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Origins: How old is The Little Fly ?

Related thread:
Lyr Req: Tha fly and Big Mick (12)


GUEST 05 Aug 21 - 06:56 PM
Stilly River Sage 05 Aug 21 - 07:19 PM
GUEST,# 05 Aug 21 - 09:01 PM
Stilly River Sage 05 Aug 21 - 11:32 PM
Joe Offer 06 Aug 21 - 01:32 AM
Joe Offer 06 Aug 21 - 01:34 AM
Joe Offer 06 Aug 21 - 02:12 AM
GUEST,LF 11 Jun 23 - 07:12 PM
and e 11 Jun 23 - 09:54 PM
and e 11 Jun 23 - 10:07 PM
and e 12 Jun 23 - 07:08 AM
and e 28 Aug 23 - 07:30 PM
and e 28 Aug 23 - 07:30 PM
and e 15 Jan 25 - 12:48 PM
and e 22 Jan 25 - 05:48 AM
Lighter 22 Jan 25 - 02:02 PM
Lighter 22 Jan 25 - 02:33 PM
Lighter 22 Jan 25 - 05:47 PM
and e 22 Jan 25 - 07:47 PM
and e 22 Jan 25 - 07:59 PM
and e 22 Jan 25 - 08:19 PM
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Subject: Origins: How old is The Little Fly ?
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Aug 21 - 06:56 PM

i've recently seen references to this song, recorded by about 5 different artists, but my memory is of it sung by the Gingermen in Dublin in the late 1960s. I suspect it's much older than that but Google can't tell me how old. Anyone on here know ?


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Subject: RE: Origins: How old is The Little Fly ?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Aug 21 - 07:19 PM

You need to learn to use the search feature, unnamed guest. That song has been listed in the Digital Tradition for at least 20 years. That would be a good place to start looking for the answer.


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Subject: RE: Origins: How old is The Little Fly ?
From: GUEST,#
Date: 05 Aug 21 - 09:01 PM

https://books.google.ca/books?id=UTMhAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA294&lpg=PA294&dq=%22The+little+fly%22,+song+lyrics,+copyright&source=bl&ots=B

That link shows two copyrights for songs entitled 'The Little Fly'. As yet I have look on further into either song to see if the lyrics match those sung by Seamus Kennedy, et.al. They could be completely different song altogether. However, I will not put more time into it unless the OP returns and replies to the thread s/he started. No offence, but I've had too much of my time wasted digging for stuff no one really gives a rat's rear about.


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Subject: RE: Origins: How old is The Little Fly ?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Aug 21 - 11:32 PM

And it is incumbent upon that requestor to attempt to exhaust the data already here at Mudcat. I clicked on one answer when I did that search, but there were several that had possible information. It's always heartening to help someone who has tried to help themselves first.


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Subject: RE: Origins: How old is The Little Fly ?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 06 Aug 21 - 01:32 AM

Seems like a good excuse to consolidate the information we have on this song. And if there are too many threads on a song, I move the best messages into an "origins" thread.



https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=6470#507448


Thread #6470   Message #507448
Posted By: Seamus Kennedy
16-Jul-01 - 01:47 AM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Irish songs (thread closed)
Subject: Lyr Add: THE LITTLE FLY

Aw, the heck with it. Here's the words:

THE LITTLE FLY (P.D.)

CHORUS
There was a little fly and he flew into a store,
And he sh-- upon the ceiling and he sh-- upon the floor,
He sh-- upon the bacon and he sh-- upon the ham,
And he sh-- upon the head of the little grocery man.

Now the little grocery man got his little spray gun,
Said he would get the fly before the day was done,
But before he could count from one to ten,
The fly flew down and sh-- upon his baldy head again.
CHORUS

Now the little grocery man and his little grocery wife
Said they would get the fly even if it meant their life,
They bought themselves a hand-grenade and hid inside the store,
And they blew themselves to blazes as the fly flew out the door.
CHORUS

Now they both went up to heaven and angels they were made,
St. Peter said to them that they would be repaid,
They got their angels wings and they flew into the sky,
Then they both swooped down like bombers and they sh-- upon the fly!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlknQ9sy28s



From Joe Offer: looks like Seamus got his version from Foster & Allen, but I still think it has calypso roots:


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Subject: RE: Origins: How old is The Little Fly ?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 06 Aug 21 - 01:34 AM

Mmario says the song was sung by Gilbert the Troubadour. Does that mean the song has filk roots?

