Lyr ADD: The Thing (Charles R. Grean; Phil Harris)

Subject: The Thing
From: Cool Beans
Date: 17 Nov 00 - 12:54 PM

Yes, I know it's listed in the Digitrad Database but every time I click on it I get "Alice's Restaurant," a fine work, but what I want is "The Thing," a funny little song from the 1950s about a msyterious wooden box. Anyone know the words? And speaking of mysteries, how come I keep getting "Alice's Restaurant?"

Subject: Lyr Add: THE THING (Charles R. Grean; Phil Harris)
From: GUEST,kendall
Date: 17 Nov 00 - 02:11 PM

THE THING
Words, Charles R. Grean. Tune, “The Lincolnshire Poacher”
As recorded by Phil Harris, 1950.

While I was walkin' down the beach one bright and sunny day,
I saw a great big wooden box a-floatin' in the bay.
I pulled it in and opened it up and much to my surprise,
Ooh, I discovered a [thump, thump, thump] right before my eyes.
Ooh, I discovered a [thump, thump, thump] right before my eyes.

I picked it up and ran to town as happy as a king.
I took it to a guy I knew who'd buy most anything.
But this is what he hollered at me as I walked in his shop:
"Ooh, get out o' here with that [thump, thump, thump] before I call a cop!
Ooh, get out o' here with that [thump, thump, thump] before I call a cop!"

I turned around and got right out a-runnin' for my life,
And then I took it home with me to give it to my wife,
But this is what she hollered at me as I walked in the door:
"Ooh, get out o' here with that [thump, thump, thump] and don't come back no more!
Ooh, get out o' here with that [thump, thump, thump] and don't come back no more!"

I wandered all around the town until I chanced to meet
A hobo who was lookin' for a handout on the street.
He said he'd take most any old thing; he was a desp'rate man,
But when I showed him the [thump, thump, thump] he turned around and ran.
Oh, when I showed him the [thump, thump, thump] he turned around and ran.

I wandered on for many years a victim of my fate,
Until one day I came upon Saint Peter at the gate.
And when I tried to take it inside, he told me where to go:
"Get out o' here with that [thump, thump, thump] and take it down below!
Oh, get out o' here with that [thump, thump, thump] and take it down below!"

The moral of this story is: if you're out on the beach,
And you should see a great big box and it's within your reach,
Don't ever stop and open it up; that's my advice to you,
'Cause you'll never get rid o' the [thump, thump, thump] no matter what you do.
Oh, you'll never get rid o' the [thump, thump, thump] no matter what you do.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Thing
From: mousethief
Date: 17 Nov 00 - 02:24 PM

Didn't he take it home to show his wife at one point? After he goes to the shop, he runs out of there...

... a-runnin' for my life
... I took it home .... to show it to my wife
But this is what she said to me as I came through the door
Get out of here with that (dum da dum) and don't come back no more! (repeat)

I have it on a CD at home, but unfortunately I'm not at home right now.

The guy who sang it (Phil Harris) is the same guy who played Balloo the Bear in Disney's Jungle Book (and many other roles in other Disney movies). Great baritone voice.

Alex
O..O
=o=

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Thing
From: MMario
Date: 17 Nov 00 - 02:25 PM

the thing

it were right there listed under "the thing"

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Thing
From: GUEST,kendall
Date: 17 Nov 00 - 02:28 PM

I couldn't bring it up either..it could have saved me some time..oh well..

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Thing
From: MMario
Date: 17 Nov 00 - 02:51 PM

I dunno guys. computers like me, or somethin'...all I did was type [the thing] into the dt search box,hit the return key, and scroll through the results until I saw The Thing, then I clicked it. honest. I didn't bribe anyone, sell my soul to any paranormal entity or nuthin'

Subject: Lyr Add: THE THING (Charles R. Grean)^^^
From: bydand
Date: 17 Nov 00 - 03:19 PM

Here it is from Lyrics world:

-Artist: Phil Harris as sung on "Mairzy Doats 44 Wacky Hits"
-MCA Records-MSD2-35180/GMD80041
-Peak Billboard position # 1 for 5 weeks in 1950
-Competing versions also charted by Arthur Godfrey (#24), and
-The Ames Brothers (#29)
-Uses the melody of the traditional song "The Tailor's Boy"
-Words and Music by Charles R. Grean

Transcribers' Note: the "! ! !" represents the sound of three drum beats in rapid succession—like "boom- ba-boom"

While I was walkin' down the beach one bright and sunny day
I saw a great big wooden box a-floatin' in the bay
I pulled it in and opened it up and much to my surprise
Oh, I discovered a ! ! !, right before my eyes
Oh, I discovered a ! ! !, right before my eyes

I picked it up and ran to town as happy as a king
I took it to a guy I knew who'd buy most anything
But this is what he hollered at me as I walked in his shop
"Oh, get out of here with that ! ! !, before I call a cop"
Oh, get out of here with that ! ! !, before I call a cop

I turned around and got right out, a-runnin' for my life
And then I took it home with me to give it to my wife
But this is what she hollered at me as I walked in the door
"Oh, get out of here with that ! ! !, and don't come back no more"
Oh get out of here with that ! ! !, and don't come back no more

(Brief instrumental interlude)

I wandered all around the town until I chanced to meet
A hobo who was lookin' for a handout on the street
He said he'd take most any old thing, he was a desperate man
But when I showed him the ! ! !, he turned around and ran
Oh, when I showed him the ! ! !, he turned around and ran

