Subject: Nobody loves a fairy From: Date: 09 Dec 98 - 11:37 PM Looking for the lyrics of a music hall song called "Nobody loves a fairy once she's forty" |
Subject: Lyr Add: NOBODY LOVES A FAIRY WHEN SHE'S FORTY From: alison Date: 10 Dec 98 - 08:51 AM Hi, Here you go,
Nobody loves a fairy when she's forty. Arthur Le Clerq
Nobody loves a fairy when she's forty Let me know if you need the tune. Slainte alison |
Subject: RE: Nobody loves a fairy From: Barbara Date: 10 Dec 98 - 09:58 AM I need the tune,alison. |
Subject: RE: Nobody loves a fairy From: Steve Parkes Date: 10 Dec 98 - 10:45 AM There are verses, as well! I can't remember much - it's not one I sing a lot now (I was forty a few yerars ago), but I'll try and find them at the weekend. Steve |
Subject: Tune Add: NOBODY LOVES A FAIRY WHEN SHE'S FORTY^^ From: alison Date: 15 Dec 98 - 06:27 AM Hi Barbara, Here's the tune....... sorry I don't have any of the verses. slainte alison
MIDI file: NOBODYLO.MID Timebase: 480 Name: Nobody loves a fairy when she's forty This program is worth the effort of learning it. To download the March 10 MIDItext 98 software and get instructions on how to use it click here ABC format: X:1 ^^ |
Subject: RE: Nobody loves a fairy From: Steve Parkes Date: 15 Dec 98 - 10:55 AM Well, now you have the tune. Sorry I can't find the sheet music, ther are two or three verses, all of which I seem to have forgotten. Steve |
Subject: RE: Nobody loves a fairy From: JudeL Date: 14 Aug 01 - 11:00 AM I too would like the lyrics of this song. Having searched the forum I found this thread that was started Dec 98, but still only has the chorus. Maybe since then someone may have found the missing verses..... please Jude |
Subject: RE: Nobody loves a fairy From: JudeL Date: 16 Aug 01 - 08:41 AM refresh |
Subject: RE: Nobody loves a fairy From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler Date: 16 Aug 01 - 09:11 AM I couldn't track down the lyrics either. Wasn't it Douglas Byng who had the big hit with it? A gay friend who has been known to appear in drag as "Ruby Snatch" does the bit quoted but I'm not sure if he knows any other verses. He's a colleague of my wife's and she helped him get made up for their office Xmas show. "I never thought I'd hear myself say at work :'Get your trousers off and I'll help you on with your tights'" she told me later! RtS |
Subject: RE: Nobody loves a fairy From: Wolfgang Date: 16 Aug 01 - 09:19 AM I found it being described as a 'one-verse song' in a search. If that's true, the search is over. Wolfgang |
Subject: RE: Nobody loves a fairy From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler Date: 16 Aug 01 - 09:29 AM I e-mailed Herself. She says "Ruby" has just sung her the first verse over the 'phone! He's going to let me know if he comes up with any more but Wolfgang may well be right about it being one verse only (he usually is!). RtS |
Subject: RE: Nobody loves a fairy From: JudeL Date: 16 Aug 01 - 09:33 AM No, its not a one verse song as I've heard it sung in it's entirety before, I just can't remember who or when, although I think it may have been at either Maidenhead FC or Hurga. |
Subject: RE: Nobody loves a fairy From: Wolfgang Date: 16 Aug 01 - 09:47 AM It is a one-verse song in:
Busking for Special Occasions but that doesn't prove it has not been sung somewhere with more verses. It seems to be a songs that cries for more verses to be added. I'd love to see them. Wolfgang |
Subject: RE: Nobody loves a fairy From: GUEST,bigJ Date: 16 Aug 01 - 04:10 PM Didn't Tessie O'Shea have a hit with this? |
Subject: RE: Nobody loves a fairy From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler Date: 17 Aug 01 - 03:33 AM If your PC can do video (I can't) you can see a performance here . Whether it has extra verses I don't know. RtS |
Subject: RE: Nobody loves a fairy From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler Date: 17 Aug 01 - 06:03 AM Sorry, my friend Peter (aka Ruby Snatch) can't remember any more words.(His favourite party piece is a number called;"Let's all be fairies", let's not go there!) There are some recordings out there if you do a Google search. RtS |