Thread #8835   Message #55620
Posted By: MMario
25-Jan-99 - 11:06 AM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Tha fly and Big Mick
Subject: DTADD: THE FLY

Hah! I was pretty sure this was on my hard disk somewhere!

Here's what I have....

The FLY

Chorus:
Well, there was a little fly and he flew into a store
And he sh__ upon the ceiling and he sh__ upon the floor.
He sh__ upon the bacon and he sh__ upon the ham
And he sh__ upon the head of the little grocery man.

Well that little grocery man, he got a spray gun
He swore he'd get that fly, before the day was done.
But before he could count, from one to ten,
The fly swooped down and sh__ upon the grocery man again.

Chorus

That little grocery man, he had a grocery wife.
They swore they'd get that fly, if it took their bloody life.
So they bought themselves a cannon, and they hid inside the store,
And they blew themselves to blazes as the fly flew out the door.

Chorus

Well they found themselves in heaven, outside the Pearly Gate,
St. Peter said "Don't worry. for soon you be repaid."
So they got their angel wings, and they took off to the sky,
And they both swooped down like buzzards and they sh__ upon the fly.

Chorus
Chorus

-Sang by Gibbon the Troubadour, at Scarborough with various pirates during various years. Thank you Garold Amedon.

courtesy of the SCRIBE Network

MMario





Nope. Older than filk. I found a 1954 recording of "The Little Fly" in Calypso style by Lord Fly and His Orchestra. It was produced by Stanley Motta, Ltd., Kingston, Jamaica. Notes say that the song was composed by Rupert Lyons (Lord Fly), but I don't know if that's credible. Wish I could understand it well enough to transcribe it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGPEdsxRY0Y


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Subject: ADD Version: The Fly (Israel Kamakawiwo'ole)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 06 Aug 21 - 02:12 AM

Oh, look at this - a recording by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, best known for "Over the Rainbow."
https://www.musixmatch.com/lyrics/Israel-Kamakawiwo%CA%BBole/The-Fly

THE FLY
(as recorded by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole)

CHORUS
There was a little fly, he flew into the store,
He do it on the table, he do it on the floor,
He do it on the egg, he do it on the ham,
He do it on the head of the little grocery man.

The little grocery man, he run to get his gun,
He said, "I'm gonna get this fly before this day was done,"
Before that he could count from one to ten,
The little fly he do it on the grocery nan again.
    There was a little fly, he flew into the store,
    ...ish on the table, ...ish on the floor,
    ...ish on the egg, ...ish on the ham,
    .ish on the head of the little grocery man.


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Subject: RE: Origins: How old is The Little Fly ?
From: GUEST,LF
Date: 11 Jun 23 - 07:12 PM

My Dad lived in Jamaica in 1954. He had two small children. He sang this song to my siblings & I as kids. Exactly like the 1954 version.


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Subject: RE: Origins: How old is The Little Fly ?
From: and e
Date: 11 Jun 23 - 09:54 PM

THE NAUGHTY FLY

A little fly flew by the door,
He flew into the grocery store
He pissed on the cheese, and shit on the ham
And wiped his ass on the grocery man.

When the grocery man saw what he had done
He loaded up his gatling gun,
He chased the fly all up and down
An tried to shoot him in the brown.

But the fly was much, oh, much too slick,
He showed the grocery man a trick
He flew around the room and then
Went and shit on the ham again.

When he had done this dirty work
He flew over to the lady clerk
And up her leg he took a stroll
And took a bath in the lady's hole.

The lady laughed and said "Oh My,"
"Now, you're there, stay there, your naughty fly,
What made her laugh she did not know
But something up there tickled her so.

She felt so gay that she rolled on the floor.
And said "I never felt so gay before"
She closed her legs and held her breath
And the little fly was smothered to death.


Pg 25, The Book of a Thousand Laughs. Undated [1928].

See online here: https://archive.org/details/1928thebookofathousandlaughs/page/25/mode/1up?q=fly


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Subject: RE: Origins: How old is The Little Fly ?
From: and e
Date: 11 Jun 23 - 10:07 PM

THE FROLICSOME FLY

A fly flew into a grocery store,
He flew through the transom over the door.
He shit on the ham and pissed on the cheese,
And did many things just such as these.
When the groceryman saw what the fly had done,
He went for his trusty gatling gun.
The clerks got brooms and they were sore,
They chased that fly all over the store.
But he, to show his contempt of them,
He went and did it all over again.
He pissed on the ham and shit on the cheese,
Then wiped his ass on Fleishman's yeast.
Up the lady clerk's leg he took a stroll,
He strolled right into the lady's hole.
The lady, she laughed, and rolled on the floor,
And she cried, Oh tickle, Oh tickle me more.
Then she crossed her legs and took a deep breath,
And the poor little fly was smothered to death


Pg 28, Poems, Ballads and Parodies. Benares, Paris, 1923.


