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21 Feb 04 - 02:47 PM (#1120548) Subject: help I need the song title From: GUEST,Nik Years ago we used to sit around the campfie, there was a song I used to love, I can't remember the song apart from one line "now tomatoes are soft and don't injure the skin, but this one it did it was inside the tin" Any ideas :) |
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21 Feb 04 - 02:54 PM (#1120560) Subject: ADD: Lord Jim From: GUEST LORD JIM I know an old bloke and his name is Lord Jim, And he had a wife who threw tomatoes at him, Now tomatoes are juicy, don't injure the skin, But these ones they did, they was inside a tin. Ho-je-ra, what d'you say? For the queen of society lives down our way. I know an old lady, her name is Miss Brown, She was having a bath and she couldn't come down, She said that she would be down in a tick, She slipped on the soap and she did come down quick |
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21 Feb 04 - 03:05 PM (#1120567) Subject: RE: help I need the song title From: GUEST,Nik Don't know ya name but cheers for that :) Nik |
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21 Feb 04 - 04:01 PM (#1120607) Subject: ADD Version: Uncle Jim From: Allan C. I found another version here. UNCLE JIM Attributed to Seamus Browne WF Oh, Jemima, just look at your Uncle Jim, All there in the duck pond a-learnin' to swim He first tries the backstroke, he then tries the side But he's now underwater, aswim 'gainst the tide. Tooraloo, tooralee, O how would you, how would you like to be me? Oh, the oul' barn door was the table we had And the table we had was the oul' barn door And the oul' barn door was the table we had Yes the table we had was the oul' barn door, Tooraloo, Tooralee... When I was out walking with my brother Jim Somebody threw a tomato at him. Now tomatoes are soft when they're inside a skin But this big tomato was inside a tin. Tooraloo, tooralee... |
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21 Feb 04 - 04:09 PM (#1120615) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: breezy often sung to the tune of 'Villikins and his Dinah' like the Threshing Machine song |
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21 Feb 04 - 04:12 PM (#1120619) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: John MacKenzie Two lovely black eyes has my brother Jim Somebody threw some tomatos at him Tomatos can't hurt you I said with a grin He said these buggers did, they were still in the tin. With a toor a li toor a li toor a li a It goes to the same tune as The wee Magic Stane, and I'm buggered if I can remember any more at the moment. John |
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23 Jun 07 - 09:41 AM (#2084814) Subject: Lyr Add: THE THRESHING MACHINE From: GUEST,Max THE THRESHING MACHINE (MIDI file) (tune taken from the Drunkard's Song; see below) I once knew a farmer I knew him quite well, And he had a daughter, her name it were Nell, Although she were only the age of sixteen, She wanted to see my old threshing machine. Chorus: I had her, I had her, I had her, I aye! (3 times) And I ups and I shows her the old Kentish way. The barn door lay open so we stepped inside, And there in the corner some hay I espied, So while she worked the throttle and I worked the steam, Together we worked my old threshing machine. Oh farmer, oh farmer! I've come to confess, I've left your young Nell in a hell of a mess, Her clothes are all torn and her .... are all bare, And there's something inside her that shouldn't be there. Three months have gone by and the truth's but to tell, There's something the matter with our little Nell, For under her apron can clearly be seen, She's got too much chaff from my threshing machine. Nine months later and all's going well, A son has been born unto our little Nell, And under his nappy can clearly be seen, A brand new two cylinder threshing machine. (The last two verses were seldom sung:) The lad he grew up and his name it were Jim, Then somebody threw a tomato at him. Now tomatoes are soft and they don't hurt the skin; But this bugger did - it were still in the tin! Now Mary, the milkmaid, was milking the cow. She was trying so hard but she didn't know how. Along came the farmer and gave her the sack, So she turned the cow over and poured the milk back! |
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23 Jun 07 - 09:57 AM (#2084819) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: Dave Earl Another version and another verse A tramp by the wayside all tattered and torn Was eating the grass on my front lawn I said if you're hungry and wanting a snack The grass is much longer around at the back Chorus:- 1.2.3.4.5.6,7 8,9,10 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 1.2.3.4.5.6,7 8,9,10 if you any more you can sing it again |
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23 Jun 07 - 10:38 AM (#2084841) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: Dave Roberts And, of course... My Uncle Jabez was fond of a stunt He went out one day with his coat back to front A bloody great tram came and knocked Jabez down He might have been saved but they turned his head round Tooraloo etc |
