LONGEST NAME SONG

Me father and mother were elegant folks;
They both had a failing for practical jokes,
And when I was born, they were both of a mind
That I should possess ev’ry name they could find.

CHORUS
Jonathan, Joseph, Jeremiah,
Timothy, Titus, Obadiah,
William, Henry, Walter, Sim,
Reuben, Rufus, Solomon, Jim,
Nathaniel, Daniel, Abraham,
Roderick, Frederick, Peter, Sam,
Simon, Dimon, Nicholas, Pat,
Christopher, Dick, Jehoshaphat.

There were two other children next morning as well,
And with the poor kids it proved as a sell.
When the parson came in, me being first of the three,
He had to begin operations on me.

When I went to get married ’twas just as bad,
The parson looked at me as if he were mad.
Said he, “My good friend, without reason or rhyme,
You’ll have to get married a bit at a time.”

#181 in Ballads and Songs from Utah, pp 343-344), by Lester A. Hubbard (University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, 1961)

Notes: An almost identical song, called "The Irish Cradle Song," was dictated by Thomas Isom of Hurricane. With the exception of one stanza, the Utah test corresponds to that recovered in Newfoundland by Greenleaf and Mansfield, p. 345.

Sung by Mrs. Susie S. Barlow of Salt Lake City, Nov. 16, 1948.

MIDI: (click to play, right-click to download)
Doesn't seem to work in every browser. Email me if you need a copy. joe@mudcat.org

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This video starts off with an excerpt from "The Addams Family," but then gives a rendition of "Longest Name Song" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxh0RasP8Kg