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Subject: RE: Origins: How old is The Little Fly ?
From: and e
Date: 12 Jun 23 - 07:08 AM

Years ago, as a child, I heard a rhyme, more forceful
than elgant, yet pointg to a moral by its very
force. Somewhat expurgated for the sake of delicate
ears, it went thus:
The fly flew into the grocery store,
A place he had often been before.
He speckd on the sugar,
He specked on the ham.
He didn't give a damn for the gorceryman.


May 1926, "Man and His Ills", California and Western Medicine, pg 670, vol XXIV, No. 5.

See online: https://www.google.com/books/edition/California_and_Western_Medicine/jSTIU3ab184C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22fly+flew%22+%22into+the+grocery+store%22&pg=PA670&printsec=frontcover

So if this article is by a doctor in his 30s... this would place the song to c1900.


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Subject: RE: Origins: How old is The Little Fly ?
From: and e
Date: 28 Aug 23 - 07:30 PM

It was a very quite party all told & if old man bingham had a known
the first of july was coming so quick he could a saved some more
money by not putting on the padded sliding door which he put on so
the other borders wouldnt here the kinder songs we useter sing about
the fly that flew into the grocery store
& about the father what was
an apple pie baker & about the moon a shining bright upon the dead
girls face & a few more like them that jimmy wrote & for all the songs
we sing now why old bingham could hang up come cheese cloth be-
tween the rooms & wouldnt lose no borders on our acct.

May, 1920. letter to editor in Phi Alpha Gamma Quarterly, pg 79.


See here: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Phi_Alpha_Gamma_Quarterly/Cvnc6TZohN8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22flew+into+the+grocery+store%22&pg=PA79&printsec=frontcover


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Subject: RE: Origins: How old is The Little Fly ?
From: and e
Date: 28 Aug 23 - 07:30 PM

It was a very quite party all told & if old man bingham had a known
the first of july was coming so quick he could a saved some more
money by not putting on the padded sliding door which he put on so
the other borders wouldnt here the kinder songs we useter sing about
the fly that flew into the grocery store
& about the father what was
an apple pie baker & about the moon a shining bright upon the dead
girls face & a few more like them that jimmy wrote & for all the songs
we sing now why old bingham could hang up come cheese cloth be-
tween the rooms & wouldnt lose no borders on our acct.

May, 1920. letter to editor in Phi Alpha Gamma Quarterly, pg 79.


See here: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Phi_Alpha_Gamma_Quarterly/Cvnc6TZohN8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22flew+into+the+grocery+store%22&pg=PA79&printsec=frontcover


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Subject: RE: Origins: How old is The Little Fly ?
From: and e
Date: 15 Jan 25 - 12:48 PM

The Fly

One day a fly flew pass my door
It flew into the grocer store
It shit in the cheese and pegged on the ham
And wiped it's ass on the grocer man

Up and down it blew a-nen
Went and sit on the ham again
After it did it's dirty work
It flew up to the lady clerk
Dremmen a-doing a-doing a-day
Dremmen a-doing a dad-o
Dremmen a-doing a-doing a day
Ha' all for the kink a-wats and oh

Up her leg it had a-strole
Had a-part of the ladies hole
The lady had and said
Do stop there you mighty fly

She crossed her legs and held her breath
And squeezed the poor little bugger to death
She crossed her legs and held her breath
The day a-will to a-rass-ee-oh
Dremmen a-doing a-doing a-day
Dremmen a-doing a dad-o
Dremmen a-doing a-doing a day
The day a-will to a-rass-ee-oh

Undated [1960s?]. Transcription of the opening song of a reel
to reel tape in the Kenneth Goldstein collection. Transcription
is uncertain because of the Scottish accent is a little beyond
me.   This seems a compilation of bawdy Scottish songs.