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24 Jun 07 - 08:43 AM (#2085500) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: vectis I think you may be after the extra verses added to The Molecatcher by Gordon Hall. He started it at 1055 one night and finished it at 1125. Yes a half hour encore! |
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28 Jul 07 - 12:51 PM (#2113403) Subject: ADD: To Market, To Market From: Viracocha I've just disovered mudcat, and I've downloaded half the pages onto my computer! This stuff is so difficult to find, usually. BTW, out of interest, anyone know where I can study folklore/nursery rhyme/song origins at university? Or what the course would be called (besides 'English', because that covers a lot)? Anyway. My mum (she's from Wimbledon, born 1957 - though she'll kill me for putting that online) learnt this song while camping as a child, and I was unable to find any lyrics online (apart from here!). But I've asked her about it, and she's found the book she wrote the songs in. It was a Colony Holidays camp for children (apparently), either in 1970 or 1971. TO MARKET TO MARKET To market to market went my brother Jim But somebody threw a tomato at him Now, tomatoes are soft and they don't hurt the skin But this one it did, it was wrapped in a tin. I once met a man who was tattered and torn He was eating the grass on my front lawn I said "If you're hungry, and in need of a snack, The grass is much longer around at the back." Get away Get away It's a jolly fine song And I'll sing it again Now Mary the milkmaid was milking the cow But poor little Mary she didn't know how - Along came the farmer and gave her the sack So she turned - the-cow over and poured - the-milk back Get away Get away It's a jolly fine song And I'll sing it again Oh 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Oh 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Oh 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, It's a jolly fine song And I'll sing it again |
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06 Aug 07 - 06:46 AM (#2120197) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: GUEST Yeah I learned that song while camping too: Get away Get away It's a jolly fine song And I'll sing it all day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, It's a jolly fine song And I'll sing it again Get away Get away It's a jolly fine song And I'll sing it all day Now Mary the milkmaid was milking the cow But poor little Mary she didn't know how Along came the farmer and gave her the sack So she turned the-cow over and poured the milk back Get away Get away It's a jolly fine song And I'll sing it all day To market to market went my brother Jim Til somebody threw a tomato at him Now, tomatoes are soft and they don't hurt the skin But this one it did, it was wrapped in a tin Get away Get away It's a jolly fine song And I'll sing it all day I came on a tramp who was tattered and torn He was eating the grass on my front lawn I said "If you're hungry, and in need of a snack, The grass is much longer around at the back." Get away Get away It's a jolly fine song And I'll sing it all day I called on my girlfriend, her name was Anne Brown She was having a bath, and she couldn't come down I said "slip on something, be down in a tick" So she slipped on the soap and by Joe she was quick Get away Get away It's a jolly fine song And I'll sing it all day I was at the pub when the siren did sound So I put down my beer glass to go on my round I wrote on a note "I have spat in this beer" And when I returned they'd all written "Same here" Get away Get away It's a jolly fine song And I'll sing it all day A Methodist Minister was spreading the news On the dangers of marriage and the devils of booze He leaned on the pullpit to have a wee think And a bottle of whisky fell out, with a 'clink' Get away Get away It's a jolly fine song And I'll sing it all day The Salvation Army I once did appear The Captain said "I will save anyone here" "Do you save girlies" He said "Yes thats right" "Then save me a couple, for Saturday night" Get away Get away It's a jolly fine song And I'll sing it all day I dreamt that I died, and to heaven did go But "Where did you come from" they wanted to know When I said from **** they said "Come right in, You're the first one we've had from that ses pool of sin" Get away Get away It's a jolly fine song And I'll sing it all day |
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25 Aug 07 - 11:28 PM (#2133654) Subject: Lyr Add: ARE YOU MR. RILEY? From: Jim Dixon Copied from http://www.freewebs.com/sunriseelfins/oursongsandceremonies.htm: ARE YOU MR. RILEY? Are you Mr. Riley that keeps this hotel? Are you Mr. Riley they speak of so well? For if you're Mr. Riley, they speak of so highly, Then, blimey, O'Riley, you are looking well. CHORUS: Hold your row. hold your row. What d'you say? What d'you say? For the queen of society lives down our way. There was a young man and his name was Lord Jim. He complained that his wife threw tomatoes at him. Now, tomatoes are soft and don't injure the skin, But this one it did; it was inside a tin. One day I met a poor boy in the street. He was ever so hungry, no shoes to his feet; And as I had money and plenty to spare, I went to the fruiterer's and bought him a pear. I called on my sweetheart. Her name was Miss Brown. She was having a bath so she couldn't come down. She said she'd slip on something and be down in a tick. She slipped on the soap and she did come down quick. One day I died and to heaven did go. "And where do you come from?" they wanted to know. When I told them "from Brighton", it made them all stare. "Come in" said St. Peter. "You're the first one from there." |
