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Lyr Req: Anti-smoking songs

In Mudcat MIDIs:
My Last Cigarette


Jim Dixon 30 Mar 23 - 06:19 PM
Jim Dixon 28 Mar 23 - 12:03 PM
GUEST,RJM 27 Mar 23 - 05:04 PM
Jim Dixon 27 Mar 23 - 03:51 PM
Jim Dixon 27 Mar 23 - 03:13 PM
Stilly River Sage 26 Mar 23 - 02:44 PM
Stilly River Sage 26 Mar 23 - 02:30 PM
Jim Dixon 26 Mar 23 - 12:21 PM
BrooklynJay 26 Mar 23 - 03:19 AM
Jim Dixon 25 Mar 23 - 07:23 PM
Jim Dixon 25 Mar 23 - 05:48 PM
Dave the Gnome 25 Mar 23 - 04:45 PM
GeoffLawes 25 Mar 23 - 07:38 AM
Dave the Gnome 25 Mar 23 - 04:42 AM
Jim Dixon 24 Mar 23 - 08:18 PM
Jim Dixon 24 Mar 23 - 02:46 PM
Jim Dixon 22 Mar 23 - 07:05 PM
Jim Dixon 09 Feb 22 - 02:56 PM
Jim Dixon 11 Nov 11 - 09:52 AM
GUEST 14 Sep 10 - 03:49 AM
GUEST 28 Jul 10 - 03:31 PM
mousethief 31 Jan 10 - 11:24 PM
An Buachaill Caol Dubh 08 Jan 10 - 11:33 AM
Jim Dixon 07 Jan 10 - 02:50 PM
GUEST,BF 01 Jan 10 - 12:51 PM
GUEST 28 Dec 09 - 12:44 PM
Donuel 28 Dec 09 - 11:48 AM
GUEST,guest 27 Dec 09 - 12:37 PM
GUEST,guest 24 Sep 09 - 01:10 PM
GUEST,janet 09 Jun 09 - 06:56 AM
McGrath of Harlow 11 May 09 - 07:06 PM
Allen in Oz 10 May 09 - 07:03 PM
George Papavgeris 09 May 09 - 09:50 PM
Bluegrassman 09 May 09 - 07:41 PM
fumblefingers 09 May 09 - 06:20 PM
Stringsinger 09 May 09 - 10:15 AM
George Papavgeris 09 May 09 - 07:14 AM
George Papavgeris 09 May 09 - 07:02 AM
Emma B 09 May 09 - 06:43 AM
GUEST,Bob Rowley 09 May 09 - 05:59 AM
Jim Dixon 25 Sep 08 - 11:42 AM
Jack Campin 24 Sep 08 - 07:54 AM
Black belt caterpillar wrestler 24 Sep 08 - 07:28 AM
GUEST,ACE 24 Sep 08 - 12:36 AM
Thompson 24 Apr 08 - 05:22 AM
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Subject: Lyr Add: DAD BLAME ANYTHING A MAN CAN’T QUIT
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 30 Mar 23 - 06:19 PM

You can hear this at YouTube.


DAD BLAME ANYTHING A MAN CAN’T QUIT
As recorded by Roger Miller on “Words and Music,” 1966.

[1] I’m a two-pack-a-day man; I smoke like a fiend,
Like a burned-out bearin’ in a bad machine.
I can’t breathe in the mornin’ till I get myself a cigarette lit.
I say: “Dad* blame anything a man* can’t quit.”

[2] I’m a brand-new newlywed, married again:
Nine times previous and this makes ten.
I ought to be kicked so hard till I can hardly walk around or sit.
I say: “Dad* blame anything a man can’t quit.”

[3] Still, I keep it up, keep it up, and do it all the time.
Ev’ry now and then I make up my mind
To give it up, give it up, throw it away.
I us’ly change my mind later on up in the day.

[Repeat 1, 3, 1, then scat.]

- - -
* He sings “Dad” as 3 syllables/notes: “Da-ha-had.”—and the first time he sings “man,” it has 2 syllables: “ma-han.”

Roger Miller died in 1972 of lung and throat cancer.


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Subject: Lyr Add: IT’S A FREE WORLD (Peggy Seeger)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 28 Mar 23 - 12:03 PM

Irene M mentioned this on 16-Nov-07. You can hear it on YouTube.


IT’S A FREE WORLD
As recorded by Peggy Seeger on “An Odd Collection,” 1996.

I like Mrs. Britches.
I go to Mrs. Britches.
I eat at Mrs. Britches on a Friday for breakfast.
There are only seven tables,
Flowers on the tables,
And smokers at the tables on a Friday.

Now you may think I’m jokin’,
But some smokers when they’re smokin’,
Don’t notice if you’re chokin’ or you’re dyin’.
There’s this one fella, Andy,
A real chain smoker, and he
Blows smoke right at me ’til I’m cryin’.

I asked him quite politely.
In fact, I asked him nicely:
“Would you mind not smokin’ on a Friday?
Don’t like it when I’m eatin’.
Don’t like it when I’m breathin’.
Don’t like it any where or any day.”

He told me: “It’s a habit.
I choose to have it,
And you choose to come here on a Friday,
So you’re the problem, not me,
And if I choose to rock me,
You’ve got no right to stop me ’cause it’s my way.

“’Cause it’s a free world,
Democracy and all that; it’s a free world,
Laissez-faire and all that, and if industry can do it, so can I.”

The smokers cheered him loudly.
He lit another proudly.
As for me, I looked around me for a friend.
I thought of world pollution.
I thought of evolution.
I thought of revolution, but I paid my bill and left.

I thought of Mother Jones; I though of Rosa Parks,
Sojourner Truth, and Rosa Luxembourg; it’s them I have to thank.
Guerrilla folks have taught me: if freedom you are wanting,
If head-on fights are daunting. use the flank.

So I ate corn on Sunday.
I ate beans on Monday.
On Tuesday, leeks and lentils made a high day.
I tell you, I’m not jokin’.
By Thursday, I was floatin’,
But I’m ready for the smokin’ on a Friday.

I sat down next to Andy.
I smiled at Andy.
He lit up; I let off a beauty.
I sat and read the paper,
And chatted with a waiter,
And let my compass maker do its duty.

Beans are for pitching.
Leeks are malediction.
Sweet corn is for density and lentils for duration.
The recipe’s been tested.
It hasn’t yet been bested.
Add cabbage for perfume and concentration.

Andy he turns yellow.
The atmosphere is mellow.
The percussion section’s way over the top.
It soon put Andy’s fag out.
Andy hung the flag out.
Andy choked and swore and muttered: "Stop!"

I told him: “It’s a habit.
I choose to have it,
And you choose to come here on a Friday,
And if you don’t like it,
I guess you’ll have to hike it,
’Cause I’ll fight for farter’s rights until I die.

“’Cause it’s a free world,
Liberty and all that; it’s a free world,
Selfishness and all that; and if Andy can do it, so can I.”

He changed his day to Thursday.
I changed my day to Thursday.
He changed his day to Wednesday; so did I.
The waitress she was cheerin’.
Her bronchitis it was clearin’,
And she was volunteerin’ for the Tuesday.

