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Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied

DigiTrad:
OH, HOW HE LIED
SMOKED HIS CIGAR


and e 08 Jun 23 - 06:24 PM
Jim Dixon 17 Jun 16 - 12:15 AM
Joe Offer 16 Jun 16 - 11:50 PM
Jim Dixon 16 Jun 16 - 11:26 PM
GUEST 15 Jun 16 - 01:32 AM
GUEST,PS 18 May 15 - 01:19 AM
GUEST,Kegan Mahon 18 May 15 - 01:16 AM
Jim Dixon 18 Nov 14 - 05:21 PM
Steve Gardham 18 Nov 14 - 02:43 PM
Steve Gardham 18 Nov 14 - 02:28 PM
Jim Dixon 18 Nov 14 - 11:39 AM
Steve Gardham 18 Nov 14 - 11:35 AM
Steve Gardham 18 Nov 14 - 11:23 AM
Steve Gardham 18 Nov 14 - 11:11 AM
Jim Dixon 18 Nov 14 - 10:43 AM
Steve Gardham 18 Nov 14 - 10:41 AM
Steve Gardham 18 Nov 14 - 10:38 AM
Steve Gardham 18 Nov 14 - 10:17 AM
Steve Gardham 18 Nov 14 - 09:55 AM
Tattie Bogle 24 Oct 14 - 06:20 PM
MGM·Lion 24 Oct 14 - 12:43 AM
Steve Gardham 23 Oct 14 - 06:52 PM
MGM·Lion 23 Oct 14 - 05:34 PM
Jim Dixon 23 Oct 14 - 05:23 PM
Steve Gardham 23 Oct 14 - 02:47 PM
Mrrzy 23 Oct 14 - 01:21 PM
Stewart 23 Oct 14 - 12:10 PM
Uncle_DaveO 23 Oct 14 - 11:08 AM
GUEST,Eske Rahn 22 Oct 14 - 08:27 PM
GUEST,Kelly 18 Nov 11 - 02:09 PM
GUEST,mjfire 28 Aug 11 - 04:56 PM
GUEST,guest 12 Aug 11 - 10:54 PM
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Mrrzy 06 Aug 11 - 04:41 PM
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Mo the caller 21 Jul 11 - 10:13 AM
GUEST,Tich Frier 20 Jul 11 - 07:56 PM
GUEST,Tattie Bogle 20 Jul 11 - 05:00 PM
GUEST,p fehrenbach 20 Jul 11 - 10:24 AM
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MGM·Lion 08 Aug 10 - 01:18 AM
MGM·Lion 08 Aug 10 - 12:53 AM
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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: and e
Date: 08 Jun 23 - 06:24 PM

OH, HOW HE LIED!
(James Kenneth Larson, grade school, Malad, Idaho, 1918)

He told her he loved her,
And oh! how he lied,
Oh! how he lied,
Oh! how he lied;
He told her he loved her,
And oh! how he lied,
Oh! how he lied!

He left her unahppy,
And oh! how he cried,
Oh! how she cried,
Oh! how she cried;
He left her unhappy,
And oh! how she cried,
Oh! how she cried!

She got the pneumonia,
And she up and died
She up and died,
She up and died;
She got the pneumonia
And she up and died,
She up and died.

He went to her funeral,
But just for the ride,
Just for the ride,
Just for the ride;
He went to her funera,
But just for the ride,
Just for the ride!

Her soul went to heave,
And flip-flop it flyed,
Flip-flop if flyed;
Her soul went to heave,
And flip-flop it flyed,
Flip-flop if flyed.

He got the pneumonia,
And he up and died,
He up and died,
He up and died;
He got the pneuonia,
And he up and died,
He up and died.

He gave him a funeral,
But nobody cried
Nobody cried,
Nobody cried;
They gave him a funeral,
But nobody cried,
Nobody cried.

His sould went to hell
And sizzled and fried,
Sizzled and fried,
Sizzled and fried;
His soul went to hell
And sizzled and fried,
Sizzled and fried!

