|
31 Jan 09 - 03:37 AM (#2553475) Subject: Lyr Req: The Gay Gondolier (Flanders and Swann) From: Ian Hendrie The Gay Gondolier by Flanders and Swann and sung by Ian Wallace can be heard here. As it is about the Manchester Ship Canal I am wanting to add the lyrics to my here website. I have transcribed most of the words but cannot make out the rest. Any help or corrections welcome. Perhaps someone has the lyrics in an old book? Have I got the correct number of la's? La la la la la la la la la la la la la laro Gondolier, he he he, ha ha ha A gondola owner in Venice I had been since the age of discretion, thirteen But today gondoliering in Venice Is a most overcrowded profession You can't swing a cat sir around the piazza The Palace of Dodges is full of old podges And by the St Marco there's nowhere to park-o It wasn't for me So I went out to sea And caused a commotion by crossing the ocean Becoming the only original gondolier, gondolier On the Manchester Ship Canal On board my gondola I sell Coca-Cola In flagons which once held Chianti And for five bob a night I would sing or recite From a bowdlerised version of Dante The Transport Commission gave me their permission, One gondola, canal or Thames is And when I had reservations they threw in a licence For vino consumed on the premises When I sing and soberly La donna è mobile People in houseboats complain Of my gay baccarole So I stick in my pole And sing it again and again La la la la la la la la la la la la la laro Gondolier, he he he ha ha ha A gay gondolier as I shoot every weir And I shout as I stick in my …. O who wants to honda again in my gondola Up come the river politicia O why …..inside the cabina The Englishman travels in style With a young senorita My gondolin meter Is clicking up three-pence a mile So to tied to a jetty I eat my spaghetti And drink 'til I'm properly plastered Shouting bog off on ….. to bargees on barges Who shouting reply "you're a …..>" It's a lie For it's ever so much fun you will find On my ……. |
|
31 Jan 09 - 07:59 AM (#2553578) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Gay Gondolier - Flanders and Swan From: Charley Noble Quite fascinating! Here's one line completed: Who shouting replIED "you're a BASTARD!" Cheerily, Charley Noble |
|
31 Jan 09 - 08:16 AM (#2553585) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Gay Gondolier - Flanders and Swann From: Ian Hendrie Thanks for that Charley. I seem to have made a mess of the web-site clicky in the first post. It should be : http://www.waterwaysongs.co.uk/index.htm The song is rather amazing(!), I'm not quite sure what I think of it. Ian |
|
31 Jan 09 - 10:00 AM (#2553646) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Gay Gondolier - Flanders and Swan From: Charley Noble Well, I'm sure it was amusing to put together, for all involved. The second line may be: "And I shout as I stick in my OAR" which may make sense, with an alternative pronounciation of "weir." Over here in the States "weir" rhymes with "ear." Cheerily, Charley Noble |
|
01 Feb 09 - 01:36 PM (#2554579) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Gay Gondolier - Flanders and Swann From: Jim Dixon "Palace of Doges" or maybe "Doge's"--but this is a spelling matter only. podges(?) -- I'm not familiar with that word, but I'll take your word for it. "San Marco"--not St "I serve Coca-Cola" I don't think "or Thames is" is right, but I can't make out the correct words. I don't think "had reservations" is right either. It's "made" something. "Ovations"? That doesn't make sense, but it's the best I can do. "When I sing unsoberly" "And I shout as I sit in Venicia* O who wants to fondle again in my gondola Up come the river policia" The last line ends with "...Venetian blind" but I'm missing a word or two before it. [*this line doesn't need to rhyme with "wier"; it rhymes with "policia"] |
|
01 Feb 09 - 05:32 PM (#2554794) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Gay Gondolier - Flanders and Swann From: Ian Hendrie Thanks Jim for your sterling effort. Anyone else like to help? Ian |
|