I like Mrs. Britches.
I go to Mrs. Britches.
I breathe at Mrs. Britches on a Friday for breakfast.
There are only seven tables,
Flowers on the tables,
And no smokers at the tables any day.

’Cause it’s a free world,
Strategy and all that; it’s a free world,
Crude comedy and all that; but if I can do it, so can anybody.


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Anti-smoking songs
From: GUEST,RJM
Date: 27 Mar 23 - 05:04 PM

Lyrics
Cigareetes and whusky and wild, wild women
They'll drive you crazy, they'll drive you insane
Cigareetes and whusky and wild, wild women
They'll drive you crazy, they'll drive you insane
Once, I was happy and had a good wife
I had enough money to last me for life
I met with the gal and we went on a spree
She started me smokin' and drinkin' whusky
Cigareetes and whusky and wild, wild women
They'll drive you crazy, they'll drive you insane
Cigareetes and whusky and wild, wild women
They'll drive you crazy, they'll drive you insane
Now, I am feeble and broken with age
The lines on my face make a well-written page
I'm leavin' this message, how sad but how true
On women and whusky and what they can do
Cigareetes and whusky and wild, wild women
They'll drive you crazy, they'll drive you insane
Cigareetes and whusky and wild, wild women
They'll drive you crazy, they'll drive you insane
Right on the cross at the head of my grave
For women and whusky, here lies a poor slave
Take warning, dear stranger, take warning, dear friend
Then write in big letters, these words at the end
Cigareetes and whusky and wild, wild women
They'll drive you crazy, they'll drive you insane
Cigareetes and whusky and wild, wild women
They'll drive you crazy, they'll drive you insane
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Tim Spencer


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Subject: Lyr Add: CHOCOLATE CIGARETTES (Tom Russell)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 27 Mar 23 - 03:51 PM

An unnamed guest mentioned this on 11-Nov-07:


CHOCOLATE CIGARETTES
As recorded by Tom Russell (with Barrence Whitfield) on “Hillbilly Voodoo,” 2015.

Edith Piaf was the little sparrow; she flew high above the Paris streets,
Saint of the bars and bistros, chanteuse of the tear-stained sheets.
She sang for drunks and sailors who sunk as low as low could get.
I read she kicked a three-pack habit once with chocolate cigarettes.

She didn’t have a smoke though she wanted one,
Didn’t take a drink though it hurt her some.
She stared across the River Seine hummin’ “No Regrets,”
Pullin’ on a chocolate cigarette,
Pullin’ on a chocolate cigarette.

Oh, those chocolate cigarettes! I’ve seen ‘em in my youth,
Right beside the Hershey bars, the Almond Joys and Baby Ruths.
I kicked a two-pack habit once; I won a hundred-dollar bet
With the help of chewing gum and chocolate cigarettes.

I didn’t have a smoke, though I wanted one,
Didn’t take a drink, though it hurt me some.
I followed a little sparrow, hummin’ “No Regrets,”
Pullin on a chocolate cigarette,
Yeah, pullin on a chocolate cigarette.

It’s an Edith Piaf night tonight as I put her records on.
All that smoky passion, in every life of every song!
Broken hearts and wasteful habits, we’ll all survive them yet,
Old passions drowned in coffee grounds and chocolate cigarettes.

She didn’t have a smoke though she wanted one,
Didn’t take a drink though it hurt her some.
She stared across the River Seine hummin’ “No Regrets,”
Pullin’ on a chocolate cigarette.
She didn’t have a smoke though she wanted one,
Didn’t take a drink though it hurt her some.
She stared across the River Seine hummin’ “No Regrets,”
Pullin’ on a chocolate cigarette,
Oh yeah, pullin’ on a chocolate cigarette.


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Subject: Lyr Add: TOBACCO SONG (Mike Cross)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 27 Mar 23 - 03:13 PM

This song was quoted by Caitrin on 24-Apr-00, and then was mentioned again by an unnamed guest on 17-Nov-07. The tone sounds kinda ironic to me.


TOBACCO SONG
As recorded by Mike Cross on “Irregular Guy,” 2006

Tobacco is an evil weed; it’ll take away your breath,
Stain your teeth and make you weak and burn your lungs to death.

Little kids sneak cigarettes out behind the barn.
It makes them gag and cough because it does them so much harm.

Cigars killed my uncle Phil; we knew someday they’d git him.
He bent over in the street to pick one up and a bus rode by and hit him.

So if you smoke or dip or chew, you’d better get your fill,
’Cause if tobacco don’t get you, then anti-smokers will.


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Anti-smoking songs
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Mar 23 - 02:44 PM

My memory is trying tease out enough of a song I'm pretty sure Ed McCurdy sang about an evil weed tobacco. It'll come to me eventually so I can look it up. Or someone else will read this and remember it immediately.


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Anti-smoking songs
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Mar 23 - 02:30 PM

Merle Travis sings Smoke Smoke Smoke that Cigarette via YouTube.


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Subject: Lyr Add: MR. NICOTINE MAN (David C. Perry)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 26 Mar 23 - 12:21 PM

Bert mentioned this on 11-Jan-00. Words from the video at YouTube, performed by Winchester/Perry (Christine Winchester and David C. Perry). You can also hear the audio at the Winchester/Perry website, or click here for the mp3 file.


MR. NICOTINE MAN
“A second-hand song about smoking”
Words by David C. Perry, music, “Mr. Tambourine Man” by Bob Dylan.

[Spoken] Here with a public announcement for the American Tobacco Growers Association in conjunction with the American Cancer Society, is smokesperson, Mr. Bob Dylan.

[Chorus] Hey, Mister Nicotine Man, save a puff for me.
Quitting smoking’s such a drag to do.
Hey. Mister Nicotine Man, save a puff for me.
Sacred cigarette smoke, I’ll come swallowing you.

I tried those sissy cigarettes with hardly any tar,
Six packs today so far,
Plus a pipe and a cigar,
But I’d still walk a mile for a Camel Plain.
My old lady said that when we kiss, I taste like an ashtray.
And I said, “That’s OK,”
And then she moved away.
Well, some folks can’t tell pleasure from pain. [Chorus]

O sweet Virginia leaves, you know, I’d sell my soul for you,
My lungs and larynx too,
Hold my breath till I turn blue.
My heart is pure but the air I breathe’s corrupt.
Though I know Tobacco Road can lead me only to despair,
Well, I don’t really care,
’Cause I’m already there,
And when you’re down this far, you might as well light up. [Chorus]

Though you might hear coughing, hacking, gasping like I can hardly breathe,
Don’t you pay it any heed,
’Cause it ain’t air I need.
Just gi’ me some more weed,
’Cause after all, there’s more to life than breath.
At least it’s somewhat safer than sucking on a gun,
And almost as much fun.
Hell, there’s no real damage done.
The condemned get one last smoke before their death. [Chorus]


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Anti-smoking songs
From: BrooklynJay
Date: 26 Mar 23 - 03:19 AM

Here's one that's a song... sort of. It's an anti-smoking animated Public Service Announcement from 1968 recited by James Earl Jones.

The Ballad of Johnny Smoke

Anyone out there remember this one?


Jay


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Subject: Lyr Add: SMOKE SMOKE SMOKE (BUT NOT AROUND ME)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 25 Mar 23 - 07:23 PM

Arkie mentioned this song on 07-Jan-00.