Now, learn you this lesson,
And don't be a bride,
Don't be a bride,
Don't be a bride;
Now learn you this lesson,
And don't be a bride,
Don't be a bride!

From Songs and Ballads: Folk Material and Old Favorites, Collected by [James] Kenneth Larson in McCammon, Idaho. Undated [c1933], typescript. Tune not indicated.

Read the collection online here:

https://archive.org/details/1933-1972jameskennethlarson/page/n29/mode/1up


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Subject: Lyr Add: OH HOW SHE LIED TO ME (Spike Jones)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 17 Jun 16 - 12:15 AM

OH HOW SHE LIED TO ME
As recorded by Spike Jones and His City Slickers, 1945?

Don't ask me why I look worried, and why there's a tear in my eye,
For I fell in love
With a sweet turtledove,
And I'm such an innocent guy.

She told me she loved me, but, oh, how she lied!
Oh, how she lied!
Oh, how she lied!
My poor heart is broken and, oh, how I cried!
She made a fool of me.

She said that my money would lead me astray,
So to protect me, she took it away.
She said she'd return it on some rainy day,
But, oh, how she lied to me!

On last Christmas eve she made me very cross.
I cried my poor eyes out and it was because
She'd tried to tell me there was no Santy Claus,
But she falsified,
She misrepresented,
She distorted the truth,
She prevaricated,
She fabricated a story,
She tried to deceive me,
And on top of that,
Oh, my, how she lied to me!


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: Joe Offer
Date: 16 Jun 16 - 11:50 PM

Where'd you find that one, Jim? Sheet Music or Recording?

-Joe-


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Subject: Lyr Add: OH HOW SHE LIED TO ME (Billy Murray)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 16 Jun 16 - 11:26 PM

OH HOW SHE LIED TO ME
As recorded by Billy Murray with Ed Smalle, 1923.
(I have marked the two singers A and B, but I don't know which is Murray and which is Smalle.)

[A] Of late you've been looking quite worried. [B] You've noticed the tears in my eyes?
[A] I guess you're in love
With some sweet turtledove?
[B] I was, but I'm just getting wise.
[A] Why, you must have found her deceitful. [B] I did and it was a surprise.
[A] I wish you'd explain.
Tell me why you complain.
[B] I'm tired of her alibis.

She told me she loved me but, oh, how she lied!
[A] Oh, did she lie?
[B] Yeah, I'll say she lied!
[A] Your heart must be broken. [B] I sighed and I cried.
She made a fool of me.

She told me my money would lead me astray.
[A] I guess to protect you, she took it away.
[B] She said she'd return it on some rainy day,
But, oh, how she lied to me!

She told me to bet on a horse named Yvette
Who'd win ten to one. [A] Oh, a fortune you'd get!
[B] Well, it's now ten to five and the horse ain't in yet.
Oh, how she lied to me!

I'll never forget how she acted the last time that I took her out.
[A] Why? What did she do?
Did she upset you?
[B] My feelings were hurt beyond doubt.
She said: "Goodbye, Valentino," as we stood there by the old mill.
[A] What! She called you Rudolph? Well, that's mighty strange!
[B] Yeah, my name ain't Rudolph; it's Bill.

She told me she loved me but, oh, how she lied!
[A] Did that baby lie?
[B] I'll say that she lied!
[A] Your heart must be broken! [B] Goodbye to my bride!
I hope that she's satisfied.

"I want to see Washington someday," she said.
[A] Oh, you loaned her the money? [B] Yeah, I said go ahead,
But someone just told me George Washington's dead.
Oh, how she lied to me!

She called me her angel and raved constantly,
Said that someday her sweet hubby I'd be.
[A] Boy, that baby pulled the same chatter on me!
Oh, how she lied to me!


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Jun 16 - 01:32 AM

My gran use to sing..
(He gave her some poison and then she soon died...)
Has anyone else heard that????


