Lyr Add: Short Songs/Parodies

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Short Songs/Parodies
From: LindsayInWales
Date: 19 May 04 - 07:18 PM

and something my father sang in Florida in 1943 as a RAF Cadet undergoing flying training:

Take care of your web-footed friends
For that duck may be somebody's mother
He lives in the stream by the swamp
Where the weather is awfully domp
Well you may think that this is the end
Well it is

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Short Songs/Parodies
From: Splott Man
Date: 20 May 04 - 03:38 AM

A variation I heard was..

Take care of your web-footed friends
For that duck may be somebody's mother
He lives in the stream by the swamp
Where the weather is awfully domp
Well you may think that this is the end
Well it's not and to prove that I'm no liar
I'll sing it to you once again
Only this time it'll be a little higher

Then you do sing it again, a tone and a half higher

Repeat until almost out of range

then do Lindswinder's verse

regards

Splott man

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Short Songs/Parodies
From: JennyO
Date: 20 May 04 - 11:32 AM

Rather than "The Boy Stood On the Burning Deck", this one from my dad:

The boy stood in the banquet hall
When all but he had fled
He'd finished off the cakes and jam
And nearly done the bread.

"This is my thirteenth cup of tea!"
He cried in accents wild
"Just one more crust, before I ****"
He was a vulgar child.

There came a burst of thunder sound
The boy, oh where was he?
Just ask the maids who swept him up
All cakes, and jam, and tea.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Short Songs/Parodies
From: Amos
Date: 20 May 04 - 01:17 PM

A Song of Fleas

Adam
Had 'em



A

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Short Songs/Parodies
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 20 May 04 - 01:31 PM

"They drink their 'Guinness & Cider'
And then the performers all stand.
With two Guitars, a fiddle & bodhran
They call them the "Black Velvet Band""

Nigel

Subject: Lyr Add: Foggy Dew (parody)
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 30 May 04 - 04:19 AM

BATCHELOR'S SONG.
unattributed


When I was a Batchelor I lived in a tin with a hundred bright green peas
My grandmother said to keep from sin you must not part from these
But then one day the lid came off Horizons loomed in view
And a very obscene little brown baked bean said "I'm coming in with you".

I said to the little obscene baked bean I like your flipping sauce
To which she said "I'm very well bred Heinz 57 of course"
She wept, she cried, she damned near fried and said "What shall I do?
So I pulled her in the can just to save her from the pan and the threat of the Irish stew.

Now I am a Batchelor I live in a can with a hundred khaki peans
And when I clap my hands they march around the can singing we're a lot of in-betweens
Reminds me of the bad old days when I lived with my bright green brothers
Now I'm doing very nice just ignoring the advice given me by my grandmother.



Taken from the Bangor (N.Wales) Scout & Guide club songbook (pub March 1970)

NP

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Short Songs/Parodies
From: GUEST,Art Thieme
Date: 30 May 04 - 03:41 PM

Missing from ALL of these are our sources. Where they came from. Why they came to be and when. What might've been happening then that made the little parody current. All the above. --------- The "Hangman Hangman" parody sited above is from the Smothers Brothers---as I the Streets Of Laredo parody.

That said, here are a few:

I'm gonna sit right down and write myself a Bible,
And make believe it came from God...(Don't know where I heard that.)
-------------

This land was made for you and me---------and my R.C. (From kids in the schoolyard at Morris School in Chicago---1977)
-------------

We three kings from sloppy Joe's bar... (From my wife Carol's childhood in Toledo, Ohio.)

--------------

One ton tomato,
Don't ear a one ton tomato... (from a humorous singer/songwriter named Mike Farrow? in Chicago about 1979.)

---------------

Fry me a live--fry me a liver,
I fried a liver for you.   (parody of a song that was a hit for Julie London in the 1950s.)

-------------

I believe if I saw my wife again,
I'd still be here with you. (from the Utah Phillips' song)

------------------

Touch me when I'm bowling,
Touch me when I'm snowmobiling,
When I'm cleaning the cat litter,
Surprise me with your hands,
And lightly,
With kung-fu,
Touch me.       (from Utah Phillips' song "Touch Me")

----------------

It's knowing I can get some snatch
Without having to commit to you at all,
That makes me leave my sleeping bag
Rolled up and stashed behind your couch...   

