food songs

Subject: RE: food songs
From: Sandy Paton
Date: 21 Mar 99 - 01:58 AM

Joe Hickerson sings "Good Fish Chowder" on one of his Folk-Legacy recordings.

Has no one mentioned "Groundhog?"

Caroline sings "Sally's Quiche," but I can't tell you where it has been recorded (and she's asleep).

Sandy

Subject: RE: food songs
From:
Date: 21 Mar 99 - 06:37 AM

Oh yes, and there is "The Preacher and the Slave"

It is in the DT; but the chorus is:

You will eat bye and bye
in that glorious land above the sky
Work all day, live on hay
You'll get pie in the sky when you die.

Just to pick nits, the DT has the penultimate line as "Work and Pray, live on hay". I like it both ways.

Murray

Subject: RE: food songs
From: AlistairUK
Date: 22 Mar 99 - 05:23 AM

Catspaw yeah where is the Coconut Song??

Subject: RE: food songs
From: AlistairUK
Date: 22 Mar 99 - 07:49 AM

Would you count "Think I'll Go and Eat Worms" as a food song?

Subject: RE: food songs
From: Ian
Date: 22 Mar 99 - 07:56 AM

What about Ilkla' Moor Ba' T'at then?

Subject: RE: food songs
From: AllisonA(Animaterra)
Date: 22 Mar 99 - 08:17 AM

Thanks, rich r- that is the song! In the frozen northlands where I live it feels real good to taste a little of the summer. All is gray and rainy here today. MMMMmmmmmmm, peaches!

Subject: RE: food songs
From: steve in ottawa
Date: 23 Mar 99 - 05:24 PM

Goober Peas is my fave from the above.

Adding:
Cold Pizza for Breakfast
The Owl and the Pussycat (well, food's in it TWICE) :-)

Subject: RE: food songs
From: Bert
Date: 23 Mar 99 - 05:43 PM

Cockles and Mussels/Molly Malone
Liverpool Barrow Boy
Strawberry Fair
Caller Herrin
The Lincolnshire Poacher
Old Macdonald

Subject: RE: food songs
From: Penny
Date: 23 Mar 99 - 06:14 PM

My nieces used to sing a song called something like The Super Supper March which started "Hungry, hungry, I am hungry, I could eat a frizzled flum, I could eat a goose-moose-burger, four pounds of pickles and a purple plum," becoming progressively more and more ridiculous.

Subject: RE: food songs
From: Arkie
Date: 23 Mar 99 - 09:20 PM

Can the food be in its raw state or does it have to be prepared? If it does not have to be prepared, the is a fish song, probably by someones of the ilk of Pinkard and Bowden - only line I remember is "I Lobster and Never Flounder" or something like that.

Subject: RE: food songs
From: Susan A-R
Date: 23 Mar 99 - 10:24 PM

Hey, as far as I'm concerned, anything goes. As long as I don't start using these posts in order to build my menu, although I COULD use it to do a bang-up April Fools menu Worms, eels, and MORE!!! and CATSPAWWW!!!! WHERE IS THE COCONUT SONG!!!!

Subject: RE: food songs
From: Mark Roffe
Date: 24 Mar 99 - 01:44 AM

From the Mighty Sparrow (Slinger Francisco) who won the Trinidad Calypso Competition for about 20 years running, comes "The Papaya Song" [="Mango Vert"] which I swear was the number-one AM radio hit when I moved to the Caribbean in 1970: "Well if you eat it right, the hair don't stick in your teeth. And you're sure to say it's tasting sweet sweet sweet. But if you eat it wrong you'd best not walk the street. Everybody gonna know, when they see the hair in your teeth." If you like that one, I could be persuaded to write down the lyrics to "Elaine and Harry" too.

Subject: RE: food songs
From: Night Owl
Date: 24 Mar 99 - 02:17 AM

I haven't heard Sparrow's name in years..he used to be considered the Bob Dylan of the Carribean...(in hindsight not sure how much of a complement that is to him)Is he still recording? There was a time when his music was banned in the States.

Subject: RE: food songs
From: Bret Maiers
Date: 24 Mar 99 - 02:46 AM

SHORTENING BREAD!!

