Lyr Req: Duck Named Earl

Subject: Lyr Req: Duck Named Earl
From: John Hardly
Date: 11 Feb 08 - 09:16 PM

More that 20 years ago I believe that I taped it off of Mike Flynn's "A Folk Sampler". It was sung to the tune of "Arkansas Traveler". I mostly remember the first verse, but none of the others, nor the writer...

Once I had a duck and I called him "Earl"
I later found out that Earl was a girl
But it didn't seem to matter to the duck at all
'Cause Earl would always come to me whenever I would call

Chorus (B part of the fiddle tune "Arkansas Traveler")

I gave my duck a shelter from the wind and rain
She slept in my barn, she fed on my grain
You may say that ducks are silly and they have no sense at all
But Earl would always come to me whenever I would call.

The next verse, the writer gets a duck friend for Earl, gives it a girl's name and, of course, soon finds out that this duck is male. The last verse is a barnyard full of ducks.

Anyone remember it?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Duck Named Earl
From: GUEST,Yonxago
Date: 12 Feb 08 - 04:09 AM

The Packway Handle Band have this song in their set. And on CD I believe.
I saw them a couple of weeks ago and they announced this as an original.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Duck Named Earl
From: John Hardly
Date: 12 Feb 08 - 07:23 AM

Thanks. That does contain the song. According to this they re-wrote the original into a new song, but the original is mostly in there and I got what I need.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Duck Named Earl
From: John Hardly
Date: 12 Feb 08 - 07:38 AM

here's what I came up with:

Once I had a duck and I named him "Earl"
I later found out that Earl was a girl
But it didn't seem to matter to the duck at all
'Cause Earl would always come to me whenever I would call

I gave my duck a shelter from the wind and rain
He slept in my barn and ate up all my grain
You may say that ducks are simple and they have no sense at all
But Earl would always come to me whenever I would call

Well Earl was feeling lonely so I got another duck
I thought it would be nice to name her "Lady Luck"
But as it turned out Lady Luck was a boy
Which made Earl the girl simply "Quack!" for joy

Chorus

Very soon I realized that they would like to be alone awhile
So I left them with a wink, and a knowing smile
But Lady Luck, he turned cold and just didn't feel right
Screaming "E-a-r-l!" in the passions of the night

Well, they came up with a fix, though I thought it rather strange
It was that each of them (you guessed it) should have a sex change
Seems they didn't realize, and I guess that I just didn't say
That they only had to switch their names to save the day

Well, brushing all this aside, they settled down to raise their family
And I decided not to name the ducklings too hastily
I used to think that all the ducks – they were the same
But now I wonder which comes first – the duck, or the name?

And why do all the ducks come in disguise
When some of them are girls, and some of them are guys?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Duck Named Earl
From: Mrs.Duck
Date: 12 Feb 08 - 04:35 PM

Once I had a duck and I named him "Geoff"
I later found out that Geoff was a deaf
But it didn't seem to matter to the duck I reckoned
'Cause Geoff would always come to be whenever I beckoned

Sorry just couldn't resist!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Duck Named Earl
From: BretonCap
Date: 12 Feb 08 - 04:52 PM

OI stop calling me and my bruvvers Ducks

We don't have webbed feet or bills but our name happens to be Earl!!! :-)

Dave (Earl)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Duck Named Oil
From: Severn
Date: 12 Feb 08 - 04:53 PM

Or there's the Gene Chandler doo-woppable version:

"Duck, Duck, Duck
Duck of Earl, Duck, Duck
Duck of Earl, Duck, Duck
Duck of Earl, Duck, Duck.....

As I go through this world,
Nothing can stop the Duck of Earl...."




....and so on into the night


Originally from the opera "D'rake's Progress", wasn't it?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Duck Named Earl
From: Dan Schatz
Date: 12 Feb 08 - 06:44 PM

You just beat me to it, Severn.

Dan

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Duck Named Earl
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 16 Feb 08 - 02:17 PM

According to Allmusic.com, Phil Rosenthal sings A DUCK NAMED EARL on the various-artists album "Grandma's Patchwork Quilt: A Children's Sampler." (It was published as a CD in 2003 but I think the original recording was much older. I believe I had that album as a cassette in the early 90s when my son was little.) It's attributed to "Beth Sommers/Traditional." (I assume that means, "words by Beth Sommers, music traditional.")

I transcribed these lyrics from a sound sample:

Earl and Lady Luck had a family.
I decided not to name them very hastily.
Four of them together swam away,
But they still came back to visit with me ev'ry day.

I built my duck a shelter from the cold and the rain.
She swam in the sunshine and ate up all my grain.
You may say that ducks are silly and they have no sense at all,
But Earl would always come to me whenever I would call.

Repertoire.BMI.com says DUCK NAMED EARL was written by Elizabeth Sommers Rosenthal, and published by Sourwood Music.