According to Billboard magazine, this version was released as a 45-rpm single, Monument 1108, in 1968.


SMOKE SMOKE SMOKE (BUT NOT AROUND ME)
(Merle Travis)
As recorded by Grandpa Jones, found on YouTube.

Now, I’m a feller with a heart o’ gold,
And my heart may be just a little bit old,
But it’s tickin’ fine and I can’t complain none yet,
And the reason for the way the old pump feels,
It ain’t mired down an’ spinnin’ its wheels
In nicotine tar from smokin’ cigarettes.
Nearly ever’body that ever I knew
Goes around a-smokin’ like a stopped-up flue,
Holler-eyed, wheezin’, short o’ breath, an’ pale.
Tomorrow it might be just my luck
To get run over by a two-ton truck,
But I ain’t gonna kill myself a-smokin’ coffin nails.

CHORUS: Smoke, smoke, smoke that cigarette!
Smoke, smoke, smoke, and when you smoke yourself to death,
You ain’t gonna cough an’ wheeze no more
Over on the hallelujah shore,
Where I understand there ain’t no cigarettes.

The other day I saw a man
All bent over and a-wringin’ his hands
And a-coughin’ so hard I thought his lungs would crack.
Well, his eyes was red and his face was blue,
And I thought his earthly days were through,
So I run up an’ I hit ’im on the back.
Well, he caught his breath and breathed about twice,
Said: “Thanks, old buddy, for savin’ my life.
I was strangled on a tickle in my throat, a smoker’s gift.”
Then he done a thing that got my goat:
He started to scratchin’ in the pockets of his coat
Till he found himself a king-sized cigarette. CHORUS

I’ll tell you somethin’ that ain’t no joke:
I never did, and I never will smoke,
And I don’t give a durn what a lot o’ people think.
A lady I know said: “I think you should,
’Cause cigarette smoke it smells so good.”
Well, it don’t smell good to me; in fact, it stinks.
When you get right down to the truth of it,
Most of the smokers would like to quit,
But they just can’t break the habit, is what they say.
So if you’re like most o’ the smokers I’ve seen,
With a backbone weaker than nicotine,
Would you please just blow the smoke the other way? CHORUS


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Subject: Lyr Add: ANOTHER PUFF (Jerry Reed)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 25 Mar 23 - 05:48 PM

This was mentioned by Gene back on 07-Jan-00. It’s one of those “spoken” songs with guitar accompaniment, sorta like talking blues. The words are interspersed with lots of laughing, coughing, and wheezing, which I have not bothered to document. It’s available on Spotify and YouTube. My transcription.


ANOTHER PUFF
As recorded by Jerry Reed on “Ko-Ko Joe,” 1971.

I know there’s a lot o’ talk goin’ ’round today
’Bout cigarette smoke an’ whittlin’ your life away.

I’ve seen it and I’ve heard it so many times
That finally, it just started to prey on my min’.

I guess it scared me a little bit.
That’s why I decided I’s gon’ quit.

So while I’s sittin’ here formin’ my battle plan,
I took another puff and turned on the fan.

I just set there in my easy chair,
Thought of all the money I’d wasted on cigarettes all these years.

I thought how I’d spend the rest o’ my days
After I kicked this habit my body craves.

Said to myself: “This ain’t gon’ be so tough.”
With that little bit of assurance, I took another puff.

I took a puff, I puffed,
Then I ripped off another puff.

I decided I’d ’bout had enough.
Said, breakin’ this habit’s gon’ be too tough.

Now, I’d give a lot o’ thought to this thing.
If I didn’t smoke cigarettes, I’d feel just like a king.

’Sides, with the price goin’ up ever’ day
I knew I’s just throwin’ all my good money away.

You know, I ain’t lit one in an hour or so.
Just wanted to make sure I could quit, you know.

I was thinkin’ maybe I ought to write all this down,
Put it in a song, kind o’ circulate it aroun’.

Can’t ever tell, it might make a hit,
And that’d help the cause a little bit.

Can you imagine me a hit song writer?
Where’d I put that cigarette lighter?

After all, it’s a habit, and a habit you can break.
Just a little bit o’ will power, that’s all it takes.

Said to myself, “You got to be tough,”
And with that little bit o’ wisdom, I took another puff.

I took a puff, and then a puff,
And I finally ripped off another puff.

I decided, boy, this ain’t gon’ be tough.
… just about had enough.

I’m ’bout ready to quit this rotten habit anyway.
Oh, I think they ought to take it off television. It looks too good!
I like them skinny ones with the filters.
Oh, give it to me! Give it to me!
Cigarettes! I say, if I quit smokin’, what’ll I do?
Maybe I’ll eat.
Yeah, I’ll eat cigarettes!
Oh, iloveitiloveitiloveitiloveitiloveitiloveit!
[person’s name?]… don’t smoke; he smokes logs!
Makes you laugh funny, too.
Oh, my throat scratches!
Oh, I wish I could think o’ somethin’ bad to say ’bout cigarettes!
Boo on cigarettes!
Don’t smoke, don’t smoke, don’t smoke!
You quit smokin’, that’ll leave more for me!
I love it. I love it.
No, I don’t love cigarettes, you know, misunderstand:
I hate cigarettes.
Makes you cough.
When you don’t smoke, it makes you shake.
I don’t know what’s worse, the shake or the cough.
I think I’ll make me a cough shake!
Uh, did you ever smoke?
Oh, I member one time I quit smokin’.
I quit for three months.
My wife left me.
So did my children.
She took my house and left.
It was a mobile home!


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Anti-smoking songs
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 25 Mar 23 - 04:45 PM

Found it! I am not going to post all the lyrics - I have uploaded it as an MP3 to Google Drive Here

Enjoy and if you want it but can't get it, let me know


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Anti-smoking songs
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 25 Mar 23 - 07:38 AM

Tex Williams - Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette) 1947     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65_-vNtWLLs


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Anti-smoking songs
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 25 Mar 23 - 04:42 AM

Stanley Accrington did a great song based on an old joke but I can only remember parts of it. Starts

He was smoking I was choking
And he thought that I was joking
When I politely asked him to desist

It then goes into the smoker claiming it was his right to smoke etc. The last bit starts

I said you've got me thinking
My particular pleasure's drinking...

Goes on to

The byproduct isn't gaseous
It's smelly and it splashes

Then finishes

So I stood on the chair and peed upon his head

Sorry I can't remember more. If I get chance I'll see if I have a recording to post somewhere


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Subject: Lyr Add: HARRY RAG (Ray Davies/The Kinks)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 24 Mar 23 - 08:18 PM

This was mentioned by AndyG on 07-Jan-00. Lyrics found online and checked by me against a recording.


HARRY RAG*
Words and music by Ray Davies
As recorded by The Kinks on “Something Else,” 1967.

Ah, Tom is young and Tom is bold.
Tom is as bold as the knights of old,
But whenever he gets in a bit of a jam,
There's nothing he won't do to get a Harry rag.

CHORUS: Harry rag, Harry rag,
Do anything just to get a Harry rag.
And he curses himself for the life he's led,
And rolls himself a Harry rag and puts himself to bed.