Ever since my dog's been dead, The hog's been ruinin' my potato bed. I do love; Shortening bread!

Everybody loves; Shortening bread!

Subject: food songs
From: Barry Finn
Date: 24 Mar 99 - 11:13 PM

I posted this some while ago, never got anywhere, hoping maybe in this thread I find so help, besides it is a great food song. Barry

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Lyrics: A Cook On A Bark ?
From: Barry Finn
Date: 06-Feb-98 - 11:56 AM


I have an old tape & this song is on it & through all the merrymaking can't make out alot of the words.Some of goes as follows:

I was cook ( onboard of a bark, 3 X )
That was the way I made my mark
Slinging up the hash
Many sailors eat my stew
They're all dead I'm telling you

When we're out of ( bacon fat 3 x )
Then I catch a juicy rat
I know what to do
You salt the critter well
He will last for quite a spell

You should try my ( lobster sauce 3 X )
Nothing taste as well with with horse
It's a lovely course
You should try my shark fin soup
It's the stuff to make you stoop


The rest of it, another 4 verses, about lobster tails, custards, whale blubber, beatles & water as rum & beer, I can't make out. The first 3 lines including the (3X) are to an A part melody & the last 2 line of the verse are of a different melody & timing. Has any one got any history and/or words, or anything to else to this, I've never seen or know of anyone who's heard of anything resembling this song. Thanks, Barry

Subject: RE: food songs
From: Mark Roffe
Date: 26 Mar 99 - 12:17 AM

Hey Night Owl, Sparrow is still around. Over the last decade he's released some Soca albums, which I've seen in the stores but resisted buying. I just did a web search and noticed he had a new album come out on 3/16/99 called Supreme on the Musicrama label. I have some of the old Sparrow stuff - let me know if you want to pursue that subject. I didn't know he was banned in the states, but he's a master of the double-entendre: little kids as well as their parents can enjoy his singing about for example how he's afraid the pussy might scratch him. Whoops, the "If you eat it right the hair don't stick in your teeth" song I quoted above was the MANGO song [="Mango Vert"], not the PAPAYA song. I have papayas on the brain - I used to oversee a papaya farm! Mangos are often stringy and the hair DOES stick in your teeth.

Mark

Subject: RE: food songs
From: Les B
Date: 26 Mar 99 - 12:50 AM

Don't forget Bob Wills' "Roly Poly" ... eatin' corn and taters, hungry every minute of the day...

and "The Barnyard Dance" by Martin, Bogen & Armstrong (?) ... The little turnip top did the backwoods flop...

"Pans of Biscuits" by Hedy West ... pans of biscuits, bowls of gravy...

"Beans, Bacon, and Gravy" as sung by every folky from Woody Guthrie on down ... Oh them beans, bacon, and gravy, they're 'bout to drive me crazy...

and Uncle Dave Macon's "I'll Keep My Skillet Good and Greasy" - Wow, that's enough cholesterol !

Subject: RE: food songs
From: MMario
Date: 26 Mar 99 - 11:57 AM

BARRY - I just did a very thorough search of the forum for your previous post about "a cook on a bark" ... and couldn't find it. In fact, no posts show for you on that date.

Maybe it needs to be reposted in a seperate thread? It apppears to have been "lost" at some point.

MMario

Subject: RE: food songs
From: Barry Finn
Date: 26 Mar 99 - 11:26 PM

Thanks MMario, I'll refresh it. Thanks Barry

Subject: Lyr Add: LIME JELL-O MARSHMALLOW COTTAGE ...^^
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 11 May 00 - 11:01 AM

LIME JELL-O MARSHMALLOW COTTAGE CHEESE SURPRISE
(William Bolcom, 1986)

Ladies, the minutes will soon be read today.
The garden club and weaving class, I'm sure have much to say
But next week is our culture night, our biggest best event
And I've just made a dish for it you'll all find heaven-sent.

It's my lime Jell-O marshmallow cottage cheese surprise,
With slices of pimento - you won't believe your eyes -
All topped with a pineapple ring and a dash of mayonnaise.
My vanilla wafers round the edge will win your highest praise.