Subject: Lyr Add: NO-ONE LOVES A FAIRY WHEN SHE'S FORTY ^^ From: JudeL Date: 19 Aug 01 - 03:49 PM A friend heard I was looking for it and sent me this! Jude NO-ONE LOVES A FAIRY WHEN SHE'S FORTY (Arthur le Clerq) For years a fairy queen I've been. For years I've followed the demon king. But alas, I'm getting on, the years have flown by somehow, And I feel that Fairy Snowdrop isn't wanted now. Nobody loves a fairy when she's forty. Nobody loves a fairy when she's old. She may still have her magic powers, but that is not enough. They all want their bit of magic from a younger bit of stuff. When once your silver star has lost its glitter, And your tinsel looks like rust instead of gold, Your fairy days are ending when your wand has started bending. No one loves a fairy when she's old. 'Twas I who helped Aladdin find a cave that wasn't there. 'Twas I who made Dick Whittington* turn round and then Lord Mayor. I've been Spirit of the Flowers and Fairy Daffodil. I've been Fairy of the Wind, ay, and suffer from it still. In satin-coloured ballet shoes I toe-danced through the glen, Beloved by all the children and run after by the men. No-one could touch me at the splits; me splits were all the rage Until the Woodman left his chopper on the stage. (What a mess!) Nobody loves a fairy when she's forty. Nobody loves a fairy when she's old. She may still have her magic powers, but that is not enough. They want their bit of magic from a younger bit of stuff. When you can't cast a spell without it spilling, And a fairy tale in years you haven't told, You stand there shouting "What ho!" but they all pass by your grotto. No-one loves a fairy when she's old. (*) "Whit Dickington" is sung by Tessie O'Shea ^^ |
Subject: RE: Nobody loves a fairy From: JudeL Date: 19 Aug 01 - 03:56 PM Don't you just hate it when you miss out a line break! ......Help...... .... Where's a Joe Clone when you need one! |
Subject: Lyr Add: Nobody loves a fairy when she's forty From: Lin in Kansas Date: 19 Aug 01 - 07:58 PM Seems to me this tune, with all 4 verses, really ought to be in the DT... Lin |
Subject: RE: Nobody loves a fairy From: Helen Date: 19 Aug 01 - 08:19 PM For a visual image of an ageing female fairy, have a look at one of the imaginary friends in the psychiatrist's waiting room scene of the movie Drop Dead Fred. This song and that fairy dressed in satin are inextricably linked now in my brain. Helen |
Subject: RE: Nobody loves a fairy From: Dave Bryant Date: 16 Sep 02 - 06:29 AM I'm sure I've heard a verse with lines which go some thing like And every elf and every pixie close their doors and all shout nixie No-one loves a fairy when she's old
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Subject: RE: Nobody loves a fairy From: Crane Driver Date: 16 Sep 02 - 05:13 PM There's also a sort of conciliatory last verse, in which the fairy admits she's relieved not to get a length of sitka spruce rammed between her bumcheeks every christmas from now on, but I don't know the actual words - song challenge, anyone? Andrew |
Subject: Lyr Add: NOBODY LOVES A FAIRY WHEN SHE'S FORTY From: GUEST,Jim McLean Date: 16 Sep 02 - 05:20 PM I've been playing this on the piano for years and here are the verses I have: NOBODY LOVES A FAIRY WHEN SHE'S FORTY Words and Music by Arthur Le Clerq Published by Lawrence Wright Nobody loves a fairy when she's forty. Nobody loves a fairy when she's old. She may still have a magic power, but that is not enough. They like their bit of magic from a younger bit of stuff. When once your silver star has lost its glitter, And your tinsel looks like rust instead of gold, Your fairy days are ending, When your wand has started bending. Nobody loves a fairy when she's old. Nobody loves a fairy when she's forty. Nobody loves a fairy when she's old. The face of this immortal one to many has appealed, But gone is the illusion once you've had it soled and heeled. When you've lost your little dimples, And the moth-holes in your dress let in the cold, The goblins and the pixies Turn their backs and say "Hi, Nixey." Nobody loves a fairy when she's old. Nobody loves a fairy when she's forty. Nobody loves a fairy when she's old. As far as I can