(A one-verse parody I put together when I was the regular singer on the stemboat Julia Belle Swain. John Hartford, who piloted the boat quite often, and who wrote the original, did not think it was real funny.)


-------------------

Richard Nixon's the name and I won every damn campaign,
Stonewalled congress's game and tore up the yapes again,
In the summer of '74 they were angry and demanding more,
By August 8th I had to tell 'cause a tape can remember all too well.

On the night that they drove old Dickie down,
All the people were singing,
On the night that they drove old Dickie down,
Dan Rather was jeering,

He went, "Naaa,na,na,na,na--naaaa, na, na, na, na,
Na, na, na,na, nan naaaa, na, na !!!"

(A tale of Watergate---1970s. I heard it sung around Chicago---maybe Freddy Holstein or Michael Cooney.)

----------------

Oh your mother is old,
Amd your father is dead,
And your brother is dead,
And your brother is dead,
And your brother is dead,
And your kid has one leg,
And your wife is a drunk
And your car doesn't float !

(I heard this from ....... ...... after an incident on Chappequidic Island off Massachusetts. tune: The Irish Washerwoman)

----------------


This land is their land,
It is not our land,
From the plush apartments,
To the Cadillac car land,
From the Wall Street office,
To the Hollywood star land,
This land is not for you and me !

(from the BOSS'S SONGBOOK ---1960s

------------------


The miners came in '49,
The whores in '51,
Ten they got together
And they made a Native Son.

(A California song from the 19th century.)

---------------

Yah, sir, he's my Arafat,
No, sir, I don't mean chicken fat,
Yah, sir, he's my Arafat now.

(tune: "Yes, Sir, She's my Baby" I got this from a couple in Minnesots---a Palestinian girl had married a Minnesotan. They named their kid "Yah,Sir, You Betcha" ;-)

---------------

Don't cry ladies,
I'll buy your goddam pencils,
Don't cry ladies,
Your apples too,
Don't cry ladies,
Take off those dark brown glasses,
Hello, mother, I knew it was you.

(Frank Hamilton sang this in a concert for the University Of Illinois Folksong Club at Navy Pier--Chicago---1962.)

-------------------

If you've never been the lover of a landlady's daughter,
Then you cannot have another piece of pie""

(I heard Jo Mapes sing this in Chicago as the shortesr song she knew. circa 1961.)

-------------------

You can give marriage a whirl
If you've got enough in your purse,
But no matter what you do marry a Texas gal,
'Cause no matter what happens -- she's seen worse.

(I heard Pete Seeger sing this around 1956 at a Northwestern University concert with Pete and Big Bill Broonzy.)

-----------------

What was your name in the states,
Was it Jackson or Thompson or Bates,
Did you flee for your life,
Did you murder your wife,
Oh, what was your name in the states.

(a song of early California referring to the fact that many of those in the gold fields were people with a past who were forced to go West.)

Hope this helps.

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Short Songs/Parodies
From: GUEST,Bex McK
Date: 31 May 04 - 10:10 AM

This land is your land
But it once was my land
After we sold you Manhattan Island
You put my nation on a reservation
This land was made for you and me

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Short Songs/Parodies
From: YorkshireYankee
Date: 31 May 04 - 12:29 PM

Sorry LF, don't have any "one- or two-liners", but maybe these'll do...

Heard someone sing this when I was in high school & thought it was pretty funny:

This land is my land
This land ain't your land
If you don't get off
I'll blow your head off
I got a shotgun
And you ain't got one...
This land was made for me, not you!

Did a Google to find the author & found this site, which has the rest of the parody (I didn't know there was more), & says it was written by David Pratter.


Then there's this very short one by Keith Donnelly (who is absoloutely *brilliant*; if you ever get a chance to see him live, don't pass it up!)

I'm a bicycle lamp and I've been around
I've covered this road from Guildford to Godalming town
Travellin' light... I'm a travellin' light

Cheers,

YY

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Short Songs/Parodies
From: aussiebloke
Date: 01 Jun 04 - 01:57 AM

To the tune of Miria - from Paint Your Wagon


Away out here, they got a name
for wind and rain and fire
The rain is Tess, the fire Joe
and they call the wind: The Wind.

