This song has been asked for in another thread, so here it is. Buy Les Barker songbooklets! This man is a great songwriter. His books are a constant source of enjoyment for me. (Of course, one might say that I can profit more from them than others since I am a nonnative speaker and often without a cue to the background. I laugh when I first read the songs, I laugh again, when I understand them, and I laugh a third time, often years later, when I finally get the double sense)Wolfgang
ELIZA
(lyrics: Les Barker, tune: Delilah)
She went astray on the day that she bought a melodeon;
She has a flute, a bassoon, french horn and a trombone,
Two large bouzoukis,
Viola, euphonium and baritone saxophone.
My, my, my, Eliza,
Why, why, why, Eliza?
Our abode has everything beaten or blowed
And I go for long walks and Martin stays out on the road.
I said "Hello; what are these two cellos in your bedroom?"
She told me she's hoping they'll mate and they'll have violins;
She turned to Martin;
"Forgive me my father," she said, "for I have mandolins."
My, my, my, Eliza,
Why, why, why, Eliza?
I suppose she grows her own piccolos,
And she knows piccolos always get up Martin's nose.
At break of day, when the car drove away, she was playing,
Scales every day without fail fill the dales before dawn;
Eight great glissandos
And the Duelling Banjos, so we've packed our bags and we've gone*
My, my, my, Eliza,
Why, why, why, Eliza?
Mart and Norma moved out around half past four;
Forgive me, Eliza, but we don't live here any more.
Forgive me, Eliza, but we don't live here any more.
*the booklet here prints 'gorn'. My guess is it is a typo, but maybe 'gorn' makes sense to somebody else.
The persons in this song:
Eliza (Carthy, daughter)
Martin (Carthy, father)
Norma (Waterson, mother)