see they try to push you off the map, When once your wand has withered and your wings refuse to flap. When you can't cast a spell without it spilling, And a fairy tale for years you haven't told. You stand there shouting "What-O" But they all pass by your grotto. Nobody loves a fairy when she's old. Nobody loves a fairy when she's forty. Nobody loves a fairy when she's old. They don't give you an earthly chance to make a livelihood. They're building council houses now in my enchanted wood. When you are past the age for television, And the air you use is government controlled, It seems that they would sooner Listen to a blinkin' crooner. Nobody loves a fairy when she's old. Cheers, Jim Mclean |
Subject: RE: Nobody loves a fairy From: Herga Kitty Date: 16 Sep 02 - 06:57 PM I suspect JudeL got the Tessie O'Shea version from me, because that's the version I've sung at Herga, Maidenhead, and Wycombe (and probably Uxbridge too!. The words that Jim McLean has posted have been published by EMI Music Publishing Ltd(with the music) in the Bumper Book of Music Hall Songs. In the Tessie O'Shea version, I thinks it's "foiled" the Demon King, not "followed". The fairy was with the good guys. Kitty |
Subject: RE: Nobody loves a fairy From: GUEST,MCP Date: 17 Sep 02 - 04:28 AM Kitty - Close! - in fact she got it from me (e-mailed after Grove last year). Mick |
Subject: RE: Nobody loves a fairy From: Dave Bryant Date: 17 Sep 02 - 04:30 AM Jim's version is definitely the one that I've heard before, but I seem to remember some other bit's - there was a sort of intro something like "For years I've lived in Fairy Dell". Can anyone remember a character on the folk scene called Dave Calderhead (he was once my boss) - he used to do a wonderful version of the song. |
Subject: RE: Nobody loves a fairy From: Jim McLean Date: 17 Sep 02 - 07:50 AM The version I posted has a copyright date of 1934 but the last verse has a reference to television. It seems like there are many 'spurious' versions/verses around. Cheers, Jim Mclean |
Subject: RE: Nobody loves a fairy From: Peter T. Date: 17 Sep 02 - 11:58 AM This is a great thread. 4 years to the most complete lyrics!! -- I remember when it was first here in 98 (no one loves a mudcatter, etc.). Mudcat gold. yours, Peter T. |
Subject: RE: Nobody loves a fairy From: Leadfingers Date: 17 Sep 02 - 07:32 PM Contact the Crediton Folk Festival People (that,s the one in March in Devon,U.K.) John and Pete who run the Festival do a very good version,verse and chorus,with John doing a superb falsetto vocal. |
Subject: RE: Nobody loves a fairy From: Herga Kitty Date: 17 Sep 02 - 08:39 PM Re Dave Bryant's post - not only do I remember Dave Calderhead aka the singing Toby Jug, but I can still sing 6 verses of "A folking I will go". Sadly, I don't remember his version of "Nobody loves a fairy" Kitty |
Subject: RE: Nobody loves a fairy From: Herga Kitty Date: 17 Sep 02 - 09:16 PM Re MCP's post.. The recording of Tessie O'Shea, on a compilation of music hall songs called "Music Hall Memories" gives a date of 2 November 1928 (though still Lawrence Wright Music Co Ltd). |
Subject: RE: Nobody loves a fairy From: GUEST,jill@murfin19.freeserve.co.uk Date: 26 Sep 03 - 03:58 PM I am desperately seeking the sheet music or at least the piano part for Nobody Loves a Fairy when she's 40 - - -this is for our school pantomime and I found it on sheetmusicwarehouse.com but they have sold their only copy - - - - I have "Sibelius" software if anyone oculd scan and attach the dots I could probably unscramble it! PLEASE can you help me please!!!!!! many thanks Jill [ frustrated music teacher!] |
Subject: RE: Nobody loves a fairy From: Long Firm Freddie Date: 26 Sep 03 - 06:50 PM I've just emailed a scan of the sheet music to Jill. I mentioned to her that I've seen this song performed by a (male) member of the Hiss and Boo Music Hall Company. It was an absolute riot! LFF |
Subject: RE: Nobody loves a fairy From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 26 Sep 03 - 07:17 PM This is one of my favourite songs. The goblins and the pixies turn their backs and say "Hi, Nixey," I don't get the "Nixey" reference I assume the turning away expresses disapproval, but is there any connection with the "Nixey" reference? Robin |
