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13 Aug 02 - 12:40 PM (#764486) Subject: today's the day we give babies away From: concon There is an old Irish or Scotch or somewhere folk song that's about a housewife that's having a bad day. When the baby starts to cry, she picks it up, sits in a rocker and rocks furiously while singing: "Today's the day we give babies away with half a loaf of bread." I heard this song years ago on the radio and have no idea what it's name is or who sings it or where to find it. It has driven me crazy for years. Have you ever heard of it? Thanks, Connie |
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13 Aug 02 - 01:02 PM (#764495) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: Mrrzy Yes, I have - but that is all I can say! Check some old Clancy Brothers record covers? Maybe the one where they sing Weela Walia? |
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13 Aug 02 - 01:05 PM (#764497) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: Malcolm Douglas See this entry in the DT: BABY-ROCKING MEDLEY (Rosalie Sorrels) Unlikely to be Irish or Scottish; home-grown American most likely (though I can't speak for the tune, which I haven't heard). |
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13 Aug 02 - 01:05 PM (#764498) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: Sorcha I found a snippet with tea instead of bread, but not the whole song. See here. |
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13 Aug 02 - 01:41 PM (#764516) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: GUEST Steve Roud's folksong index lists it only in Combs' 'Folk-Songs of the Southern United States'. |
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13 Aug 02 - 02:37 PM (#764540) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: GUEST,robinia Yes, I remember "This is the day we give babies away" from an old Rosalie Sorrels (or Bonnie Dobson??) children's record. It had the two verses Malcolm cites (but not the lead-in complaint) and was paired with the "Island way out in the sea." It wasn't until I read the jacket notes, which said that the song was popular in Western bars, that I woke up to the spirit in which it could be sung ... |
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13 Aug 02 - 05:36 PM (#764680) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: GUEST Since the song is an infant lullaby, it doesn't need many verses. You just sing the same damn verses over and over until the baby falls asleep from boredom, or you fall asleep from exhaustion. However, I like to add the following (original) verse:
Oh this is the day we give babies away |
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13 Aug 02 - 06:35 PM (#764725) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: Bill D I was thought Rosalie wrote it...*shrug*...she made it temporarily famous 15-20 years ago... |
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13 Aug 02 - 07:00 PM (#764744) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: GUEST,robinia "if you know any ladies who want any babies/ just send them around to me" -- now that does strike me as a unusually suggestive "infant lullaby," which is not to say it's inappropriate... I think babies appreciate just about anything you sing to them, especially if it has a good rousing rhythm, which "this is the day we give babies away" has; it also has a good tune that flows very naturally (the first six notes are the same) as "Island way out in the sea, where the babies they all grow on trees"... |
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13 Aug 02 - 07:10 PM (#764753) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: Bill D babies are like dogs...if say it in a sweet, lulling tone, you can say anything ---and get out LOTS of hostility...*big grin*
"What will we do with the baby-o, "Come, stupid, worthless doggie...do your business, and let me get out of this rain!" (said in the MOST gentle manner!~) |
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13 Aug 02 - 11:18 PM (#764917) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: Harold W Ah... you youngsters. I don't know if it was ever was a song, but an expression used back in the days of grocery stores when people did not have baby scales. On shopping days mothers used to take the babies in to the store and the clerk put the babies on the scale. Hence the expression is, "This is the day they give babies 'a weigh' with a half apound of tea." |
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13 Aug 02 - 11:54 PM (#764929) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: Deckman I have a funny connection with this song: back in 1965, my wife and I put in for adoption. During the long interviewing process, we were visited at home by our "adoption caseworker." She turned out to be a really fun lady. Through subsequent visits, while she got to know us, and us her, I once grabbed my guitar and sang this song. My wife was horrified and I was indeed quite relieved when the caseworker burst into laughter. Something must have worked, as we received son Peter when he was 6 weeks old. He is now 37! CHEERS, Bob |
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14 Aug 02 - 08:41 PM (#765538) Subject: Lyr Add: THE BABY TREE (Rosalie Sorrells) From: kytrad (Jean Ritchie) Rosalie Sorrells wrote the song, "THE BABY TREE," and our company, Geordie Music Publishing Co., published it for her in 1970. A few years later, she formed her own publishing company and we assigned her songs to her (I believe her company is Grimes Music). I don't think she'd mind my setting down the words here- it's a charming song!
