The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #12629   Message #101158
Posted By: Joe Offer
31-Jul-99 - 02:58 PM
Thread Name: What is a kid's song?
Subject: ADD: Dummy Line - Scout Camp Version ^^
My first year at Scout camp, I heard a version of "Dummy Line" that I really liked, but all I could remember was one verse and a chorus. I searched for this song for years and years. Here's all I remembered:
Little Willie Jones fell down the elevator
There they found him six months later
They held their noses, and said, "Gee Whiz,
What a spoiled child our little Willie is."

Ridin' ridin' ridin' on the dummy dummy line
Rain or shine I'll pay my fine
Rain or shine I'll pay my fine
Ridin' ridin' ridin' on the dummy dummy line
There was also a line about Davey Jones' locker, but that's all I remember.
Well, in my search for "Laughing Policeman," I found a version of the song at the Flying Pigs site (click).

Dummy Line

On the dummy line, on the dummy line
Rain or shine, I'll pay my fine
Rain or shine, I'll pay my fine
Ride, ride, riding on the dummy line

I got on the train and didn't have the fare
The conductor said, "Whatcha doin' there?"
He grabbed me by the collar and shoved me out the door
Said, "I don't want to see you on this line no more!"

Little Willy was home by himself
Found a chocolate cake on the kitchen shelf
Willy said, "If I eat this cake
Sis won't get a belly ache"

Little Willy saw a mill saw buzz
Didn't know quite what it was
Now his arm is full of nicks
And, alas poor Willy, he's cut in six

Little Willy found some dynamite
He didn't understand it quite
But curiosity never pays
It rained Willy several days

Little Willy coming home from school
Spied a half a dollar at the foot of a mule
Stooped down to pick it up, quiet as a mouse
Funeral tomorrow at little Willy's house!

Little birdie in the sky
Dropped some whitewash in my eye
Says I to me; says me to I
"I'm sure glad that cows can't fly!"

There was a boy by the name of Jack
Pitched his tent on a railroad track
Midnight express came around the bend
What kind of flowers did you send?

There once was a doctor, his name was Peck
He fell in a well and he broke his neck
It served him right, for he should've known
To tend to the sick and leave the well alone!

There once was a hunter, his name was O'Hare
He was chased by a grizzly bear
The people all thought he was out of his mind
Running down the street with a bear behind!

There was an old witch by the name of Nan
Who tried to pass as a good humor man
Couldn't fool the kids, they all stayed home -
They would not buy from an ice cream crone

My grandpa had a car, it was a Ford machine
His whiskers came in handy for straining gasoline
My grandma had a habit of chewing in her sleep
She chewed on grandpa's whiskers and dreamed of shredded wheat!

Not the verses I recall, but close. Hooray! Anybody know more verses. The "official" version of the song is in the database (click here), and there's a nice recording of it by Anne Hills and Cindy Mangsen on their Never Grow Up album (which is a great kids' album).
-Joe Offer- ^^