Ah, Tom's old ma is a dying lass.
Soon they all reckon she'll be pushing up the grass,
And her bones might ache and her skin might sag,
But still she's got the strength to have a Harry rag.

CHORUS: Harry rag, Harry rag,
Do anything just to get a Harry rag.
And she curses herself for the life she's led.
And rolls herself a Harry rag and puts herself to bed.

Ah, bless you, tax man; bless you all.
You may take some but you never take it all,
But if I give it all, I won't feel sad
As long as I got enough to buy a Harry rag.

CHORUS: Harry rag, Harry rag,
Do anything just to get a Harry rag,
And I curse myself for the life I've led,
And roll myself a Harry rag and put myself to bed.

Ah, the smart young ladies of the land
Can't relax without a Harry in their hand,
And they light one up and they boast and brag,
So content because they got a Harry rag.

CHORUS: Harry rag, Harry rag,
Do anything just to get a Harry rag,
And they'll light one and they'll boast and brag,
So content because they got a Harry rag.

CHORUS: Harry rag, Harry rag,
I'll do anything just to get a Harry rag,
And I curse myself for the life I've led
And roll myself a Harry rag and put myself to bed.

- - -
* Harry rag or Harry Wragg, British and Irish rhyming slang for “fag” (cigarette), based on famous jockey Harry Wragg (1902-85). – info from The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English.


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Subject: Lyr Add: A WIFE'S COMPLAINT OF HER SMOKING HUSBAND
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 24 Mar 23 - 02:46 PM

This poem is obviously related to the above song, but I can't say who copied from whom. They were published in the same year. The text apparently comes from an anonymous source:

Found in The Literary Miscellany for English Readers Abroad and at Home (Nuremberg: Frederic Campe, and London: Williams & Norgate, 1848), page 204:


A WIFE'S COMPLAINT OF HER SMOKING HUSBAND.

He sits in his chair from morn till night
Smoke! Smoke! Smoke!
At early morn he calls for a light,
He takes his cigar, and with all his might
He puffs and puffs; for his only delight
Is Smoke! Smoke! Smoke!

And he takes to another when that is out,
Till Smoke! Smoke! Smoke!
In such dense clouds around him float,
If you saw him, indeed you would think that his throat
Was rather the funnel of some steam boat,
Such Smoke! Smoke! Smoke!

He sits silent all day in his odious fog,
Smoke! Smoke! Smoke!
I tell him it makes him as dull as a clod,
As a husband he'd be as well under the sod
But his only reply is—a puff, and a nod,
And Smoke! Smoke! Smoke!

The house all over from end to end
Is Smoke! Smoke! Smoke!
In whatever room my way I bend,
If I take up his clothes to patch or mend,
Ungrateful odours will ever ascend
Of Smoke! Smoke! Smoke!

At home or abroad, or far or near,
'Tis Smoke! Smoke! Smoke!
Every day in the week, every day in the year—
He'll never abandon the habit—that's clear—
And his days will certainly end, I fear,
In Smoke! Smoke! Smoke!

Young ladies, be warn'd by my fate!—and take heed
Ne'er to wed with a fellow who uses the weed;
Far better that husbands you ever should lack, O!
Than marry a man what smokes tobacco!


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Subject: Lyr Add: THE HUSBAND WHO USES TOBACCO
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 22 Mar 23 - 07:05 PM

From the sheet music at the Library of Congress:


THE HUSBAND WHO USES TOBACCO
Composed by Ossian E. Dodge, ©1848.
“Sung by the Misses Macomber and Messrs Covert & Dodge,
with unbounded applause in the principal cities of the union.”


1. He sits in his chair from morn till night.
’Tis smoke, chew, smoke.
He rises at dawn his pipe to light,
Goes puffing and chewing with all his might
Till the hour of sleep ’tis his delight
To smoke, chew, smoke.

2. He sits all day in a smoke or fog
‘Tis puff, puff, puff.
He growls at his wife, the cat and the dog.
He covers with filth the carpet and rug,
And his only reply when moved by a jog
Is puff, puff, puff.

3. The quid goes in when his pipe goes out.
‘Tis chew, chew, chew.
A cloud of smoke comes from his throat.
His mouth sends forth a stream afloat
Sufficient to carry a mill or boat.
‘Tis chew, chew, chew.

4. At home or abroad, afar or near,
‘Tis smoke, chew, smoke.
His mouth is stuffed from ear to ear,
Or puffing the stump of a pipe so dear.
His days will end, I verily fear,
In smoke, smoke, smoke.


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Subject: Lyr Add: A MERRY PROGRESS TO LONDON (broadside)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 09 Feb 22 - 02:56 PM

The text below is copied from a broadside at the English Broadside Ballad Archive at the University of California at Santa Barbara—but I have modernized the spelling (and to some extent, the punctuation) and added verse numbers. It is from the Pepys collection.

Ewan MacColl recorded this song on “Broadside Ballads, Vol. 1 (London: 1600-1700)” (1962); you can hear it at YouTube. He omitted verses 5, 7-8, 10, 13-15, and 17, as I have indicated by enclosing those verses in brackets.


A MERRY PROGRESS TO LONDON
TO SEE FASHIONS, BY A YOUNG COUNTRY GALLANT THAT HAD MORE MONEY THAN WIT.

To the tune of Riding to Rumford.

1. My mother to heaven is gone; ten pounds she gave me.
Now never a penny's left, as God shall have me.
Yet still my heart is free; I live at liberty,
And keep good company, taking tobacco.

2. Old woman, fare thee well; thanks for thy kindness.
My plough and cart are gone, with my good geldings.
I have no foot of land, nor one groat at command.
Which way then shall I stand, to a pipe of tobacco?

3. My purse will chink no more; my pocket's empty.
I am turned out of door; farewell, good company.
Friendship now slender grows; poverty parteth those
That for drink sell their clothes, and for tobacco.

4. My cloak is laid to pawn with my old dagger.
My state is quite o'erthrown; how shall I swagger?
Yet I'll do what I can, and be no coward then,
But prove myself a man, at a pipe of tobacco.

[5. In an old satin suit, without a penny,
We gallants may brag it brave as well as any.
What though my credit's lost, yet can I find a post
Still to score with mine host, for a pipe of tobacco.]

6. Upon a proper nag daintily pacéd.
To London first I came, all with gold lacéd.
Then with my punk each day, rode I to see a play.
There went my gold away, taking tobacco.

[7. Twenty good sheep I brought, left by my mother:
Ewes and lambs, cows and calves, one with the other,
With which I paid a shot, for a pipe and a pot.
All these were bravely got, and spent in tobacco.]

[8. No companion was I then for clownish carters.
I wore embroidered hose, with golden garters.
My silver-hatchéd sword, made me swear like a lord.
Come, rogue; at every word, fill me tobacco.]

THE SECOND PART OF THE MERRY PROGRESS TO LONDON.
TO THE SAME TUNE.


9. Then tracing the gallant streets of London city,
A damsel me kindly greets, courteous and witty.
She like a singing lark, led me into the dark,
Where I soon paid a mark, for a pipe of tobacco.

[10. To Smithfield then gallantly took I my journey,
Where I left soon behind part of my money.
There I found out a punk, with whom I was so drunk,
That my purse bottom shrunk, away with tobacco.]