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: GUEST,PS
Date: 18 May 15 - 01:19 AM

Listen here as .ram


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: GUEST,Kegan Mahon
Date: 18 May 15 - 01:16 AM

Available on Archeophone Records' "The Complete Hit of the Week Recordings, Volume 2 [ARCH 3003 (2 CDs)]"

Recorded by Cal Carson as "She Sat in Her Parlor (c. 1931 or '32).


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 18 Nov 14 - 05:21 PM

You can see a copy of the sheet music for OH! HOW SHE LIED at the web site of York University libraries (Toronto, ON, Canada).

It lacks the last 2 verses posted above, however.


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Subject: ADD Version: Oh! How She Lied to Me
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 18 Nov 14 - 02:43 PM

Sheet Music:

OH! HOW SHE LIED TO ME
(Harry White and Will Donaldson)

Don't ask me why I look worried,
And why there's a tear in my eye,
For I fell in love with a sweet turtle dove,
And I'm such an innocent guy.

She said goodbye Valentino,
One night as I started to go,
She whispered, My Rudolph, I'll dream dear of you,
But my name's not Rudolph, it's Joe.

Refrain:
She told me she loved me, but Oh! how she lied,
Oh! how she lied. Oh! how she lied;
My poor heart is broken and oh! how I cried.
She made a fool of me.

She said that my money would lead me astray,
And just to protect me she took it away,
She said she'd return it on some rainy day,
Oh! how she lied to me.

On last Christmas Eve she made me very cross,
I cried my poor eyes out and it was because
She tried to tell me there was no Santy Claus, But
Oh! how she lied to me.

She told me to bet on a horse named Yvette,
Twill win ten to one and a fortune you'll get;
It's now ten to five and the horse ain't in yet,
Oh! how she lied to me.

She said, Let's get married and I'll treat you fair,
At home I've a drawer two of everything there.
But her bottom drawer, when I looked it was bare.
Oh! how she lied to me.

I called at her flat but since we don't speak,
And that's where I got this big bruise on my cheek,
Her husband, she said, was away for a week.
(no final line given but most probably a printer's error)


dated 1923 published in New York by Stark and Cowan, and in London by B Feldman & Co.


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 18 Nov 14 - 02:28 PM

Ah, Frank Crumit! If the song was crystallised in the 20s there's a good candidate. It's not on my 2 FC CDs pub. Naxos Nostalgia, Frank Crumit, the Gay Caballero, or Frank Crumit Returns.

The 2 versions you've posted are quite different and yet seemingly by the same writers. I'd better post the sheet music version for comparison.


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Subject: Lyr Add: OH! HOW SHE LIED TO ME (Murray & Smalle)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 18 Nov 14 - 11:39 AM

My transcription from YouTube. Murray and Smalle sing this as a dialogue, which is awkward, because their voices sound so much alike (this is probably made worse by the low fidelity of the 78-rpm recording) that it's hard to tell when the speaker changes. I have inserted a dash where I think this occurs.


OH! HOW SHE LIED TO ME
Words by Harry White, music by Will Donaldson.
As sung by Billy Murray and Ed Smalle, on Victor 19188-B [recorded 1923-Oct-01].

—Of late you've been looking quite worried.
—You've noticed the tears in my eyes.
—I guess you're in love with some sweet turtledove.
—I was, but I'm just getting wise.

—You must have found her deceitful.
—I did, and it was a surprise.
—I wish you'd explain. Tell me why you complain.
—I'm tired of her alibis.

She told me she loved me, but oh, how she lied!
—Oh, did she lie? —Yeah, I'll say she lied!
—Your heart must be broken. —I cried and I cried.
She made a fool of me.

She told me my money would lead me astray.
—I guess to protect you she took it away.
—She said she'd return it on some rainy day,
But oh, how she lied to me!

She told me to bet on a horse named Yvette,
Who'd win ten to one. —Oh, a fortune you'd get!
—So it's ... and the horse ain't in yet.
Oh, how she lied to me!

I'll never forget how she acted
The last time that I took her out.
—Why, what did she do? Did she upset you?
—My feelings were hurt beyond doubt.