Subject: RE: Nobody loves a fairy From: LadyJean Date: 26 Sep 03 - 09:15 PM A nixey is a water fairy. Check Katherine Briggs. |
Subject: RE: Nobody loves a fairy From: John MacKenzie Date: 27 Sep 03 - 05:30 AM I'm sure I also remember Dora Bryan doing this. The memory of someone else doing it in drag eludes me, but maybe it will come to me. Giok |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Nobody Loves a Fairy From: GUEST,Geoffrey Date: 06 Oct 03 - 12:17 PM I too have loved following this thread! I had the sheet music all ready to send to Jill, when I noticed that "Long firm freddie' had allready done so. Freddie: I would be interested to compare our editions. (mine is half hand written) Geoffrey in Melbourne Australia write to me: gb@geoffreybaird.com |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Nobody Loves a Fairy From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 08 Oct 03 - 07:00 AM I know I have 2 versions of this in print - full pianoforte sheet music - I found one version while looking for something else... :-) as per Murphy... Nobody Loves A Fairy When She's Forty Words & Music By ArthurLe Clerq Copyright 1934 all Countries Lawrence Wright Music Co Ltd. Arranged by Frank Booth appears in It's Easy To Play Music Hall Copyright 1989 Wise Publications UK ISBN 0.7119.1363.3 Order No AM59287 Avail from Music Sales Limited England Music Sales Pty Ltd Australia 4 Verses Firstly See Judel 19 Aug 01 message above - This version first verse is the same as Judel 19 Aug 01 version first full verse - no short intro. This version 3rd verse is same as Judel 19 Aug 01 3rd verse. Judel Alladin verse missing from this version - 2 addtl verses. My data entry is my least talent, but I'll try - eventually... There's a whole "Easy To Play" Series - 60 (including a Sampler, Swing, 20'-80's, Bluse, Boogie-Woogie, Folk, XMAS, R&B, Pub Songs...) listed on the back of this book. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Further down the thread Jim McLean 16 Sep 02 version. Mostly identical all 4 verses with this one in this book. ~~~~~~~~~ Still looking for additional verses, if known. Best line seen so far "I've been Fairy of the Wind, ay, an suffer from it still" which seems to remind me of some other Mudcat Threads... :-) I seem to remember that were some different verses in the other version I have somewhere... Robin (Australia) |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Nobody Loves a Fairy From: GUEST,HAZEL Date: 24 Feb 04 - 02:06 PM hi, does anyone know where I can get a recording of this song? |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Nobody Loves a Fairy From: Stewie Date: 24 Feb 04 - 05:30 PM Hazel, if you do a Google search you will find several on offer such as: Click Here. --Stewie. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Nobody Loves a Fairy From: GUEST,HAZEL Date: 25 Feb 04 - 05:20 AM Stewie you are a diamond - thanks so much! |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Nobody Loves a Fairy From: GUEST,Tony Date: 16 Apr 04 - 12:23 PM Does anyone know where I can get a VHS recording of Nobody Loves a Fairy etc etc? |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Nobody Loves a Fairy From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 16 Apr 04 - 11:46 PM This seems like a send up from an anonymous GUEST. The words and the tune, even a place to find a sound recording are clearly stated above. After all a "VHS recording" is to be played back on a TV, and implies that most likely some person is doing the act live, although there may be an animated character version out there. Without a name to look for, we wouldn't know WHO you wanted the recording of. Robin |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Nobody Loves a Fairy From: GUEST,Sue Storey Date: 23 Apr 04 - 02:13 PM Some friends and I have been performing this little ditty for people who have hit the 40 mark for several years - since we were 40 in fact! We do a little dance and dress in fairy outfits with long wands - which drop suggestively when we reach