And Mrs. Jones is making scones that are filled with peanut mousse,
To be followed by a chicken mold that's made in the shape of a goose.
For ladies who must watch those pounds, we've found a special dish:
Strawberry ice, enshrined in rice, with bits of tuna fish.

And my lime Jell-O marshmallow cottage cheese surprise -
Truly a creation that description defies.
It will go so well with Mrs. Bell's creation of the week,
Shrimp salad topped with chocolate sauce and garnished with a leek.

And Mrs. Perkins' walnut loaf that's crowned with melted cheese
Was such a hit last culture night, we ask, no seconds please.
Now you must try her hot dog pie with candied mushroom slices.
Those ladies who resigned last year, they just don't know what nice is.

And my lime Jell-O marshmallow cottage cheese surprise.
I did not steal that recipe! It's lies, I tell you, lies!
A grand surprise, a picture hat (?) and a seven-sequin gown
For any girl who tries each dish and keeps her whole lunch down.

I'm sure you all are waiting for the biggest news, dessert.
We've thought of things in molds and rings your diet to subvert.
You must try our chocolate layer-cake on a peanut-brittle base
With slices of bananas that make a funny face,

Around the edges, peppermints just swimming in peach custard,
With lovely little curlicues of lovely yellow mustard.
If all this is too much for you, permit me to advise
More lime Jell-O marshmallow cottage cheese surprise.

I made heaps!
- - -
As "sung" by Joan Morris with piano accompaniment by William Bolcom on "Lime Jello - An American Cabaret" RCA AML1-5830. Also on "Keepers: Morning Show Favorites," a CD available as a premium for membership in Minnesota Public Radio, MPR 102. This "song" is more a rhythmic recitation (like talking blues, but different). @food

This song was originally posted by rich r but I straightened it up and added some information. JTD

Subject: RE: food songs
From: GUEST,Mrr
Date: 11 May 00 - 12:37 PM

I can't do a blicky or I'd link it myself, but there is a Recipe Songs thread running around too.

Remember, I'm trying to coin "blicky" as the neologism for "Blue cLICKY" (thing).

Subject: RE: food songs
From: GUEST,digger
Date: 11 May 00 - 01:35 PM

We sing a Watermelon song with my Girl Guide pack. It's an action song:

Just plant a watermelon right on my grave Let the juice (schlurp)slip through Just plant a watermelon right on my grave That's all I ask of you

Well southern fried chicken might taste mighty fine But nothing tastes sweeter than a watermelon rind...pizza!

So plant a watermelon right on my grave Let the juice slip through-oo-oo

(It sounds a little familiar to the one Night Owl talks about above...a children's action song with sound effects.)

Subject: RE: food songs
From: Peter Kasin
Date: 11 May 00 - 02:54 PM

You might want to check out "Good Fish Chowder" on Mudcat's song database.

Subject: RE: food songs
From: TheOldMole
Date: 11 May 00 - 03:08 PM

Ray Stevens' "Gourmet Restaurant," and U. Utah Phillips' "Moose Turd Pie."

Subject: Lyr Add: HOW CAN I KEEP FROM EATING?^^
From: GUEST,Nancy King
Date: 11 May 00 - 07:36 PM

Folk 1234 referred to "HOW CAN I KEEP FROM EATING." I learned that one from Judy Cook a few years ago, and have the writer's name written down somewhere, but not handy just now. The words, as best I recall, are:

My life goes on in endless flow
Of breakfast, lunch, and dinner;
I eat them all with gusto, though
They will not make me thinner.
For eating brings me so much joy,
And joy in life is fleeting,
So while there's food still on my plate,
How can I keep from eating?

Some chicken soup with matzoh balls
Will bring me peace and pleasure;
An eclair or some chocolate cake
Brings joy no tongue can measure.
Some broccoli with hollandaise
Will set my heart to beating.
It sounds a rumbling deep within--
How can I keep from eating?

I'm getting rather plump these days;
I think I'll take up running.
To lose a meager pound or two
Takes self-control and cunning.
I've tried a million kinds of diets,
They're all so self-defeating.
I open up the pantry door--
How can I keep from eating?