Listen here: https://egrove.olemiss.edu/kgreels_unk/358/


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Subject: RE: Origins: How old is The Little Fly ?
From: and e
Date: 22 Jan 25 - 05:48 AM

Two Little Gnats

Two little gnats along they few
They (fffft) on me and the (fffft) on you
They (fffft) and (fffft) all over they place
And they wiped their feet in the pretty girl's face
One was black, the other was blue
One had rings on his tra-la-lu
The other had rings around his ringy-dingy-ding
High-ho the derry-oh.
They few right over to the grocery store
They (fffft) and they (fffft) all over the floor
They (fffft) on the sugar and they (fffft) on the tea
And if I'd of been there they'd of (fffft) on me.

When the grocery man saw what they'd done
He went and he got his gatling gun
He shot and he shot all over the place
But the two little gnats just (fffft) in his face

Two little gnats were just so slick
They showed that grocery man a trick
They (fffft) on the cheese and they (fffft) on the ham
And they (fffft) and they (fffft) on the grocery man.

And when they'd done their dirty work
They went and crawled up the lady clerk
They climb her leg above her knee
And tickled her to ecstasy

They fluttered so fast they made her cry
She blushed and breathed, "Oh me. Oh my."
She closed her legs and held her breath
And two little gnats were smothered to death.

April 26, 2005. Transcribed from the singing of Bob Coltman. Recording in the Jack Horntip Collection.


Listen here: https://archive.org/download/jack_horntip_collection_field_recordings/0108%20Two%20Little%20Gnats%20%5BAka%20The%20Little%20Fly%20Who%20%28Fffftt%29%20On%20The%20Grocery%20Man%5D.mp3


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Subject: RE: Origins: How old is The Little Fly ?
From: Lighter
Date: 22 Jan 25 - 02:02 PM

There's a text in "G.I. Songs," by Edgar Palmer [Erich Posselt] (1944).

I don't have it handy, but it most resembles that of Israel Kamakawiwo'ole.

The operative verb is, as I recall, "settled."


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Subject: RE: Origins: How old is The Little Fly ?
From: Lighter
Date: 22 Jan 25 - 02:33 PM

"St. Albans [Girl Scout] Camp Song Book" (Allyn, WA), as part of a 3-stanza song, with the first two stanzas unrelated:

A fly flew into a grocery store
Alone teehee alone
He’d never been in a store before
Alone teehee alone
Put his leg in the bread
And his foot in the ham
And stuck out his tongue at the grocery man
And then he flew out of the store again
Alone teehee alone

https://www.girlscoutsww.org/content/dam/girlscoutsww-redesign/documents/top-pdfs/st-albans-camp-songbook.pdf

Tune not indicated, but it scans to "When Johnny Comes Marching Home."


II
Recited by an elderly lady:

Jaybird jaybird flew through the store,
He shit on the counter, and he shit on the floor.
He wiped his ass with a piece of ham,
Didn't give a penny to the grocery man.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/913828717347782

III
In the notebook of an American POW in Germany, 1944:

         O FEELTHY FLY

A fly flew into the grocery store,
He flew right in – by the front door,
He fluttered round the bacon,
And he fluttered round the ham,
And finally lit on the strawberry jam.

Oh feelthy fly, oh feelthy fly, oh feelthy fly, repulsive parasite.


The fly looked here, the fly looked there,
Under the table and under the chair.
And into the office which was nearly dark,
And there he spied the lady clerk.

Oh feelthy fly, oh feelthy fly, oh feelthy fly, repulsive parasite.

The fly lit on the lady’s shoe,
Then up her stockings, both brand new.
And when it had reached above the knee,
He sat down to see what he could see.

Oh feelthy fly, oh feelthy fly, oh feelthy fly, repulsive parasite.


The lady clerk when she felt that fly,
Settled upon her starboard thy,             [sic
She spread her knees and held her breath,
And squashed that feelthy fly to death.

Oh feelthy fly, oh feelthy fly, oh feelthy fly, repulsive parasite.

https://wallyswar.wordpress.com/pow-log/


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Subject: RE: Origins: How old is The Little Fly ?
From: Lighter
Date: 22 Jan 25 - 05:47 PM

Lewiston [Me.] Journal (Dec. 20, 1958):

"The vaudeville...show was a great success and they laughed uproariously over a song telling how 'A fly flew into a grocery store,
A place he'd never been before!'"