01 Feb 09 - 05:39 PM (#2554800) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Gay Gondolier - Flanders and Swann From: Barbara Here's what I got from the Utube link. La la la la la la la la la la la la la laro Gondolier, he he he he, ha ha ha ha A gondola owner in Venice I had been since the age of discretion, thirteen But today gondoliering in Venice Is a most overcrowded profession You can't swing a cat sir around the piazza The Palace of Dodes is full of old fogies And by the San Marco there's nowhere to park-o It wasn't for me So I went out to sea And caused a commotion by crossing the ocean Becoming the only original gondolier, gondolier On the Manchester Ship Canal On board my gondola I sell Coca-Cola In flagons which once held Chianti And for five bob a night I would sing or recite From a bowdlerised version of Dante The Transport Commission gave me their permission, One gondola, canal a tempsis And when I had reservations they threw in a licence For vino consumed on the premises When I sing unsoberly La donna è mobile People in houseboats complain Of my gay baccarole So I stick in my pole And sing it again and again CHORUS La la la la la la la la la la la la la laro Gondolier, he he he he ha ha ha A gay gondolier as I shoot every weir And I shout as I sit in Vanicia O who wants to fondle again in my gondola Up come the river policia O why not be seen-a inside the cabina The Englishman travels in style With a young senorita My gondolin meter Is clicking up three-pence a mile So to tied to a jetty I eat my spaghetti And drink 'til I'm properly plastered Shouting "bog off on starches". to bargees on barges Who shouting reply "you're a …..>" It's a lie For it's ever so much fun you will find On my anglo-venician blind. I'm guessing that last line is a set up for a pun that the entire song is build on, His gondola is a blind for trysting or prostitution and the pun is that there is a kind of window blind called Anglo-venetian. (or something like that. weir rhymes with [gondo-]lier. I think the second verse is that he gets a temporary permit and the phrase is latin. Blessings, Barbara |
|
01 Feb 09 - 05:52 PM (#2554805) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Gay Gondolier - Flanders and Swann From: Barbara Doges -- I cut the wrong letter When I made oblations Not sure about Venicia Not sure about "bog off on starches" And could the pun be a play on a kind of concertina? Is there an Anglo-Venetian concertina? Have fun Blessings, Barbara |
|
02 Feb 09 - 12:11 PM (#2555327) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Gay Gondolier - Flanders and Swann From: Snuffy Venetian Blinds Venezia is the Italian version of Venice, but an Englishman would probably pronounce it more like Venicia |
|
02 Feb 09 - 01:11 PM (#2555372) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Gay Gondolier - Flanders and Swann From: Barbara Window blinds are called Venetian blinds on this side of the pond, too, Snuffy. but I thought perhaps there was some special quirk to Anglo-venetian blinds that I didn't know about. And the pun is, of course, on the idea that a blind is also a hiding place. Hence, the gondola for trysting is a venetian blind. And the line should read "so, tied to a jetty.." Damn the typos, full speed ahead. Blessings, Barbara |
|
02 Feb 09 - 02:19 PM (#2555443) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Gay Gondolier - Flanders and Swann From: bubblyrat I would suggest "Thamesis ",pronounced "TEM-A-SISS"----supposed to be a combination of the Thame ( the Thames as far upstream as Dorchester,the confluence of the Thames & the Thame !!) and,from there to beyond Oxford, the Isis,as that part of the river was classically known.And it ryhmes pretty well with "Premises".QED. |
|
02 Feb 09 - 04:17 PM (#2555530) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Gay Gondolier - Flanders and Swann From: Ian Hendrie Thanks to all. I have collated above contributions and placed best version on the web-site. Hopefully further corrections can be made in future. Ian |
|