There's an island way out in the sea
Yes you gotta watch out if you sneeze,
(Occasional chorus-different tune)
Then when the stormy winds wail
And the babies lie there in a pile I guess you'll have to find the tune on one of Rosalie's albums- it was on one of her early ones. Hope this clears up some wonder-ings for you! Jean |
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14 Aug 02 - 08:53 PM (#765541) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: kytrad (Jean Ritchie) Malcolm- Apologies; I hadn't clicked on your Baby-Rocking Medley, and didn't know you'd given the lyric already. One more thing. BillD, that's one of my "Baby-O" verses; I made up that one and the, "Pour a little moonshine in his mouth" one. Rosalie used to sing that version of "Baby-o" to sort of introduce her "Baby Tree" song. And by the way, "Baby Tree" was recorded by Jefferson Airplane in the seventies, and Paul Kantner's "Blows Against the Empire" album. |
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14 Aug 02 - 10:59 PM (#765580) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: CapriUni According to my mother, this was the first advertising jingle, for the Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (A&P stores), and it was a sales gimmick; around the time that cameras were a newfangled thing, the store was giving away photos of babies to anyone who bought a half-pound of tea. The lyrics were:
Today's the day (also according to my mother, she sang this on the way to the hospital to deliver me!) ;-) So naturally, I had to check this thread out -- it's my song! |
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14 Aug 02 - 11:52 PM (#765602) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: Deckman CapriUni ... what a neat story! Thanks for sharing. Tell me please, what years? Bob |
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15 Aug 02 - 12:56 AM (#765611) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: CapriUni 1964 was the year I was born... I forget the year Mom said the song was used as a jingle... 'Course, it could've been a folksong first, and got picked up and used by the store for an ad ... If so, it certainly wouldn't be the last time... BTW, I was born 9 weeks early, so I was a bit of a surprise! |
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15 Aug 02 - 02:39 AM (#765648) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: GUEST From Bessie Fiddler, Linn, W.Va., who learned it from her mother. Collected by Carey Woofter, 1924. To-day is the day we give babies away,
Oh all you young ladies,
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15 Aug 02 - 08:21 PM (#766200) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: kytrad (Jean Ritchie) I seem to remember that Rosalie said she got the basis for the song from a poem by Olive Burt (not too sure about that name, and can't locate her book nor Rosalie's record, but I think that's right, that she started with that poem). I'll have to write to her...why doesn't everyone have email??? But I'd love to find out more about the ad, and which came first, the song (or poem) or the ad. Jean |
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15 Aug 02 - 08:44 PM (#766207) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: CapriUni .... Hmmm... I don't even know if it was ever an ad. All I have is my mother's story, and I don't know where she got her information... Hmmm... |
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15 Aug 02 - 09:18 PM (#766220) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: GUEST Olive Wolley Burt, author of 'American Murder Ballads'. I've heard Rosalie sing some songs from that book, or directly from Olve Burt.
