Lyr Add: My Grandfather Wasn't Really a Pyromaniac

Subject: Lyr Add: MY GRANDFATHER WASN'T REALLY A PYROMANIAC
From: GUEST,guest l.b.k.
Date: 12 May 04 - 09:32 AM

MY GRANDFATHER WASN'T REALLY A PYROMANIAC HE JUST LIKED TO BURN THINGS DOWN
(Unknown)

Late last night, my Grandfather got me out of bed.
He had a look in his eyes like I never seen.
He said, Go to the kitchen, boy, and get me some matches.
On your way outside, Fetch me some kerosene."

Then we went to the Barn and cut the horses loose.
We scattered the pigs and the chickens, too.
Then he soaked away the potion a nd said, Gimme a light, boy!"
I said I was scared, he said, "That's ok, this is gonna be fun!" and

Hey we burned the barn down last night!
Felt so good that it didn't seem right.
Grandpa started laughin', said "To hell with that old barn!
I ain't never seen so much LIGHT on this old farm!"

She started crackin' and the flames burned to the sky.
The volunteers came they said, "Christ! What happened?"
#
#

Hey we burned the barn down last night!
Felt so good that it didn't seem right.
Grandpa started laughin', said "To hell with that old barn!
I ain't never seen so much LIGHT on this old farm!"

The coals cooked down, they put me to bed.
My Daddy whipped me and my Momma told me to pray.
Grandpa caqme to my window and said, "Your Grandmother's crazy, too."
When the mornin' came, they came and they took him away.

Hey we burned the barn down last night!
Felt so good that it didn't seem right.
Grandpa started yellin' "Get out the way, you block my light!"
Hey we burned the barn down last… ooo we burned the barn down last…
Hey we burned the barn down last night!

NOTES:
I heard this song in a bar in Chicago about 15 years ago. It was a duo called "the Bawdy Beggar Girls" who sang at the renaissance fair (King Richard's then Bristol now). I can remember all but two lines in the middle verse.(That is the # marks) If anyone is familiar with this song and can fill in those two missing lines, I would be very thankful!

L.B.K.

Subject: Lyr Add: MY GRANDFATHER WASN'T REALLY A PYROMANIAC
From: GUEST,guest lbk
Date: 12 May 04 - 04:31 PM

I remembered the missing lines from the second verse... here is the whole song:
^^
Late last night, my grandfather got me out of bed.
He had a look in his eyes like I never seen.
He said, "Go to the kitchen, boy, and get me some matches.
On your way outside, fetch me some kerosene."

Then we went to the barn and cut the horses loose.
We scattered the pigs and the chickens, too.
Then he soaked away the potion and said, "Gimme a light, boy!"
I said I was scared, he said, "That's OK. This is gonna be fun!" and

Hey we burned the barn down last night!
Felt so good that it didn't seem right.
Grandpa started laughin', said, "To hell with that old barn!
I ain't never seen so much LIGHT on this old farm!"

She started crackin' and the flames burned to the sky.
The volunteers came they said, "Christ! What happened?"
My daddy stared and my momma cried.
My grandfather looked at me, and we just about died laughin'!

Hey, we burned the barn down last night!
Felt so good that it didn't seem right.
Grandpa started laughin', said, "To hell with that old barn!
I ain't never seen so much LIGHT on this old farm!"

The coals cooked down. They put me to bed.
My daddy whipped me and my momma told me to pray.
Grandpa came to my window and said, "Your grandmother's crazy, too."
When the mornin' came, they came and they took him away.

Hey we burned the barn down last night!
Felt so good that it didn't seem right.
Grandpa started yellin', "Get out the way! You block my light!"
Hey we burned the barn down last… ooo we burned the barn down last…
Hey we burned the barn down last night!

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Grandfather wasn't really a pyromania
From: Charley Noble
Date: 12 May 04 - 11:04 PM

Wow, that is a different song.

Anyone got any more arson songs?

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Grandfather wasn't really a pyromaniac
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 13 May 04 - 05:22 AM

How about a tune/chord progression?

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Grandfather wasn't really a pyromaniac
From: GUEST,Penny Black
Date: 13 May 04 - 05:59 AM

Subject: Lyr Add: TIM MCGUIRE
From: GUEST,Penny Black - not sure what happened before
Date: 13 May 04 - 06:04 AM

Here's a nice on (it's also on Our last CD "Cobbled Together" plug-plug"
^^

TIM MCGUIRE Leon Rosselson Little Tim McGuire loved to play with fire Always hated water, never used to wash Loved the smell of burning, of bonfires burning Loved to play all day with his little tinder box He chased the sparks as they flew into the evening Hailed the flash of lightning and the burning sun When I'm a man then I'll become a fireman Then I can light a fire for everyone When he was four they dressed him in a uniform Sent him to a school with iron railings all around Hated the school and the rules and the railings Took his little tinder box and burnt it to the ground Oh how he laughed and danced in the firelight Oh how he laughed as the flames leapt to the sky When I'm a man I'm going to be a fireman Keep a bonfire burning until the day I die When MacGuire grew older they made him wear a bowler Set him to work in an office in the town Hated the pens and the pins and the papers Had just one ambition, to burn the office down Little Tim McGuire loved to play with fire Loved the blaze of roses and the golden grain Loved the leaves of autumn, the red leaves of autumn Loved a slender girl with a smile like a flame The judge said at his trial, Your behaviour has been vile You're a menace to society though you may think you're big You have to go to prison - and then, what a commotion For smoke and fire were pouring from the judge's wig Oh how he laughed and danced in the courtroom We took him down, we locked him in the darkness of the cell Never saw the sun or heard the songbirds calling Saw the prison bars and heard the prison bell Then early one morning just as the day was dawning A great wheel of fire spun skywards from the jail The iron bars melted, the stone walls crumbled No one in the prison lived to tell the tale No one ever found Tim McGuire's little tinder box No one ever found a trace of Tim McGuire Perhaps he's up in heaven setting light to angels' haloes Perhaps he's down in hell dancing round the fire

