ADD: Feed Your Babies Onions

Subject: Lyr Req: FEED YOUR BABIES ONIONS SO YOU CAN FIND
From: GUEST,open mike
Date: 17 Feb 25 - 03:53 AM

FEED YOUR BABIES ONIONS SO YOU CAN FIND THEM AFTER DARK - IS THERE A SONG OR TUNE BY THAT NAME ANYWHERE? I FOUND IT ON HIGHWOODS STRING BAND AND HAVE SEEN MENTION OF THESE MUSICIANS PLAYING OR RECORDING IT...   
SKIP GORMAN, KENNY HALL, JIM RINGER RON KANE, JAY UNGER
THE TUNE MAY BE KNOWN AS PEELER WALTZ. I AM SEARCHING FOR LYRICS.

IT MAY BE IN THE DATA BASE, BUT THE SEARCH FEATURE IS NOT WORKING NOW.

I WOULD MOST LIKELY SEE ANSWERS IF E-MAILED TO ME AT [e-mail]

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: FEED YOUR BABIES ONIONS SO YOU CAN FIND
From: cnd
Date: 17 Feb 25 - 08:39 AM

Likely not.... though a joke of moderate renown from the turn of the century through World War II (about a dozen hits come up in digitized newspapers from about 1910 through the 1940s, several in association with comedic troupes) it doesn't appear to be a real song; as explained in the liner notes to the CD you reference (Rounder CD 11569):

Feed your babies onions... so you can find 'em in the dark. It was always one of our favorite bogus song titles..."

Subject: ADD: FEED YOUR BABIES ONIONS SO YOU CAN FIND
From: cnd
Date: 17 Feb 25 - 08:54 AM

Well, perhaps I stand corrected? I just found the following: https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=72397#1246800

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Thread #72397   Message #1246800
Posted By: GUEST,ClaireBear
13-Aug-04 - 10:44 AM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Onion Songs
Subject: Lyr Add: FEED YOUR BABIES ONIONS (from Kenny Hall)

This thread would not be complete without a song Kenny Hall used to sing called "Feed Your Babies Onions," which is one of those silly A-part only lyrics for a fiddle tune. There are many references to this as a song name in the forum, but I haven't found the actual lyric on any of those other threads, so here goes...

Can't help you identify the fiddle tune beyond that it's a waltz and the A part's in major while the B part is in the relative minor until the last line, which is the same as the last line of the A part (I do know the tune, but wouldn't know how to transcribe it), but the original lyric went like this:

FEED YOUR BABIES ONIONS

Feed your babies onions
So you can find them in the garden when it's dark
Feed your babies onions
So you can find them in the dark.

It was a great start but way too short. So I added lyrics for the B part:

You'll find them in the potting shed
Find them in the flowerbed
Underneath the roses red
You will find them in the dark.

Then I added other verses, such as these, leaving the chorus instrumental as Kenny Hall did when he sang his one verse. I usually ad lib them, but here are some I always sing (I say "I always sing" but I don't think I've ever sung this except alone, in the car):

Feed your babies turnips,
And they will go and live at someone else's house.
Feed your babies turnips,
They'll live at someone else's house.

Feed your babies ice cream
And they'll be fat but they'll be very happy kids.
Feed your babies ice cream
And they'll be very happy kids.

Feed your babies garlic
And they'll grow up to know the finer things in life.
Feed your babies garlic
They'll know the finer things in life.

Feed your babies nothing
And they will shrivel up and finally blow away.
Feed your babies nothing
And they will finally blow away.

Who else has a verse?

Claire

PS I can attest to the accuracy of the turnips, ice cream and garlic verses as I feed these to my own child -- well, not the turnips but I tried 'em once and sure enough he looked as though he wished he lived somewhere else -- but just in case you wondered, I'm not endorsing feeding your babies nothing. That verse is cautionary.

Subject: RE: ADD: Feed Your Babies Onions
From: cnd
Date: 18 Feb 25 - 09:47 AM

I have also read widely online (Fiddle Hangout, Traditional Tune Archive, etc.). Though not included on the Highwoods Stringband album previously referenced, others have reported that band member Kenny Hall sang the verses often, and cite his recording on his eponymous release (Philo 1008, released 1974, track A6 - listen), though sadly the recording is instrumental and the liner notes make no mention of our nocturnally-locatable children.

The Tune Archive link above adds the following notes:

Sight handicapped mandolinist and singer Kenny Hall learned the tune when young (c. 1940's) in Texas from a woman named Clara Desmond and the Desmond Family of Texas. Said Hall: "She was the piano player. She kept that steady rhythm. She made that band keep a steady rhythm, too. Not too fast, not too slow. She was kind of the rhythm base of the family. Oh, she was a lot of fun. She didn't like drinking, but she would allow it as long as you went outdoors to do it." An alternate title, “Feed Your Babies Onions,” is sometimes employed for the tune, derived from Hall who sang these words to the first strain:

Put bells upon the sheep so the blind boys find them in the garden after dark,
Bells upon the sheep so the blind boys find them in the night.

Oh, feed your babies onions so you can find them in the garden after dark,
Feed your babies onions, so you can find them in the dark.

Hall explained the words were made up during the Second World War, after the Red Light district nearby was shut down. Sheep had replaced the interred Japanese gardeners to keep lawns groomed, said Hall, leading one old German factory worker to suggest the bells might be useful to those 'visually challenged' who were in need of relief.

Subject: RE: ADD: Feed Your Babies Onions
From: cnd
Date: 18 Feb 25 - 09:50 AM

Ahhh shucks.... this is why I should proof-read (more -- believe it or not, I did reread it before hitting post). The first line should read:

"I have also read widely online (links, as above) that though not included on the Highwoods Stringband album previously referenced, many point to Kenny Hall's tune Peeler Creek Waltz as the source of the "feed your babies onions" song. Many cite his recording...."

Subject: RE: ADD: Feed Your Babies Onions
From: cnd
Date: 18 Feb 25 - 11:38 AM

And here's the only thread on Mudcat regarding the Peeler's Creek Waltz I've found: thread.cfm?threadid=49419

Subject: RE: ADD: Feed Your Babies Onions
From: cnd
Date: 18 Feb 25 - 11:39 AM

Well that was a lie -- here's another one: thread.cfm?threadid=96889