the time
Bulbous nose and knobby knees
A coat that harbors ticks and fleas
But a moose can be a handy thing
When hungry wolves come visiting
In icy gust of winter storm
Our fur is deep and dry and warm

7. And someday should your milk run dry
And farmer stare with baleful eye
In dead of night, I'd slip your noose
And lead you home to the land of moose
If I were a moose and you were a cow


bridge:
If hunters came to do me harm
Would you hide me in the barn
Would all the herd come on the run
And glare until they dropped their guns?

8. Might you permit a goodnight kiss
Could you learn to love wet moose lips?
If I were a moose and you were a cow
If you were a cow and I were a moose


SH

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NRxrj8KlIE

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: CupOfTea
Date: 05 Mar 16 - 06:20 PM

What fun to come across this thread! It brings to mind some good songs.

For singing with kids, a cappella and/or beating a rhythm: Jan Harmon's "Deepest Africa" which shows up as a hit for the Chenille Sisters, but I fell in love with it sung by Hot Soup, with their little additions (gnit one pearl two..)

Cindy Mangsen's "Cat Tales" is n entire album of cat songs - including a retooling of "I had a cat and the cat pleased me". I particularly like the Berrymans' "Dog of Time" as it gets both a good number of interesting dogs and the Kitty of Romance"

Thinking of Lou and Peter, their very funny (yeah, that's redundant) "Pair of Geese" at least doesn't get the bird killed, like Nell Flaherty's Drake (though the indignation to that one might be good for those opposed to killing animals). Then there are a remarkable number of songs that describe the passengers on Noah's ark

The idea of a concert to benefit the humane society sounds like fun & less likely to turn folks off than the horrific commercials they run on TV here with revolting images of animal abuse.

Joanne in Cleveland

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: keberoxu
Date: 06 Mar 16 - 03:08 PM

Flanders and Swann had more animals yet in their bestiary.

"No-one ever wants to court a warthog,
Though a warthog does her best...
We know her These and Those are like Marilyn Monroe's..."

And I wish I could recall, exactly, the F & S salute to the Sea-Horse.
The male Sea-Horse watches over the young, instead of leaving it to the female. And so, his "horse-faced wife" makes the round of charity matinees, "busily doing goo - HOOOOD, busily doing good."

Liz the Squeak, good on you for recalling "my cross-eyed bear." there was also "the chicken hymn," which opened with "Foul I to the fountain fly..."

which reminds me:
that version of Glenn Miller's In The Mood with clucking hens!

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: keberoxu
Date: 09 Mar 16 - 05:03 PM

And I have searched Mudcat, without success, for the F & S tune, "The Whale (Mopy Dick)," for which, in the live performance (the Hat-Trick CD box set), Michael Flanders asks the audience to "imagine that Donald and I are on a whaler, and the auditorium is completely full of Orson Welles."

Subject: Lyr Add: KATZBURSCHLIED(E. T. A. Hoffmann)
From: keberoxu
Date: 13 Jun 17 - 01:42 PM

The author of this one is E. T. A. Hoffmann, both author and composer; most famous perhaps for his fairy tale about the Nutcracker and the King of the Mice, which became the Tchaikovsky ballet eventually.
It is unmistakeably satire.

KATZBURSCHLIED

The Chorus, repeated between verses, is Psalm scripture, in Latin:
Ecce quam bonum et jucundum
habitare fratres in unum.

[Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brethren to dwell together in unity.]

The Verses.

Gar zu spitzig klafft der Spitz,
Gar zu grob der Pudel.
Jenem gönnt den Steiß zum Sitz,
Dem die Schnauz zum Hudel.

Höflich zieht die Mütz vom Kopf,
Kommt Philister gangen.
Froh gebehrdet sich der Tropf,
Will vor nichts ihm bangen.

Schwimmen muß der muntere Fisch,
Vögelein muß fliegen.
Floß und Federn wachsen frisch,
Werd't sie nimmer kriegen.

Miaut und knurr't und knurr't und miaut,
Nur bei Leib' nicht kratzen;
Seid galant, daß man euch traut,
Schonet eure Tatzen.

Denkt Herr Aff' nach seinem Maaß,
Alle uns zu messen!
Spitzt das Maul, trägt hoch die Nas' ,
Wird uns doch nicht fressen.

Pfot' im Pfot' und Brust an Brust
Soll uns nicht verdüstern.
Katzbursch sein ist uns're Lust,
Trotzen Katz-Philistern!

[and conclude with the chorus, in Latin.]

The musical setting, WV number 84, is fragmented and unfinished, written near the end of Hoffmann's life; he got as far as composing the music (men's chorus) for the Latin chorus, and for only one of the verses -- the Cat verse, with "knurr't und miaut."

from E. T. A. Hoffmann's Ausgewählte Schriften, Achter Band. Berlin: G. Reimer, 1827. in Zweiter Band: Lebens Ansichten des Katers Murr, nebst fragmentarischer Biographie des Kapellmeisters Johannes Kreisler in zufälligen Makulaturblättern, dritter Abschnitt: "Die Lehrmonate. Launisches Spiel des Zufalls," pages 278 - 279. Digital file copy from the Austrian National Library at books dot google dot com.

