My Get-Up-And-Go Has Got Up and Went
Anonymous… (see note below)
Old age is golden, or so I’ve heard said,
But sometimes I wonder, as I crawl into bed,
With my ears in a drawer, my teeth in a cup,
My eyes on the table until I wake up.
As sleep dims my vision, I say to myself:
Is there anything else I should lay on the shelf?
But, though nations are warring, and Congress is vexed,
We’ll still stick around to see what happens next!
How do I know my youth is all spent?
My get-up-and-go has got up and went!
But, in spite of it all, I’m able to grin
And think of the places my getup has been!
When I was young, my slippers were red;
I could kick up my heels right over my head.
When I was older my slippers were blue,
But still I could dance the whole night through.
Now I am older, my slippers are black.
I huff to the store and puff my way back.
But never you laugh; I don’t mind at all:
I’d rather be huffing than not puff at all!
How do I know my youth is all spent?
My get-up-and-go has got up and went!
But, in spite of it all, I’m able to grin
And think of the places my getup has been!
I get up each morning and dust off my wits,
Open the paper, and read the Obits.
If I’m not there, I know I’m not dead,
So I eat a good breakfast and go back to bed!
How do I know my youth is all spent?
My get-up-and-go has got up and went!
But, in spite of it all, I’m able to grin
And think of the places my getup has been!
Note from Joe: Although Pete Seeger sang these lyrics in concert, he did not write them. Many variations can be found on the Web, most of which say “anonymous,” but it is sometimes attributed to Ebby Rose, Art Davis, G.A. Davis, Marian Johnson, Len Ingebrigtsen, Mary Ellen Garrett Ince, and Phyllys R. Burchill. Can anybody tell me for sure who wrote the original, and prove it?
Note added later: Mike Halloran emailed me the following: “According to Pete Seeger’s autobiography, he learned that the writer was a newspaper man. He contacted the author to offer him credit and royalties for the song. The man refused both wishing to remain anonymous. Pete Seeger claims to be the only one who knows the true identity of the author.” I guess that settles it. It’s anonymous!
Note added even later: I just received another email: “I know for a fact that this was published in a St Louis newspaper, most likely the Globe-Democrat which is now defunct, between 1940 and 1960 (probably between 1950-1955), and those dates fit in with your story of being from 'a newspaper writer'. My aunt, who would have been married about 1940, had clipped it from a newspaper and posted it on her bulletin board when I was a kid & old enough to read it, (around 1957-1960) and it did not look old or yellowed.”
http://holyjoe.org/poetry/anon7.htm