the line 'Your fairy days are ending, when your wand has started bending..' It's always been a riot and you can suit the age appropriately! I now plan to do it at a friend's 60th in May but have lost my old tape with the music and desperately need the sheet music. Can anyone oblige? Choreography instructions can be provided!!! suestorey@hotmail.com |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Nobody Loves a Fairy From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 24 Apr 04 - 06:22 PM If you read this whole thread, you will find details of some sheet music books above - not all may be currently available, but it is a start to looking, first in music stores, then on the Net. Robin |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Nobody Loves a Fairy From: GUEST,MCP Date: 27 Apr 04 - 07:57 AM Robin - you seem to be being a bit hard on these guests ;-), so: Guest, tony - I can't see any video of the song being performed. Tessie O'Shea seems to appear only in videos/DVDs of films, none of music hall performances. The CD referred to above (Music Hall Memories) is still available. There are some music hall videos available, but I can't see listings of song contents. The video clip of NLAF linked to by Roger the Skiffler above seems to exist no longer (even if you correct the link! I did look at it long ago, but it's years out of cache by now). Sue Storey - there are several book with the song in, some listed above. If you're desperate, then Long Firm Freddie had a scan of it (see post above). If you are a member you can send him a personal message (PM) and ask him if he still has it annd can send it to you. Mick |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Nobody Loves a Fairy From: GUEST,MCP Date: 27 Apr 04 - 08:04 AM A copy of the 1934 sheet music seems to be available for £8 from The Sheet Music Warehouse - NLAF Mick |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Nobody Loves a Fairy From: GUEST,MCP Date: 27 Apr 04 - 08:24 AM And the video clip seems to be avaiable at October 2000 performance at the College of New Jersey's Studio Theater, presented by Shakespeare '70 (scroll down), streaming as Nobody Loves A Fairy - Real player video Mick |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Nobody Loves a Fairy From: GUEST,Dave Calderhead Date: 11 Dec 04 - 05:38 AM I have just found this forum and thread, and must confess that Dave Bryant was wrong and Herga Kitty was right, I didn't sing 'no one loves a fairy ...'. I do still sing the occasional folk and music hall song though. I have a music hall show called 'An Amusening' featuring songs from the music hall and variety eras, and maintaining my philosophy from my singing tobyjug days that a song sung together with the audience is three times as much fun. However, I would love to get the "folking song" verses from Herga Kitty, as my memory of them is somewhat hazy. I am trying to pass the song on to a enthusiastic Morris musician, who also does a fine rendition of 'The village pump". Greetings to all on this very useful site. |
Subject: Lyr Add: A-FOLKING I WILL GO From: Herga Kitty Date: 11 Dec 04 - 07:15 PM Slightly off-thread, but here are the words of "A-folking I will go" as I remember them (from my schooldays!) You can tell it was written in the 60s by the reference in the last verse to transistors.... A-FOLKING I WILL GO Of all the cons in England, the folking is the best For I've got a pad in Chelsea where I'll lay me down to rest And a-folking I will go, and a-folking I will go Though I work in the City boys, and in the town was raised There's country airs in Regents Park, may Cecil Sharp be praised Though I'm sea-sick on the Serpentine and it hurts my arms to row When I sing a shanty you can hear the whalefish blow I've got me a melodeon, a whistle and some spoons And I'll go round with Morrismen, sight-reading all the tunes We'll morris dance on every green, and ale in every bar And then drive round from site to site, in a little Morris car Now where I get such tunes as this, you may not understand I've always got a Japanese transistor in my hand. Kitty |
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