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25 Feb 08 - 05:37 AM (#2271651) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: GUEST,Suzanne Plimmer To market to market to buy a fat hen An egg for my breakfast I'd have now and then I went to the hen house and got quite a shock For the hen that I bought was a nasty old cock. To market to market to buy a fat cow To milk it to milk it I didn't know how I pulled on its tail instead of its teat And poor little old me got covered in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 |
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25 Feb 08 - 06:33 AM (#2271668) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: GUEST,Suffolk Miracle I think you may be after the extra verses added to The Molecatcher by Gordon Hall. He started it at 1055 one night and finished it at 1125. Yes a half hour encore! I was once at a singaround when Gordon was present. When the MC called him he politely asked whether whether he wanted one or two. The MC said one long or two short. Gordon obliged with a very very full version of a ballad. At the end the MC made the mistake of saying sarcastically 'That was just a short one then?' 'Oh yes' said Gordon 'I know much longer than that...' and went straight into The Mole Catcher. I went to my girlfriend and this I did say: What would you like since today's your birthday? She said she'd like diamonds so right there and then I gave her the ace jack queen king nine and ten. I went for a ride on the old underground But I tripped on the steps and I rolled to the ground. The vicar rushed up 'Did you miss a step, son?' I said 'No you daft @@@@@@@ I hit every one'. |
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25 Feb 08 - 09:32 AM (#2271748) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: The Sandman Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: GUEST,Suffolk Miracle - PM Date: 25 Feb 08 - 06:33 AM I think you may be after the extra verses added to The Molecatcher by Gordon Hall. He started it at 1055 one night and finished it at 1125. Yes a half hour encore! I was once at a singaround when Gordon was present. When the MC called him he politely asked whether whether he wanted one or two. The MC said one long or two short. Gordon obliged with a very very full version of a ballad. At the end the MC made the mistake of saying sarcastically 'That was just a short one then?' 'Oh yes' said Gordon 'I know much longer than that...' and went straight into The Mole Catcher . In my opinion,That sort of shennannikins is unprofessional ,and nothing to be proud of. The MC was giving him a clear indication of time,and he chose to be self indulgent,If everyone did this at concerts/singarounds overrunnning their times,the last people get their time shortened. people that do this time hogging are just inconsiderate egotists. |
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25 Feb 08 - 04:25 PM (#2272165) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: Herga Kitty So the MC wasn't being unprofessional? - he could just have said "Thank you" and moved on to the next singer. And Gordon Hall wasn't, and didn't profess to be, professional. IIRC he was a source singer and I wish I'd heard him more often than I did. Kitty |
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25 Feb 08 - 05:31 PM (#2272224) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: The Sandman I am sorry, but I do not see why source singers,who are prepared to take payment/expenses for appearances should be treated any differently in respect of alloted time than professional or semi professional revivalist performers. Gordon Hall, was an experienced performer,[and from the description given in the previous post knew excatly what he was doing] ,the fact that he had other sources of income is irrelevant. If I was to overrun at a concert I would get a telling off from the MC /or the festival organiser. Why should there be one rule for some and a different rule for others . |
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25 Feb 08 - 06:54 PM (#2272275) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: Herga Kitty Sorry, but I thought this account was about an informal singaround, not a booked performance. And why was it not unprofessional of the MC to indulge in sarcasm instead of moving on to the next singer? Anyway, I too remember learning the "tomatoes are soft" and "Mary the milkmaid" verses as part of the Threshing Machine. Kitty |
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26 Feb 08 - 03:30 AM (#2272519) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: GUEST,Suffolk Miracle It was an informal chronologically-open-ended singaround at the Loughborough Festival. Noone was seriously inconvenienced. No small furry animals were killed. And most of us had wandered in hoping to hear Gordon anyway. |
