 sj |
||
|
||
Origins: Ain't It Great to Be Crazy: Vaudeville?
DigiTrad:
AIN'T IT GREAT TO BE CRAZY
|
|
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Ain't It Great to Be Crazy: Vaudeville? From: Susan of DT Date: 03 Feb 22 - 06:00 AM Boom boom, ain't it great to be crazy Boom boom, ain't it great to be nuts, nuts, nuts Boom boom ain't it great to be crazy Just like us (Brooklyn, 1950s) I heard the Tiny Tim verse from another song, with another tune. |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Ain't It Great to Be Crazy: Vaudeville? From: GUEST Date: 02 Feb 22 - 10:52 PM One dark day in the middle of the night, two dead boys got up to fight, back to back they faced each other, drew their swords and shoot each other |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Ain't It Great to Be Crazy: Vaudeville? From: GUEST Date: 01 Feb 22 - 10:25 PM Old King Cole was a merry old soul Tried to get to heaven on a telephone pole One leg tripped the other fell He didn't get to heaven but he went to... well |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Ain't It Great to Be Crazy: Vaudeville? From: GUEST,Guest KD Date: 09 Jul 21 - 07:52 PM There was a Golden Record of silly children’s songs put out sometime in the 40s or 50s with this song. It also had John Jacob Jingleheimer Smith and several other old kids classics on it. |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Ain't It Great to Be Crazy: Vaudeville? From: GUEST Date: 12 Jan 21 - 01:08 PM The versions everyone knows are fun to see but I CAN'T FIND ANYTHING DEFINITIVE ABOUT IT'S ORIGINS |
|
Subject: Lyr Add: AIN'T IT GREAT TO BE CRAZY From: Jim Dixon Date: 31 Jan 20 - 04:26 PM You can hear this recording at the Internet Archive: AIN'T IT GREAT TO BE CRAZY (Sid Lippman, Sylvia Dee) As recorded by Ginny Gibson and the Country Slickers, Jubilee 6027, 1953. 1. A horse and a flea and three blind mice Sat on a curbstone shootin' dice. The horse he fell upon the flea. "Oops!" said the flea; "There's a horse on me!" CHORUS: Boom, boom! Ain't it great to be crazy? Boom, boom! Ain't it great to be crazy? Silly and foolish all day long, Boom, boom! Ain't it great to be crazy? 2. I bought me a house that had no floors, No walls or windows, roof or doors. It cost me a pile but I don't care. I like to live in the open air. 3. Oh, Jerry and George were in love with me. Jerry was handsome as could be, But George was mean and had two heads. Natur'ly, he's the one I wed. 4. When I was a boy, my ma said I Grow up to be a famous guy. You must admit my ma was smart, [Now] I am Napoleon Bonaparte. |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Ain't it great to be crazy: vaudville? From: GUEST,Dave Date: 28 Jan 20 - 02:41 AM I used to have it on a 45 record back in 1975 I just can't remember who was singing it but I do remember there were 6 or 7 versus to the song on t record |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Ain't it great to be crazy: vaudville? From: Mrrzy Date: 09 May 19 - 01:01 AM It's the same story the crow told me, it's the only one we know... Never knew that was a reference. |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Ain't it great to be crazy: vaudville? From: mg Date: 08 May 19 - 08:28 AM I had a little chick and it wouldn't lay an egg I poured hot water up and down his leg the little chicky cried and the little chicky bag the darn little chickie little hard boiled egg |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Ain't it great to be crazy: vaudville? From: GUEST,Tiny Tim Date: 07 May 19 - 02:33 PM In addition to some of the ones already posted, the version I heard as a child also had this somewhat darker verse: I had a little monkey, and his name was Tiny Tim I put him in the bathtub to see if he could swim First he drank the water, then he ate the soap He died last night with a bubble in his throat |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Ain't it great to be crazy: vaudville? From: GUEST,Thomas Date: 16 Apr 16 - 11:29 PM I learned the song as a kid on Barney and Friends in the early 90s. It first appeared in the Barney franchise