11. Pickthatch and Clerkenwell made me so merry,
Until my purse at last, began to grow weary.
Yellow-starched bonny Kate, with her fine nimble pate,
Cozened me of my plate, with a pipe of tobacco.

12. Then for good fellowship, to Garden-alley,
I hied me to search for daughters of folly.
There I found roaring boys, with their fair female joys,
And the devil-making toys, to take tobacco.

[13. After, to Shoreditch then, stood I beholding,
Where I found sinners store, of the devil's molding.
I speak for no slander, the punk and her pander,
Like a goose and her gander, took whiffs of tobacco.]

[14. To St Katharine's passed I next, not without trouble,
Where my purse lashed out, drinking beer double.
A tester for each toast, paid I there to my host,
And the sauce to my cost, was a crown for tobacco.]

[15. To Ratcliff and Wapping then, went I for shipping,
Whereat a lass lovingly gave me a whipping.
There was a bonny wench, struck a nail would not clench,
That taught me finely French, taking tobacco.]

16. Then straight to Westminster made I adventure,
To find good fellows who willed me to enter,
Where I felt such a smoke, as might the devil choke.
There went away my cloak, with the smoke of tobacco.

[17. Backward to Barbican quickly I hasted.
There met I honest John, my money being wasted.
A pipe and a pot (quoth he) my friend I'll bestow on thee;
Then let’s to no-body, there's the best tobacco.]

18. Now farewell, good fellowship; London, I leave thee.
Never more whilst I live, shall they deceive me.
Every street, every lane, holds me in disdain.
London hath wrought my bane, so farewell, tobacco.

Finis.
Imprinted at London for J. White.


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Anti-smoking songs
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 11 Nov 11 - 09:52 AM

This is one of the best ones I've heard, posted in another thread:

ADVERTISING MAN by David Wilcox.


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Anti-smoking songs
From: GUEST
Date: 14 Sep 10 - 03:49 AM

There is another verse that has been omitted from Sheila Hancock's song, which starts with her calling out to a male friend/partner "Sidney, run down the shop and get me a packet of menthol King Size. I want to feel like a cool mountain stream! ". . .

The missing verse goes something like:

My teeth are all yellow
And so is my tongue
I breathe through a kipper
I call it a lung!
But I'll give up the habit, I will even yet,
When I've had just one more cigarette!

I loved that record as a child, it amused us all at home, ghoulish humour but we were very unsophisticated in those far off days! We loved Sheila Hancock's husky voiced delivery of her lines, accompanied by lots of coughing and bit of thin reedy warbling! A typical addicted smoker who is always "going to give up after just one more cigarette"!

prettypolly


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Anti-smoking songs
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Jul 10 - 03:31 PM

The craving Got is for a smoke
Is ever pending
My sight is bleak
It is such a joke

Reading into it brings me doubt
I cannot do this again
It is to hard
Nothing good will amount

Once I take a puff
the idea of having another hits me
It is such a tragic event
I have had enough


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Subject: Lyr Add: LUNG CANCER (Randy Stonehill)
From: mousethief
Date: 31 Jan 10 - 11:24 PM

I always wonder that the old dears that gave us prohibition never turned their sights on tobacco. What a much more productive interlude that might have been.

Short but sweet:

Lung Cancer
Randy Stonehill

she went down to the corner store
and bought a pack of filter kings
don't you know tomorrow she'll be back for more
'cause she really loves to smoke those things

and every time that she inhales
a cloud of that cigarette smoke
she's just one step closer to the man in black
and sixty cents closer to broke

and she's working on

lung cancer, emphysema, a cardiac arrest
and she'll probably have a stroke when see sees
the x-rays of her chest

when she had her first cigarette
a puff or two was all she could take
now if she doesn't have one in her hand all the time
you'll notice it begin to shake (shake baby)

and even though she's nonchalant
and acts as if her habit's a joke
she won't do too much laughing when
her life goes up in smoke

she's been smoking that C-I-G-A-R-E-T-T-E
that cigarette's got her on her knees
C-I-G-A-R-E-T-T-E
that darn tobacco won't set her free

oh run, suck, baby, suck
suck on that cigarette
go on and light up that fag and take a drag
it's bound to snuff you yet



O..O
=o=


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Anti-smoking songs
From: An Buachaill Caol Dubh
Date: 08 Jan 10 - 11:33 AM

Yes, George Papavgeris, and smoking was banned in public places a year earlier, in Scotland; earlier still in Ireland, though as one common amendment to billposters advertising this has it, "It is illegal to smoke [tobacco] on these premises".



Come all ye good folk who can take a good joke,
Cast a coin in the poke as I'm strumming the lyre:
While I sing, ye may smoke all ye like, till ye choke:
Like a "pig going to hoke", or to rowl in the mire,
Take a last, fiery drag of a dirty ould fag
Till ye cough like a hag and ye spit oan the flair --
Till the Western horizon is grey wi' the poison,
Like incense arisin', when Priests are at prayer.


(First verse of a song "commemorating" these bans; "like a pig going to hoke", or dig, is a proverbial way of saying someone is absolutely determined to do something, no matter how ill-advised, and will not be dissuaded or prevented).


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Subject: Lyr Add: WITH MEN WHO KNOW TOBACCO BEST
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 07 Jan 10 - 02:50 PM

This song is a sequel, apparently, to SMOKE! SMOKE! SMOKE! (THAT CIGARETTE), which was written by Merle Travis and Tex Williams, and recorded by Tex Williams. The lyrics have been posted above. The verse is recited in exactly the same rhythm as the earlier song. The chorus, however, is adapted a bit to squeeze more syllables into each line. You can hear this song at http://78records.cdbpdx.com/. (Follow instructions on that page to get to the "main music page.")


WITH MEN WHO KNOW TOBACCO BEST
Written by Lou Busch and Charles Hayes
As recorded by Tex Williams and His Western Caravan, on Capitol 40276, circa 1949-50.

1. Now I heard tell about a guy who smoked
So doggone much he up and croaked,
And now he's restin' six feet underground.
He'd stop a red-hot poker game,
A pettin' party with a beautiful dame,
To light a cigarette to calm him down.
I used to be just like that guy.
I had to have a smoke or die.
For nicotine, I'd even hock my boots.
But then I stopped. I'd had enough.
I vowed I'd taken my last puff.
I found a brand-new brand that really suits.

CHORUS: With men who know tobacco best, it's women two to one.
Ask any man who's made the test which product gets the gun,
And if this fellow's a manly guy,
You can bet your shirt that he'll reply:
"With men who know tobacco best, it's women two to one."

2. Now I was quite a connoisseur.
I knew tobacco, that's for sure.
I tried most ever' kind of nicotine.
I've smoked a pipe, a cigar too,
Some tailor-mades, and rolled a few,
And as a kid I smoked the coffee bean.
But then I met a man one day,
His face was old, his hair was gray,
And upon his frame his clothes so loosely hung.
He listened to me brag awhile
'Bout cigarettes, then with a smile,
He said, "My boy, get wise while you're still young."