I wandered on for many years a victim of my fate
Until one day I came upon St. Peter at the gate
And when I tried to take it inside he told me where to go
Get out of here with that ! ! !, and take it down below
Oh get out of here with that ! ! !, and take it down below

The moral of this story is: if you're out on the beach
And you should see a great big box, and it's within your reach
Don't ever stop and open it up, that's my advice to you
'cause you'll never get rid of the ! ! !, no matter what you do
Oh you'll never get rid of the ! ! !, no matter what you do

http://www.summer.com.br/~pfilho/html/main_index/by_title/thi.html

-charles

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Thing
From: GUEST,Arkie
Date: 18 Nov 00 - 02:25 PM

When I click on "The Thing" in the database I also get "Alice's Restaurant". Why do computers discriminate against some people?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Thing
From: Gary T
Date: 18 Nov 00 - 06:21 PM

Well, I just had to click on "THE THING" in the DT list, and sure enough up came "Alice's Restaurant". So I hit "Next Entire Page" and got another song, hit it again and got still another. These song titles were in alphabetical order, and in each one the word "the" was in bold type. Apparently the program is simply bringing up every(?) song with the word "the" in it--and presumably also those with the word "thing" in them. If you had a few hours I'm sure you'd eventually get to "The Thing". :)

Then I tried what MMario described, and got one of those annoying messages saying "this ain't gonna work, sap" or words to that effect. I dunno, MMario, I gotta suspect you're doing something illegal or immoral with them 'puters.... :)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Thing
From: IvanB
Date: 18 Nov 00 - 07:51 PM

MMario's secret is the square brackets he used to enclose his search term. That makes the Supersearch look for the entire phrase instead of individual words. I did the same by using the phrase [right before my eyes] and got only two hits, one of which was correct. The trick is to use square brackets and a phrase that's fairly unique to the song you want.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Thing
From: Sourdough
Date: 19 Nov 00 - 02:43 PM

The song was extraordinarily popular, this was back at the time when there were a lot of pop songs that used traditional chording and simple melodies such as "Doggie in the Window" and "The Pawnshop in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania" . "The Thing" was a rewrite of a trad song, wasn't it? Anyway,I recall there was even some discussion in an article in either Time of Life Magazine about what the "Dum de DUM!" was although, as I recall the traditional song about the guy going into the chandler's shop and finding his wife in bed, there was no question about what the "DUM de DUM" was, "They were having a DUM de DUM!" right before me eyes."

Sour DUMdeDUM Dough

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Thing
From: Amos
Date: 19 Nov 00 - 07:01 PM

I think the flip side was "One Meat Balll", similar whimsy in a dark urban vein...

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Thing
From: Amos
Date: 19 Nov 00 - 07:05 PM

Any way, it's right here: THE THING.

Fixed by Clone of Joe

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Thing
From: Alan of Australia
Date: 20 Nov 00 - 08:05 AM

G'day,
Good example of carefully choosing your search string. Seaching for [the thing] will find every song containing "the thing". e.g. the umpteenth verse of Alice's Restaurant includes the line "and all kinds of stuff that they was doin' to me at the thing". IvanB's choice of [right before my eyes] is much better.

Now, what about the tune - bydand's post taken from Lyrics World says it's "The Tailor's Boy". It should be "The Lincolnshire Poacher", or is this another name for the same tune?

Cheers,
Alan

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Thing
From: Cool Beans
Date: 20 Nov 00 - 08:58 AM

Catters rule!! Thanks to you I was able to successfully perform "The Thing" at a coffeehouse Saturday night, with everybody slapping the table or stomping their feet or rapping out the Boom boom-BOOM on the hand drums that were lying around.I had no idea the tune actually had folk roots. Neat. Thanks again, all.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Thing
From: GUEST,BarryK
Date: 19 Oct 05 - 08:34 AM

Words & Music to the thing here:

http://www.rienzihills.com/SING/T/thething.htm

I'm trying to find an mp3 so that I can get it on a CD I'm making for my grandaughter.

Also looking for "the Sergent Major's Serenade" (Shut the door, it's coming throught the window etc............) by Billy Cotton snr.

Any assistance gratefully recd.

Cheers
Barry

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Thing
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 19 Oct 05 - 09:27 AM

Barry,
I could send you an MP3 of "The Thing" if you could give me an e-mail address. It would have to be able to handle an attached file of over 800kb so hotmail may not work. If you are a mudcat member contact me by PM.
       Sandy

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Thing
From: GUEST,BarryK
Date: 19 Oct 05 - 03:55 PM

Thanks Sandy

Not a member at the moment but soon will be - subscribing now....

Cheers
Barry

"I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy"

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Thing
From: Bazak
Date: 19 Oct 05 - 04:38 PM

Thanks Sandy

Got that OK............great stuff!

Cheers
Barry

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Thing
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 19 Oct 05 - 04:49 PM

You're welcome Barry. It kept going as a WAV file but the last one should be MP3.
          Sandy

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Thing
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Oct 05 - 11:35 PM

yup it was once The Lincolnshire Poacher, then it became The Chandler's Wife, now its The Thing.

Billy Cotton did a version way back about 1948, or '49. But the BEST version of course is put out by our own Seamus Kennedy, sende him a PM and buy the CD.

Bert