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11 Nov 03 - 01:11 PM (#1051755) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: Frivolous Sal My mother also told me it was an ad, or a jingle based on the fact that at the time green stamps were a serious thing, and everyone used them. She would date the song as 1930s. |
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11 Nov 03 - 01:35 PM (#1051780) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: Frivolous Sal Ohhhh--Today is the day we give babies away with a half a pound of tea. Just open the lid and out pops a kid with a half a pound of tea. |
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11 Nov 03 - 01:57 PM (#1051789) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: GUEST,Clint Keller In the thirties my father sang All of you ladies who haven't got babies Just come along with me For this is the day that we give them away With a half-a-pound of tea... …but I had the idea that it came from earlier in the century; don't know why. And I heard it was a send-up of the A&P's custom of giving away premiums with tea. clint |
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11 Nov 03 - 02:04 PM (#1051798) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: Q (Frank Staplin) yankee bird Got cut off- Listen to the midi (click on Return to hear) |
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11 Nov 03 - 06:44 PM (#1051933) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: Q (Frank Staplin) I remember we used a fake cockney accent, day, away and tea all rhymed with die. Never having met a cockney, I'm sure that would make one cringe. |
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12 Nov 03 - 12:53 AM (#1052149) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: LadyJean My mother was a silver haired lady, who favored conservative clothes and sensible shoes. You have not idea how badly she shocked my friend Nils by singing "If you know any ladies who want any babies just send them around to me". Nils knew the sanitary version. |
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12 Nov 03 - 06:55 AM (#1052258) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: cetmst Sing Out v. 20, 1971, p.5, quotes Rosalie Sorrels "Actually I only wrote the music to this one. I got the words from Olive Burt, author of 'American Murder Ballads and Their Stories'. She learned it from her mother who found it in a book of children's poetry from the early 1800's". It is recorded on a Prestige album, 'Rosalie's Songbag'. |
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12 Nov 03 - 08:19 AM (#1052298) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: Celtaddict My father, in the fifties, used to sing (not that it had much of a tune, more a chant), "Today is the day they give babies away, at four o'clock in the morning." Is this something different, or a bit of an amalgam? |
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13 Nov 03 - 09:34 PM (#1053477) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: Jim Dixon From A Reader's Guide to William Gaddis's The Recognitions:
"This Is the Day We Give Babies Away" by Priscilla T. Nagle, is an article in the book "The Adoption Reader: Birth Mothers, Adoptive Mothers, and Adopted Daughters Tell Their Stories," edited by Susan Wadia-Ells, 1995. The line "Today is the day we give babies away, with half a pound of tea..." is quoted in this Autobiography of Virginia Bradford (1900-1996) -- silent movie star. It comes from a passage where the actress is reminiscing about several songs she knew as a child before 1913. |
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13 Nov 03 - 10:08 PM (#1053504) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: Q (Frank Staplin) Since part of a ragtime tune from 1910 is based on "This is the day they give babies away," we have to look before that date. I have never found the adv. (anecdotal) about a brand of tea, nor can I find anything by an author or poet named Olive Burt (mentioned by Sorrels) in the proper time frame. Origin still a mystery. |
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15 Nov 03 - 02:49 PM (#1054250) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: Jim Dixon The Library of Congress lists Olive Woolley Burt, 1894-, as the author or editor of at least 54 books—mostly children's books about the West—between 1929 and 1980. One of them is "American murder ballads and their stories. Collected and edited by Olive Woolley Burt. New York, Oxford University Press, 1958." Note that Sorrells doesn't say that the song appears in any of Burt's writings. |
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15 Nov 03 - 02:57 PM (#1054253) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: Q (Frank Staplin) There are several Olive Burt's. The author about the west is too late for the time frame. I couldn't find one who fit. |
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16 Nov 03 - 12:38 AM (#1054530) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: Jenny Islander They used to play this cut on my local public radio station in the '80s (I think), and the woman who sang it had an unmistakable voice, but I can't remember her name! It's live--you can hear the audience laughing--and she leads in with a little spiel about when to sing the song. Something like: "It's four o'clock in the morning. The baby is still crying. The paregoric is gone. It's gone because you drank it. That's when you take a deep breath, smile, pick that baby up in your arms, and, in your softest, kindest voice, sing 'The Hostile Baby-Rocking Song.' " Oh, this is the day we give babies away With a half a pound of tea. If you know any ladies who want any babies, Send 'em around to me. Oh, this is the day we give babies away With a half a pound of tea. You open the lid and you take out the kid With a written guarantee. I think there's a third verse that slipped my memory. |
