Tune Req: Name of Tune for Dengate's Punters Song

Subject: Tune Req: Name of Tune for Dengate's Punters Song
From: DaveJohnson
Date: 10 Feb 20 - 04:50 AM

I am transcribing a tune from fiddler Stan Treacy and it is the same as the one that John Dengate used for the Punter's Song. It is sure to be in the first songbook that the Bush Music Club published in mid 1980s but a lot of my stuff is packed away courtesy of bush fire evacuation.
First verse is:
Each Saturday morning I crawl out of bed
Hung-over from Friday's excess,
Feeling crook in the "comics" and crook in the head
With a mountain of sins to confess.
But then I remember it's race day again
I collect up my clothes from the floor
I tune into Mahoney's selections at ten -
The adrenalin's pumping once more

CHORUS:
At Warwick Farm, Randwick or Rosehill they race,
It's a sign of our moral decay,
But wipe that superior look off your face,
I expect a trifecta today.

Australian Folk Song a Day lists it as Seamus O'Brien but I think not. Any thoughts?

Subject: RE: Tune Req: Name of Tune for Dengate's Punters Song
From: Helen
Date: 10 Feb 20 - 05:00 AM

I have heard the song many years ago, performed by John Dengate I think.

The tune sounds familiar but I'll have to charge up the brain cells to see if I can put another name to it.

Sound file here:

The TAB Punters' Song

The tune is identified on that page as "Seamus O'Brien" and is accredited to W.S.Hays.

Subject: RE: Tune Req: Name of Tune for Dengate's Punters Song
From: GUEST,Starship
Date: 10 Feb 20 - 10:26 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdhdXpKxo2w

Just to confuse the issue. 9The song is by 'Buddywasisname and the Other Fellas' from Newfoundland.

Subject: RE: Tune Req: Name of Tune for Dengate's Punters Song
From: Helen
Date: 10 Feb 20 - 02:27 PM

Yep, Starship, that sounds like the tune to me.

I have an inkling that other Aussie songs have used the same tune.

Just in case a non-Aussie wants to know:

"The Totalisator Agency Board, universally shortened to TAB or T.A.B., is the name given to monopoly totalisator organisations in Australia and New Zealand. They were originally government owned, but in Australia most have been privatised."

So the TAB - which I usually hear pronounced as it is spelled out, i.e. T A B - is the shop or agency where a person would place a bet on the horse races etc.

Subject: RE: Tune Req: Name of Tune for Dengate's Punters Song
From: GUEST,Starship
Date: 10 Feb 20 - 03:40 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wi_uml9hvTo

There's another, Helen. (Australian)

Subject: RE: Tune Req: Name of Tune for Dengate's Punters Song
From: GUEST,Gerry
Date: 10 Feb 20 - 06:31 PM

The TAB Song is track 15 on John Dengate, The Follies of Pollies. The liner notes say, Irish traditional "Seamus O'Brien Please Won't You Come Home". [of course that refers to the tune, not the lyrics, which are pure Dengate]

Subject: RE: Tune Req: Name of Tune for Dengate's Punters Song
From: GUEST,Gerry
Date: 10 Feb 20 - 06:34 PM

In the booklet, My Shout! Songs and Poems by John Dengate, it's on page 30, as T. A. B. Punter's Song, and it says, Tune: Seamus O'Brien.

Subject: RE: Tune Req: Name of Tune for Dengate's Punters Song
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Sep 20 - 08:01 PM

Are full lyrics available?

Each Saturday morning I crawl out of bed
Hung-over from Friday's excess,
Feeling crook in the "comics" and crook in the head
With a mountain of sins to confess.
But then I remember it's race day again
I collect up my clothes from the floor
I tune into Mahoney's selections at ten -
The adrenalin's pumping once more

CHORUS:
At Warwick Farm, Randwick or Rosehill they race,
It's a sign of our moral decay,
But wipe that superior look off your face,
I expect a trifecta today.

I have a quick piss, I give breakfast a miss,
Wallet and form guide I grab,
Then I suddenly bolt like a two year old colt
Away down the road to the TAB.
It's number of units and number of race,
The numbers spin round in my brain,
And I stand there blaspheming and cursing the place
The biro is broken again.

Oh the long shots are rough and the favourites are short
And I never know what's running dead
So I ring up my mate, but he got home so loate
His mother won't rouse him from bed.
Ron Quinton could win on a horse made of tin
So I back everything that he rides
And the big Melbourne grey is a good thing each way
And a couple of others besides.