---

HTML line breaks added. --JoeClone 28-Dec-2000

Subject: RE: food songs
From: Susan A-R
Date: 11 May 00 - 08:58 PM

Still alive!! I love it!

Susan A-R

Subject: RE: food songs
From: Robo
Date: 11 May 00 - 11:00 PM

What about Loudon Wainwright III's "I Eat Out" . . . hilarious. "I can cook a little but it's not a lot to talk about/it's kind of mean cuisine, so I eat out."

Subject: RE: food songs
From: TheOldMole
Date: 11 May 00 - 11:21 PM

Carole King...Chicken Soup With Rice

House of Blue Lights -- fryers, broilers, Detroit barbeque ribs....

Subject: RE: food songs
From: Robo
Date: 11 May 00 - 11:33 PM

And John Prine's "Christmas in Prison" -- "It was Christmas in prison and the food was real good/We had turkey and pistols carved out of wood."

Subject: Lyr Add: A BOWL OF RED (Tom Russell)^^
From: Stewie
Date: 12 May 00 - 03:31 AM

One of my favourites is Tom Russell's bowl of red:

A BOWL OF RED
(Tom Russell)

You don't put beans in chilli
You never water good whiskey down
And never play poker with a man named 'Doc'
On the Spanish side of town
And if you want to go peekin' at the doctor's daughter
You better pay the old man his bread
Then it's a short, short ride from hell to heaven
Ridin' on a bowl of red

I'm talkin' about sweet Lorene, the chilli queen
Down at number nine Pecos Street
She's got bull meat hangin' up above her head
And chilli peppers down at her feet
She's got an iron pot smokin' on a woodsmoke stove
Near an antique feather bed
Where it's a short short ride from hell to heaven
Ridin' on a bowl of red

Here's the recipe:
Bull meat, crab meat, pig's feet, chicken feet
I've even seen her use a rabbit's head
Cemino, oregano, celanto, let it go
Then sop it up with sourdough bread
Let it boil one day – you'll be rollin' in the hay
Lorene keeps a man well fed
Just walk on down to number nine
Say, 'Give me a little bowl of red'

Peter Piper picked a bunch of chilli peppers
Tell me how many packs did Peter Piper pick
Then he took 'em on down to sweet Lorene
Said, 'I need a bowl of red real quick'
She put Peter Piper's peppers in a pot on the stove
She put Peter Piper in her feather bed
And now Peter Piper's pickin' peppers all day
Just to get his daily bowl of red

Repeat verses 1 and 2 (sung very fast)

Words and music Tom Russell End of Trail Music. Copyright 1963 CAPAC.
Source: Tom Russell 'Heart on My Sleeve' Bear Family BCD 15243.

Other good 'uns that spring to mind include Dan Penn's 'Memphis Women and Chicken',

the Cornish song 'Starry Gazy Pie' [="Tom Bawcock's Eve"]

and Lonnie Mack's wonderful 'Oreo Cookie Blues'.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: food songs
From: Stewie
Date: 12 May 00 - 03:45 AM

Actually, the correct title of the 'Starry-gazy pie' song is 'Tom Bawcock's Eve' - the eve before Christmas eve when the tradition was to eat a pie made of seven sorts of fish. The fish heads stuck out of the pie and hence the 'starry-gazy' line. Great song.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: food songs
From: GUEST,Airto
Date: 12 May 00 - 05:19 AM

Louis Jordan had a perfectly ridiculous song, 'Beans and Cornbread', about how they fall out and make up again.

I also like the song 'Bread and Gravy'. The only version I know was done by Freddy White, an Irish singer, but the original must be much better known.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE VEGETABLE SONG
From: GUEST,Joel
Date: 12 May 00 - 11:33 AM

The Vegetable Song

You're my sweet potato but I like to cauliflower dear
so honey let us beet it and squash this thing right here
I've got an 18 carrot ring bought with my celery
and onion finger I will place it because you've bean so nice to me
And if my rival turnip I artichoke him dead
or tie a string bean round his neck and pumpkin full of lead
so honey let us beat it to a taxi cabbage near
we'll have the parson-ip to-mate-us in a radish church right here

Subject: RE: food songs
From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler
Date: 12 May 00 - 11:50 AM