Cheers all

aussiebloke

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Short Songs/Parodies
From: GUEST,Songster Bob
Date: 25 Apr 05 - 02:41 PM

Tune: Jealousy

"Entropy! Why ... must ...... there ....... be ......" (in diminishing volume, effort, and wakefulness -- sometimes followed with the sound of snoring).

Bob

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Short Songs/Parodies
From: Wrinkles
Date: 25 Apr 05 - 04:25 PM

Don't know where it originated, but this is the theme tune for Ulsterfolk with jewish ancestry;

"Where the Mountains of Mourn sweep down to the sea,
My yiddisher mamma is waiting for me"

and a parody of mine own;

I left my heart in San Fancisco
I left my knees in Timbuktu
I left my brain in Bulowayo
but my bowels I give to you!

wrinkles

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Short Songs/Parodies
From: YorkshireYankee
Date: 26 Apr 05 - 04:20 PM

John Jacob Jingleheimer Smith
His name is my name, too
Whenever we go out, the people always shout,
"There goes John Jacob Jingleheimer Smith!"
Dada dada dadada...
Second verse, same as the first -- a little bit louder and a whole lot worse...

Learned at Girl Scout camp. Actually, not sure whether it counts as a very short song, or a very long one...

Then there's this gem by Keith Donnelly:

I had a cat named Whiskey
He was a pretty kitty
He did ablutions everywhere, which made the house... not pretty
Then he got runned over by a bus
By heck that must have tickled
I could not bear to have him stuffed, and so I had him pickled
Musha ring dumma do damma da
Whack fall ma daddy oh, whack fall ma daddy oh...
There's Whiskey in the jar!

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Short Songs/Parodies
From: Sandy Paton
Date: 26 Apr 05 - 10:13 PM

Stan Kelly, in London, 1957, sang:

We live in the attic and we pay no rent
And it's all very kind of Jesus.

(Complete song)

Gwynne Gardner, who works for us at Folk-Legacy, made up this parody (with her sister's help) back in the 1950s when they were both kids. You young 'uns probably know the melody, but I only know it as "Ta ra ra boom de-ay." Anyway, here's their song:

It's Howdy Doody time
The show ain't worth a dime
And as for Uncle Bob,
He does a lousy job.
And as for Howdy Doody,
He is a tootie fruitie.
It is a crummy show,
Let's let them know.... pfffft! (Bronx cheer)

A fifth grader in Waterbury, Connecticut, gave us this re-write of the Mickey Mouse song about 20 years ago:
    Melvin Moose, Melvin Moose,
    Forever let us hold our antlers high.
    Come along and hanve some fun
    And eat some grass with me.
    M-E-L - V-I-N -   M-O-O-S-E!

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Short Songs/Parodies
From: GUEST,lompocan
Date: 16 Sep 10 - 03:49 PM

A friend posted this on facebook in response to someone's moan of the pAins of heartburn...

(Sounds of Silence)
"Hello heartburn, my old friend, you've come to haunt me once again; because a feeling's softly churning, and my esophagus is burning; and the vision of me puking out my brains, still remains, within the pain of heartburn.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Short Songs/Parodies
From: Bettynh
Date: 16 Sep 10 - 04:07 PM

I learned this from a book when I was a kid (I was a weird kid):

To the tune of "Old Oaken Bucket":

The old family toothbrush
The old family toothbrush
That moss-covered toothbrush
We all knew so well

Father abused it
Mother misused it
Sister refused it
And now it is mine

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Short Songs/Parodies
From: Bettynh
Date: 16 Sep 10 - 04:10 PM

From Barry Lewis Polisar:

Oh my name is Hiram Lipschlitz
And my problem's pretty clear...

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Short Songs/Parodies
From: Tradsinger
Date: 16 Sep 10 - 06:18 PM

Songs from the shows:

"I'm just a girl who can't say n...n....nn...@

"I've thrown a custard in her face"

"Unforgettable, that's...........er..."