02 Feb 09 - 05:21 PM (#2555582) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Gay Gondolier - Flanders and Swann From: Barbara Ian, I think the line is " when I made oblations..." meaning, made the necessary offerings i.e. crossed their palms with silver. It mostly makes sense, anyway. And I found that it is on some of the F&S recordings as the Anglo-Venetian blind" so that part of the phrase makes sense. Blessings, Barbara |
|
02 Feb 09 - 06:00 PM (#2555627) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Gay Gondolier - Flanders and Swan From: Charley Noble Great work! Charley Noble |
|
02 Feb 09 - 07:01 PM (#2555682) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Gay Gondolier - Flanders and Swann From: Tattie Bogle 2nd verse: barcarolle (spelling) Last verse, as Snuffy has said Venezia, not Vanicia(as on the website) And "weir" would be right as it's like shooting the rapids, which is a bit of a joke as you don't get many on a canal!! |
|
30 May 10 - 03:51 AM (#2917065) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Gay Gondolier (Flanders and Swann From: GUEST,Joe The line should be: When I made obeisance they threw in my licence |
|
30 May 10 - 03:53 AM (#2917066) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Gay Gondolier (Flanders and Swann From: GUEST,Joe and also:
|
|
30 May 10 - 04:16 AM (#2917077) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Gay Gondolier (Flanders and Swann From: GUEST,Joe The remaining points of confusion are actually phrases in italian, of which I have no knowledge Oh (italian) inside the cabina Shouting "(italian)" to bargees on barges |
|
03 Jun 10 - 06:21 PM (#2920063) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Gay Gondolier (Flanders and Swann) From: Barbara The Italian for 'kissing' is 'baciare' which could be the word in the line "Oh, baciare inside the cabina" Just a guess. Blessings, Barbara |
|
03 Jun 10 - 08:58 PM (#2920173) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Gay Gondolier (Flanders and Swann From: Charley Noble Time to post the best revised draft. I'm getting a headache sorting and resorting these posts. Charley Noble |
|
05 Jun 10 - 04:26 PM (#2921399) Subject: Lyr Add: THE GAY GONDOLIER (Flanders and Swann) From: Ian Hendrie This seems to be what we now have : La la la la la la la la la la la la la laro Gondolier, he he he he, ha ha ha ha A gondola owner in Venice I had been since the age of discretion, thirteen But today gondoliering in Venice Is a most overcrowded profession You can't swing a cat sir around the piazza The Palace of Doges is full of old fogies And by the San Marco there's nowhere to park-o It wasn't for me So I went out to sea And caused a commotion by crossing the ocean Becoming the only original gondolier, gondolier On the Manchester Ship Canal On board my gondola I serve Coca-Cola In flagons which once held Chianti And for five bob a night I would sing or recite From a bowdlerised version of Dante The Transport Commission gave me their permission, One gondola, canal or Thamesis And when I made obeisance they threw in my licence For vino consumed on the premises When I sing unsoberly La donna è mobile People in houseboats complain Of my gay barcarolle So I stick in my pole And sing it again and again La la la la la la la la la la la la la laro Gondolier, he he he he ha ha ha A gay gondolier as I shoot every weir And I shout as I sit in Venezia O who wants to fondle a girl in my gondola Up come the river policia Oh, bacciare inside the cabina The Englishman travels in style With a young senorita My gondolin meter Is clicking up three-pence a mile So, tied to a jetty I eat my spaghetti And drink 'til I'm properly plastered Shouting "bog off on starches" to bargees on barges Who shouting reply "you're a *****" It's a lie For it's ever so much fun you will find On my Anglo-Venetian blind. Any more suggestions? Ian |
|
05 Jun 10 - 07:02 PM (#2921469) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Gay Gondolier (Flanders and Swann) From: GUEST,leeneia Thanks to all who have posted. I certainly wasn't expecting the operatic performance that I found to on YouTube. It was a pleasant surprise. |