I don't think anyone mentioned Fats Waller (someone else who loved food as much as music!): "HOLD TIGHT (Want Some Sea Food Mama)", "Shrimps and rice, they're very nice".
RtS (Built for comfort, not built for speed)

Subject: Lyr Add: DIET SONG (Shel Silverstein)^^
From: DADGBE
Date: 12 May 00 - 12:47 PM

Grant Rodgers can be found on a Folk Legacy recording singing 'Bread and Gravy'. Just ask Sandy.
But after enjoying many of these songs for years and enjoying their subject better, Shel Silverstein's 'Diet Song' comes to mind. It strikes as close to the bone as it can get these days.

Breakfast: black coffee, one slice of dry toast, no butter, no jelly, no jam;
Lunch: just some lettuce, two celery stalks, no booze, no potatoes, no ham;
Dinner: one chicken wing broiled, not fried, no gravy, no biscuits, no pie;
And this dietin', dietin', dietin', dietin' sure is a rough way to die.

So pass me a carrot stick, peel me a prune, one glass of skim milk and that's all.
Turn off the TV for the Big Mac commercial; it's drivin' me straight up the wall.
I'm thinkin' of French fries, sausage and waffles, spaghetti, and cookies and cake,
And each night I'm dreamin' of chocolate ice cream 'n' I'm starvin' to death when I wake—
All for your sake.

Well, you're fixin' the kids all those creamed mashed potatoes, but it's bullion and water for me,
And you've got a lock on the refrigerator; Lord knows where you're hidin' the key,
And while I am starvin' for food late at night, I'm starvin' for lovin' from you,
But you say that when I can see my own dick you'll be back to look at it too.

So, suffer two pieces of cauliflower raw, some beefsteak the size of a nail,
One slice of tomato, a small dab of slaw, Lord, I swear I ate better in jail.
Stop eatin' that pizza right under my nose; girl that's the least you can do,
And put down that candy bar while I am singin'; I'm starvin' my ass off for you.

And when I am dead, with the insurance paid, you'll look down at me and you'll grin.
You'll say:"Well, the boy tried, and he starved and he died, but don't he look good when he's thin?"

Subject: Lyr Add: ALL THAT MEAT AND NO POTATOES^^
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 12 May 00 - 01:06 PM

ALL THAT MEAT AND NO POTATOES
(Lyrics by Ed Kirkeby, tune by Fats Waller, 1941)

A man works hard then comes on home,
Expects to find stew with that fine ham bone,
He opens the door then start to lookin',
Says, "Woman, what's this stuff you're cookin'?"

All that meat and no potatoes
Just ain't right, like green tomatoes.
Here I'm waiting, palpitatin',
For all that meat and no potatoes.

All that meat and no potatoes
All that food to the alligators, yes,
Hold me steady, I am ready
For all that meat and no potatoes.

I don't think that peas are bad
With meat most anything goes
I look into the pot; I'm fit to bite
Cause woman you know that mess ain't right.

All that meat and no potatoes
Just ain't right, like green tomatoes.
Yes, I'm steamin', I'm really screamin'
All that meat and no potatoes.

Where is my fry & hambone? Where is it?
- - -
@food JTD

Subject: Lyr Add: I'VE GOT A LOVELY BUNCH OF COCONUTS^^
From: Metchosin
Date: 12 May 00 - 01:52 PM

Well by request because Spaw didin't do it, here is:

I'VE GOT A LOVELY BUNCH OF COCONUTS

Down at the county fair
One evening I was there
I heard a Barker shouting
Underneath the flair...

Oh, I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts
There they are all standing in a row.
Big ones, small ones, some as big as your head
Give 'em a twist, a flick of the wrist,
That's what the showman said.

Oi! I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts
Every ball you throw will make me rich
There stands me wife
The idol of me life,
Singing roll a bowl, a ball, a penny a pitch.

Singing, roll a bowl a ball a penny a pitch
Roll a bowl a ball a penny a pitch,
Roll a bowl a ball
Roll a bowl a ball
Singing, roll a bowl a ball a penny a pitch.

Subject: RE: food songs
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 12 May 00 - 06:41 PM

From Mudcatters, there's All God's Chillun Got a place in the Fire.

