Lyr Req: They Don't Write Them Like That Anymore

Subject: Lyr Req: dads drunk again vin garbut
From: GUEST,Bryan Cullen
Date: 15 May 09 - 08:26 PM

Mothers day in OZ my daughters reminded me i used to sing dads drunk again, googled for forgotten lyrics, ended up here. looked at what dad used to sing thread, got nostalgic. yeah any dad that sang "somewhere in my mind there is a Painting box"(what a guy) i still sing it along with The letter and This moment. Any folkies remember Mike Softlys Gold watch blues and what happened to Julie Felix. Maybe this thread should be Where are they now!!!
Bryan

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: dads drunk again vin garbut
From: Emma B
Date: 15 May 09 - 08:42 PM

this one?

Da's drunk again and he's brought lots of men
And their wives back home from the club
They've got no beer but you need have no fear
Tam's gone round the back door of the pub
Someone's playing a piano as if using a sledgehammer
Murdering There Goes My Heart
There's a knock at the door, it's Tam in once more
Brought the beer, so we're ready to start

Many memories of such family sings at home in the 50s too!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: dads drunk again vin garbut
From: GUEST
Date: 15 May 09 - 08:51 PM

Thanks So far so good there was a verse when bert fell in the coal house
and one about paper and comb . Ta so far Bryan

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: dads drunk again vin garbut
From: Emma B
Date: 15 May 09 - 09:03 PM

sorry Bryan failed to complete the link to this in the DT


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THEY DON'T WRITE THEM LIKE THAT ANY MORE
(Pete Betts)

Cho: And oh, how we could sing, what fun those nights would bring
Singing for hours on end
Once we found the key - oh what harmony
Those drunken voices could blend
Heart of My Heart, just for a start
Walkin' My Baby Back Home
When it comes to an end let's sing it again
They don't write them like that any more

Da's drunk again and he's brought lots of men
And their wives back home from the club
They've got no beer but you need have no fear
Tam's gone round the back door of the pub
Someone's playing a piano as if using a sledgehammer
Murdering There Goes My Heart
There's a knock at the door, it's Tam in once more
Brought the beer, so we're ready to start

Ma's in the kitchen tryin' to make up a snack
From the chicken we had this afternoon
Jack says, Where's the toilet, Ma says, Roon' the back
By his look - not a minute too soon
Then a laugh round the whole house: Jack's fell in the coalhouse
Man, he's as drunk as a neut
With his face covered black he's not taken aback
He sings Mammy and the rest follows suit

Half one in the mornin', Da's started yawnin'
He's got to be workin' at six
A bold audience is watchin' while Tony is botchin' (?)
And missin' an easy card trick (?)
It's time to go now, he's got somehow
To get them all to go home
When you're drunk full of beer the last thing you want to hear
Is a tune on his paper and comb

This is how Arthur Johnstone from Glasgow sings it on his LP 'Generations of Cha
nge' (1985). The author is given as 'Betts'. I gather it was written in the Stat
es. Does anyone know more about him? And can anyone help with the two expression
s I'm not sure about (see question marks). - Susanne

@music
filename[ DONTWRIT
SKW
apr00

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: dads drunk again vin garbut
From: GUEST,Bryan
Date: 15 May 09 - 09:12 PM

Your bloods worth bottling thank you for your time and effort
Bryan

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: dads drunk again vin garbut
From: GUEST,boxbox
Date: 16 May 09 - 01:20 AM

Quote:

...A bold audience is watchin' while Tony is botchin' (?)
And missin' an easy card trick (?)...

Emma B, I would suggest:

...A bored audience is watching while Tony is botching and messing up easy card tricks....

The way "piano" is rhymed with "sledgehammer" is one of my all time favorites; certainly doesn't appear in my Rhyming Dictionary!

MC

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: dads drunk again vin garbut
From: Sooz
Date: 16 May 09 - 03:38 AM

Written by our very own "Betsy"

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: dads drunk again vin garbut
From: Emma B
Date: 16 May 09 - 03:46 AM

box box, I simply referred Bryan to the DT.

