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Lyr Req: Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree
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Subject: Lyr Req: UnderneaththeSpreadingChestnut tree From: Mr Happy Date: 11 Feb 08 - 09:07 AM The title boxes on here are too short! Anyone have the words for 'Underneath the spreading Chestnut Tree? It's an action song, & from the vague bits I remember, the chorus goes: 'Oh how happy I would be 'neath the spreading chestnut tree' pointing to chest, & head [nut] , then spreading arms & hands above head like a tree. |
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Subject: LYR ADD: UNDER THE SPREADING CHESTNUT TREE From: Sorcha Date: 11 Feb 08 - 09:17 AM UNDER THE SPREADING CHESTNUT TREE Verse 1: Under the spreading chestnut tree, Where I knelt upon my knee, We were as happy as could be, Under the spreading chestnut tree. Verse 2: Under the spreading chestnut ____, (Replace 'tree' with action: Place arms close to side, bent upward from the elbow, hands spread, with palms up) Where I knelt upon my knee, We were as happy as could be, Under the spreading chestnut ____. (Replace 'tree' with action as above) Verse 3: Under the spreading chest___ _____ (Replace 'nut' and 'tree' with actions: For 'nut', pat head with hands. For 'tree', do action as above) Where I knelt upon my knee, We were as happy as could be, Under the spreading chest___ _____ (Replace 'nut' and 'tree' with actions as above.) Verse 4: Under the spreading ________ _____ (Replace 'chest', 'nut' and 'tree' with actions: For 'chest', tap chest with both hands. For 'nut' and 'tree', do actions as above.) Where I knelt upon my knee, We were as happy as could be, Under the spreading ________ _____ (Replace 'chest', 'nut' and 'tree' with actions as above.) Verse 5: Under the _________ ________ _____ (Replace 'spreading', 'chest', 'nut' and 'tree' with actions: For 'spreading', spread arms wide. For 'chest', 'nut' and 'tree', do actions as above.) Where I knelt upon my knee, We were as happy as could be, Under the _________ ________ _____ (Replace 'spreading', 'chest', 'nut' and 'tree' with actions as above.) Verse 6: Under the _________ ________ _____ (Replace 'spreading', 'chest', 'nut' and 'tree' with actions as above.) Where I knelt upon my knee, (Replace 'knee' with action: strike knee with hand) We were as happy as could be, Under the _________ ________ _____ (Replace 'spreading', 'chest', 'nut' and 'tree' with actions as above.) From:http://www.kididdles.com/lyrics/u005.html |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: UnderneaththeSpreadingChestnut tree From: Mr Happy Date: 11 Feb 08 - 09:23 AM Thanks Sorch. Other bits I recall were 'When I sat you on my knee' Are there other more 'adult' lyrics? |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: UnderneaththeSpreadingChestnut tree From: Newport Boy Date: 11 Feb 08 - 10:10 AM One verse from the 1940s Underneath the spreading chestnut tree Mr Churchill said to me If you want to get your gas mask free You must join the ARP ARP was Air Raid Precautions, and the line referred to the Air Raid Wardens - those not suited to the Home Guard. Phil |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: UnderneaththeSpreadingChestnut tree From: Mr Happy Date: 11 Feb 08 - 10:12 AM Yes, that's exactly the sort've verse I'm after, thanks. Any more? |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: UnderneaththeSpreadingChestnut tree From: dick greenhaus Date: 11 Feb 08 - 11:26 AM Under the spreading chestnut tree The village idiot sat Amusing himself by abusing himself And catching it in his hat. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: UnderneaththeSpreadingChestnut tree From: Mr Happy Date: 11 Feb 08 - 11:31 AM HWLOL!! [Howling with lafter LOL!} |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: UnderneaththeSpreadingChestnut tree From: An Buachaill Caol Dubh Date: 11 Feb 08 - 11:39 AM ".. I sold you, and you sold me." (in Orwell's "1984") |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: UnderneaththeSpreadingChestnut tree From: GUEST,Hootenanny Date: 11 Feb 08 - 12:41 PM A slight variation on Dick Greenhaus's posting above which my cousin used to do as a recitation. I don't relate it to the song requested. Beneath the spreading chestnut tree The village parson sat Amusing himself,abusing himself And making a c_ _ t with his hat. Hoot |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Underneath the spreading chestnut tree From: Emma B Date: 23 Oct 08 - 06:00 AM Underneath the spreading chestnut tree Where I held you on my knee Oh how happy we could be! 'Neath the spreading chestnut tree Underneath the spreading chestnut tree Where I held you on my knee There we'll raise a family 'Neath the spreading chestnut tree Want the actions too? :) |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Underneath the spreading chestnut tree From: Emma B Date: 23 Oct 08 - 06:14 AM Interesting historical note . . . . . . 