She said: "Goodbye, Valentino"
As we stood there by the old mill.
—What! She called you Rudolph? Well, that's mighty strange.
—Yeah, my name ain't Rudolph; it's Bill.

She told me she loved me but oh, how she lied!
—Did that baby lie? —I'll say that she lied!
—Your heart must be broken. —Goodbye to my bride.
I hope that she's satisfied.

"I want to see Washington someday," she said.
—Oh, you loaned her the money? —Yeah, I said: "Go ahead,"
But someone just told me George Washington's dead.
Oh, how she lied to me!

She called me her angel and raved constantly,
Said that someday her sweet hubby I'd be.
—Why, that baby pulled the same patter on me!
[BOTH:] Oh, how she lied to me!


The Online 78-rpm Discography says that early recordings were also made by: Harry Blake, Billy Jones (as Billy West), Aileen Stanley, and Frank Crumit.


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 18 Nov 14 - 11:35 AM

I note that A. K. Davies lists 2 versions in Folk Songs of Virginia one from 1930 7 sts and the other from 1936 6 sts. Unfortunately whilst it's obvious that they are both variants of the college song I don't think he published them. His 2 later volumes concentrate on ballads.


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 18 Nov 14 - 11:23 AM

Unfortunately Mrs Cograve had difficulties recalling her tune for this. She had just sung a version of 'Still I Love Him' and had this tune in her head. At first she recites the words above and when she is asked to sing it she gets confused. It's a pity I didn't get back at a later date to ask again. She was 85 in 1972.


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 18 Nov 14 - 11:11 AM

Hi, Jim
All of this is in the White/Donaldson version, apart from the additions to the last verse, with other verses as well.

The plot thickens. Having looked more closely at my indexes I find I have another related song I recorded from an old lady in May 1972, but we're back with a female narrator with a female singing.

I once had a sweetheart, me a courting did he
He was so attentive as attentive could be,
One day he took me out for a walk by the sea,
Now let's go for a swim, my darling, said he.
We went in the water, and oh deary me!
I said how deep do you think the water might be
Just up to your expectations said he,
Oh, how he lied to me!

The recording is online at BLSA at C1009/9 C10. I'll check out the tune.

I noted she knew further verses but I failed to record them. Gnash! gnash!

The style of this piece is more 1890s to me.


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Subject: Lyr Add: OH HOW SHE LIED TO ME (from Spike Jones)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 18 Nov 14 - 10:43 AM

What a difference a change of gender makes! We can now find many more versions of a song that formerly seemed very obscure. This one is on YouTube and Spotify:


OH HOW SHE LIED TO ME
As recorded by Spike Jones on "Not Your Standard Spike Jones Collection"

Don't ask me why I look worried,
And why there's a tear in my eye,
For I fell in love with a sweet turtledove,
And I'm such an innocent guy.

She told me she loved me, but oh, how she lied!
Oh, how she lied! Oh, how she lied!
My poor heart is broken, and oh, how I cried!
She made a fool of me.

She said my money would lead me astray,
So to protect me she took it away.
She said she'd return it on some rainy day,
But oh, how she lied to me!

On last Christmas Eve she made me very cross.
I cried my poor eyes out and it was because
She tried to tell me there was no Santy Claus,
But she falsified—
She misrepresented—
She discarded the truth—
She prevaricated—
She fabricated a story—
She tried to deceive me—
And on top of that,
Oh, my, how she lied to me!


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 18 Nov 14 - 10:41 AM

I should add that the whole of the W/D song is in 3/4.


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 18 Nov 14 - 10:38 AM

Here's my best shot at transposing the White/Donaldson chorus. The last line goes off a bit into accidentals in accord with the first part.
G/GEG/AFA/GE^C/G./
GD^B/G./GE^C/G
G/GEG/AFA/GE^C/G./
F#AC/EEb/D^./

I can have a go at my own tune if anyone's interested and my primitive notation is any use.


