Chords Req: Madeira, M'Dear (Flanders & Swann)

Subject: RE: CHORDS REQUEST: Have Some Madeira, M'dea
From: Roger the skiffler
Date: 08 Dec 99 - 05:36 AM

Charles, I thought I was the only anal retentive pedantic old fart worrying about spelling and misuse of apostrophes etc. ! I'm sure a literate wordsmith like Michael Flanders knew exactly what he was doing and did it tongue in cheek (not to say beard in ear'ole as well!). The important thing is it works and always gets a laugh, even if it wouldn't get an Alpha double plus from Randolph Quirk. The F&S oeuvres have been re-released on CD for anyone who doesn't have the LPs. We have a friend,suitably hirsute, who used to do "Madeira" as his party piece, and we all had the F&S repertoire by heart in the '60s, rather as later generations quote "Monty Python". As my wife collects hippos (no jokes about my, waistline or toilet habits, please), "Mud, Mud" is a sort of anthem to us!
:o)
RtS

Subject: RE: CHORDS REQUEST: Have Some Madeira, M'dea
From: bseed(charleskratz)
Date: 08 Dec 99 - 02:46 AM

Thanks again, Al, for posting the chords: I just pasted it into a Claris Works document and put in the line breaks. It fills up most of a two column landscape page--and I suppose I could email it to anyone who would like to have it (or I could < pre> it and post it with the chords over the words). Oh, and thanks for introducing the zeugma (but even having a name for it doesn't release the writer from the duty of having parallel items follow the same grammatical structure)(still gotta get in my quibbles).

--seed

Subject: RE: CHORDS REQUEST: Have Some Madeira, M'dea
From: james in Cape Breton
Date: 07 Dec 99 - 11:12 AM

Thankyou Al. I just happened on this thread after weeks away. I have been trying to figure out the chords for decades myself. Never ceases to impress me what a knowledgeable bunch mudcatters are. Literate grammarians too it seems.

Subject: RE: CHORDS REQUEST: Have Some Madeira, M'dea
From: Alan of Australia
Date: 07 Dec 99 - 06:28 AM

Well you could have pre-antepenultimate. Seriously.

Cheers,
Alan

Subject: RE: CHORDS REQUEST: Have Some Madeira, M'dea
From: bseed(charleskratz)
Date: 06 Dec 99 - 07:34 PM

Yeah, Alan--I love that word in that context: not the last breath, not the next to last, but the one before that. How arch can you get?

--seed

Subject: RE: CHORDS REQUEST: Have Some Madeira, M'dea
From: Alan of Australia
Date: 06 Dec 99 - 07:06 PM

G'day,
The song is so clever that such gems as "antepenultimate breath" tend to go unnoticed.

Cheers,
Alan

Subject: RE: CHORDS REQUEST: Have Some Madeira, M'dea
From: bseed(charleskratz)
Date: 06 Dec 99 - 02:54 PM

zeugmatism, Alan? I just looked it up: very apt. I agree that the song is a comic masterpiece (although I made a comic mess of it last night at the Plough trying to sing it a capella without a strong sense of the harmonic structure--thanks, Al: I'll never have that problem again, mainly because I'll never have to sing it a capella again), which is why I am so bothered by that parallel: written down it becomes clear, but when you hear it you can't take the time to analyze it or you miss the rest of the song. I hope you managed to make it past my parenthetical detour to the continuation of the original thought, Alan. I considered clarifying it but decided it might give insight into the difficulty the song presents: try reading that sentence, complete with parenthesis, aloud and see how many people can follow it. Whereas, having it on the screen in front of you, I'm sure you can navigate your way past the detour to the completed thought.

I've had a lot of fun with this discussion, folks, and even though I now have the chords for the song, I'm still looking to find a copy of the book. I'm sure there are more F&S songs I 'd like to be able to add to my repertoire.

--seed

Subject: RE: CHORDS REQUEST: Have Some Madeira, M'dea
From: Al
Date: 06 Dec 99 - 01:54 PM

I noticed one error in the lyrics of verse 2. It should say "gold-handled cane".

Subject: RE: CHORDS REQUEST: Have Some Madeira, M'dea
From: Alan of Australia
Date: 06 Dec 99 - 06:04 AM

OK Seed, take equal parts of zeugmatism, poetic licence, wit & downright cleverness, stir it with Flanders & you get a masterpiece.