I'm afraid there are some mistakes and classic mondegreens in the lyrics that contributors have 'heard' on their recordings and repeated in the DT - at least the person who posted these words has included a query, and from my memory, '...A bored audience is watching while Tony is botching and messing up easy card tricks....'
is the correct version

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: dads drunk again vin garbut
From: GUEST,boxbox
Date: 16 May 09 - 04:08 AM

Emma B, No offense intended. I was unclear as to whether the question marks and comments were yours or from the DT.

MC

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: dads drunk again vin garbut
From: Silas
Date: 16 May 09 - 04:23 AM

I thinks its Kenny who is botching up the easy card tricks.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: dads drunk again vin garbut
From: Betsy
Date: 16 May 09 - 05:56 AM

Hello All ,
I DID post the words in DT and I wish I could tell you where to look but I am writing from a Construction Site in Qatar and the PC /System is painfully slow to move from one page to another so it is difficult for me to consult DT and keep this message going so....... try "Ee how we could sing" or "They don't write em like that anymore" .
To Emma B , Emma that version is how a Scotsman would sing it and you wouldn't hear Vin ( or me ) sing it like that . E.g. in the 2nd verse Arthur sings "Ma's ...." whereas we would sing "Our mam's..."
It's nice to know people tailor the song to how they normally speak and sing. Good idea - sing piana not piano makes it alsmost rhyme !!!!
Finally I've never been to the States and the song is inextricably from Middlesrough (NE ENGLAND) where Vin and I have been best mates since junior school which is about 55 years ago. Jeez are we THAT old ????
Best Wishes to all and have fun with the song.

Betsy

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: dads drunk again vin garbut
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 16 May 09 - 06:04 AM

It is indeed Kenny. As it is Dad, rather than Da' who is drunk again. Bert and not Tam who has gone round the back door of the pub and a host of other either mondegreen or interpretation differences. May I suggest that you would be doing yourself and Pete Betts a service by buying his songbook:-)

Cheers

DeG

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: dads drunk again vin garbut
From: Tig
Date: 16 May 09 - 09:19 AM

You might as well own up to writing the song too Betsy :-) We know you did!

Don't work too hard in Qutar and I hope to see you sometime this year.

Lots of love and hugs
Tig xxx

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: dads drunk again vin garbut
From: Declan
Date: 16 May 09 - 09:29 AM

A link to the lyrics as posted by Betsy.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: dads drunk again vin garbut
From: Betsy
Date: 17 May 09 - 04:39 AM

Look forward to having a pint with ya Tig
Cheers

Betsy

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: dads drunk again vin garbut
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 17 May 09 - 03:32 PM

The link detailed above can be followed to the words posted by Pete himself. Follow it if you want to be sure of what you are singing. But still buy Pete's book anyway :-)

DeG

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: dads drunk again vin garbut
From: r.padgett
Date: 18 May 09 - 01:54 PM

Qatar must be dusty, Betsy's in need of a pint!

See you at Saltburn ff 2009

Cheers

Ray

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: dads drunk again vin garbut
From: Geordie-Peorgie
Date: 18 May 09 - 03:39 PM

Hey, Betsy man! Link the page te thon fond gonniel, Robson Greene when he sang it on the TV and announced it as a 'Geordie' song - The Pillock! The newspaper article wez canny!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: dads drunk again vin garbut
From: GUEST,Betsy
Date: 19 May 09 - 05:33 AM

Haven't logged in - takes too long - but just to note Padge woke up when I mentioned buying drink for Tig .Look forward to seeing ya Padge - but it will be a close run thing getting leave from here at the right time - fingers crossed.
Geordie same thing with putting in a link from here - it'll just take too long.
No problem getting a beer out here - but I haven't had a bacon (or a sausage )sandwich or a pork pie for nearly two months and I only have to wait another 10 days 'til I'm home on leave.Roll on.