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 18 Nov 14 - 10:17 AM

Just as a start in very simplest form here is the score from Meredith et al.
3/4 key C
G/GEF/GEF/GC^.E/G../
FA.D/F.>/EGC/E
G/GEF/GEF/GC^.E/G../
B../AB/C^GEC/

The version I know is slightly different in that the repeats in the second line stay on the higher notes.

I'll try and transpose the White Donaldson chorus into C from Bb in a bit.


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 18 Nov 14 - 09:55 AM

Some new evidence, but to make it really clear we need more info on the pre-1920s variants. Looking back through the thread it appears to me that any pre-20s refs don't indicate the repeats. Is it possible that pre 20s it went to a different tune without the repeats?

I've just picked up a piece of sheet music dated 1923 published in New York by Stark and Cowan, and in London by B Feldman & Co.
Title: Oh! How she lied to me
Words and Music: Harry White and Will Donaldson
Sung: Miss Jennie Hartley.

There are 3 parts to the song 2 verses, a refrain, and then 5 further verses to a different tune. The refrain concerns us here (as well as the title) It is to the tune of the song in this thread.

She told me she loved me, but, oh! how she lied.
Oh! how she lied. Oh! how she lied;
My poor heart is broken and oh! how I cried,
She made a fool of me.

The 5 final verses are in the same vein as our song obviously with gender reversal, but they are in 3 rhyming lines.

Last verse as example:
I called at her flat but since then we don't speak,
And that's where I got this big bruise on my cheek,
Her husband, she said, was away for a week.
But oh! how she lied to me.

I can't sightread very well but the tune of the refrain is obviously that of our song.

Here are some obvious possibilities with the White/Donaldson song:
They simply lifted the chorus, title and tune, and added other more sophisticated elements.
The 'played her guitar' verses already existed as a college song with different tune and no repeats and someone post-23 adapted the verses to the White/Donaldson hit.

We need to entice some of the earlier posters back to see if we can link the well-known tune (Evening Stars waltz?) to pre-23 texts.

Also it would make things clearer if we could have some midis or ABCs of the tunes referred to.


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 24 Oct 14 - 06:20 PM

I learned this song as a Girl Guide camp fire song in Suffolk back in the late 50s/early 60s. The closest of the many versions above to what we sang is the one posted by "Here Ya Go" in Feb 09.

I am incidentally looking for another song about lying: can only remember bits of the chorus and the rather jolly tune:

With her..and her....
Her hair hanging over her shoulder
He sat her down by the light of the moon
Many were the lies he told her.

If anyone can help with this instantly great, otherwise I'll start a new thread.


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 24 Oct 14 - 12:43 AM

"Went down to 'sh!'" I originally learned as went down to "Hmm-hmm" -- ie a euphemistic noise, as 'sh' = 'hush' or 'hmm-hmm' for a supposed avoidance of pronouncing the actual word; from time when "Hell" was thought of [facetiously, I suspect] as a very naughty(!) swearword.

≈M≈


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 23 Oct 14 - 06:52 PM

Yes, Mike, minor variation of the sort that is associated with versions that have been in oral tradition for only a relatively short period.

Jim,
Could v10 be 'He went down to sh! oh how he fried'? That would make much better sense.

Is the song not credited to anyone on the 78? Was it part of the barber shop quartet repertoire?


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 23 Oct 14 - 05:34 PM

Re American college -- It always feels to me in the same sort of genre as Riding Up From Bangor; certainly an American student song.

There seems actually to be quite a lot of minor variation thru the thread -- as to whether she sat in a veranda or a hammock &c, whether he frittered or frizzled & fried, & so on.

≈M≈


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Subject: Lyr Add: OH HOW HE LIED (Rust College Quartet)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 23 Oct 14 - 05:23 PM

This seems to be the oldest recording. It is sung by a 4 male voices in harmony, a cappella, at a faster tempo, and a different tune than the one Pete Seeger used. It was recorded on a 78-rpm record, Columbia 14307D, in 1927. It is also on "Vocal Quartets, Vol. 5: M/N/O/R" (Document Records, DOCD-5541), which you can hear on Spotify:


OH HOW HE LIED
As recorded by the Rust College Quartet

1. He sat in the window and smoked a cigar,
Smoked a cigar, smoked a cigar.
He sat in the window and smoked a cigar,
Smoked a cigar.