on the last video of the predecessor Barney and the Backyard Gang series, Rock with Barney, in 1991. I had wondered where this song originated and after reading this, it sounds like the 60s but it could have been earlier. |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Ain't it great to be crazy: vaudville? From: Jim Dixon Date: 14 Jan 16 - 01:17 AM The Catalog of Copyright Entries has: (BOOM, BOOM) AIN'T IT GREAT TO BE CRAZY Words, Josephine Moore Proffitt; music, Sidney Lippman © Sidney Lippman, 24 Oct 1952, EU291897. Billboard magazine from Feb 21, 1953 lists a record release: AIN'T IT GREAT TO BE CRAZY b/w IF THE END OF THE WORLD CAME TONIGHT Recorded by Ginny Gibson, Jubilee 6027. Strangely, there is another listing in the Catalog of Copyright Entries: BOOM, BOOM (AIN'T IT GREAT TO BE CRAZY?) Words and music by Nick Noble & Dick Gleason © Studio Music Co., 10 May 1962, EP163232. There was an earlier listing in 1942, but I am unable to see the whole thing. My guess is that it was already circulating in public domain when several people decided to copyright their own version of it. |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Ain't it great to be crazy: vaudville? From: Joe Offer Date: 13 Jan 16 - 05:34 PM So, the earliest printed version I've found is from the 1960s. It must be older than that. Anybody find older versions? -Joe- |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Ain't it great to be crazy: vaudville? From: Joe Offer Date: 13 Jan 16 - 05:12 PM The Mudcat Café TM Thread #82132 Message #3256791 Posted By: dick greenhaus 14-Nov-11 - 10:26 AM Thread Name: Lyr Req: Oxymoronic songs Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Oxymoronic songs One bright morning in the middle of the night |
|
Subject: ADD: Boom! Boom! Gee It's Great to be Scouting From: Joe Offer Date: 13 Jan 16 - 05:09 PM The 1963 Boy Scout Songbook has a song titled "Boom! Boom! Gee It's Great to Be Scouting." I also have the 1995 printing of the book, and it's still there. The Powers That Be wanted me to teach songs from the Boy Scout Songbook in leader training workshops, but I refused. Need I explain why? The Girl Scout songbooks were so much better, and so were the ones from Cooperative Recreation Service. BOOM! BOOM! GEE IT'S GREAT TO BE SCOUTING Boom! Boom! Gee It's Great to be Scouting Boom! Boom! Gee It's Great to be outing Hiking and camping all day long Boom! Boom! Gee It's Great to be Scouting! |
|
Subject: ADD Version: Ain't It Great To Be Crazy From: Joe Offer Date: 13 Jan 16 - 05:05 PM AIN'T IT GREAT TO BE CRAZY? CHORUS Boom, boom, ain't it great to be crazy! Boom, boom, ain't it great to be crazy! Silly and foolish all day long, Boom, boom, ain't it great to be crazy! Eli, Eli, he sells socks, A dollar a pair, a nickel a box, The longer you wear them, the shorter they get, You put 'em in the water and they don't get wet. Johnny, Johnny went out west, Where he thought the food was best. Now they lay him down to rest, With a concrete meatball on his chest. Horse and the flea and the three blind mice, Were out in the barnyard, shooting dice, Horse slipped, fell on the flea, "Oops!" said the flea, "There's a horse on me!" Source: Cub Scout Songbook, copyright 1969 by the Boy Scouts of America, 1996 printing. Page 19 |
|
Subject: ADD Version: Ain't It Great To Be Crazy From: Joe Offer Date: 13 Jan 16 - 04:50 PM The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #82132 Message #1505952
This one, that Grandad used to sing, any good to you? |
|
Subject: ADD Version: Ain't It Great To Be Crazy From: Joe Offer Date: 13 Jan 16 - 04:40 PM This version is almost the same as what # posted above, but I'm posting it because it's from a printed, dated resource. BOOM, BOOM, AIN'T IT GREAT TO BE CRAZY? A horse and a flea and the three blind mice Sat on a curbstone shooting dice, The horse he slipped and fell on the flea, "Whoops!" said the flea, "There's a horse on me!" CHORUS Boom, boom! Ain't it great to be crazy? Boom, boom! Ain't it great to be crazy? Giddy and foolish the whole day through, Boom, boom! Ain't it great to be crazy? Way down South where bananas grow, A flea stepped on an elephant's toe, The elephant cried with tears in his eyes, "Why don't you pick on someone your size?" CHORUS Way up North where there's ice and snow There lived a penguin and his name was Joe, He got so tired of black and white, He wore pink slacks to the dance last night. CHORUS Source: Fireside Book of Children's Songs, edited by Marie Winn, musical arrengements by Allan Miller (Simon & Schuster, New York, 1962), page 143. The book does not have an attribution or copyright acknowledgement for this song. |
