Lyr Req: Pa's Old Mule / Go 'Long Mule

Subject: Lyr Req: Pa's Old Mule
From: JinxChristie
Date: 15 Feb 04 - 03:46 PM

Hi, Looking for lyrics to song my brother sang. This is what I remember:

Pa's old mule, that crazy mule,
He sat on the railroad track.
....(something like "along came the choo-choo train")....
And he ain't coming back.

Oh, he swished his tail,
and he rolled his eyes.
Well, you can train a fool,
but a Georgia mule
Is a mule until he dies.

I know there are other verses; but I can only think of this much!!
Any help?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pa's Old Mule
From: Stewie
Date: 15 Feb 04 - 07:46 PM

I can't help with the song, but Uncle Dave Macon used the last 3 lines given above in the chorus to his 'Go Long Mule' albeit with 'doggone' instead of 'Georgia': GO LONG MULE.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pa's Old Mule
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 16 Feb 04 - 09:14 PM

I can't tell if this is the same song (I doubt it) but it sure has a catchy tune:

DAD'S OLE MULE, sung by Charles Tyus and Effie Tyus, appears on the collection "Vocal Duets: Complete Recorded Works (1924-1931)" Document CD 5526, 1997. I transcribed this excerpt from a sound sample found at Barnes & Noble:

When I was young, way down south,
I saw Dad's mule kick his pipe out his mouth.
I got in his way while I was out at play.
He kicked me so hard, I thought 'twas Judgment Day.

Oh, Dad's ol' mule, (You couldn't put the saddle on him.)
Dad's old mule, (You couldn't put the saddle on him.)
He wouldn't let you put it on him;
You couldn't put the saddle on
Dad's ol' mule,
Dad's ol' mule.

Subject: Lyr Add: DAD'S OLE MULE (Charles and Effie Tyus)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 17 Feb 04 - 11:51 PM

I found the complete lyrics to the song I posted above. OK, now I know this isn't the song requested, but it seems like a good one anyway, worth having in the database. I don't know why the chorus sounded so familiar to me.

Lyrics and liner notes copied from http://www.newworldrecords.org/linernotes/80290.pdf

DAD'S OLE MULE
(Charles and Effie Tyus)

Tyus and Tyus (Charles and Effie Tyus), vocals; unknown cornet and piano. Recorded August 31, 1931, in New York. Originally issued on Columbia 14638-D.

The man-woman duet was popular on stage and in recordings in both white and black music in the early decades of the century. These teams usually played out some version of the battle of the sexes or performed other novelty pieces, often combining their singing with dancing and comedy routines. Most of their songs were ragtime vocals, which preceded the blues in mass popularity, but these acts incorporated some blues by the twenties or perhaps even earlier. Butterbeans and Susie, Grant and Wilson, and George Williams and Bessie Brown were among the more popular black duets, performing in theaters and tent shows as well as having successful recording careers.

Nothing is known about Charles and Effie Tyus, though they must have been fairly popular, as they recorded twelve issued pieces from 1924 to 1931. "Dad's Ole Mule" belongs to a class of folk songs about this obstinate creature, which was so important to the southern farmer. It is the kind of novelty piece that the man-woman teams often recorded. Here it is given a blues arrangement. The cornet player provides some of the finest solo work ever recorded on that instrument, and one would very much like to know his identity. He uses a mute on his horn after the third stanza.

When I was a lad, dad had a mule.
He was so devilish, I couldn't ride to school.
He acted just like he didn't have no sense.
Put a saddle on his back, he jumped a ten-foot fence.

CHORUS: Oh, dad's old mule. (You couldn't put the saddle on.)
Dad's old mule. (You couldn't put the saddle on.)
He wouldn't let you put it on; you couldn't put the saddle on
Dad's old mule, dad's old mule.

Dad's old mule, name was Pete.
He had long ears and great big feet.
He'd creep around like he's almost dead;
Put a saddle on his back, he'd kick a knot on your head.
When I was young way down south,
I saw dad's mule kick his pipe out 'f his mouth.
I got in his way while I was out at play;
He kicked me so hard, I thought 'twas judgment day. CHORUS

Dad's mule was so poor, he was thin as a rail;
The biggest thing about him was his head and tail.
If you'd put a saddle on that old hound,
He'd haul off and kick his stable down.
He was so old, he didn't have a tooth.
That old mule was too uncouth.
He kicked dad so hard, he turned black and blue.
Just the wind from his foot give dad the flu. CHORUS