3. While sittin' in a bar one night,
I asked a lady for a light.
My cigarette had gone and lost its flame.
She looked at me from head to toe,
Said, "I don't smoke, but goodness knows
I just love to play those parlor games."
I said, "No, thanks, I'd rather smoke."
And then and there I thought she'd choke,
But then she started smilin' with delight.
I moved to leave. She said, "Sit still."
And as she moved in for the kill,
Said, "Son, I've got good news for you tonight."


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Subject: Lyr Add: NON-SMOKER'S LIBERATION FRONT ANTHEM
From: GUEST,BF
Date: 01 Jan 10 - 12:51 PM

THE NON-SMOKER’S LIBERATION FRONT ANTHEM
Words and music by Don Lange.
As recorded by [Doug] Freeman & [Don] Lange on “Freeman & Lange,” Flying Fish #011, 1975.

Keep on smokin’ that cigarette, you crazy fool.
Keep on suckin’ that Salem, blow a Camel, kiss a Kool.
You’re a man of distinction, a guy with real charm,
But your breath smells worse than your underarm.
Keep on smokin’ that cigarette, you crazy fool.

Why should you give a damn about cancer? We all got to go sometime.
It’s OK for you to ruin your lungs, but why won’t you spare me mine?
That factory on the corner, it’s pollutin’ the air,
But you can’t smell it, so why the hell should you care?
You just keep on smokin’ that cigarette, you crazy fool.

Keep on doin’ your consumin’ best for the good old USA.
Keep those black folk workin’ in the fields, drawin’ a dollar a day.
Our American Tobacco Co. and Liggett & Myers,
They’re all good men, so baby, light your fire,
And keep on smokin’ that cigarette, you crazy fool.

[Spoken:] Now, if we ask you kindly not to smoke, please don’t think that we’re mean.
Every mother knows that suckling babes eventually must be weaned.
[Sung:] Before your next nicci*-fit, take a stick of dried beef.
You can chew it, you can suck it, and it won’t stain your teeth.
Oh, you can keep on smokin’ that cigarette, you crazy fool.
I mean to tell you—
You’re a crazy—
...
You’re a crazy fool.

- - -
* Nicotine.


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Anti-smoking songs
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Dec 09 - 12:44 PM

Smokers who smoke in street fairs near other people are scum- the song makes the context clear in the first verse.


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Anti-smoking songs
From: Donuel
Date: 28 Dec 09 - 11:48 AM

old tobacco, that old tobacco
it just keeps killin
cuz folks are willin
to keep on smokin
they keep on smokin away.

phlegm they're coughin, could fill a coffin
They'll burn your house down
from ash they're droppin
that old tobacco
just keeps killin away.


Buy those smokes, and you will choke
You'll get a cancer
that ain't no hoax
smoke or chew, they'll both kill you
Get a little drunk and the heart fails too-ooo.


old tobacco, that old tobacco
it just keeps killin
cuz folks are willin
to keep on smokin
they keep on smokin away.




( a few words I threw together to the tune of Old Man River.)

best sung by a countra bass with a cough.

PS smokers are neither stupid or scum.


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Subject: Lyr Add: SMOKERS ARE SCUM (C. Denney)
From: GUEST,guest
Date: 27 Dec 09 - 12:37 PM

Smokers Are Scum;         12-25-09, by C.Denney
(a holiday song; gentle commentary on one of the obvious perils of street performing)

I play the street fairs
I play from the heart
fiddle and guitar
and squeezebox for art
we play for the old folk
we play for the bums
but we don't play for smokers
cause smokers are scum
smokers are scum
smokers are scum
they know they're addicted
they know smoking's dumb
they know that exposure
is deadly to us
but they're hoping we're stupid
and won't make a fuss

smokers are addicts
they know smoking kills
they're too frigging lazy
to smoke somewhere else
what's the big problem
with walking away
I wish their smoking
would kill them today
smokers are fools
smokers are fools
they shill for tobacco
like industry tools
making us share
their addiction's a farce
take your stupid cigarette
and shove it up your arse

don't light up near me
because if you do
I got a squirt-gun
and my aim is true
folks think they're helpless
but I say they're not
pick up some bug spray
give smokers a shot
smokers are stupid
and ugly and dumb
smokers expose you
cause they think it's fun
they won't smoke elsewhere
because it's too tough
smoking will kill them
but not fast enough

(bridge)
it gets in your clothing
it gets in your hair
cause asthma cause cancer
but smokers don't care
the deep inconvenience
of walking away
it too hard for smokers and
that's why I say

pick up some bug spray
some air freshener too
don't let a smoker
light up next to you
their rights have ended
where your lungs begin
pick up your squirt-gun
and baby you win
they'll poison your street gig
they'll poison your lungs
they won't put on patches
or just chew some gum
they're screwed-up and stupid
and ugly and dumb
they'll poison their mothers
cause smokers are scum
(coda)
be glad it's just bug spray
instead of a gun (…hold…)
they'll poison their mothers
cause smokers are scum


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Anti-smoking songs
From: GUEST,guest
Date: 24 Sep 09 - 01:10 PM

(from oldtime song Greasy Coat)
-- I don't drink
I don't smoke
I don't wear no greasy coat

I don't smoke and I don't chew
I don't go out with girls that do

(it's a great fiddle tune and song)


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Anti-smoking songs
From: GUEST,janet
Date: 09 Jun 09 - 06:56 AM

might as well give up now cos heavens a smoke free zone


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Anti-smoking songs
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 11 May 09 - 07:06 PM

Curious the difference in attitudes when it comes to activities a minority of people enjoy which carry a certain risk to health. I mean, if someone had started a thread asking for "Anti-gay-sex songs"...


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Anti-smoking songs
From: Allen in Oz
Date: 10 May 09 - 07:03 PM

Not really applicable to this thread, but readers might be interested to learn that the wonderful contribution made by cigarette companies in Australia to the World War 2 effort was to give free cigarettes to the armed forces. Thus ensnaring an entire generation to smoking . Very clever. Nice chaps.

Allen


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Anti-smoking songs
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 09 May 09 - 09:50 PM

A wonderful parody, even if I say so myself... Has it really been two years (June 2007) since the smoking ban in England?


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Subject: Lyr Add: I'LL DO MY SMOKING IN THE RAIN (parody)
From: Bluegrassman
Date: 09 May 09 - 07:41 PM

Here is a good song to sing in the Leper Colony on a cold wet night to the tune of the Everly Brothers, I`ll do my crying in the rain.


I'LL DO MY SMOKING IN THE RAIN


I'll never let you see
The way my coughing lungs are hurting me
I got my pride and I know how to hide
Every nicotine stain
I'll do my smoking in the rain

Slip out in stormy skies
Then smoke and cough till I get tears in my eyes
Where I have been looks like a disaster scene
Just cigarette butts remain
I do my smoking in the rain

I love you more than heaven
But our relationship is never enough
So when we are together
I pray for stormy weather
I hide the packet and go out for a puff.

Someday when my coughing is done
I'll wear a minty smile and walk in the sun.
I may be a fool
but till the end darling you 'll
Never see me complain
I'll do my smoking in the rain.


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Anti-smoking songs
From: fumblefingers
Date: 09 May 09 - 06:20 PM

Jimmy Martin did one called "I Can't Quit Cigarettes" I'll look for the words, but first I'm goin' for a smoke.


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Anti-smoking songs
From: Stringsinger
Date: 09 May 09 - 10:15 AM

longhair,

I don't like perfume either but it doesn't cause cancer and lung damage.