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Grandfather wasn't really a pyromaniac
From: GUEST,guest lbk
Date: 13 May 04 - 09:01 AM

the chords are a very simple G,D,C,G with a C7 and Em tossed in at different points for emphasis. I am new to this forum, but will look at how other songs on the site are anotated, and try to get the tune and chords on here. It really is a great song....
Linda

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Grandfather wasn't really a pyromaniac
From: GUEST,James
Date: 20 Jul 07 - 03:09 PM

I heard this on an old McCalmans LP, one of my favorites. They do several good ones like Sister Josephine and Song Song

and others, I forget right now. They have some really great ones, though.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Grandfather wasn't really a pyromaniac
From: Peace
Date: 20 Jul 07 - 04:52 PM

The McCalmans' records with track titles.

HERE.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: My Grandfather Wasn't Really a Pyromaniac
From: GUEST,Billy
Date: 05 May 08 - 10:11 PM

Found the McCalman's version of Tim McGuire on Utube here

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: My Grandfather Wasn't Really a Pyromaniac
From: pavane
Date: 06 May 08 - 03:55 AM

In a very late reply, one of Tom Lehrer's songs includes an arsonist amongst other dubious characters (My home town)

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: My Grandfather Wasn't Really a Pyromaniac
From: CupOfTea
Date: 06 May 08 - 07:25 PM

I think it's possible that one of those Bawdy Beggar girls was Jacquie Manning, now of Small Potatoes. I know she had some tapes stashed away from when she was doing rennfaire performances, because *I* needed to get the lyrics from her for "Foolish" once upon a time and she PROMISED me if she ever found those tapes I could have some...It's been well over a decade, and her domestic archeology has yet to reveal them.

Joanne in Cleveland (who used to be Joanne in DeKalb)

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: My Grandfather Wasn't Really a Pyromaniac
From: oldhippie
Date: 07 May 08 - 05:59 PM

"The Night Miss Nancy Anne's Hotel For Single Girls Burned Down"

Subject: Lyr Add: NIGHT MISS NANCY ANN'S HOTEL FOR ....
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 25 Jul 08 - 01:37 AM

THE NIGHT MISS NANCY ANN'S HOTEL FOR SINGLE GIRLS BURNED DOWN
Written by Dick Feller
Recorded by Tex Williams

Now Miss Nancy Ann ran a boardin' house with a faded sign that read:
"Single rooms for single girls. no men allowed" it said;
But rumor had it that a gentleman with a yen for love for a fee
Could always go to Nancy Ann's for some feminine company.
Well, one night in June in the billiard room I was chalking up with a friend.
He was set to break when the door burst open and Leo James rushed in.
He yelled, "There's a fire that's just broke out and it's down at Nancy Ann's"
So we dropped our cues on the poolroom floor and down the street we ran.

Though the flames were hot and the smoke was thick not a single life was lost,
And the reason for the blaze was never found;
But it long will be remembered in our local history
As the fire that fairly scandalized the town,
The night Miss Nancy Ann's hotel for single girls burned down.

When we got to the place, the front was ablaze and so was the second floor,
So we cut around the side and up the alley and stopped aside the back door.
We were catching our breath when the door flew open and knocked poor Leo flat,
And out through the smoke ran Mayor Wills wearin' nothing but a black silk hat.
And right behind him with his shirt-tail afire came the local chief of police,
And banker Jones with the red-haired girl he always said was his niece.
And then I spied Miss Nancy Ann herself helping someone else out of the fire,
Her arm around the red bald head of old Judge McIntyre.
A deacon, a dentist, a deputy sheriff, and one state congressman,
The county physician, the city mortician, out through the flames they ran.
The grand parade of girls in gowns and hat-clad gentlemen
Through the thick gray smoke that certainly smelled like French perfume and gin.

Though the flames were hot...

Now everybody was out at the girls' hotel by the time the roof caved in.
We were headin' back to the billiard hall when Leo turned to my friend.
He said "I believe that's the funniest show I've ever seen in town.
The so-called elite caught out in the street with their pompous purity down."

Though the flames were hot...

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: My Grandfather Wasn't Really a Pyromaniac
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 25 Jul 08 - 01:39 AM

OOops again

words by Dick Feller

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: My Grandfather Wasn't Really a Pyroma
From: Charley Noble
Date: 25 Jul 08 - 09:24 AM

What a fine song!

I'm surprised I never ran across it.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: My Grandfather Wasn't Really a Pyromaniac
From: GUEST,Marymac90
Date: 25 Jul 08 - 09:58 AM

I love, Love, LOVE Leon Rosselson! I arranged a house
concert for him about, um, 30 years ago--that's dating
myself! Any chance he'll un-retire and cross the
puddle again?

Marymac