Lyr Req: The Stranger: 'I'm from up north...'

Subject: Lyr Req: I'm From Up North- Australian again
From: Folkiedave
Date: 20 Jul 07 - 05:01 AM

All that talk of Australian songs reminds me of one to which I can only remember the first verse.........clearly Australian I would say.....

An sailor came to me one morning last week,
He wasn't Italian, he wasn't a Greek,
I asked was he Irish, he answered me "No"
I'm from up North - where the pineapples grow..........


Sorry I don't remember any more..

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I'm From Up North- Australian again
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 20 Jul 07 - 08:58 AM

G'day Folkiedave,

That's The Stranger, by John Manifold - presumably written after he had left his native (southern) Melbourne and moved north to Queensland. It was published in Singabout, vol. 1, no. 2, Autumn 1956, p. 3. There are no notes on the item, so I don't know if John had published it previously ... the heading and illustration of clustered pineapples suggests he may have brought it out in his series of Bandicoot Ballads.

I'll shortly post the words and tune (in Alan Foster's "no longer supported by Mudcat" MIDItext format) ... at least you can pull out the ABC format section and feed it back through a converter to real music notation.

Regards,

Bob

Subject: Lyr/Tune Add: THE STRANGER (John Manifold)
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 20 Jul 07 - 09:29 AM

G'day again,

The Stranger

By John Manifold

A stranger came into the district last Week,
He wasn't a Balt and he wasn't a Greek;
We enquired was he Irish? He answered us, No, -
He came from up North where the pineapples grow.

He answered so mannerly, so quite at his ease,
Saying neither too much nor too little to please,
He was hardly a stranger by tea-time, although
He came from up North where the pineapples grow.

We swapped the old stories of famine and flood
And the crook politicians that suck a man's blood;
We had reckoned they might have been local, but no!
It's the same in the North where the pineapples grow.

We tickled his fancy with peaches and cream,
We showed him Polled Angus all sleek as a dream;
He agreed they were "mighty", but still he must go -
He was needed up North where the pineapples grow.

The moral of this is too plain to be spoke:
The bloke on the land is a sensible bloke
Be he brown as a berry, or black as a crow,
Or just from up North where the pineapples grow.

And this is the MIDItext (which you can convert if you downloaded Alan's program... otherwise grab out the ABC scratchings.

MIDI file: stranger.mid

Timebase: 240

TimeSig: 6/8 36 8

Tempo: 100 (600000 microsec/crotchet)

Start

0480 1 64 080 0108 0 64 064 0132 1 69 080 0162 0 69 064 0018 1 64 080 0054 0 64 064 0006 1 61 080 0108 0 61 064 0012 1 66 080 0108 0 66 064 0012 1 62 080 0108 0 62 064 0012 1 59 080 0108 0 59 064 0012 1 64 080 0108 0 64 064 0012 1 57 080 0108 0 57 064 0012 1 57 080 0108 0 57 064 0012 1 57 080 0216 0 57 064 0024 1 64 080 0108 0 64 064 0012 1 64 080 0162 0 64 064 0018 1 66 080 0054 0 66 064 0006 1 68 080 0108 0 68 064 0012 1 69 080 0108 0 69 064 0012 1 71 080 0108 0 71 064 0012 1 68 080 0108 0 68 064 0012 1 66 080 0162 0 66 064 0018 1 64 080 0054 0 64 064 0006 1 63 080 0108 0 63 064 0012 1 64 080 0216 0 64 064 0024 1 66 080 0054 0 66 064 0006 1 68 080 0054 0 68 064 0006 1 69 080 0162 0 69 064 0018 1 67 080 0054 0 67 064 0006 1 66 080 0108 0 66 064 0012 1 64 080 0108 0 64 064 0012 1 62 080 0108 0 62 064 0012 1 61 080 0108 0 61 064 0012 1 62 080 0108 0 62 064 0012 1 64 080 0108 0 64 064 0012 1 61 080 0108 0 61 064 0012 1 59 080 0216 0 59 064 0024 1 64 080 0108 0 64 064 0012 1 64 080 0113 0 64 064 0007 1 64 080 0113 0 64 064 0007 1 62 080 0108 0 62 064 0012 1 64 080 0162 0 64 064 0018 1 65 080 0054 0 65 064 0006 1 64 080 0108 0 64 064 0012 1 60 080 0108 0 60 064 0012 1 57 080 0108 0 57 064 0012 1 57 080 0108 0 57 064 0012 1 57 080 0216 0 57 064

End

This program is worth the effort of learning it.

To download the March 10 MIDItext 98 software and get instructions on how to use it click here

ABC format:

X:1

T:

M:6/8

Q:1/4=100

K:C

E6|A3/2E/2^C^FDB,|EA,A,A,2E|E3/2^F/2^GAB^G|

^F3/2E/2^DE2^F/2^G/2|A3/2G/2^FED^C|DE^CB,2E|

EEDE3/2F/2E|CA,A,A,7/4||

Regards,

Bob

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I'm From Up North- Australian again
From: Canberra Chris
Date: 21 Jul 07 - 07:34 AM

Bob, thanks for the words and music. I have heard it sung several times by Evan Mathieson, it is in his current performance repertoire.

Folkiedave, if you PM me, I can put you in touch with Evan.

Cheers,
Chris

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I'm From Up North- Australian again
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 29 Jul 07 - 08:03 PM

Also seems to fit well to "Villikins & his Dinah"

Nigel

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I'm From Up North- Australian again
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 30 Jul 07 - 09:08 AM

G'day Nigel,

Yeah ... possible - if you're looking for the lowest common denominator ...

Regard(les)s,

Bob

Subject: note to Bob Bolton
From: GUEST,Bob Tedrow
Date: 31 Jul 07 - 09:18 AM

I noticed an OLD internet posting from you on the subject of bellows making.

For your information and interest, here is my bellows making page

http://hmi.homewood.net/bellows

Bob Tedrow

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I'm From Up North- Australian again
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 31 Jul 07 - 09:29 AM

G'day Bob,

Thanks for your thoughts ... I must admit that my latest acquisition is patiently waiiting up in the Blue Mountains for me to fetch it - and pay Richard Evans for reconditioning the bellows ... and working his usual magic very hard to recover a set of reeds that seems to have been tuned up by a mouth organ specialist! (No filing, tweaking ecetera ... just dobs of solder - at one end to raise and at the other to lower pitch!)

Regards,

Bob Bolton