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26 Feb 08 - 07:21 AM (#2272606) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: The Sandman apologies to Gordon Hall., you have put a different perspective on what happened. |
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28 Sep 08 - 09:55 AM (#2452099) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: GUEST,jack to market to market with my brother jim when somebody threw a tomato at him now, tomatoes are squishy and don't bruise the skin but this one killed jim it was wrapped in a tin |
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28 Sep 08 - 09:59 AM (#2452104) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: Compton It was always sang around the folk clubs in Staffordshire...and I think on a Yetties Vinyl as....The Threshing Machine |
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28 Sep 08 - 11:56 AM (#2452165) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: Steve Gardham In answer to the original question, in my experience these sort of songs are made up from a few well-known floaters that can be added to ad-infinitum. The usual tune, yes, is Villikins, but a wide variety of choruses is used, so as for a title simply make up your own. 'Too-ra-loo' (first line) 'A rolling stone gathers no moss' (my version) 'My Uncle Jim' |
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14 Oct 08 - 12:58 PM (#2465435) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: GUEST My Ex was taught the following chorus as a younf girl by the Woodcraft Folk... TOP Hol-ja row, hold your row, what d'you say? what do you say? For we kill all the coppers that come down our way. (repeat chorus) |
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12 Nov 08 - 07:37 PM (#2492284) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: GUEST,Sam Young Poor Mary Poor Mary was milking a cow poor mary poor mary she didn't know how so the farmer came along and he gave her the sack so she turn the cow upside down and poured the milk back |
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11 Jan 09 - 07:29 PM (#2537716) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: GUEST,Luke Virgo This is another verse I have heard I had a wheelbarrow and the wheel it went round I had a wheelbarrow and the wheel it went round I had a wheelbarrow and the wheel it went round... I had a wheelbarrow and the wheel it went round |
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12 Jan 09 - 06:24 PM (#2538393) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: Aeola Fivepenny Piece did a rendition I think they called it 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 |
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12 Aug 09 - 06:35 AM (#2698403) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: GUEST to market, to market with my brother Jim, when somebody threw a tomato at him, now tomatoes are soft and tthey don't bruise the skin, but this one was not it was wrapped in a tin |
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24 Sep 09 - 08:33 AM (#2730348) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: GUEST,LOTTIE To put it simply. The song in its present form was a culmination of old folk song, it was written and published in the book "woodcraft folk songs", by the left wing youth movement called the woodcraft folk. the song was origionally in the form mentioned above 'ARE YOU MR RILEY'. and as for the comment about being tought to kill coppers. ah i wouldnt put it past the 70's era of the woodies, there all commies anyway love it. |
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10 Oct 09 - 01:47 PM (#2742896) Subject: Lyr Add: IS THAT MR. RILEY (from Pat Rooney) From: Jim Dixon I doubt that this is the "original form" of any of the above songs. More likely the chorus of this song was used as one of the "floater" verses that are so common in folk music, and attached to another song. From Vaudeville, Old & New: An Encyclopedia of Variety Performers in America, Volume 1, by Frank Cullen with Florence Hackman, Donald McNeilly (New York Routledge, 2007), page 962: Perhaps unwittingly, Pat Rooney exposed some of the fierce racism prevalent among some portion of the Irish American communities in his best-remembered song, "Is That Mr. Riley?": I'd have nothing but Irishmen in the Police. Patrick's Day would be Fourth of July. I'd get me a thousand infernal machines [bombs] To teach the Chinese how to die, Help the working man's cause, manufacture the laws. New York would be swimming in wine. A hundred a day would be very small pay If the White House and Capital were mine. CHORUS: Is that Mr. Riley, can anyone tell? Is that Mr. Riley, that keeps the hotel? Is that Mr. Riley they speak of so highly? Upon me soul, Riley, you're doing quite well. |
