Origins: 'do not be offended, please' (Song)

Subject: Origins: 'how pleasant that would be'
From: GUEST,dave ruch
Date: 09 Jul 03 - 09:37 AM

I'm hoping to find some information (title, origins, etc) on this novelty song which appeared in the repertoire of a traditional singer from the northern PA (Potter Co.)/NY State southern tier lumber camps. It was learned before 1920, and here's how it was sung:

Oh, do not be offended please, because I start to sing
For if I did not come out here, this curtain down they'd bring
The man who ought to sing this song, he has taken very sick
As I was standing idle, well, they grabbed me very quick

And they wanted me to take his place, and do the best I could
They said 'go out and sing his song', I told them that I would
They're standing there for to watch me now, my actions for to see
They said 'you cant get more than killed', how pleasant that would be

The character in the song goes on to enter into a dog fight (verse #2) and become a corpse (verse #3), and each chorus starts with "They wanted me to take his place and do the best I could" and ends with "how pleasant that would be".

Any help would be most appreciated...thanks!

Subject: RE: Origins: 'do not be offended, please'
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 09 Jul 03 - 10:58 AM

Can't find any matches to lines using a web search.

Subject: RE: Origins: 'do not be offended, please'
From: GUEST,Kevin Sheils
Date: 09 Jul 03 - 11:39 AM

I'm not sure why but reading the verses there, I get a strong mental image of Packie Byrne.

Not that I'm suggesting he sang it but I could picture him doing it, if you see what I mean.

Subject: RE: Origins: 'do not be offended, please'
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 09 Jul 03 - 01:41 PM

Packie's long-lost North American doppelganger, I'd say.

I hope this one turns up.

Subject: Help identify this song ....
From: GUEST,dave ruch
Date: 10 Jul 03 - 09:16 AM

I hope this is ok - I have changed the title of this thread in hopes that more folks will read it. No leads yet....

---

Hi Dave. You can change message titles but not thread titles. Details about songs are good in song-search titles. I added "(Song)" to the title hoping it might help. --JoeClone

Subject: RE: Origins: 'do not be offended, please' (Song)
From: Jeri
Date: 10 Jul 03 - 11:24 AM

I've e-mailed a friend who's a good bet for knowing something, and provided a link to this thread. No telling if/when he may answer me or show up here.

Subject: RE: Origins: 'do not be offended, please' (Song)
From: Jeri
Date: 10 Jul 03 - 01:09 PM

Information from friend - Jeff Warner says "Hi" - was that he hadn't heard the song. He said:

"Best bet for info on songs like this is probably Bob Bethke, who published a book Adirondack Voices: Woodsmen and Woods Lore, U. of Illinois Press in 1981. The song below is not in that book.

"He can probably be reached where he teaches at the Univ. of Delaware."

He further said you could also check with Dr. Edward "Sandy" Ives at The Institute of Island Studies, Charlottetown, PEI, Canada.

I DO have an e-mail address for Sandy Ives, but I don't want to post it publicly. You can hopefully, click here to e-mail me and I'll send it.

Subject: RE: Origins: 'do not be offended, please' (Song)
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 10 Jul 03 - 01:14 PM

It reads to me very as in the music-hall or burlesque idiom. That is quite consistent with it having been heard from a tarditional singer.That's the kind of thing real traditional singers do, sinc anything that takes their fancy.

Subject: RE: Origins: 'do not be offended, please' (Song)
From: 12-stringer
Date: 10 Jul 03 - 06:05 PM

Another version, issued as "Please Don't Get Offended" on Columbia 15217-D, can be found at the Honking Duck record site, http://www.honkingduck.com/BAZ/baz_details.php?meth=y&year=Unknown&combo=1126&cuid=20358A.

This is a 1 Nov 1927 recording by Fate Norris and Gid Tanner. I downloaded it myself but haven't listened to it yet. (My copy of the 78 was broken about 30 years ago.) Most of Fate's lead and solo repertoire was material like this, comic songs from the music halls of the very early 20th century.

Subject: Lyr Add: PLEASE DO NOT GET OFFENDED
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 13 Oct 05 - 11:27 PM

Here's my transcription of the song at Honking Duck.

I omitted some unrelated (and non-musical) comical dialogue that takes up the first half of the recording.

See the related thread Lyr Req: McCarthy and McClusky.

Note there are a couple of phrases that probably need correction.

PLEASE DO NOT GET OFFENDED
As sung by Gid Tanner and Fate Norris, 1927.

Now do not get offended 'cause I'm gwineter sing,
For if I hadn't 'a' come out here, this curtain down would ring,
For the man who ought to've sung this song inside was taken sick.
As I was standing idle there, they grabbed me very quick.

They wanted me to take his place and do the best I could.
They said, "Go on and sing a song." I told 'em that I would.
They're standing there to watch me now, my action just to see.
They said, "You can't get more than killed." How pleasant that would be!

Ol' P. T. Barnum's great big show is in an awful stew.
They've lost their curiosity and don't know what to do.
It happened just a week ago. Now how they wept and cried
When quick word through (?) the crowd had spread their big baboon had died.

They wanted me to take his place and do the best I could.
They locked me in a great big cage with monkeys bad and good.
They called me Coolie Number Two and kids offended me.
They fed me candied ... peanuts (?). How pleasant that would be!

Subject: RE: Origins: 'do not be offended, please' (Song)
From: Dave Ruch
Date: 14 Oct 05 - 07:47 AM

Thanks for the transcription Jim. The second of those two verses is new to the three verses I posted on the other thread.