CHORUS (SAME MELODY):
He told her he loved her but, oh, how he lied!
Oh, how he lied! Oh, how he lied!
He told her he loved her but, oh, how he lied!
Oh, how he lied!

2. He sat in the window and picked a guitar, etc. CHORUS.

3. She fell for his music and oh, how she sighed, etc. CHORUS.

4. He wrote her a note but it was a joke, etc. CHORUS.

5. She baked him a cake but it was a fake, etc. CHORUS.

6. She was ... and ugly beside, etc. CHORUS.

7. She promised to marry but she up and died, etc. CHORUS.

8. He went to the funeral but just for a ride, etc. CHORUS.

9. She went up to heaven and flip-flop she flied, etc. CHORUS.

10. He went out a sh——, oh, how he fried!
Oh, how he fried! Oh, how he fried!
He went out a sh——, oh, how he fried!
Sh——, sh——, he fried.

[No chorus after verse 10.
Also note there is a word or phrase in verse 6 that I don't understand.
Also, I can't imagine what "sh——" means in verse 10.
It's possible they're singing "He went on a sh——" or something similar.]


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 23 Oct 14 - 02:47 PM

Looking back through the thread it seems that Jim's reference from 1910 is the earliest. Up to that point I was beginning to think typical Frank Proffit/Frank Luther/Lesley Sarony material, but Mike might be right in his guess as American college song. However the fact that it has become so widespread with not a lot of variation smacks of an actual popular recording perhaps on the first 78s, although pre-1910 might have been cylinders.


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: Mrrzy
Date: 23 Oct 14 - 01:21 PM

Wow, fascinating. My dad's version started with the oh how he lied verse, skips his death, she went to heaven and flip-flop she flied, he went the other way and frizzled and fried, no moral.

I love this place.

I always figured that he lived to a ripe old age and then, eventually, frizzled.

I also loved the idea of going to the funeral "but just for the ride" as if he had either been heading somewhere and that got him partway there, or he enjoyed cars as if they were roller coasters.


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: Stewart
Date: 23 Oct 14 - 12:10 PM

......
He went down below her and sizzled and fried
The moral of this tale is never to lie
Or you, too, may perish, and sizzle and fry

from The New Song Fest by Best and Best

Cheers, S. in Seattle


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 23 Oct 14 - 11:08 AM

The variations in the detailed text can go on forever,
I guess, but in my misspent youth in Minnesota, in the 30's,
we used the partial lines below:

"sat in her hammock and played her guitar"
"He sat down beside her and smoked his cigar"
"he told her he loved her"
"she got consumption and she ups and died"
      or sometimes
"they were to be married, but she ups and died"
"he sat on her tombstone and laughed till he cried"
"she went to Heaven, and flip-flop she flied"
"But he went the other place, and sssss-led and fried"
"moral of this story is, never tell-lies"
    (This last was said or sung as one word, "telllize" to meet
    the scansion.)

I don't recall the song having any account of just how he
died. (This was, after all, seventy-plus years ago.) And
we didn't do the triple-echo thing at the end of the verses.

Dave Oesterreich


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: GUEST,Eske Rahn
Date: 22 Oct 14 - 08:27 PM

I have a version very close the one posted by "GUEST,Fleabag" above.

I was taught it in the 1980'ties when I was about 20 by an over 90 year old professor visiting from Birmingham that remembered it from when he was a kid, so it can't hardly be from the last century, but must be even older.

She sat on t'veranda and played her guitar
He sat down beside her and smoked his cigar
She said that she loved him and oh how she sighed
He said that he loved her but oh how he lied
They were to hav'been married but she upped and died
He went to her funeral but just for the ride
He sat on her tombstone and laughed 'til he cried
The tombstone fell over him and splish splash he died
The vicar was passing and popped him inside
She went to the heaven and flip flap she flied
He went to t'other place and frizzled and fried
The moral of this story is you'shd never tell a lie....


