The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #155001   Message #3644965
Posted By: Jim Dixon
24-Jul-14 - 03:53 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Hand Me Down My Jogging Shoes (Paxton)
Subject: Lyr Add: HAND ME DOWN MY JOGGING SHOES (Tom Paxton
Here are the corrected lyrics, verified by me by listening to the recording on Spotify:

HAND ME DOWN MY JOGGING SHOES
As sung by Tom Paxton on "Heroes" (1978), "Best of the Vanguard Years" (2006), and the various-artists collection "Country Magic for a Honky Tonk Nation" (2012).*

1. I was out for a stroll, just walkin' the pup,
Checkin' the scene, seein' what was up.
I wasn't botherin' nobody; I was easin' on down the road.
Just behind me come a pitty-pitty-pat.
I said: "Good Lord, tell me what was that?"
I turned and looked and my brain took an overload.
Down the trail and around the farm
Come a thousand people with their underwear on,
Pickin' 'em up, layin' 'em down like mad,
Puffin' and groanin', their faces all red,
Eyes rolled back in their sweatin' heads.
I never saw so many people look so bad.

CHORUS: Cryin': "Come on, Harry! Come on, Sue!
We're gonna do what the magazines tell us to:
Get ourselves in shape the fash'nable way.
Twenty-five laps around the pond
Will make us tall and slim and blonde.
Oh, hand me down my joggin' shoes today."

2. The sound was strictly rollin' thunde
My dog took off with his tail tucked under.
I stood at the side of the road and watched 'em pass.
Their shirts were nicely understated.
They all looked terribly dedicated.
Some looked strong and some looked low on gas.
Some were built like land-locked whales.
Some wore shorts from Bloomingdales.
Some had legs that looked like six feet long.
They'd clearly come to do or die,
And as the herd went thunderin' by,
So help me folks, they all broke into song.

CHORUS: They said: "Come on, Harry! ...

3. I knew that they'd get fit or bust.
I knew by the size of the cloud of dust.
I knew by the sound of the blisters going "crack."
I thought I'd head back to the farm,
When suddenly someone snagged by arm,
And there I was in the middle of the seething pack.
I was sweatin' like a fool; I was out of breath.
I was tryin' to keep from gettin' tromped to death.
I must have been an edifyin' sight to see.
I cried: "You folks can jeer and scoff,
But my legs are broken; they're fallin' off."
And by now you know what they turned and said to me:

CHORUS: They said: "Come on, Harry! ...


* Also recorded by Ronnie Gilbert & Holly Near on "Singing with You" (1986) and by the Shaw Brothers on "Follow Me" (1974) and "Shaw Brothers Collection" (1986).