Anyone defending smoking today is living in the Dark Ages.

Frank


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Anti-smoking songs
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 09 May 09 - 07:14 AM

By the way - good song, and good voice (on MySpace).
Maar, wat doet jij in Antwerpen, een van de mooiste staden in het wereld? De groeten aan het Schelde!


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Anti-smoking songs
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 09 May 09 - 07:02 AM

My first reaction was to cut you some slack, Bob - and that might have remained so despite the 13 postings (11 of them identical, with no attempt to "topicalise" them, which shows some serious disregard for others!).

But your statement that you "write traditional British songs" (in your posting on the traditional song thread) went beyond disregard and risibleness to being downright offensive. A quick apology might cover it.

I still support your right to promote yourself. But not to cover me with thoughtless blanket marketing that treats me like a fool.

We are not sheep, Bob. I would have said "Put that in your pipe and smoke it", but given your strong feelings on the subject perhaps I won't.


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Anti-smoking songs
From: Emma B
Date: 09 May 09 - 06:43 AM

Thank you for your promotional link GUEST,Bob Rowley but it doesn't seem appropiate or courteous to me to also post the same message in 13 unrelated music threads in a 30 minute period this morning!


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Subject: Lyr Add: THE ANTI-SMOKING SONG (Bob Rowley)
From: GUEST,Bob Rowley
Date: 09 May 09 - 05:59 AM

Hi Folks,
You can listen & download my song for free on:
http://www.myspace.com/bobrowley

Here are the written words:

THE ANTI-SMOKING SONG: - (DON'T TRY TO QUIT SMOKING FOREVER):
by Bob Rowley

Tobacco you were a devil. Like a curse from the day I was born.
Maybe I'll meet you in Purgatory, 'but I'm not in hell anymore, boy. I'm not your slave after all

Been smoking Tobacco most of my life.         Addicted before I was born.
        Back in the days when a smoke was alright.
Just after the second World War, boy. After the second World War.

I clearly remember my first cigarette. Oh My, I thought it was cool.
When I bought my first pack, there was no turning back, I got hooked - like any young fool, boy,
Just ask any kid in my school.

Tobacco you were a devil. Like a curse from the day I was born.
Maybe I'll meet you in Purgatory, but I'm not in hell anymore. No. I'm not your slave after all

But every morning for so many years, I tasted a bitter defeat.
The habit of losing kept bringing me down, and scaring the life out of me ... fiddle de dee

When I finally went to my Doctor, his words filled me with cheer :
'Don't try to quit smoking forever' he said 'Just stop for a couple of years, boy.
Think of the next thirty years.'

'Cos Carcinoma in the old- runs slow, and if you abstain,
You may survive to eighty five, then you can start smoking again .. .it's all in your brain.

Now maybe you think I am crazy, but the difference seemed perfectly plain.
I could never quit smoking forever, but to stop for a while I was game.
And that was the break in my chain, boy.

No tobacco will torment your body, but treat the discomfort with scorn.
A light at the end of the tunnel will shine, through the cracks as the old prison wall comes a crumbling down

And into this light you will wonder, as all of the symptoms withdraw.
In a year and a day there'll be no price to pay, for body and soul to restore boy.
Body and soul to restore. In a year and a day, you'll be able to say,
'my ship has outrun the storm. My ship has outrun the storm'.

Tobacco you were a devil. Like a curse from the day I was born
Maybe I'll meet you in Purgatory. But I'm not in Hell anymore, I'm not your slave after all.
Maybe I'll see you in thirty years. Perhaps I'll won't see you at all. I'm not your slave after all.
My ship has outrun the storm, …And this life is a rose with no thorn.
©Robin M. Rowley, 5th May 2009, Lint, Belgium


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Subject: Lyr Add: PUT DOWN YOUR CIGARETTE RAG (DON'T SMOKE)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 11:42 AM

Lyrics copied from http://listserv.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0410&L=POETICS&D=0&P=482451

Also found at YouTube here and here. Ginsberg sings/chants/recites this poem to a strict rhythm.


PUT DOWN YOUR CIGARETTE RAG (DON'T SMOKE)
by Allen Ginsberg

Dont smoke dont smoke dont smoke
Dont smoke
It's a nine billion dollar
Capitalist Communist joke
Dont smoke dont smoke dont smoke dont smoke
Dont smoke

Smoking makes you cough,
You cant sing straight
You gargle on saliva
& vomit on your plate
Dont smoke dont smoke dont smoke dont smoke,
Dont smoke smoke smoke smoke

You smoke in bed
You smoke on the hill
Smoke till yr dead
You smoke in Hell
Dont smoke dont smoke in living Hell Dope Dope
Dont smoke dont smoke dont smoke

You puff your fag
You suck your butt
You choke & gag
Teeth full of crud
Smoke smoke smoke smoke Dont dont dont
Dont Dont Dope Dope Dope Dont Smoke Dont Dope

Pay your two bucks
for a deathly pack
Trust your bad luck
& smoke in the sack
Dont Smoke Dont Smoke Nicotine Nicotine No
No dont smoke the official Dope Smoke Dope Dope

Four Billion dollars in Green
'swat Madison Avenue gets
t' advertise nicotine
& hook you radical brats
Dont Smoke Dont Smoke Dont Smoke
Nope Nope Dope Dope Hoax Hax Hoax Hoax
Dopey Dope Dopey Dope Dope Dope dope dope

Black magic pushes dope
Sexy chicks in cars
America loses hope
& smokes and drinks in bars
Don't smoke dont smoke dont smoke,
dont smoke dont dont dont dont dont
choke choke choke choke kaf kaf
Kaf Kaf Choke Choke
Choke Choke Dope Dope

Communism's flopped
Let's help the Soviet millions
Sell 'em our Coffin-Nails
& make a couple billions
Big Bucks Big Bucks bucks bucks
bucks bucks smoke smoke smoke smoke
smoke Bucks smoke bucks Dope bucks big
Dope Bucks Dig Big Dope Bucks Big Dope
Bucks dont smoke big dope bucks
Dig big Pig dope bucks

Nine billion bucks a year
a Southern Industry
Buys Senator Jesse Fear* who pushes Tobacco subsidy
In the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Dope smokes dope smokes dont smoke dont smoke
Cloak cloak cloak room cloak & dagger
smoke room cloak room dope cloak
cloak room dope cloak room dope dont smoke

Nine billion bucks for dope
approved by Time & Life
America loses hope
The President smokes Tobacco votes
Dont Smoke dont smoke dont smoke dont smoke
Dont smoke nope nope nope nope

30 thousand die of coke or
Illegal speed each year
430 thousand cigarette deaths
That's the drug to fear
In USA Dont smoke Dont smoke Dont smoke

Get Hooked on Cigarettes
Go Fight the War on Drugs
Smoke any other Weed
Get bust by Government Thugs
Dont smoke dont smoke the official dope

If you will get in bed
& give your girlfriend head
then you wont want a fag
Nor evermore a drag
Dont Smoke dont smoke Hope Hope Hope Hope
O Please Dont Smoke Dont Smoke
O Please O Please O Please
I'm calling on my knees

