Lyr Req/ADD: New Verses For The F Word Song

Subject: Lyr Req: New Verses For The F Word Song
From: PHJim
Date: 30 Jun 20 - 11:42 AM

This question is directed at Joe (or anyone else who can help).
Lou & Peter Berryman's F Word Song (A Chat With Your Mother) had some new alternate verses printed in Sing Out! I can't seem to find the copy and I know that Joe has a complete collection. I don't know how well your collection is organised Joe, but if it's not too difficult, I'm looking for the verse about teachers.
I have the original words.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: New Verses For The F Word Song
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 30 Jun 20 - 02:07 PM

F-Word (A Chat With Your Mother)
(Lou & Peter Berryman)

You Tube -PHJimY

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=udIQuwVfAPs

There are pirates in their fetid galleons
Daggers in their skivvies
With infected tattooed fingers
On a blunderbuss or two
Signs of scurvy in their eyes
And only mermaids on their minds
It's from them I would expect to hear
The F-word, not from you

We sit down to have a chat
It's F-word this and F-word that
I can't control how you young people
Talk to one another
But I don't wanna hear you use
That F-word with your mother

And the lumberjacks from Kodiak
Vacationing in Anchorage
Enchanted with their pine tar soup
And Caribou shampoo
With seven weeks of back pay
In their aromatic woolens
It's from them I would expect to hear
The F-word, not from you

There's the militant survivalists
With Gucci bandileros
Taking tacky khaki walkie talkies To the rendezvous
Trading all the latest armor Piercing ammo information
It's from them I would expect to hear
The F-word, not from you

There are jocks who think that
God himself Is drooling in the bleachers
In a cold November downpour
With a bellyful of brew
Whose entire grasp of heaven
Has a lot to do with football
It's from them I would expect to hear
The F-word, not from you

There's unsavory musicians
With their filthy pinko lyrics
Who destroy the social fabric
And enjoy it when they do
With their groupies and addictions
And poor broken-hearted parents
It's from them I would expect to hear
The F-word, not from you.


Sincerely,
Gargoyle

Well done video Mr PHJimY
Your phrasing brings this to life. Nice mandolin too.

---

It's in the DT, here. ~Mod

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: New Verses For The F Word Song
From: Joe_F
Date: 30 Jun 20 - 06:02 PM

Gargoyle: AFAICT there is nothing new about those verses; they are a on the Berrymenschen's original record

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: New Verses For The F Word Song
From: PHJim
Date: 30 Jun 20 - 08:26 PM

I have the original verses from a Sing Out! magazine. There was at least one new verse, maybe from a "The Folk Process" column in Sing Out! I can't seem to find that issue.
The verse I'm looking for was about teachers.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: New Verses For The F Word Song
From: Joe Offer
Date: 30 Jun 20 - 09:27 PM

For the sake of discussion, it's probably good that Gargoyle posted the lyrics here in the thread where we're discussing the song. The song was published in Volume 30, Number 4 (Oct-Nov-Dec 1984) of Sing Out! Magazine, page 16. We also have it as "A Chat With Your Mom" on page 70 of the Rise Up Singing Songbook, and Reinhard Zierke has it at https://mainlynorfolk.info/peter.bellamy/songs/achatwithyourmother.html.

I have a nearly-complete collection of Sing Out! Magazines, but I'm missing a few. I thing that all of the full songs in the magazine are indexed, but not the parodies and additional verses that were in the "Folk Process" column. I really wish a searchable copy of the full run of the magazine would be available online. I wrote to Sing Out! Magazine editor Mark Moss twice to offer a donation to make that possible, but I received no response.