'Long before Longfellow penned his verses about the village smithy, rural Englishmen were singing a hippety-hopping tune to the words: Underneath the spreading chestnut tree I loved her and she loved me. There she used to sit upon my knee 'Neath the spreading chestnut tree. Last year, when King George VI visited a boys' camp in England, the boys entertained him by singing it with gestures, and (before a battery of newsreel Cameras) the King himself joined in with a right royal will (see cut). Weeks later the newsreel reached a small cinema theatre at Juan-les-Pins on the French Riviera. In the audience was a jumpy, pink-eyed little Czech composer named Jaromir Weinberger, world-famed for his lilting opera Schwanda der Dudelsackpfeifer. Composer Weinberger was much struck. Said he: "I liked this whole scene very much and I said to myself: 'This is the theme for which you, Jaromir, shall write variations and a fugue.'" From Time magazine Monday, Oct. 23, 1939 |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Underneath the spreading chestnut tree From: GUEST,Suffolk Miracle Date: 23 Oct 08 - 06:17 AM Underneath the spreading chestnut tree I loved him and he loved me There I sat upon his knee Underneath the spreading chestnut tree. Underneath the spreading chestnut tree, There I sat upon my knee We were as happy as could be Underneath the spreading chestnut tree. Underneath the spreading chestnut tree, There he said he'd marry me [Can't remember the next line] Underneath the spreading chestnut tree. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Underneath the spreading chestnut tree From: Mr Happy Date: 23 Oct 08 - 06:19 AM Thanks all, Any more verses? |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Underneath the spreading chestnut tree From: Mr Happy Date: 23 Oct 08 - 06:20 AM 'There I sat upon my knee?' How? |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Underneath the spreading chestnut tree From: Emma B Date: 23 Oct 08 - 12:07 PM It even got into Orwell's '1984' ! Under the spreading chestnut tree I sold you and you sold me There lie they, and here lie we Under the spreading chestnut tree |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Underneath the spreading chestnut tree From: Mr Happy Date: 23 Oct 08 - 12:25 PM Great folks! Keep 'em coming! |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Underneath the spreading chestnut tre From: GUEST,Newport Boy (no cookie) Date: 23 Oct 08 - 12:43 PM Underneath the spreading chestnut tree Winston Churchill said to me 'If you want to get your gas mask free You must join the ARP' 1940-41 - ARP = Air Raid Precautions, used as abbreviation for the voluntary wardens. Phil |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Underneath the spreading chestnut tree From: Jim Dixon Date: 25 Oct 08 - 11:01 PM From: Rees, Nigel. Brewer's Famous Quotations. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2006, page 294: 'The Village Blacksmith' (1842)—one of the most parodied and plundered of verses. In the 19th century there were musical settings by several composers, but that by W. H. Weiss (1820-67), dating from 1854, was the most popular. There was then a lull until a song was written called 'The Chestnut Tree' in 1938. This was a joint effort by Jimmy Kennedy, Tommie Connor and Hamilton Kennedy:
I loved her and she loved me. There she used to sit upon my knee 'Neath the spreading chestnut tree. There beneath the boughs we used to meet, All her kisses were so sweet. All the little birds went tweet, tweet, tweet 'Neath the spreading chestnut tree. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Underneath the Spreading Chestnut Tree From: GUEST Date: 04 Aug 10 - 04:35 PM Under the spreading chestnut tree I sold you, and you sold me; There lie they, and here lie we, Under the spreading chestnut tree. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Underneath the Spreading Chestnut Tree From: Amos Date: 04 Aug 10 - 04:56 PM Not to be confused with: Under the spreading chestnut tree The village smithy stands. The smith, a mighty man is he With large and sinewy hands. And the muscles on his mighty arms Stand out like soft-shelled clams. A |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Underneath the Spreading Chestnut Tree From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 04 Aug 10 - 06:04 PM Is the Longfellow original still taught in school, or was my generation, steam-dozen years ago, the last burdened with the poem? |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Underneath the Spreading Chestnut Tree From: Amos Date: 04 Aug 10 - 08:17 PM I thik my school was one of the last to impose it. UNDER a spreading chestnut tree The village smithy stands; The smith, a mighty man is he, With large and sinewy hands; And the muscles of his brawny arms 5 Are strong as iron bands. His hair is crisp, and black, and long, His face is like the tan; His brow is wet with honest sweat, He earns whate'er he can, 10 And looks the whole world in the face, For he owes not any man. Week in, week out, from morn till night, You can hear his bellows blow; You can hear him swing his heavy sledge 15 With measured beat and slow, Like a sexton ringing the village bell, When the evening sun is low. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Underneath the Spreading Chestnut Tree From: Nick E Date: 04 Aug 10 - 08:31 PM Does not George Orwell Riff on this in 1984? |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Underneath the Spreading Chestnut Tre From: Jim Dixon Date: 04 Aug 10 - 10:32 PM There's another thread called Lyr Req: Underneath the spreading chestnut tree which contains the Longfellow poem. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree From: GUEST Date: 18 Oct 10 - 03:19 PM Hi I've a friend who remembers her Mother singing this song......but the only words she can remember is Underneath the spreading chestnut tree Hitler dropped a bomb on me Has anyone heard this version and do they know the rest of the words. Many Thanks Jeanette E-MAIL jintsnunn@aol.co.uk |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree From: GUEST,Songbob Date: 18 Oct 10 - 03:31 PM I recall a local DC-area rock musician (whose name I can't recall) who had a wonderful song that went like this: Under the spreading chestnut tree the Village Smithy stands, With his anvil in his pocket and his suitcase in his hands. His bellows has been punctured, and his hammer is in hock -- It would have been better to have kept it, but he only has one pocket. He got forty-seven cents for it, and now he's lost the ticket; He does not know he was jobbed, but then the smithy's kind of thick, it Is a pity, what a pity, how we treat our smithies these days. In actual fact, a "smithy" is the smith's place of work -- the shop, as it were -- and not the man. The man is the smith, the shop is the smithy, and the location is under a blighted tree. Bob PS -- The song above was later rewritten, so folks who were around in the 70s may recall a different set of words. I suspect Andy Wallace or Mike Rivers are the only ones I know who could tell us who wrote the thing. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree From: Jim Dixon Date: 18 Oct 10 - 03:51 PM I remember as a kid, hearing the Longfellow poem read aloud, and thinking the line was "the village smith he stands." Later, when I saw the poem in print, I was surprised to read "smithy," but I still didn't understand that a smithy was a place. I figured it was a nickname, like Jimmy is a nickname for Jim or James. I can't remember how I finally learned the truth. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree From: GUEST,psnore Date: 14 Oct 11 - 08:36 PM Underneath the spreading chestnut tree Hitler dropped a bomb on me Now you ought to see what's left of me 'Neath ... the spreading chestnut tree -From my Scottish mother born 1929 |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree From: GUEST,Lisa H Date: 13 Mar 13 - 07:36 PM 'Underneath the spreading chestnut tree Hitler dropped a bomb on me Now I'm only four foot three 'Neath the spreading chestnut tree' Playground chant when I was at primary school, 1970s, Kent. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree From: GUEST,whiskey's girl Date: 07 Oct 13 - 10:20 AM I believe my grade school music teacher had her classes come up with our own lyrics (which is why none of these match). Underneath the spreading chestnut tree Eating lemon cakes and drinking tea. Oh how happy this little life will be Underneath the spreading chestnut tree. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree From: Eldergirl Date: 07 Oct 13 - 11:02 AM Middle eight as sung by my ma-in-law: I said, I love you And there ain't no ifs or buts. She said, I love you And the blacksmith shouted CHEST-NUTS! She had a music copy, but I think that went missing. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree From: Eldergirl Date: 07 Oct 13 - 11:04 AM Sorry, ongoing spell checking trouble, you type in what's correct and it Alters it for you.. That should say IFS or buts. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree From: Rumncoke Date: 07 Oct 13 - 12:11 PM From a misspent youth - U t s c t The black smith will work for free Makes the old maids shriek with glee U t s c t U t s c t If you go there then you can see How to make two people into three Y t s c t But I can't remember the second life which goes with something like but you can't do that legally |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree From: GUEST,Dominie John Date: 04 Oct 14 - 08:09 AM Under the spreading chestnut tree [spread arms wide - tap chest - tap head - arms up high] Where a wasp sat on my knee [say 'zzzzzz' - tap knee] I was happy as could be [say 'ha-ha'] Under the spreading chestnut tree [arms wide - tap chest - tap head] Next verse ... replace the word 'spreading' with the action only etc. etc. with other verses with more and more of the actions and 'zzzzz' and 'ha-ha' only .. |
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