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30 Apr 04 - 10:36 PM (#1175519) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: GUEST,T. Blair I heard the ditty as: Today's the day they give babies away, with a half a pound of tea. Just open the lid, examine the kid, and there you'll find the guarantee. My mother learned it from her mother. I understood the ditty to have come from the early colonial days and that it was Irish in origin. At least that is what I was told by an elderly Irish nun. |
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30 Apr 04 - 11:11 PM (#1175534) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: Q (Frank Staplin) All we know is that it is sometime before 1910, but probably not much before. No evidence of the rhyme before its use in a 1910 ragtime lyric, as stated before. |
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01 May 04 - 05:37 PM (#1176102) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: Little Robyn I don't recall ever hearing the song but I do remember a stock phrase that was used when I was a kid - "give you away with half a pound of tea." Robyn |
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21 Feb 06 - 12:13 AM (#1674534) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: GUEST My grandmother used to sing this to my father, and I've been trying to find a copy for his birthday, any thoughts? |
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21 Feb 06 - 07:48 PM (#1675311) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: Jim Dixon Please note that Rosalie Sorrells called her work BABY ROCKING MEDLEY. "Medley" implies more than one song, and probably more than one source. I think we may be barking up the wrong tree by assuming Olive Burt wrote the line "Today is the day we give babies away with a half a pound of tea," even if Sorrells did cite Burt as a source. Surely she meant a source rather than the source. I don't have Rosalie's recording, and I don't know the tune(s). Someone who has it, please tell me: Can you tell if there's more than one tune in the medley? Can you identify where one tune ends and the next begins? (Please refer to the lyrics in the DT.) Can you identify any of the tunes? I remember the tune that my ex-mother-in-law (now deceased) used when she sang "Today is the day…." I think it's the opening bars of a Sousa march, but I don't know its name. I'm hoping someone else will know. If not, I might try listening to several Sousa marches until I recognize it. |
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21 Feb 06 - 10:15 PM (#1675448) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: Mrrzy ??Where is the beginning of this thread? My first posting is (to me at least) obviously an answer to the original question... and I do remember not starting this one... |
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22 Feb 06 - 01:06 AM (#1675513) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: GUEST,M.Ted "There's an Island Way off in the sea" is one melody, and "This is the day we give babies away" is another--I have it on vinyl, but my turntable has not be operational for about six years--elsewise I'd convey you a copy--it is delightful and amusing, both on record, and live-- |
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22 Feb 06 - 03:00 AM (#1675535) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: Stewie Mrrzy, click on 'Printer Friendly' link at the top of the page and it should put the messages in proper order. Joe Offer gave this tip some time ago. --Stewie. |
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20 Oct 06 - 11:20 AM (#1864306) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: GUEST,Galley In response to Q who dated the ditty "Today's the day they give babies away with half a pound of tea; open the lid and out jumps the kid with a written guarantee" to around 1910 or slightly earlier. Can you tell me the source for the information? I'm doing research on baby-farming in America during the 19th and early 20th centuries, and this sounds like a rhyme that might have been a social comment on the practice. |
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22 Oct 06 - 04:41 PM (#1865876) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: Jim Dixon Google Book Search found a book with this description:
Publisher: Passenger Dept., Southern Pacific Co. Author(s): Southern Pacific Company. Passenger Dept, Southern Pacific Company Publication Date: 1898
"What baby? What are you talking about?" ... "The baby you're whistling about" returned the other lightly.
With a half a pound of tea!" |
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24 Oct 06 - 08:25 AM (#1867113) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: Jim Dixon Oops! I gave some wrong information about that last quote. (Google's information was a bit confusing.) The book (or magazine) I quoted from was one of a series that began in 1898, but this particular volume was published in 1912—as you can see by displaying the title page. |
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05 Jul 07 - 09:25 AM (#2094635) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: GUEST,degener my father used to sing a slightly different version - "Today is the day they give babies away for a half a keg of beer." I suspect it was a fraternity drinking song version of the more popular lyrics. Has anyone a comment on these lyrics? |