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10 Oct 09 - 02:22 PM (#2742916) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: MGM·Lion A literary analogue to the topic of this thread:— A short story by James Thurber in his "My World & Welcome To It" (which also contains 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty') has a recollection of his old English teacher, 'Here Lies Miss Groby', who was obsessed with analysing literature for figures of speech. "It is hard for me to believe," he comments, "that Miss Groby ever saw any famous work of literature from far enough away to know what it meant." She particularly loved metonymy, The Container For The Thing Contained... "I would find myself lying awake at night...star[ing] at the ceiling and try[ing] to think of an example of the Thing Contained For The Container. It struck me as odd that Miss Groby had never thought of that inversion, I finally hit on one... If a woman were to grab up a bottle of Grade A and say to her husband, 'Get away from me or I'll hit you with the milk', that would be a Thing Contained For The Container... I was eager and serious about it and it never occurred to me that the other children would laugh... When Miss Groby had quieted them she said to me rather coldly, 'That was not really amusing, James.' That's the kind of mixed-up thing that happened to me in my teens. In later years I came across another excellent example of this figure of speech in a joke long since familiar to people who know vaudeville or burlesque (or radio for that matter). It goes something like this: A: What's your head all bandaged up for? B: I got hit with some tomatoes. A: How could that bruise you up so bad? B: These tomatoes were in a can. I wonder what Miss Groby would have thought of that one." |
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17 May 10 - 04:29 PM (#2908718) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: GUEST,Beryl My grandmother lived in northern Victoria, Australia and taught me the following version... A nasty black eye had my poor Uncle Jim He said his wife threw some tomatoes at him The tomatoes were hard, I said with a grin Oh yes said he for they were in a tin brings back happy memories! |
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19 Sep 10 - 05:44 AM (#2989592) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: GUEST I called on my sweetheart. Her name was Miss Brown. She was having a bath so she couldn't come down. She said she'd slip on something and be down in a tick. She slipped on the soap and she did come down quick. 12 year olds, singing this at school, corrupted the last oine to "She slipped on the soap and came down in the nick" :) |
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10 Aug 11 - 01:33 PM (#3205485) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: GUEST,Spasysheep I sing this at woodcraft folk camps, it's in our songbooks as 'Are You Mr Riley?' |
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25 Jun 12 - 03:03 PM (#3367847) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: GUEST,Me Are you mr Riley In woodcraft folk songbook Rose to prominence during ww1' see http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=AS19150807.2.132 Fab song |
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26 Jun 12 - 05:21 AM (#3368101) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: GUEST,Don Wise I seem to recall George Benson singing this (The Molecatcher) at a festival in southern England (Bracknell? Horsham??) |
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05 Jan 13 - 01:35 PM (#3461796) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: GUEST My granddad (born 1907) used to sing this version: Last night I went walking with my Uncle Jim. Someone was throwing tomatoes at him. "Tomatoes don't hurt me," he said with a grin, "But that one, it did; it was still in the tin." CHORUS: Toora-lie, Toora-lay. If you don't know the chourus, it's Toora-lie-ay. Last night I did die and to Hell I did go, And where I came from they wanted to know. And when I said "Wigan," the Devil did stare. "Get out, young man, we've enough come from there." CHORUS Last night I did die and to Heaven did go, And where I came from they wanted to know. And when I said "Wigan," St. Peter did stare. "Come in, young man, you're the first one from there." CHORUS |
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06 Mar 13 - 05:34 AM (#3486948) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: GUEST,guest My grandad was born in 1918 (UK) and sang thus song too, does anuone know where it originally came from? |
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06 Mar 13 - 06:04 AM (#3486958) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: Rumncoke Another version An accident happened to my brother Jim Somebody threw a tomato at him Now tomatoes are juicy and don't hurt the skin But this one did as it was still in the tin Mary the milkmaid was milking the cow She pulled and she tugged but she didn't know how Then Bessy looked round and she said with a frown You hang on tight and I'll jump up and down |
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06 Mar 13 - 02:05 PM (#3487155) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: Herga Kitty I've heard both those verses added to the Threshing Machine... and associate them with the first Sidmouth festivals I went to when I first heard the Yetties, when I think I might have heard them added to Dorset is Beautiful too! Kitty |