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: GUEST,Kelly
Date: 18 Nov 11 - 02:09 PM

"She got consumption, and that's how she died,
that's how she died"


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: GUEST,mjfire
Date: 28 Aug 11 - 04:56 PM

In the version my grandmother sang to me (born 1919), it went as follows:
She sat 'neath the maple and strummed her guitar...
He vowed that he loved her but uh-oh he lied...
She got insomnia and uh-oh she died...
She went up to heaven and flip-flop she flied...
He went down below where he frizzled and fried...
The moral of this story is never to lie...


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: GUEST,guest
Date: 12 Aug 11 - 10:54 PM

in the one i learned he went to -cough cough- and sizzled and fried.


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 06 Aug 11 - 04:50 PM

We sang "She sat under the lilacs..." etc. (not 'neath)


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: Mrrzy
Date: 06 Aug 11 - 04:41 PM

I didn't have those first few verses but I did have frizzed and fried - excellent thread!


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Subject: ADD Version: Oh How He Lied
From: GUEST,Uke Player
Date: 06 Aug 11 - 04:29 PM

My father taught us this song over 60 years ago:
    She sat on the hammock and played a guitar

    He sat down beside her and smoked a cigar

    He said that he loved her but OH HOW HE LIED!

    They were to be married when she up and died

    He cut up some onions and oh how he cried

    He went to the funeral but just for the ride

    Her soul went to heaven and FLIP-FLOP she flied

(and the last verse is our kids and grandkids fav..)
    But his went below her and sizzled and fried!


Enjoy!


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: Mo the caller
Date: 21 Jul 11 - 10:13 AM

Our version was
She sat neath the lilacs....
She went to heaven and fluttered and flied
he went to 'tother place and frizzle and fried.


Talking of guitars (actually, when I'd typed it meory altered it to a strumming banjo)

One-l-nl-ce I ha-la-la-d an ol-l-l-ld banjo-l-l-0
I pla-la-layed it on-lo-lon my knee-li-li-li-ly
But now-le-le-ow the strin-li-lings are bro-l-l-ken so
It no-lo-lo more u-l-l-use to me-li-li-li-li-ly

I to-l-look it to the me-l-l-nders sho-l-lop
To see-l-lee what he-l-lee could doo-loo-loo-loo-loo
And now-l-l-ow the stril-lings are mended and
It's quite-l-lite as goo-l-lood as new-li-li-li-li-lew

Well, something like that anyway. Which we used to sing at secondary school (1950s, Chiswick, London), sitting on the grass making 'banjos' by cutting the edge of plantain stems with a fingernail, then pulling the leaf gently to expose the strings.


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: GUEST,Tich Frier
Date: 20 Jul 11 - 07:56 PM

The tune that sprung to mind as I read the words was that of a song called 'My Mother Said Not To Put Beans In My Ears", which was a minor hit for one of those Boy/Girl 10 piece squeaky clean groups from USA in the sixties. Not unlike the one in "A Mighty Wind". Zat any help?


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: GUEST,Tattie Bogle
Date: 20 Jul 11 - 05:00 PM

We used to sing it in Girl Guides (Suffolk, England, 1960s): pretty much as "Here Ya Go" has given it, except that we also had the "Flip flap she flied" bit.
I suspect quite a few of our campfire songs had crossed the pond as we also used to sing such as "Land of the Silver Birch" and "My paddle's keen and bright" (another thread on this elsewhere).


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: GUEST,p fehrenbach
Date: 20 Jul 11 - 10:24 AM

In the version I remember, she sat on her veranda and played her guitar.

Also, after squish squash he died, I thought there were two other verses

She went up to heaven and flip-flop she flied, flip-flop she flied, flip-flop she flied
She went up to heaven and flip-flop she flied, flip flop she fli i i ied

He went down to mm-mm and sizzled and fried, sizzled and fried, sizzled and fired,
he went down to mm-mm and sizzled and fried, sizzled and fri i i ied.