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13 Jul 07 - 09:45 PM (#2102110) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: GUEST Hi My grandfather used to sing whn we were kids quite a long version of the song- that was what I was trying to find when I saw this thread. todays the day we give babies away with half a pound of tea You lift up the lid and there is a kid with a written guarantee there were other verses that followed isn't it a pity shes only one titty to feed the baby on. The poor litter bugger he couldn't play rugger ( i.e Rugby football) he's not sufficiently strong tra la la la then some verse about the queen of all the fairys (which sounds now that I hear it to be some reference to homosexuality- didn't pick up on it as a kid) will ask my cousin- he used to know all the words and sing it all the time. |
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25 Jul 07 - 08:41 PM (#2111398) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: GUEST,Jesse Re: This Is The Day They Give Babies Away. To the person who remembers a lady singer singing this song, I think it was Gracie Fields. My mother remembers that during the 1930s in Vancouver, B.C. Canada it was regularly played on the radio by Billy Brown on his Breakfast Club which ran for years on radio station C J O R 600 Kc. Gracie Fields also use to recite a little poem, as follows. Don't throw stones at your mother, She never threw stone at you, Don't throw stones at your mother, You'll be sorry if you do; When you were just a little child, She'd tuck you in your bed, so, don't throw stones at your mother- Throw rocks at your father instead: Cheers Jesse Oliver |
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26 Jul 07 - 09:56 AM (#2111747) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: Y_Not There is a film from the 1950s "The Day they Gave Babies Away" starring Glynnis Jones, a real tear jerker. I wonder if there is any link to the song? |
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16 Aug 07 - 05:35 PM (#2127415) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: GUEST,Jack Kelley I remember it this way: Today is the day we give babies away for a pound and a half of cheese. If you know any ladies who need any babies, la lala la lala la la |
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05 Oct 07 - 05:46 PM (#2164701) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: GUEST,bilwilk My mother use to sing this song to me, back in the 1930's. She said it was from a tea company commercial (probably in the twenties or very early thirties) and that they packed a celluloid(?) doll in the top of the box of loose tea leaves. |
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13 Nov 07 - 02:24 AM (#2192488) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: GUEST,ELKA I learned it from my father, who learned it from his English mother, who was born at the beginning of the past century: "Today's the day they give babies away with a half a pound of tea/just open the lid/and examine the kid/with a written guarantee." So it may have just been transatlantic cultural tidbits, but someone in England in the 1910's and 1920's was saying this. |
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13 Nov 07 - 04:08 AM (#2192507) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: Deckman Back in 1965, my wife and I were in the "process" of adopting. The interviews and exams were many and long. During one of the adoption caseworker's visits, I sang her this song. We got the baby anyway! Bob |
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17 May 08 - 01:16 PM (#2342958) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: GUEST,Page I'm seventy and I heard my grandmother sing this to "the babies". She was from the south so always thought it was a folksong or rhyme. |
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01 Jun 08 - 12:30 PM (#2354406) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: GUEST,pennymac I found myself starting to sing this song the other day and couldn't remember anything beyond the first line. Perhaps because we lived in Wisconsin, my mother sang this song in the early 1940s not using "tea" but "cheese" I do believe that the second line as many have suggested was "If you know any ladies that want any babies, just send them 'round to me." The tune sounds like a vaudeville number, but I have no knowledge of the song's origin. |
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14 Jun 08 - 09:56 PM (#2366136) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: GUEST,GUEST, Peggy My vulgar grandparents always sang Today is the day they give babies away With a half a pound of cheese The fatter the women the better the swimmin' to dive between their knees" |
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15 Jun 08 - 05:26 AM (#2366226) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: Phil Edwards So it's either a) a nasty lullaby (like Rock-a-bye Baby) b) an advertising jingle c) a bluesy lament about women having to give their babies away d) a bawdy soldiers' song about, er, 'giving' women babies e) a rhyme about weighing babies and it dates from no later than 1912! c) and e) seem pretty unlikely to me. The advertising jingle is well-attested, but 1912 sounds awfully early for that kind of campaign - besides which, would an advertiser really write about giving babies away? I'd guess that it started as a genuine lullaby, was used in an ad campaign and was later adopted by soldiers. But there's basically no evidence for this theory. |
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26 Aug 08 - 06:31 PM (#2422848) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: GUEST,Heather Morse Low My Grandmother, Mary Morse Low, born (1917?) and raised in Lawrencetown, Nova Scotia, Canada, used to sing it. When I was a kid I used to sing along and it wasn't until I was much older when I understood what I was singing... Today is the day they give babies away with a half a pound of tea If you know any ladies that want to have babies just send 'em 'round to me I'll give 'em a smile, I'll give 'em a grin Send 'em to me! I'll fill them with glee! And send them on their way! Oh! (and start singing again from beginning) |