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: keberoxu
Date: 13 Jun 17 - 04:59 PM

It would take me a long tedious while to translate the song lyric in the previous post. A few comments, at least, can be entered here. Anybody who wants a go at translating from Hoffmann's German into English, feel free. This book is published in an English translation, which I have yet to get my hands on, and which cannot be viewed online.

"Katzburschlied" means "The Song of the University Fraternity of Cats."

The main character in the story is "Kater Murr" which means, Murr, the tomcat. In fact, the author had a pet tomcat named Murr, and they were bosom companions. Murr died a short time before Hoffmann's final illness, and Hoffmann was heartbroken.

Also in this hallucinatory, experimental book (presaging James Joyce in certain techniques) is a fictitious fellow named Johannes Kreisler.
Composer Robert Schumann was much taken with Hoffmann's writings and especially with the human character of Kreisler, which is how Schumann ended up composing a solo piano suite called "Kreisleriana."

Subject: Lyr Add: THE PETS (Malvina Reynolds)
From: Joe_F
Date: 13 Jun 17 - 06:01 PM

*The Pets*

by Malvina Reynolds

I have a doggie, his name is Dolally,
O Dally Dolally so faithful and true.
He lives upon flip-floppers, golly-whoppers, and soda-poppers,
And that makes him hop around like grasshoppers do.

/Chorus:/
We love our pets, yes we do, we do.
When they go (Woof! Woof!)
They're talking to you.

I have a kitty, her name is Miss Feedle Faddle,
O fit feedle faddle, foot feedle faddle, fair as a rose.
She lives upon livers, and mousey come hithers,
And that's why she slithers wherever she goes.

(Chorus) (Meow! Meow!)

I have a birdie, his name is MacMurdie,
O wing-feather and tail-feather and top-feather so bright.
He lives upon prinkles, and pink periwinkles,
And that's why he twinkles from morning till night.

(Chorus) (Tweet! Tweet!)

I have a donkey, his name is Old Klonkey,
O hip hoppity, klip kloppity, all over town.
He lives upon thistles, and tin penny whistles,
And that's why he whoops like a merry-go-round.

(Chorus) (Eeaw! Eeaw!)

I have a barnacle, his name is McGonigle,
O wish washery, slish-sloshery, under my boat.
He lives on the boring of old teakwood flooring,
And when he is snoring he can't sing a note.

We love our pets, yes we do, we do.
When they go (Snore)
They're sleeping, of course!

*Notes:* words and music by Malvina Reynolds; copyright 1960 Schroder
Music Company, renewed 1988. This song originally had no chorus, but a
group of New Zealand children recorded it with a chorus added by their
teacher, Jack Davidson. Malvina liked the addition and started singing
the song with his chorus. The new version, dubbed "The Pets II," was
copyrighted in 1966 by Schroder Music Company.

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: GUEST,LynnH
Date: 14 Jun 17 - 01:33 PM

What about Loudon Wainright III's "Dead Skunk (in the middle of the road)"?

Or, decades ago a favourite on BBC radio childrens programmes "I had a hippopotamus"

Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Senoufou
Date: 14 Jun 17 - 01:46 PM

I love "There was an old farmer had an old sow". You have to snort, blow a raspberry and whistle very quickly after each line.

But "Suzannah's a funniful man" is rather a strange remark. Surely a sow is a female?? and I've never come across the word 'funniful' except in this song.

It's on Youtube (several versions) and Jon Pertwee sings it beautifully, but the repeated line after each verse is hard to distinguish. It sounds like:-

"Sing lasses hoo ring hoo low" but I'm sure that's wrong.
Any ideas anyone?

Subject: Lyr Add: KATZBURSCHLIED (trans. Anthea Bell)
From: keberoxu
Date: 19 Jun 17 - 12:47 PM

This English translation refers back to Post number 95 on this thread, dated 13 June 2017, and the German-language "Katzburschlied."

The six verses (singable translation, so not really literal)

All too sharply barks the Pom [eranian / Spitz-dog],
Far too loud the Poodle.
See the bold and valiant Tom [cat],
Silencing that noodle!

See the Philistine go by!
Doff your cap politely.
Such a fool, his head held high,
We don't suffer lightly.

Merrily the fish must swim,
Birds fly in fair weather.
Fin and feather let us hymn,
Though we catch them never!

Mew and growl and growl and mew
But do not scratch; pray pause!
Show yourselves in rosy hue
And spare your nice sharp claws.

Master Coxcomb thinks he can
Judge us by his standard.
Looks haughty, acts the gentleman,
But we're more even-handed.

(That last one isn't even CLOSE, it's supposed to be about an ape.)

Each of us beside the others
Paw in paw we sang:
"We're a merry bunch of brothers!
Philistines go hang!"

English translation copyright © Anthea Bell, 1999. Published by Penguin Classics, London, 1999, as part of The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr, pages 188 - 189. Translation from the original German of Lebensansichten des Katers Murr by Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann, 1822.