The moral .....


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: GUEST,JMS
Date: 26 Oct 10 - 07:56 PM

I must have had a twisted Girl Scout troop. We sang:

She sat on her hammock and smoked her cigar
Smoked her cigar
Smoked her cigar
She sat on her hammock and smoked her cigar
Smoked her cigar
Yes she did.

He sat down beside her and played his guitar...
He said that he loved her, but oh, how he lied...
They planned to get married, but she up and died...
He went to her funeral, but just for the ride...
He sat on her tombstone and laughed till he died...
He went down to mm-mm and sizzled and fried...
She looked down from heaven and spit in his eye...

(And the last verse)

Now that is my story and don't say I lied
Don't say I lied
Don't say I lied.
Now that is my story and don't say I lied
Don't say I lied -
Yes, I did!

(I don't remember any flip-flap or flip-flop verse.)


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: GUEST
Date: 20 Oct 10 - 07:25 AM

i thought it went
"He brought a revolva and that's how she died.
That's how she died, that's how she died.
He brought a revolva and that's how she died.
That's how she die-eye-eye-ied"
haha


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 08 Aug 10 - 01:18 AM

BTW, this has always struck me as an American student-y, Yale·Song·Book, sort of song, in the same mould/mode as "Riding Up From Bangor". Is this the case; or otherwise does anyone know its provenance?

~Michael~


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 08 Aug 10 - 12:53 AM

Minor variants:

In my childhood, it was "a veranda" she sat on; and in Heaven she "fluttered and flied. Otherwise a clearly related version to all the gardens, windows, hammocks, lilacs, &c, above.

~Michael~


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: GUEST,eliza c
Date: 07 Aug 10 - 10:11 PM

So weird...my Dad used to sing this to me, and we just recorded it. Haven't heard it for years. I like the "somehow she died" bit.
xe


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: GUEST
Date: 07 Aug 10 - 08:42 PM

We used to sing this with some slight variations, such as "She sat on her porch and played her guitar," "She got lumbago and she up and died," and "He went to hell [we kids were thrilled to get away with a 'swear word']and oh how he fried." And, yes, we did like the line, "She went to heaven and flip-flop she flied."


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: GUEST,Ezekiel
Date: 20 May 10 - 04:08 PM

The version I remember ends:

The moral of this is he shouldn't have lied
(Shouldn't have lied, shouldn't have lied)
And those who tell lies should expect to be fried
(Expect to be fri-i-i-ied>


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: GUEST,Karen
Date: 27 Jul 09 - 10:08 AM

My child came back from Girl Scout singing this and the last verse was, "The moral of the story is never trust guys (they lie), never trust guys, they lie...never trust gu-eye-eye-eyes..."


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: Weasel
Date: 24 May 09 - 07:16 AM

By the way, we always sang "flip-flap she flied", not flip flop.

As a very young kid when I was in the "cubs" (the junior version of the boy scouts, to which I never progressed) we used to sing this every year in the "gang show" (sorry, I'm putting all these terms in inverted commas because I don't know if such things exist over in the states) "Flip-flap she flied" was, for some reason, always our favourite verse.


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: Weasel
Date: 24 May 09 - 03:45 AM

Has anyone sent you the tune yet? If not, send me a private message with an email address and I'll send you a sound file.

Cheers


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Oh How He Lied
From: GUEST,meesecheese
Date: 23 May 09 - 08:05 PM

Hi did a bit of looking around and i found what we use to sing here it is

Smoked His Cigar

He sat by her window and played his guitar,
Played his guitar, played his guitar.
He sat by her window and played his guitar,
Played his guitar.

She smiled coyly and smoked her cigar...
(She sat down beside him and played his guitar)

He told her he loved her, but my how he lied...

They were to get married but somehow she died...

He went to her funeral just for the ride...

He sat on her tombstone and laughed 'til he cried...

The tombstone fell over and squish-squash he died...

She went to heaven and flip-flop she flied...

He went to hades and frizzled and fried...

The moral of the story is never tell lies...


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