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28 Aug 08 - 12:11 PM (#2424419) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: GUEST,Amber To Jenny Islander. I know this message is late but I was doing some research and wanted to answer your question. It was Roaslie Sorrels that sings that song. On my version it is 6:30 in the morning and the kid hasn't quit howling for six hours. Then comes the cereal, pb sandwiches and milk. But the milk has been forgotten. I know the youngest of her sons and most likely the howling one so this particular song is extra close to my heart. Just thought I would let you know from someone who knows her now. Thank you for listening, reading, and possibly wondering who the heck I am responding nearly 5 years later:) Amber |
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28 Aug 08 - 12:16 PM (#2424424) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: GUEST,Amber To Pip. I dont think it is either. It is coming from a woman who raised five children on her own. Regardless of who you are, anyone can be tired and know what it is like to be up all night with a crying child. That is why she states in her spoken part that keeping all of that bottled up inside could make you get "strange and punch the baby in the mouth but you cant do that." So you sing the hostile baby rocking song to get out the frustrations w/o any ill intent. Well, that is what I get out of it at least. :) Ha ha, all this time for just a little tid bit. |
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07 Nov 08 - 02:35 PM (#2487833) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: GUEST,m harvey My aunt remembers this song from a movie where the husband (Possibly Rex Harrison ) she doesn't remember .. who sings this to his wife who is in labour, she would like to know the title of the movie if anyone else remembers .. |
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15 Nov 08 - 05:19 PM (#2494760) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: GUEST,Bdaleday Call me wierd, but I am desparately trying to find a recording of the song. I'm old enough to remember fondly when Elsa Lanchester sang it on early TV, perhaps on the Milton Berle or other variety show. Can you send me a link to ANY recording?!?! |
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15 Dec 08 - 03:49 PM (#2516137) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: GUEST,Marcus Hill Back when I was a sailor at Moffett Field, California in the early '70s I used to listen to a radio station, KFAT (the wide spot on your dial), out of Gilory, California (garlick capital of the world). Interesting station, they'd play just about anything you can think of. Anyway they played the two songs "Today is the day.." and the "Baby Tree" sung by Mother Mary McCaslin. I don't recall if it was live in the studio (above the dentist's office if I recall correctly) or a recording but it stuck with me all these years. I'll have to see if it is on one of the tapes I made of that station way back when. And then Jefferson Starship ( the Airplane with shuffled membership ) did it on their Blows Against the Empire album as noted previously in this thread, It was so out of character for that band, well done too with just a banjo if I remember right. I have it ripped from the record as an 18Mbyte wave file, I'm willing to share if it won't land me in jail. Anyway if your are looking for a recording you might try tis Mother Mary McCaslin, She was still around as of last year. Best regards, Marcus Hill |
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23 Oct 09 - 10:57 AM (#2751067) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: GUEST,George Weinberg-Harter My dad, who was born in 1910, used to sing it: Today is the day they give babies away With a half a pound of tea. Open the box and out he pops With a written guarantee. |
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23 Oct 09 - 04:16 PM (#2751307) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: Susan A-R I found myself humming this one as I walked by a sign for La Leche (sp?) League "Baby sale." The couple behind me on the street also exclaimed "Ooooh, a Baby sale!! Do we want any?" My Dad used to sing it, and I didn't realize until quite recently what the offer of "sending them round to me" implied. And they say my generation has a risque sense of humor. . . |
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17 Dec 09 - 08:15 AM (#2790260) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: Jim Dixon I finally recognized the tune to which my ex-mother-in-law sang "Today is the day they give babies away with a half a pound of tea...." It's the opening theme of BLAZE AWAY. I mistakenly called it a Sousa march above, but it's really by Abe Holzmann, from 1901. Here's a midi file. I believe the same tune is also used for "I love to go swimmin' with bowlegged [or "bare-naked"] women...." |
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27 Dec 09 - 10:40 AM (#2797240) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: GUEST,Laura Waddell My mother-in-law always recited the first verse Today is the day they give babies away With every package of tea. At work one day my husband recited the verse and the Scottish gentleman that sat in front of him told him to finish it. My husband said he didn't know any more than that and his mother recited it when he was a kid and it always stuck in his mind. His mother was born in l901 and loved all types of poetry from the time she was a child. The old Scott finished it like this... If you know any ladies who would like to have babies, please send them to me! |