CHORUS
And fellas, quinellas are always a chance
And doubles are sometimes a go
So when I walk out I feel light in the pants
For the TAB has got all of my dough

A short break for grub, then I'm into the pub
And I stand there and weep in my booze
For the horses I back veer all over the track
And they lose and they lose and they lose.
Oh seek not escape in the gambling my friend
Though life may be hum-drum and drab;
Seek solace in psalms or in fair ladies arms
But never go into a TAB.


Another from the wonderful Dengate.

The government-owned TAB (Totalisator Agency Boards) in each state conducted off-site legal betting on horse-racing in Australia.  They were all eventually privatised.

http://ozfolksongaday.blogspot.com/2011/11/tab-punters-song.html

Subject: RE: Tune Req: Name of Tune for Dengate's Punters Song
From: Helen
Date: 21 Sep 20 - 11:14 PM

This page has a video for the song

Seamus (or Shamus) O'Brien

and includes the information at the end of the page:

"Written in 1866 and published in sheet music form in 1867 by William Shakespeare Hays [1837-1907]"

Subject: RE: Tune Req: Name of Tune for Dengate's Punters Song
From: GerryM
Date: 21 Sep 20 - 11:15 PM

Joe, the lyrics as you have posted them are as they were printed in the Bush Music Club booklet of 1982, My Shout! Songs and Poems by John Dengate. They differ in a few places from the way John sang them on the two recordings I have:

The TAB Song
John Dengate

Each Saturday morning I crawl out of bed,
Hungover from Friday's excess,
Feeling crook in the comics and crook in the head
And with mountains of sins to confess.
And then I remember it's race day again,
And I collect up my clothes off the floor.
I tune in to Early's selections at ten –
The adrenalin's pumping once more.

I have a snake's hiss, I give breakfast a miss,
Wallet and form guide I grab,
Then I suddenly bolt like a two year old colt
All away down the hill to the Tab.
It's number of units and number of race,
The numbers spin round in my brain,
And I stand there blaspheming and cursing the place,
The biros are broken again.

Oh, the longshots are rough, and the favorites are short,
And I never know what's running dead,
So I ring up my mate, but he got home so late
That his missus won't rouse him from bed.
Beadman could win on a horse made of tin,
So I back everything that he rides,
And the big Melbourne gray is a good thing each way,
And a couple of others besides.

And fellas, quinellas are sometimes a chance,
And doubles are always a go,
So when I walk out I am light in the pants
'Cos the Tab has got most of my dough.

A quick break for grub, then it's into the pub,
And I stand there and weep in my booze,
For the horses I back veer all over the track,
And they lose, and they lose, and they lose.
Oh, seek not escape in the gambling my friend
Though your life may be humdrum and drab.
Seek solace in psalms or in young ladies' arms,
But never go into a Tab.

At Warwick Farm, Rosehill and Randwick they race,
It's a sign of our moral decay,
But wipe that superior smirk off your face,
I expect a trifecta today.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Some of the differences are just updatings John made from the 1982 version when he recorded it on The Follies of Pollies CD, and on 35 Years of the National Folk Festival.
"Mahoney's selections" became "Early's selections" I suppose when Mahoney stopped being broadcast and Early took over (although I don't know whether "Early" is correct, that's just what it sounds like to my ear). And the jockey Ron Quinton was updated first to Mick Dittman and then to (Darren) Beadman. (By the way, the "o" in Mahoney is silent; the name is pronounced as "Mah Knee".)

Another difference is that on the two Dengate recordings there is no chorus. The song is just sung straight through. But other singers have taken the last stanza ("At Warwick Farm....") and used it as a chorus.

"Snake's hiss" on John's recordings is rhyming slang for "piss" in the booklet.

In 1982 it made sense that John's mate would be living with his mother, but by the time John made the recordings his mate had moved out and gotten married, so it was his missus who wouldn't rouse him from bed.

I'm not sure why it's "Warwick Farm, Randwick or Rosehill" in the booklet, "Warwick Farm, Rosehill and Randwick" on the recordings.

Subject: RE: Tune Req: Name of Tune for Dengate's Punters Song
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 22 Sep 20 - 03:53 AM

I'll ask Dale - she is the expert on John's work. She introduced him to the Bush Music Club where he was encouraged to create a new song every week, & was there when he created them, & has been known to update songs in these days when circumstances call for a new song.

sandra