Cheers,
Alan

Subject: RE: CHORDS REQUEST: Have Some Madeira, M'dea
From: Bugsy
Date: 05 Dec 99 - 09:24 PM

See! I knew if I made it dificult enough for you, you'd work it all out between you anyway.

That's what it's all about.

Cheers

bugsy

Subject: Lyr/Chords Add: MADEIRA, M'DEAR (Flanders & Swann)
From: Al
Date: 05 Dec 99 - 08:16 PM

Well, after sitting down with my guitar, a capo and the album - they play it in A flat. Here’s the closest I can get to a something written for piano. Donald Swann was a wonderful accompanist! Words from the album.

MADEIRA, M'DEAR
(Michael Flanders and Donald Swann)

(G) She was young, she was (D) pure, she was (Bm) new, she was (Em) nice,
She was (A) fair, she was (A7) sweet seven- (D) teen.
He was (Am) old, he was (E7) vile, and no (Am) stranger to (Em) vice.
He was (Am7) base, he was (A7) bad, he was (D) mean.
He had (G) slyly inveigled her (C) up to his flat
To (A7) view his collection of (D) stamps,
And he (G) said as he (C) hastened to (G) put out the (A7) cat,
The (Am) wine, his (A7) cigar and the (D) lamps:

(G) Have some (D7) Madeira, m' (G) dear. You really have (A7) nothing to (D) fear.
I'm (Am7) not trying to tempt you. That (G) wouldn't be right.
You (A7) shouldn't drink spirits at (D) this time of (D7) night.
(G) Have some (D7) Madeira, m' (G) dear. It's so very much (A7) nicer than (D) beer.
I (E) don't care for sherry, one (A) cannot drink stout,
And (A7) port is a wine I can (D) well do without.
It's (G) simply a (C) case of (G) chac'un a son (A7) gout
(C) Have some (D) Madeira, m' (G) dear.

Unaware of the wiles of the snake-in-the-grass
And the fate of the maiden who topes,
She lowered her standards by raising her glass,
Her courage, her eyes and his hopes.
She sipped it, she drank it, she drained it, she did!
He quietly refilled it again,
And he said as he secretly carved one more notch
On the butt of his gold-handled cane:

Have some Madeira, m’dear. I've got a small cask of it here.
And once it's been opened, you know it won't keep.
Do finish it up. It will help you to sleep.
Have some Madeira, m'dear. It's really an excellent year.
Now if it were gin, you'd be wrong to say yes.
The evil gin does would be hard to assess.
Besides, it's inclined to affect me prowess,
Have some Madeira, m'dear.

Then there flashed through her mind what her mother had said
With her antepenultimate breath:
"Oh, my child, should you look on the wine which is red,
Be prepared for a fate worse than death!"
She let go her glass with a shrill little cry.
Crash! Tinkle! it fell to the floor.
When he asked, "What in Heaven?" she made no reply,
Up her mind, and a dash for the door.

“Have some Madeira, m'dear” rang out down the hall loud and clear,
A tremulous cry that was filled with despair,
As she fought to take breath in the cool midnight air.
“Have some Madeira, m'dear.” The words seemed to ring in her ear.
Until the next morning, she woke up in bed
With a smile on her lips and an ache in her head,
And a beard in her ear-'ole that tickled and said:
“Have some Madeira, m'dear!”

Subject: RE: CHORDS REQUEST: Have Some Madeira, M'dea
From: bseed(charleskratz)
Date: 05 Dec 99 - 08:11 PM

but my quibble is that it isn't a single verb: made up is an idiomatic verb, which breaks the expectation. When I sing it I'll strongly accent the "made" and clearly give each of the completers equal stress.

I could accept "made up her mind, her face, her gift list, and with her boyfriend," even though "made up with" is itself an idiomatic verb, because it is last in the series. But I could not accept "made up her mind, with her boyfriend, her face, and her gift list." Am I succeeding in getting through, getting clear, getting better, and getting the whole argument over?

And does anyone know the chords?

--seed

Subject: RE: CHORDS REQUEST: Have Some Madeira, M'dea
From: Alan of Australia
Date: 05 Dec 99 - 07:09 PM

G'day,
Another famous zeugmatic line is "Mr Pickwick took his hat and his leave" (Dickens), but Flanders' effort easily outshines this.