Twenty-four hours in bed
& give your boyfriend head
Put something in your mouth
Like skin not cigarette filth
Suck tit suck tit suck cock suck cock
suck clit suck prick suck it
but dont smoke nicotine dont smoke
dont smoke nicotine nicotine it's
too obscene dont smoke dont smoke
nicotine suck cock suck prick suck tit
suck clit suck it But dont smoke shit nope
nope nope nope Dope Dope Dope Dope
the official dope Dont Smoke

Make believe yer sick
Stay in bed and lick
yr cigarette habit greed
One day's all you need
In deed in deed in deed in deed smoke weed
smoke weed Put something green
in between but don't smoke smoke dont smoke
hope hope hope hope Nicotine dont
smoke the official dope
Dope Dope Dope Dope Dont Smoke
Smoke weed indeed smoke grass yass yass
smoke pot but not nicotine no no
indeed it's too obscene
put something green
in between your lips get hip not square
listen to my wail don't dare smoke coffin nails
ugh ugh ugh ugh the government Drug
official habit for Mr. Babbitt
Dont smoke the official dope
dope dope dope dope don't smoke
Dont Smoke Dont Smoke.


[*Senator Jesse Fear = Jesse Helms. An earlier version of the poem had "Senator Joe Fear who runs the CIA", i.e. Joseph McCarthy(?).]

Ginsberg, Allen. First Blues: Rags, Ballads & Harmonium Songs, 1971-74. New York: Full Court Press, 1975.

Ginsberg, Allen. Collected Poems, 1947-1997. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2006.


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Anti-smoking songs
From: Jack Campin
Date: 24 Sep 08 - 07:54 AM

There is a spectacular rant against smoking and the tobacco industry on YouTube (part poem, part blues) by Allen Ginsberg. But he delivers it so fast I can't figure out more than about half of the words. Was it ever published on paper?


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Subject: Lyr Add: PEOPLE WHO SMOKE (Proper Little Madams)
From: Black belt caterpillar wrestler
Date: 24 Sep 08 - 07:28 AM

I haven't seen this mentioned that Proper Little Madams used to do.

People Who Smoke.

People who smoke:
The thought of nicotine-crazed junkies makes me choke.
They hack and cough and splutter before they're halfway out of bed.
Why don't they get the job done properly and drop dead.
The way they rave,
If they're denied the noxious poison that they crave.
They suffer more horrific symptoms than a diver with the bends,
And crawl on hands and knees through gutters for dog-ends.

To some vast plain,
They should be forcibly removed by cattle-train,
And in a mighty conflagration of burning tyres and acrid smoke,
They should be made to puff and pant until they choke.
But no such luck.
They come round to my house for tea and then light up.
They wave their obscene cancer sticks around the house, and when they're gone,
For seven days the putrid perfume lingers on.

CH.
Their bloodshot eyes, their sickly mien,
They should be made to ring a bell and shout "Unclean."

Caligula:
I bet he always smoked a whacking great cigar.
The Boston Strangler and Crippen, all those mad psychotic slags,
Before they maimed and killed, I bet they had a drag.
Speaking of death,
The average smoker will request with his last breath,
Not to be buried underground, where worms will rot him into mash,
But to be burned so he can turn to smoke and ash.

CH.
Their bloodshot eyes, their sickly mien,
They should be made to ring a bell and shout "Unclean."

Smoking's not nice.
The unsophisticated anti-social vice.
They can keep their filthy roll-ups, shag tobacco, Cuban whiffs,
I'm getting desperate for some coke or glue to sniff.


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Anti-smoking songs
From: GUEST,ACE
Date: 24 Sep 08 - 12:36 AM

Do you know the Christas Carol Parodies? There are quite a few of them
They are pretty good, though I have not located them.
O Little Town of Bethlehem becomes
O little lungs of smoking men etc.
Cheers


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Anti-smoking songs
From: Thompson
Date: 24 Apr 08 - 05:22 AM

No, Clare, I don't understand the rationale for smoking. What is it, please?


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Anti-smoking songs
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Apr 08 - 05:03 PM

smoking is not so cool
if you smoke your a fool


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Anti-smoking songs
From: Stringsinger
Date: 17 Nov 07 - 10:04 PM

Smoking is more addictive than cocaine or heroin.

As for smoker's rights, as long as they don't spread their smoke to non-smokers, then i would have no trouble with them. But they have no rights if they lay their trip on you
through second-hand smoke. They have the right to poison themselves but not others.

I think of it as a metaphor of religious or political evangelism. Keep it to yourselves and don't infect others.

Frank


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Subject: Lyr Add: BEEN SMOKING TOO LONG (Robin Frederick)
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Nov 07 - 02:04 AM

Been Smoking Too Long
Words & Music by Robin Frederick

I wake up in the morning
Look at my clock   It's way past noontime
I know I'm late for work
Tell me, tell me, what have I done wrong   
Ain't nothin' goin' right for me
Must be I been smoking too long.

I go to fix me some breakfast
But I ain't got no food
Go to take me a shower
But the water don't feel no good
Tell me, tell me, what have I done wrong
Ain't nothin' goin' right for me
Must be I been smoking too long.

Got opium in my chimney
Got the marijuana blues
Got a nightmare made of hash dreams
Got the devil in my shoes
Tell me, tell me, what have I done wrong
Ain't nothin' goin' right for me
Must be I been smoking too long.

Now when I get to smokin'
I put my worries on a shelf
Don't think about nothin'
Try not to see myself
Tell me, tell me, what have I done wrong
Ain't nothin' goin' right for me
Must be I been smoking too long.

Now in these blues I'm singing
There's a lesson to be learned
Don't go round smokin'
'Less you want to get burned
Tell me, tell me, what have I done wrong
Ain't nothin' goin' right for me
Must be I been smoking...
Ain't nothin' goin' right for me
Must be I been smoking...
Ain't nothin' goin' right for me
Must be I been smoking too long.

MP3s are

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Subject: Lyr Add: I'M SO TIRED (Lennon, McCartney)
From: number 6
Date: 17 Nov 07 - 01:43 AM

"I'm so Tired" by the Beatles

I'm so tired, I haven't slept a wink
I'm so tired, my mind is on the blink
I wonder should I get up and fix myself a drink
No,no,no.

I'm so tired I don't know what to do
I'm so tired my mind is set on you
I wonder should I call you but I know what you would do

You'd say I'm putting you on
But it's no joke, it's doing me harm
You know I can't sleep, I can't stop my brain
You know it's three weeks, I'm going insane
You know I'd give you everything I've got
for a little peace of mind

I'm so tired, I'm feeling so upset
Although I'm so tired I'll have another cigarette
And curse Sir Walter Raleigh
He was such a stupid git.

You'd say I'm putting you on
But it's no joke, it's doing me harm
You know I can't sleep, I can't stop my brain
You know it's three weeks, I'm going insane
You know I'd give you everything I've got
for a little peace of mind
I'd give you everything I've got for a little peace of mind
I'd give you everything I've got for a little peace of mind

(mumbling) Monsieur Monsieur Lets have another one


biLL


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Anti-smoking songs
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Nov 07 - 12:28 AM

"Tobacco Song" (Mike Cross)
"Chocolate Cigarettes" (Sylvia Tyson & Tom Russell)


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