New Teller (York, Neb.) (July 3, 1940):

"Someone ...[wrote] a parody of 'The Bowery"...like this:

    A fly flew into a grocery store,
    He'd only been there once before,
    He sit on the sugar, he sit on the ham,
    He didn't give a dam for the grocery man.    [sic


Sun-Democrat (Paducah, Ky) (Oct. 7, 1932):

Do You Remember Way Back When?...Four midgets exhibited at the Opera House, about 1885. Tom Thumb and Minnie Warren were two of them. They sang:

    A fly flew into a grocery store,
    It lit on the counter, it lit on the floor,
    It lit on the bacon, it lit on the ham;
    And it darned near lit on the grocery man.

Kennewick [Wash.] Courier (June 21, 1912):

    The fly flew into the grocery store,
    He flew right in through the old screen door;
    He lit on the cheese and he lit on the ham
    And he wiped his feet on the grocery man.


Great Bend [Kans.] Tribune (Oct. 5, 1911):

"A jaybird few into a grocery store, flew right in at the open door and lit on the sugar and lit on the ham and didn't give a [damn] for the pure food man."

Nashville American (June 2, 1907):

"A Little Fly flew in a grocery store;
Of course you have heard all that before."

Montreal Star (Jan. 11, 1894) [ad]:

    A fly flew into a grocery store
    And lit on ...A BOTTLE OF GRAY'S SYRUP.


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Subject: RE: Origins: How old is The Little Fly ?
From: and e
Date: 22 Jan 25 - 07:47 PM

Jonathan, thanks for the newspaper references. I don't have access to those archives.

Oh, a fly flew into the grocery store.
He shit on the counter and he pissed on the floor.
He farted in the coffee and he barfed in the tea.
It splashed on the counter and it got on me.

1958. To the tune of "Turkey in the Straw" and collected by Robert Easton
in Los Angeles. Printed in Ed Cray's The Erotic Muse, 2nd edition, pg.255.


See here: https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Erotic_Muse/W8PvCRbEKLYC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22flew+into+the+grocery+store%22&pg=PA255&printsec=frontcover


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Subject: RE: Origins: How old is The Little Fly ?
From: and e
Date: 22 Jan 25 - 07:59 PM

The Sniffing Song

I know a girl named Cocaine Lil
She lived in a house on Cocaine hill,
She had a cocaine dog and a cocaine cat,
Who chased around the house with a cocaine rat.

Won't you have a little (sniff) on me, on me?
Won't you have a little (sniff) on me?

I know a girl who sniffs all the time
She'll (sniff) for a nickel
She'll (sniff) for a dime
But she works here in town and doesn't eat at all
So she gives it away at the USO.

Won't you have a little (sniff) on me, on me?
Won't you have a little (sniff) on me?

Some folks think necking's a sin
Now let me tell you just how necking began
Adam necked Eve til she became a mother
And ever since then we've been necking each other.

Won't you have a little (sniff) on me, on me?
Won't you have a little (sniff) on me?

Two little skunks were playing gin
He skunked her and she skunked him
They went to church as good skunks do
The preacher mad'em sit in their own pew.

Won't you have a little (sniff) on me, on me?
Won't you have a little (sniff) on me?

I've got a dog as cute as it can be
He sniffs on the grass and he sniffs on the tree
But the little girl dogs think him too bold
And they all run away because his nose is cold.

Won't you have a little (sniff) on me, on me?
Won't you have a little (sniff) on me?

I saw a bird who flew through the door.
He (umped) on the table and he (umped) on the floor.
He (umped) on the coffee and he (umped) on the tea
If I hadn't been running he'd of (umped) on me.


Won't you have a little sniff on me, on me?
Won't you have a little (snniiiiiiiiifff) on me?

A version of "Cocaine Bill & Morphine Sue" performed by Reta Ray.
The tune is The Bluetail Fly. It has the "Little Fly (Flew into the
Grocery Store)" verses.


Listen online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ve7mvod4bIc


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Subject: RE: Origins: How old is The Little Fly ?
From: and e
Date: 22 Jan 25 - 08:19 PM

The Biography of a Fly

The fly flew through the open door
Right into the grocery store

He pissed on the cheese, shit on the ham
And whipped his ass on the grocery man

Now when he got done with his dirty work
He buzzed right over to the grocery clerk

Now up her leg he took a strolled
Took a bath in the lady's hole

Now the lady sneezed, held her breath
And squeezed that little fly to death

The first couplet is done to the tune of "The Old One Hundred
(All People That on Earth Do Dwell)". The rest is just recited.

1963. Joe Hickerson, on October 19-20, 1963, recorded a variety of
singers in an informal song session; the primary informant was
Jim Hitchcock. This collection (LC-AFS 17022) is in the Archive of
Folk Culture, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.


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