Cheers,
Alan

Subject: RE: CHORDS REQUEST: Have Some Madeira, M'dea
From: Al
Date: 05 Dec 99 - 05:51 PM

The use of a single verb with a list of actions is a figure of speech called ZEUGMA or SYLLEPSIS. The three examples in Madiera M'Dear are three direct hits by Michael Flanders. On my recording of "At the drop of a hat" the line is "..a beard in her ear hole"

Subject: RE: CHORDS REQUEST: Have Some Madeira, M'dea
From: --seed
Date: 03 Dec 99 - 04:49 PM

Not yet--Buggsy sent me a scan of the song and says it is a JPEG document, but my computer sees it as a simple text document a whopping 4.6 megabite in length. I haven't been able to open it--it's too long for MacLink to handle--the program bails out after ten minutes of trying. So I'm scouting around for a copy of the book (Amazon doesn't have it on their list, which I assume is more extensive than their inventory (do they have an inventory). I haven't tried B&N yet. It could well be out of print--maybe I can find it in a local library...

--seed

Subject: RE: CHORDS REQUEST: Have Some Madeira, M'dea
From: --seed
Date: 03 Dec 99 - 04:44 PM

Subject: RE: CHORDS REQUEST: Have Some Madeira, M'dea
From: Melbert
Date: 03 Dec 99 - 03:31 AM

So, after all that..... did anyone get the chords?????

Subject: RE: CHORDS REQUEST: Have Some Madeira, M'dea
From: bseed(charleskratz)
Date: 02 Dec 99 - 10:47 PM

Which might have been misinterpreted by American listeners--so the Limelighters recorded it as 'beard ON her earlobe."

And David--there is no difficulty with the first verse parallel because while the verb phrase "put out" has several idiomatic meanings, all four objects are objects of the verb phrase, not just the verb itself. It's clear that it's "put out the cat, [put out] the wine,[put out] his cigar and [put out] the lamps"

I listened to the song a hundred or so times and never got the meaning because it IS a faulty parallel--and because I got a mind set that it was indecypherable (it isn't, but SET, as used by psychologists, can be hard to overcome). I'll admit to being occasionally obtuse, but I'll bet there are lots of others who have found that line difficult.

--seed

Subject: RE: CHORDS REQUEST: Have Some Madeira, M'dea
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 02 Dec 99 - 06:17 PM

Flanders used the Brit slang "lug 'ole"

Subject: RE: CHORDS REQUEST: Have Some Madeira, M'dea
From:
Date: 02 Dec 99 - 04:18 PM

>Midchuck, Thanks for the explanation: I never parsed the >sentence that way. They use a similar parallel structure >earlier, in the second verse: "She lowered her standards >by raising her glass, her courage, her eyes, and his >hopes..." But this one is a much clearer parallel, with >an identical structure in each of the parallel elements: >by raising a. her glass b. her courage c. her eyes d. >his hopes--in all cases a possessive pronoun followed by >a single word noun.

Remember that there is a similar structure in the firt verse as well: "..and he said as he hastened to put out the cat, the wine his cigar and the lamps..." In which 'out out" ius used rather differently in the various parallels. Thjis alerts one to expect similar parallel structures later

Also, I have heard the penultimate line as "a beard in her earlobe that tickled..." and "a voice in here earholehtat tickled..." on different recordings of Flanders and Swan. Which is correct?

Subject: RE: CHORDS REQUEST: Have Some Madeira, M'dea
From: bseed(charleskratz)
Date: 02 Dec 99 - 11:52 AM

Thanks, Buggsy.

Alan, he said the version he has doesn't have chords--to which I responded that I would transcribe it and using my transcription program, add them, and send them back: or merely post them here (maybe I oughta email them: we don't want everyone picking up the song all at once, do we? Bi-i-g grin

seed(who is about to start a long weekend and will have time)

Oh, and Buggsy: I just checked my incoming and it doesn't seem to have made it. Maybe you should try it the old way:

[e-mail]

Subject: RE: CHORDS REQUEST: Have Some Madeira, M'dea
From: Alan of Australia
Date: 02 Dec 99 - 07:53 AM

G'day,
Bugsy, could you email me a copy too. You'll find my email address at The Mudcat MIDI site. If it's in MIDI form it'll go onto the site. If it isn't it'll probably still go onto the site.

Does your file have chords? If not, anybody else????

Midchuck, that's the way I always understood it too.