Whenever dad wanted to have fun,
He tried to ride that old son of a gun.
That old mule would kick up so much dirt,
All you could see was dad's old red shirt.
Dad's old mule was awful mean,
The meanest old mule I ever seen.
He kicked dad so high one afternoon,
I thought dad was the man in the moon. CHORUS

Dad loved his mule, hair and hide.
He kept him forty years until he died.
He lived so long till his head got bald.
I thought that old devil wouldn't die at all.
When dad's mule laid down and died,
He made a pair of boots out of his old hide.
But his old hide was so hard and tough,
Dad couldn't wear his boots when he strut his stuff. CHORUS

Hee, haw, hee, haw, dad's old mule.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pa's Old Mule
From: JinxChristie
Date: 18 Feb 04 - 01:45 PM

Finally found words (as my children remember them)...
The words from Uncle Dave Macon give me many extra verses to adapt to my tune, which is sorta (but not quite) like Polly Wolly Doodle.


Pa's old mule, that crazy mule,
Slept on the railroad track.
The whistle blew and that mule flew,
And he ain't coming back.

CHORUS: Oh he swished his tail, and he rolled his eyes.
Well, you can change a fool, but a Georgia mule,
Is a mule until he dies.

Sold him to the glue mill,
Sold him for fifteen bucks,
He came back with his head in a sack,
Jumped off the glue mill truck.

CHORUS....

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pa's Old Mule
From: JinxChristie
Date: 18 Feb 04 - 01:48 PM

That's Uncle Dave "Macon." Sorry. Jinx

Subject: Lyr Add: PA'S OLE MULE
From: GUEST
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 06:03 PM

Subject: Re: Lyr Req: Pa's Old Mule / Go 'long Mule
From: Guest
Date: 29 Jul 12 - 05:54 pm

Corrected copy

PA'S OLE MULE

Pa's ole mule was a darned old fool
He stopped on the railroad crossing,
The whistle blew, the flitter flew,
There ain't no use in talking.

Pa fell out upon the ground
And Ma fell out behind him,
But the mule got away with a wink and a bray,
There ain't no use in talkin'.

He'd switch his tail, he'd roll his eyes,
Talk about a mule, a Georgia mule,
He stayed a fool until he died.

Me and my gal went for a ride,
We hooked that mule to the buggy,
But that son of a gun he broke and run,
Gee, how that gal did hug me.

He'd switch his tail, he'd roll his eyes,
Talk about a mule, a Georgia mule,
He stayed a fool until he died.

I took that mule to the horseshoe man
And I hate to tell the story,
But he kicked him with his right hind leg
And he went right on to glory.

He'd switch his tail, he'd roll his eyes.
Talk about a mule, a Georgia mule,
Stayed a fool until he died.


This is what my mom taught me.

Jake Baker, July 29, 2012, 3:52 p.m.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Pa's Old Mule / Go 'Long Mule
From: GUEST,Davis Palmer
Date: 23 May 13 - 01:46 AM

My mother, an otherwise dignified professor of voice, used to sing "Go On, Mule" accompanying herself on ukulele. She said she learned the song as a child in the 20s, but she taught at the Georgia State Women's College in the 30s and early 40s, so may have heard it there, too. Alas, I never recorded her version, and all I remember a verse and chorus.

Oh, Rastus Aches and Georgia Pains
Were married down in Plains
And now they say the Georgia woods
Are full of Aches and Pains

Go on, mule
Don't you roll dem eyes
You can change a fool
But the doggone mule
He's a mule until he dies

I'd like to learn the full lyric myself.

Subject: Lyr Add: MY OLD MULE (Riley Puckett)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 28 May 13 - 10:37 AM

MY OLD MULE
As sung by Riley Puckett on "Country Music Pioneer, Vol. 1"

1. Oh, pa's old mule, the dad-gum fool
Stopped on the railroad crossin'.
The whistle blew; that critter flew.
There ain't no use in talkin'.

2. Pa fell out upon the ground.
Ma fell out behind him.
The mule got away until a week to a day
Before we ever could find him.

3. Oh, me and my gal we went for a ride.
We drove that mule to the buggy.
That son of gun, he broke to run.
Mm! How the gal did hug me!

4. I sold that mule for fifty bucks.
I sold him to my brother.
He brought him back with his head in a sack
And his hind feet tied together.

5. Now a circus man he bought that mule.
He thought that he'd just suit him,
But he killed a clown, tore the tent all down,
And the pólice had to shoot him.

TAG: He'd switch his tail; he'd roll his eyes.
Talk about a fool, but a Georgia mule
Stays a fool until he dies.