-Joe-

Subject: ADD: A Chat with your Mother, the Fish variations
From: Joe Offer
Date: 30 Jun 20 - 09:37 PM

Aha! I found some additional lyrics in a post from A. Marina Fournier in rec.music.filk

A Chat with your Mother, the Fish variations
(collected by Leslie Fish)

There are aging politicians who are preening in the White House
Scanning scads of of Reader's Digests just to keep up with the news
With their tax breaks and their missiles and their promises of plenty
Oh, they'll never use the F-word, they'll just do the thing to you!

chorus

There are yuppie politicians in the gin-mills of Chicago
Hunting pay-offs and endorsements from a union boss or two
With their suds and their kielbasa and their guides to modern language
It's from them I would expect to hear the F-word, not from you.

chorus

There are feminists from Cambridge sporting ink-stained Army britches
Whistling loudly at construction crews who love it when they do
With their Middle-English verses about equal access plumbing
It's from them I would expect to hear the F-word, not from you.

chorus

There are grimy Beatnik poets smoking dope in mouldering attics
Who blanch at rhyming meter and the dictionary, too
Seeking stark incomprehension on the part of any reader,
It's from them I would expect to hear the F-word, not from you.

chorus

There are cowboys in the White House with their macho Rambo-egos
Throwing darts around the globe to see where we will next intrude
With Iranian complications to their contra-interceptions
Though we'll never hear them use the F-word (in public), we'll get screwed!

chorus

There are parents who have had it with the quarrelling and the whining
"All our toys are broken and there's nothing else to do.
It's been raining for three weeks and that damn flu is still among us,"
It's from me that I'd expect to hear the F-word, not from you.

chorus
Ah, shit Mom, I'm sorry!


Verses 1-5 by Lou & Peter Berryman ©1984; from the singing of Sally Rogers & Howie Bursen. Other verses were collected by Leslie Fish in 1992, if not earlier.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: New Verses For The F Word Song
From: leeneia
Date: 02 Jul 20 - 10:07 AM

Peter Berryman's lyrics to this song are about two things. The obvious thing is that they tell of a mother's irritation with the F-word. The other thing is the celebration of English vocabulary.

This line is just one example:

...taking tacky khaki walkie-talkies to the rendezvous.

Tacky is Scandinavian. Khaki is from India. Walkie-talkie is from the Korean war. Rendezvous is French.

English has adopted words from all over the world, and it's no good writing new verses to this song unless you get with that trend.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: New Verses For The F Word Song
From: CupOfTea
Date: 02 Jul 20 - 01:20 PM

Wonderful point, Leeneia!
Having a succinct word in juxtaposition with wildly diverse reference points, mixed up occasionally with nonsense words that sound like they ought to mean something (like their Shanty from the British Isles) is the fuel that gives the ideas such impact. Few folks can be quite as witty as Peter in this way, and adding on verses that don't come up to snuff isn't doing the song any good. A "new verse" is just a condensed version of a parody, and parodies get a bad rap because so many of them don't have the same keen edge in writing. Not opposed to the concept, but do require it to come up to the same standard as the original. /end rant

Joanne in Cleveland, off to sing about the "weiner dog of doom"

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: New Verses For The F Word Song
From: leeneia
Date: 03 Jul 20 - 12:49 AM

Thanks, CupofTea! You've put into words the vague discontent I feel about these additional verses.

And what a coincidence. I've just been practicing the song with the wiener dog of doom. What price the Pekinese of pique?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: New Verses For The F Word Song
From: Joe Offer
Date: 03 Jul 20 - 01:30 AM

I agree. The Leslie Fish verses don't satisfy me, either - although people liked them when I sang them last night. The verses come from the ilk of filk, which rarely satisfies me. But they were requested, so I found 'em.

I think the original verses are true classics - especially the "unsavory musicians" verse, since I am the father of some of that ilk.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: New Verses For The F Word Song
From: Bill D
Date: 03 Jul 20 - 10:21 AM

There are leather-layered bikers riding Harleys to the rumble,
Spouting smoke and decibels ...with big Mamas full in view,
Heading off to Sturgis week for beer and fornication.
It's from them I'd expect to hear the F-word...not from you.


--revision of an attempt from 25 years ago...