|
Subject: Origins: Ain't It Great to be Crazy? From: Joe Offer Date: 13 Jan 16 - 04:25 PM Nothing much in the Traditional Ballad Index: Ain't It Great to Be Crazy?DESCRIPTION: Nonsense with chorus: "Boom, boom, ain't it great to be crazy (x2), (Silly and foolish) all day long, Boom, boom...." Example: Way down where the bananas grow, A flea stepped on an elephant's toe... Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"AUTHOR: unknown EARLIEST DATE: 1988 KEYWORDS: nonsense humorous animal nonballad FOUND IN: US REFERENCES (2 citations): Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 192, "Ain't It Great to Be Crazy" (1 text) DT, GRTCRAZY* Roud #15691 File: DTgrtcra Go to the Ballad Search form Go to the Ballad Index Instructions The Ballad Index Copyright 2015 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle. -Joe- Here's the version from the Digital Tradition: AIN'T IT GREAT TO BE CRAZY Boom, boom, ain't it great to be crazy? Boom, boom, ain't it great to be crazy. Happy and gay, all the day, Boom, Boom, ain't it great to be crazy! A horse and a flea and three blind mice Sat on a tombstone shooting dice The horse he slipped and fell on the flea, Oops! said the flea, there's a horse on me! Chorus There was an old doctor and his name was Peck. Fell down the well and broke his neck Served him right, he was doing wrong. Should have tended to the sick, and let the well alone. Chorus Way down south where bananas grow, A flea stepped on an elephant's toe. The elephant cried, with tears in his eyes, Why don't you pick on someone your size? Chorus Way up north where there's ice and snow There lived a penguin and his name was Joe, He got so tired of black and white, He wore pink slacks to the dance last night. Chorus @kids @camp @animal filename[ GRTCRAZY TUNE FILE: GRTCRAZY CLICK TO PLAY JY  |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Aint great to be crazy: is't vaudville? From: GUEST,leeneia Date: 13 Jan 16 - 03:41 PM Thanks for the trip down memory lane. My brother used to bellow this around the house when he was in Cub Scouts in the early '60's. |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Aint great to be crazy: is't vaudville? From: GUEST Date: 13 Jan 16 - 03:08 PM I heard Jolly, foolish, all day long! |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Aint great to be crazy: is't vaudville? From: GUEST Date: 22 May 14 - 11:17 AM My dad used to sing this song all the time - this would be from the 1960s on (he loved silly songs). The lyrics I remember are: Boom boom, ain't it great to be crazy Boom boom, ain't it great to be crazy Happy and gay, all the day Boom boom, ain't it great to be crazy. A horse and a flea and three blind mice Sat on a tombstone shooting dice The horsie slipped and fell on the flea "Oops", said the flea, "there's a horsie on me!" |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Aint great to be crazy: is't vaudville? From: GUEST,# Date: 28 Apr 14 - 09:53 AM AIN'T IT GREAT TO BE CRAZY? Chorus Boom, boom! Ain't it great to be crazy? Boom, boom! Ain't it great to be crazy? Giddy and foolish the whole day through Boom, boom! Ain't it great to be crazy? A horse and a flea and three blind mice Sat on a curbstone shooting dice The horse he slipped and fell on the flea "Whoops!" said the flea, "There's a horse on me!" repeat chorus Way down south where bananas grow A flea stepped on an elephant's toe The elephant cried, with tears in his eyes "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" repeat chorus Way up north where there's ice and snow There lived a