Lyr Add: Among My Souvenirs (and parodies)

Subject: Lyr Add: AMONG MY SOUVENIRS (Leslie/Nicholls)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 20 Nov 03 - 12:47 AM

A song better known (among folkies anyway) by its parodies than by the original. Here's the original. Available at several sites on the Internet.


AMONG MY SOUVENIRS
Words by Edgar Leslie, music by Horatio Nicholls, ©1927.

1. Your eyes once told me a story.
I built my castles on air.
Life soon was dimmed of its glory.
I loved but you ceased to care.

CHORUS: There's nothing left for me,
Of days that used to be,
I live in memory
Among my souvenirs.
Some letters tied with blue,
A photograph or two,
I see a rose from you
Among my souvenirs.
A few more tokens rest
Within my treasure chest,
And though they do their best
To give me consolation,
I count them all apart,
And as the teardrops start,
I find a broken heart
Among my souvenirs.

2. You broke the news to me kindly.
I can’t say you were not fair.
Yet, just because I loved blindly,
I have the burden to bear. CHORUS.


[Recorded by Louis Armstrong, Connie Francis, Marty Robbins, Frank Sinatra, Hank Snow, Art Tatum, Paul Whiteman, and many others.]

Subject: Lyr Add: AMONG MY SOUVENIRS (Homer & Jethro)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 20 Nov 03 - 12:49 AM

Transcribed from the sound file at http://www.geocities.com/u2page5/

AMONG MY SOUVENIRS
(As sung by Homer & Jethro)

There ain't nothin' left fer me.
I ain't what I used to be.
I live in misery
Amongst her souvenirs.
Some letters I can't see.
They're under lock and key.
They're used to blackmail me
Amongst her souvenirs.

Her hair has no gray streak
And she's a blonde this week.
Though both of her legs squeak,
They give her transportation.
Her figger's changed somehow.
What made the boys say "Wow!"
It's all behind her now
Amongst her souvenirs.

There's only one love left
Within her cedar chest,
And though it does its best
To give her respiration,
It seems so hard to bear.
I've got more than my share.
When I see her standin' there,
I can't hold back the tears.
I'm stuck with her and all her souvenirs.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Among My Souvenirs -- and parody
From: GUEST,Clint Keller
Date: 20 Nov 03 - 03:46 AM

I'm the other way round-- my farher used to sing Among My Souvenirs and I never heard any parodies until now.

clint

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Among My Souvenirs (and parody)
From: GUEST,jazzworker
Date: 16 Apr 10 - 09:51 PM

In the late 40's I had a 78 RPM parody of "Among My Souvenirs" by a gal singer. I don't remember and am trying to find the lyrics for the first sixteen measures. From the bridge and last eight measure the lyrics went like this;

Cigarette burns on the chair
Stale garbage everywhere
And as I tear my hair
With each new aggravation

I sit here in a daze
See clearly through th haze
You've got six kids to raise
Among your souvenirs

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Among My Souvenirs (and parody)
From: bubblyrat
Date: 17 Apr 10 - 01:25 PM

Navy version ;

The lady is not what at first she seems,and as she prepares for bed with a sailor, a mounting assortment of prosthetic limbs,false teeth,trusses,supports,wigs,etc,piles up . And so to the last verse --

She said " I'm ready,Dear !",
    He said "No bloody fear ! -
      Just chuck it over here,
       Among my souvenirs !".

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Among My Souvenirs (and parody)
From: Snuffy
Date: 19 Apr 10 - 07:36 PM

Click here to hear Geoffrey Ling sing his version at Blaxhall Ship in 1973.