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: New Verses For The F Word Song
From: Joe Offer
Date: 04 Jul 20 - 09:08 AM

This brings up something in response to leeneia and cup of tea. The Leslie Fish verses were collected from a variety of sources,band probably were not meant to be sing together. But when people are having a good time singing a song, it can be great fun to tag on a verse or two, especially if the verses are made up on the spot.

Subject: ADD:New Verses For The F Word Song (Bellamy)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 02 Mar 22 - 03:13 AM

The Mudcat Café ^TM

Thread #14636   Message #4138110
Posted By: GUEST,Black Jake
01-Mar-22 - 02:01 PM
Thread Name: Let's Talk Bellamy
Subject: RE: Let's Talk Bellamy

I'd like to add some comment on 'The F-Word Song' as it is generally known, or 'A Chat With Your Mother' to give the correct title.
Lou and Peter Berryman claim authorship, but Bellamy has added one or two hilarious verses.

Firstly, though, the line which goes:

'There are lumberjacks from Kodiak vacationing in Anchorage, enchanted in their coal-tar soup and Caribou shampoo.'

What?! You can't have 'coal-tar soup'. It's utterly undrinkable and you certainly wouldn't be be 'enchanted in' it! Unless totally mad. However, if the line becomes '...enchanting WITH their coal-tar SOAP...' it makes sense! There is such a thing, and it has a distinctive smell which lumberjacks might well find 'enchanting.'

Cathy Fink sings: 'PINE-tar SOUP' which doesn't make sense either.

Here's the Bellamy version of the song that I've got:

'A Conversation With Your Mother: The F-Word Song.'
Chorus:

   We sit down to have a chat
   It's F-word this, and F-word that,
   I can't control how you young people talk to one another,
   But I don't to hear you use the F-word with your Mother.

The pirates in their fetid galleons, daggers in their skivvies,
With infected tattooed fingers clutch a blunderbuss or two.
Signs of scurvy in their eyes, only mermaids on their minds,
It's from them I would expect to hear the F-word,
Not from you!

There are lumberjacks from Kodiak vacationing in Anchorage,
Enchanted with their coal-tar soup and Caribou shampoo.
With seven months of back-pay in their aromatic woolens,
It's from them I would expect to hear the F-word,
Not from you!

There are militant Survivalists in Gucci bandolieros,
Taking tacky khaki walkie-talkies to their rendezvous,
Trading all the latest armour-piercing ammo information,
It's from them I would expect to hear the F-word,
Not from you!

There's unsavory musicians, with their filthy pinko lyrics,
Who destroy the social fabric and enjoy it when they do!
With their groupies and addictions and their poor heart-broken parents!
It's from them I would expect to hear the F-word,
Not from you!

There are yobs who think that God himself is brawling in the Grandstand,
In a cold November downpour with a nostril full of glue.
Whose entire grasp of Heaven has a lot to do with football.
It's from them I would expect to hear the F-word,
Not from you!

Louts in lacerated leather with their multi-hued Mohicans,
Who in pain pick pierced nostrils in the UB40 queue,
Quite convinced the muse of music was conceived by Sidney Vicious.
It's from them I would expect to hear the F-word,
Not from you!

Yes, I know he sings '...coal-tar SOUP...'
Cheers,
Black Jake Two Fingers of Norwich.

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

Subject: RE: Lyr Req/ADD: New Verses For The F Word Song
From: leeneia
Date: 02 Mar 22 - 11:48 AM

It's not coal-tar soap, it's pine-tar soap. I learned this song off the vinyl.

On one hand, I don't think the new verses have the high-quality of Peter B's verses, but on the other hand, anything that gets people singing together is good.
=======
About Sturgis: I read a novel once where a wussy banker had his wife drive him and his bike almost to Sturgis in their van, then he put on his leathers and biked the rest of the way in, trying to look like he had hogged it all the way from Chicagoland.

I wonder how many people at Sturgis have faked it.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req/ADD: New Verses For The F Word Song
From: Joe_F
Date: 02 Mar 22 - 05:47 PM

leeneia: I remember "walkie-talkie" from WW2. The OED has a citation from 1936.