From Prairie Home Companion, there's What a Friend We Have in Cheeses.

And if Midchuck would be kind enough to post it, there's a fine food parody on a Woodchuck's Revenge CD called "Mama Fried". @food is a productive search item on DigiTrad.

Subject: RE: food songs
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 12 May 00 - 07:43 PM

Metchosin: It's admirable that you took the trouble to post "I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts," but it will never end up in DigiTrad unless you either (a) use the "Lyr Add:" prefix in your subject line, or, failing that, (b) post a message on the thread called Songs you've posted.

Furthermore, the song has already been posted by Joe Offer here, so you could have saved yourself some trouble just by finding it and setting up a blue clicky.

I mention this because a LOT of people make this mistake, and there are a LOT of lost songs sitting in threads somewhere. I've found dozens of them. See my postings in "Songs you've posted" for examples.

Now, I wonder why Joe didn't harvest the song for DigiTrad himself?

Subject: RE: food songs
From: Susan A-R
Date: 12 May 00 - 10:34 PM

Keep 'em coming. This thread brightens the tired chef's day.

Susan A-R

Subject: RE: food songs
From: Robo
Date: 13 May 00 - 01:10 AM

One more, from John Prine, a number more aptly about the lack of food: "I come home from work this evening, there was note in the frying pan/it said fix your own damn supper, babe/I run off with the Fuller Brush man." [FRYING PAN]

Subject: from an old second city routine
From: GUEST,jeffs
Date: 13 May 00 - 10:56 AM

Oh, I hate liver! Liver makes me quiver Liver makes me curl right up and die, it makes me cry

jeffs

Subject: RE: food songs
From: BlueJay
Date: 13 May 00 - 02:13 PM

It's possible I didn't see it, but I don't think anyone's mentioned Guy Clark's "Homegrown Tomatoes". Really lively funny song. My favorite part:

If I could change this life I lead,
You could call me Johnny Tomato Seed
I know what this country needs,
It's home grown tomatoes in every yard you see
When I die don't bury me
In a box in a cold dark cemetery
Out in the garden would be much better
Where I could be pushin up those home grown tomatoes.

BlueJay

Subject: RE: food songs
From: Croney
Date: 15 May 00 - 11:38 PM

These are so great! Also, check out the Recipe Songs thread. I'm still looking for songs that have the full recipe in it --

Subject: RE: food songs
From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler
Date: 16 May 00 - 08:50 AM

Long thread but I don't think anyone's mentioned Flanders & Swann's Reluctant Cannibal "I won't eat people" (favourite line: "It must have been someone he ate"!).
RtS

Subject: RE: food songs
From: GUEST,Roger in Baltimore
Date: 16 May 00 - 07:50 PM

Of course, the famous "One Meatball" performed by Josh White.

Richard McDonald did a love song to "yellow corn" which I must find one day.

As Sonny and Cher said "And the beet goes on."

Big Rib

Subject: RE: food songs
From: TonyK
Date: 17 May 00 - 11:50 PM

I love this thread. Of those mentioned, Chicken Cordon Bleus and Oreo Cookie Blues are my favorites.The Bobs do a couple of good ones:'Food to Rent' and 'Corn Dogs'.

Subject: RE: food songs
From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler
Date: 18 May 00 - 05:49 AM

...of course once you get into the blues there are a whole raft of 'em (some[?!] may contain sexual innuendo!):

Nuts;

Kitchen Man;

Hot Dog Man;

Put a hot dog in your roll;

numerous with references to "hambone" and/or "jelly roll", lots more in the Smith/Spivey/Rainey canon, many kept alive by artists like George Melly and Dana Gillespie.
Then when the meal is over, you have to clear away:to the strains of Champion Jack Dupree and "Garbage Man"
RtS

Subject: RE: food songs
From: Whistle Stop
Date: 18 May 00 - 11:21 AM

For something of a more recent vintage, check out "Fast Food" -- Richard Thompson at his satirical best.

Subject: RE: food songs
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 18 May 00 - 03:59 PM

Here is Flanders & Swann's The Reluctant Cannibal, mentioned by Roger the Skiffler above.