Cheers,BR>Alan

Subject: RE: CHORDS REQUEST: Have Some Madeira, M'dea
From: Bugsy
Date: 02 Dec 99 - 05:26 AM

Seed,

I've just emailed the music and lyrics to you.

It's a pretty big file so be patient.

Good luck with the project and post me the results if you would.

Cheers Bugsy

Subject: RE: CHORDS REQUEST: Have Some Madeira, M'dea
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 02 Dec 99 - 03:07 AM

The Original Flamders lyrics are in DigiTrad. Limelighters Americanized a wee bit.

Subject: RE: CHORDS REQUEST: Have Some Madeira, M'dea
From: bseed(charleskratz)
Date: 02 Dec 99 - 03:06 AM

It is that, for sure, Melbert. Which is why I want to get the words straight--and get the chords.

--seed

Subject: RE: CHORDS REQUEST: Have Some Madeira, M'dea
From: Melbert
Date: 02 Dec 99 - 02:36 AM

I just consider it a funny song

Subject: RE: CHORDS REQUEST: Have Some Madeira, M'dea
From: bseed(charleskratz)
Date: 02 Dec 99 - 02:34 AM

Midchuck, Thanks for the explanation: I never parsed the sentence that way. They use a similar parallel structure earlier, in the second verse: "She lowered her standards by raising her glass, her courage, her eyes, and his hopes..." But this one is a much clearer parallel, with an identical structure in each of the parallel elements: by raising a. her glass b. her courage c. her eyes d. his hopes--in all cases a possessive pronoun followed by a single word noun.

On the other hand, the other violates rules of style--even of grammar: parallel structures should be grammatically similar. "When he cried "What in Heaven!" she made a. no reply (a negated direct object) b. up her mind (the adverb "up" changes the meaning of the verb: "her mind" is not the object of "made" but the verbal idiom "made up" which has a very different meaning, then c. a noun modified by a prepositional phrase. A teacher of composition would consider that a faulty parallel; I consider it, I guess, a logical challenge I wasn't up to, even on repeated hearing (giving these fine songwriters the benefit of their due, they expect a lot of their listeners and even more of their interpreters. I have never heard them sing it: as a singer, I would be challenged to make the parallel clear in performance.

--seedwaxingpedantic

Subject: RE: CHORDS REQUEST: Have Some Madeira, M'dea
From: Midchuck
Date: 01 Dec 99 - 10:40 PM

BSeed - Your lyrics problem -

It's a matter of punctuation. The line as I hear it is:

When he said, "What in heaven" she made no reply, up her mind, and a dash for the door.

It should probably be in outline form:

When he said, "What in heaven" she made:

1) no reply;

2) up her mind; and

3) a dash for the door.

That's how I've always understood it, anyway.

Subject: RE: CHORDS REQUEST: Have Some Madeira, M'dea
From: bseed(charleskratz)
Date: 01 Dec 99 - 10:08 PM

Buggsy, it certainly is: I can transcribe it on Songworks and ask the program to suggest chords (which usually have to be simplified greatly to be easily playable--not that it suggests hard chords--just too damned many of them). I'll post them when I get them done.

--seed

[e-mail]

Subject: RE: CHORDS REQUEST: Have Some Madeira, M'dea
From: Bugsy
Date: 01 Dec 99 - 09:33 PM

Seed....I have the book at hand "the music of Michael Flanders and Donald Swan".

Unfortunately it does not have Chords but does have music score. If this is of use to you I will email it.

Cheers Bugsy

Subject: CHORDS REQUEST: Have Some Madeira, M'dea
From: bseed(charleskratz)
Date: 01 Dec 99 - 09:29 PM

I've loved this song since I first heard The Limelighters sing it almost 40 years ago and would love to be able to perform it--I managed to get halfway through the verse faking the chords, but after that I really need help. Is anyone able and willing to post the chords?

I also have a question about the lyrics. Flanders and Swann are (were?) about as careful crafters of songs as writers of comical ditties come, and I have difficulty believing that they let slip by "...When he said, 'What in Heaven!' she made no reply/Of (or Up?) her mind and a dash for the door..." as I remember hearing them--and playing the record over and over and still hearing them, and as is posted in the digitrad. I've been trying to think of what might sound like those words but make sense; about the best I can come up with is "...she made no reply/But of flight and a dash for the door." Anyone have an answer?

--seed