penguin and his name was Joe He got so tired of black and white He wore pink slacks to the dance last night! repeat chorus from http://www.wonderworkshopsongs.com/search_results.php?search_type=allsongs&search_string=140 |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Aint great to be crazy: is't vaudville? From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 27 Apr 14 - 04:03 PM To be off one's nut = insane dates in print from 1860. |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Aint great to be crazy: is't vaudville? From: GUEST,Jflowers Date: 26 Apr 14 - 10:45 PM This was the first song that a friend and I sang on our grad school stage probably around 1949. At that time it went: Arump aint it great to be crazy Stump ain't it great to be crazy Two more lines I don't remember A dog and a flea and three blind mice Were sittin' on a curbstone shooting dice The dog rolled over and sat on the flea Whoops said the flea there's a dog on me And a couple more verses that I also don't remember. |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Aint great to be crazy: is't vaudville? From: CapriUni Date: 05 Feb 11 - 11:24 PM Thank you, Bob. I guess this could be considered a patchwork song, then. Actually, I was reminded of this song after I found Leroy Pullin's I'm a Nut, and I got to thinking and wondering about the evolution of "nut" (1966) from being an edible tree seed, to being an insult, to being an almost-term-of-affection. And the chorus of this song was one of the strongest examples of the last. ...And then, I discover that most versions of this song don't even include the line "Ain't it great to be nuts like us?" (though I did find one YouTube vid of pre-schoolers in Texas singing it. So it's not just a lone counselor at the camp I went to). |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Aint great to be crazy: is't vaudville? From: GUEST,Bob Coltman Date: 05 Feb 11 - 06:15 PM The verses are old vaudeville chestnuts, borrowed from WWI-era songs such as "Tidle de Um" and the 1920s "The Story the Crow Told Me." However, I've not been able to find any versions of the chorus apart from the camp song, which seems to date back to the 60s at least. Bob |
|
Subject: Origins: Aint great to be crazy: is't vaudville? From: CapriUni Date: 05 Feb 11 - 01:37 AM This is my third attempt to try posting this. I hope it doesn't suddenly show up three times all at once. I learned this song at Wagon Road Summer Camp (a camp for disabled kids run by the Childrens' Aid Society of New York), which was just outside NYC, in the 1970s. It half-popped into my head again the other day, and I went on an Internet search to find the lyrics I couldn't remember. The versions I found were slightly different than the one I learned, which isn't surprising. What has been surprising is that everywhere I've looked so far says that it's a "Traditional folk song." It sounds, to me, more like a vaudville song, and probably has a creditable author. I figured if anyone could tell me who wrote it and when, it would be folks at MudCat. Here's the version I learned: Chorus: Boom-Boom! Ain't it great to be crazy? Boom-Boom! Ain't it great to be nuts like us?* Giddy and foolish all day long. Boom-Boom! Ain't it great to be crazy? A horse and a flea and three blind mice, Sitting on the curbstone shooting dice The horse, he slipped, and fell on the flea. "Whoops!" said the flea, "There's a horse on me!" (Chorus) Way down south where bananas grow, An ant stepped on an elephant's toe. The Elephant cried, with a tear in his eye: "Why don't you pick on someone your size?" (Chorus) Eli, Eli, he sells socks -- A dollar a pair, and a nickel a box. The longer you wear them, the stronger they get. Put them in the water and the don't get wet! (Chorus) I bought a pair of combination underwear, Guarunteed not to rip or tear... Six months later, to my consternation, I couldn't get 'em off 'cause I'd lost the combination! (Chorus) -- repeat until whomever you're waiting for gets there. *The YMCA Campfire song book, Sing Out! (And the version in the DT) repeat the first line. |
| Share Thread: |