From the folk world:

"The rain is softly falling and the Oggie man is still there@

"The time passes over more cheerful and gay, since we've learnt a new song to drive thousands away"

There are more which I will think of in time.

Tradsinger

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Short Songs/Parodies
From: Tradsinger
Date: 16 Sep 10 - 06:21 PM

Oh yes:

"You made me love you, you woke me up to do it, you woke me up to do it"

Tradsinger

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Short Songs/Parodies
From: Ibbel
Date: 17 Sep 10 - 02:22 AM

Jack and Jill went up the hill
And on the top he caught her
Jill forgot to take her pill
And now they have a daughter

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Short Songs/Parodies
From: GUEST,Seonaid
Date: 17 Sep 10 - 05:26 PM

One or two loose bits --

"Her eyes, they shone like the rhinestones,
And she was no friend of the pope,
And her hair hung out of her armpits
Tied up with a great hunk of rope."

"I'm in the mood [or nude!] for love,
Simply because you're near me,
Funny butt...!"

"Nobody loves you when you're old and gay..."

"It's Howdy Doody time,
It isn't worth a dime,
So change to Channel 9
And look at Frankenstein."

"I love to go a-wandering
Across the mountain track,
And since I'm over ninety-three,
I can't find my way back."

"Ist das nicht ein Schnitzelbank?
Nein."

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Short Songs/Parodies
From: GUEST,Seonaid
Date: 17 Sep 10 - 05:28 PM

Oh -- and from the Smothers Brothers:

"Hand down your head, Tom Dooley,
Hand down your head and cry;
Hang down your head, Tom Dooley,
Your tie's caught in your fly."

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Short Songs/Parodies
From: GUEST,Seonaid
Date: 17 Sep 10 - 05:31 PM

(Always proofread before sending --)
That should have shown three repeats of "Hang down your head."
"Hand down" gives it a whole new meaning, though ...
just in time for Halloween!

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Short Songs/Parodies
From: GUEST
Date: 22 Sep 10 - 05:13 PM

To the tune of "Sing a Song of Cities" --

'Twas only an old beer bottle, a-flaoting on the foam,
'Twas only an old beer bottle, a million miles from home;
Inside there was a paper, these words were written on:
"Whoever finds this bottle will find the beer all gone!"

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Short Songs/Parodies
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 22 Sep 10 - 05:21 PM

Innaresting. Seems like the age-old practice of parodying the lyrics of pop songs is dying out....as, one might say, are the lyrics of pop songs.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Short Songs/Parodies
From: Joe_F
Date: 22 Sep 10 - 06:07 PM

Oh, how we danced
On the night we were wed!
We danced and we danced
Till we fell out of bed.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Short Songs/Parodies
From: GUEST,Seonaid
Date: 22 Sep 10 - 06:14 PM

We can always recycle the oldies to good purpose, especially whenever there's a big Broadway/West End revival, or re-release of an old movie.
And then there are those items that scarcely require a reference. Even among the young and untutored, over the years I've got a lot of mileage out of the opening bars of "Love is a many-gendered thing..."

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Short Songs/Parodies
From: GUEST
Date: 24 Sep 10 - 03:18 PM

Other last lines to "Anniversary Waltz":

...We danced and we danced
'Cos there wasn't any bed.

...I needed a wife
Like a hole in the head.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Short Songs/Parodies
From: GUEST
Date: 29 Jun 11 - 07:17 PM

Her hair hung over her shoulder.
Tied up with a black rubber dand

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Short Songs/Parodies
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Jul 12 - 10:32 PM

There is more to Don't cry lady...

I only remember one verse...

Hurrah, hurrah, my uncle's going to be hurt,
Hurrah, hurrah, the dirty rotten (forgot this work),
For he was very free with me when I was just a squirt,
Hurrah, they're going to hurt my uncle.

The verses go through all the family..Sung to "Marching through Georgia" I remember one of the folk singers singing it at Swarthmore in the 60's. I remember who sang it, but that's a secret!

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Short Songs/Parodies
From: Flash Company
Date: 20 Jul 12 - 11:08 AM

Oh where have you been today Lord Randall my son?
Oh where have you been today, my darling one?
OUT!!!!

FC