Out came her big glass eye
Her false teeth on the sly
She gently placed them down
Upon the chiffonier
She then unscrewed her leg
And hung it on a peg
And oh my eyes were filled
With many a bitter tear

Her beautiful golden hair
She hung upon the chair
And what was left of her
Slipped in between the blankets.
I looked at her and said
"I am not coming to bed
I'd rather sleep instead
Among your souvenirs"

My folk-processed version is only slightly different:

She took out her glass eye
Her false teeth on the sly
And gently laid them down
Upon the chiffonier
Her lovely wooden leg
She hung upon a peg
And oh my eye was filled
With many a bitter tear

Her lovely golden hair
She hung upon the chair
And what was left of her
Slipped in between the blankets.
I looked at her and said
"Don't think I'll come to bed
I'll stay out here instead
Among my souvenirs"

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Among My Souvenirs (and parody)
From: GUEST,ritzym4
Date: 08 Aug 11 - 05:13 PM

my mother always sang the version snuffy has put on above, i never new the words by heart, and reading them above has brought back good memories of when my mother peggy was alive and used to sing them when we had a wee night with other family members and friends .

thanks for bringing back my memories of my mother

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Among My Souvenirs (and parody)
From: GUEST,Big_Roly
Date: 03 Sep 11 - 06:48 PM

Here's a version which was sung by Kenneth Horne on BBC Radio 4's "Round the Horne" in the late 1960s (Probable authors: Barry Tooke and Marty Feldman):

There's nothing left for me
Of things that used to be
When you deserted me
Except some souvenirs;
I didn't want the stuff:
It only gathers fluff
And I've got quite enough
Without your souvenirs.
Who needs a stuffed giraffe,
Disraeli's photograph,
A chap called Bickerstaffe?
It leads to complications;
I count them every day
And I can only say:
Please take your junk away;
Remove your souvenirs.

A partly smoked cheroot,
A left-foot rubber boot,
Some decomposing fruit
Among my souvenirs;
A pair of bathing drawers,
Assorted apple cores,
A set of folding doors
[Spoken: And how the hell they got there I shall never know.]
Among my souvenirs.
Oh, if I had my way
I'd throw it all away.
I think it's here to stay;
The Council won't remove it.
Of china there's a load;
Some Derbyshire and Spode
And half an old commode
Among my souvenirs.

Subject: Lyr Add: AMONG MY SOUVENIRS (parody, Etta Jones)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 30 Jan 19 - 10:18 AM

This must be the parody that GUEST,jazzworker had in mind back on 16-Apr-2010:

You can hear it at the Internet Archive.


AMONG MY SOUVENIRS (parody)
As recorded by Etta Jones with J. C. Heard and his Orchestra, RCA Victor 20-1998-A, 1946.

There’s nothing for me
Of all my currency.
You left three cents for me
Among my souvenirs.
A broken piggy bank,
Those jugs of gin you drank—
And I have you to thank
For all these souvenirs.
A bouncing check or two,
A farewell note from you—
The news that we were through
Gave me no consolation.
An ice box out of ice,
A kitchen full of mice—
I can’t find nothing nice
Among my souvenirs.

Cigarette burns on the chair,
Stale garbage ev’rywhere—
I start to tear my hair
At each new aggravation.
I sit here in a daze
And I see through the haze:
You left six kids to raise
Among my souvenirs.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Among My Souvenirs (and parodies)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 30 Jan 19 - 11:03 AM

Considering the original song AMONG MY SOUVENIRS—

The cover and first page of the sheet music are viewable at the University of Missouri Kansas City. This covers the verse—but that part is not usually sung.

Apparently the song had a revival due to the film “The Best Years of Our Lives” (1946) in which Hoagy Carmichael played it on the piano. There is a film clip at Turner Classic Movies.

Cameo 8106 (1927) – Vernon Dalhart sings first verse and chorus.

The Internet Archive has many more recordings.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Among My Souvenirs (and parodies)
From: leeneia
Date: 30 Jan 19 - 12:10 PM

Hi, Jim. Thanks for bringing up a good song.

The only version of this I ever heard was by Connie Francis, and she blared it out in her usual loud, trumpet-like fashion. But now when I see the words and imagine them being sung by someone from 1927, they become more tender, gentle and appealing.