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03 Jan 10 - 09:08 PM (#2802600) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: GUEST,Steve Lawrence Most of you folks have it correct with its regional variations. Fred McMurray sings the first stanza to Claudette Colnert in the opening scene of the movie the "Egg and I", a prelude to "Green Acres. |
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07 Jan 10 - 10:27 AM (#2805724) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: GUEST Fred MacMurray sings it this way Today is the day they give babies away With a half a pound of cheese, Half a pound of cheese... Half a pound of cheese... Just open the lid, and out pops a kid with a half a pound of cheese... |
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25 Feb 10 - 08:24 AM (#2849725) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: GUEST,agrisolia5gmail.com |
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02 Apr 10 - 07:57 AM (#2877972) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: and e Antedating of the phrase "This is the day they give babies away..." to Oct 18, 1904 in the google newspaper archive here: http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19041018&id=ztcUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=trUDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6873,3749932 . |
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02 Apr 10 - 10:32 AM (#2878062) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: Young Buchan And there is always the old song Christening the Baby which concludes: ...The parson held his hand out and demanded £sd But none of us had got a bob to pay the christening fee. The parson he got angry and demanded half a quid. He said 'Who is going to pay me now for all the work I did?' So just to save an argument we let him keep the kid And we all went rolling home. |
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02 Apr 10 - 11:15 AM (#2878113) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: Bettynh You can listen to Rosalie Sorrels here |
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02 Apr 10 - 05:09 PM (#2878387) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: and e This song is found on the 1947 movie "The Egg and I". The tune used is "Blaze Away" the same tune used for "I love to go swimming with bowlegged women...". See the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kthh7-OqoYU |
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03 Apr 10 - 02:11 AM (#2878589) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: GUEST You can watch Rosalie Sorrels sing this song on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW_TtYN9Cjw |
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01 Jan 11 - 02:54 PM (#3065126) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: GUEST A Phi Delta Sigma fraternity version. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfkWh9Gm1L0 Can anyone give a name for the tune used? . |
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29 Aug 11 - 03:29 PM (#3214692) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: GUEST,A Commerton As child in England I remember going to a musica hall performance where a man sang "Today is the day they give babies away with half a pound of tea, If you know any ladies who'd like to have babies just send them up to me." That's all I remember, but would like to know the rest. |
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03 May 12 - 10:36 AM (#3346461) Subject: today's the day we give babies away From: GUEST,islander My mother, age 95, just recalled this ditty Today is the day we give babies away with half a pound of cheese. So I googled it and it's a nursery rhyme! Ain't the internet grand! |
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24 Aug 12 - 11:33 AM (#3394511) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: GUEST This is a fascinating thread! It appears that the original comment dates back 10 years ago and people are still discussing it. I found this conversation by googling "today is the day we give babies away". I did that because I was thinking about my grandmother who used to sort of chant, not sing, the phrase. But it was always preceded by "It's a great day for the Irish". And then "Today is the day we give babies away with a pound and a half of tea". (as opposed to the half a pound of tea). She wasn't Irish but apparently her neighbor was (an Irish imigrant to New York city) who used to say this all the time in the 30's or 40's, and she just copied him. It seems certainly possible that the phrase or poem or song dates back to some early time in Ireland, got transported to the U.S., was used by others to write songs or make jingles and so possibly originates as some traditional folklore- 1800's and now exists in many different forms? This is all just hypothesizing.... |
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13 Oct 12 - 02:37 PM (#3419288) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: GUEST,Mukraken When I was a toddler, in the early 1950s, my mother used to sing this to me: This is the day they give babies away with a sample box of tea; Open the lid and examine the kid and see what you can see... That's all I recall of the lyrics. Our ethnic background is Scot-Irish. |
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15 Dec 13 - 11:28 AM (#3584296) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: today's the day we give babies away From: GUEST,Tina My grade 10 science teacher used to say "today is the day we give babies away and a half a pound of tea" and sometimes he'd say "today is the day we give chickens away and a half a pound of tea" But that's all I've ever heard of it & it's clearly stuck with me after all this time. This thread is very interesting! |