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06 Mar 13 - 03:39 PM (#3487199) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: Paul Reade Surprised no-one mentioned the verse:- One day me granny, she made a rice pud And when she had finished, by gum it were good But she made it in't kettle, and we couldn't gerrit out So we 'ad to take turns sucking it out through the spout |
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11 Oct 14 - 07:26 AM (#3668056) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: GUEST,alanw There's similar rice-pud gag in 'The Old Bazaar at Cairo': Rice pud, very good, what's it all about, Made it in a kettle and they couldn't get it out, Everybody took a turn to suck it through the spout At the old bazaar in Cairo. |
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11 Oct 14 - 07:44 AM (#3668063) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: GUEST,# http://www.scorpexuke.com/pdffiles/The_Old_Bazaar_In_Cairo_Clinton_Ford_and_George_Chisholm.pdf |
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12 Oct 14 - 07:11 AM (#3668308) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: bubblyrat On board HMS Ark Royal ( the proper one,not that piddly little thing ) in the 1970s , the "ship's idiot" and manipulator of the puppet "Little Wilf" used to sing thus ; " I went to a party with my uncle Jim, When somebody threw a tomato at him ; I said "tomatoes can't hurt you, the skin is too thin " He said"No, but THIS bugger was still in the tin !" |
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13 Oct 14 - 03:15 AM (#3668517) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: Jim Carroll I agree with Steve that this type of song was often made up from floating verses. My first experience ever of interviewing anybody was in 1969, when I was asked to help a friend record the reminiscences of his grandfather, a Liverpool docker who had lied about his age shortly after leaving school and, not being able to find work, had joined up to fight in W.W.1 - he spent the next few years hauling his concertina across the mud of Europe until he was finally shipped back home, wounded. It was one of the most memorable couple of days have ever spent. He sang us bits of this song, which he, unaccountably, called 'The Siege of Liverpool'!!! Jim Carroll |
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22 Apr 15 - 07:20 AM (#3703490) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: GUEST http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-ril1.htm Mister Reilly song. William and Mary Morris suggested in the Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origin that the origin lies in a once-famous American comic song:
Is that Mister Reilly, can anyone tell? Written in 1883 by Pat Rooney, a well-known vaudeville comedian, singer and Irish impersonator. The hero, an innkeeper, describes what he will do when he strikes it rich: “New York will be swimming in wine” and “A hundred a day will be very small pay / when the White House and Capitol are mine.” The indications are that it became popular very quickly. The lyric was quoted in The New York Times on 29 January 1884 as a sarcastic comment about how difficult it was to find out the extent to which the city registrar, John Reilly, had profited from his office. In December the same year the Philadelphia Record used it in referring to a New York police captain, also with the same surname, who was supposedly (and surprisingly) untouched by a city financial scandal. Other musical compositions have been suggested. It has been said that there was one of 1890 performed by the well-known burlesque performers Edward Harrigan and Tony Hart. I’ve only been able to trace their play of that year, Reilly and the Four Hundred, and the supposed link is probably a mistake based on the title. Another version put forward (by H L Mencken) is The Best in the House is None Too Good for Reilly, by Charles E Lawlor and James W Blake. I don’t have its date, but it was certainly written after their first and most famous song, The Sidewalks of New York, whose words Blake knocked out in an hour on the counter of the hat shop where he was working as a clerk in 1894. |
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01 Feb 17 - 04:53 PM (#3836143) Subject: RE: help I need the song title-tomatoes are soft From: GUEST,guest I learned this song in grade school, in the early '70s. This is the version: An awful black eye has my Uncle Jim, Somebody threw a tomato at him; 'Tomatoes can't hurt you' I said with a grin He said 'Yes they can if they're still in a tin.' |
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21 Feb 17 - 09:08 PM (#3840623) Subject: RE: need the song title-tomatoes are soft: Uncle Jim From: GUEST,paman 54 My Mum used to sing this in the early 1950's to us children: A beautiful black eye had my Uncle Jim, he said someone threw a tomato at him. Tomatoes don't hurt you I said with a grin, he said this one did cos twas inside a tin. |
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30 May 21 - 12:26 AM (#4108136) Subject: RE: need the song title-tomatoes are soft: Uncle Jim From: GUEST,Judi What is the tune based on? Or was it made up for this song? I have loved reading the responses. Thanks |