|
15 Jan 11 - 07:57 PM (#3075405) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Gay Gondolier (Flanders and Swann) From: GUEST,Tom Barnes, Ottawa, CANADA Today I received the sheet music for "The Gay Gondolier" by Flanders and Swann. The lyrics (and tempo indications) directly from the score read as follows: ===== The Gay Gondolier Words by Michael Flanders Music by Donald Swann (Valsa placida) Ho, lo, lo, lo, lo lo, lo, lo, lo, lo, lo, lo, lo, lo, lo, lo, lo, lo, lo, lo, lo________ Gon – do – li – er________ Ha, ha, ha, ha. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Ha: A Gon–do-la owner in Ven-ice I had been since the age of dis-cre-tion (thirteen) But to-day gon-do-lier-ing in Ven-ice Is a most ov-er crowd-ed pro-fes-sion You can't swing a cat-sa a-round the Pi-az-za; The Pal-ace of Dog-es is full of old fog-ies, And by the San Mar-co, there's no-where to Par-ko! (A Tempo) It wasn't for me. So I went out to sea__________and Caused a co-mo-tion by cross-ing the o-cean. Now I am the on-ly or-ig-in-al Gon-do-lier,________ Gon-do-lier,________ On the Man-ches-ter Ship ca-nal! (Alla Valse Tempo 1) On boaed my gon-do-la, I serve Co-ca Co-la-, in flag-ons which once held Chi-an-ti, And for five bob a night I will sing or re-cite from a bast-ard-ized ver-sion of Dan-te. The Trans-port Com-mission gave me their per-mis-sion, One Gon-do-la, Canal, or Tham-es-es And when I made o-be-zands, they threw in a li-cence, for vi-no con-sumed on the pre-mis-es. When I sing un-so-ber-ly "La Donnae mo-li-le" peo-ple in house boats com-plain. Of my gay Bar-ca-rolle, so I stick in my pole, and sing it a-gain and a-gain. (Dolce ma non troppo) Ho, lo, lo, lo, lo lo, lo, lo, lo, lo, lo, lo, lo, lo, lo, lo, lo, lo, lo, lo, lo, lo, Bar-ca-rol-la___He, he, he, he. Ho, ho, ho, ho ho A gay gon-do-lier as I shot, ev'-ry weir, and I shout as I did in Ven-ez-ia____ Oh, who wants to fond-le a girl in my Gon-do-la up come the river Po-li-zia Oh while all un-seen-a in-side-a the cab-in-a The Eng-lish man travels in style. With a young Si-gno-ri-ta my Gon-do-la met-or, is tick-ing up three pence a mile So, tied to a jet-ty I eat my spag-het-ti, and drink 'till I'm pro-per-ly plast-ered Shout-ing "Dog of Mon-tar-gis" to bar-gers on bar-ges, Who shout in re-ply: "You're a…" What? It's a lie______. Oh it's ev-er such fun you will find on my Ang-lo Ve-ne____(tian)tian blind.____ (a tempo al fino) ====== Enjoy! ttfn, Tom tbarnes@rogers.com |
|
16 Jan 11 - 07:19 AM (#3075588) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Gay Gondolier (Flanders and Swann) From: Ian Hendrie Sincere thanks to Tom for taking the trouble to contribute what must be the definitive version of this song. I don't think we'd ever have got it completely correct trying to transcribe it. For example, "bog off on starches" turned out to be "Dog of Mon-tar-gis" - who'd have guessed that? Thanks again, Tom. |
|
20 Jan 11 - 08:53 PM (#3079079) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Gay Gondolier (Flanders and Swann) From: Jim Dixon See The Dog of Montarges at Wikipedia. (It was a 19th-century melodrama.) |
|
21 Jan 11 - 06:07 AM (#3079246) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Gay Gondolier (Flanders and Swann) From: Ian Hendrie Thanks Jim, Amazing what you can learn via Mudcat! |
|
10 Feb 11 - 07:01 PM (#3092811) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Gay Gondolier (Flanders and Swann) From: GUEST,Tom Vacek, Minneapolis, MN Tom Barnes-- Where did you ever find the score? I'd love to get my hands on one, as well as Income Tax Collector and the Commissioner. Please contact me off list. twva@cek@hot@mail.com. (Remove all but the middle '@'.) Thanks! |
|
01 Aug 13 - 11:43 AM (#3544320) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Gay Gondolier (Flanders and Swann) From: GUEST could you tell me the publisher of the gay gondolier and if possible a copy of the sheet music . I would be so obliged.sincerely mike c.mariolanza1959@gmail.com |