Lyr Req: Ambulance down in the Valey

Subject: Ambulance down in the Valey
From: bill\sables
Date: 21 Oct 00 - 08:37 AM

Does anyone have the words for Ambulance down in the Valey It is a monalogue about a town council, I would think in the USA, who insisted on providing an ambulance at great expence at the bottom of a cliff where people had a habit of falling instead of erecting a fence at low cost around the top of the cliff to stop people getting near the edge. I think , but I'm not sure, that it was recorded by John Denver but I can't find it anywhere. Cheers Bill

Subject: Lyr Add: AN AMBULANCE DOWN IN THE VALLEY
From: wildlone
Date: 21 Oct 00 - 02:40 PM

Bill, is this it?

AN AMBULANCE DOWN IN THE VALLEY

'Twas a dangerous cliff as they freely confessed,
Though to walk near its edge was so pleasant,
But over its edge had slipped a Duke,
And it fooled many a peasant.

The people said something would have to be done,
But their projects did not at all tally.
Some said, "Put a fence around the edge of the cliff,"
Others, "An ambulance down in the valley."

The lament of the crowd was profound and loud,
As their hearts overflowed with pity,
But the ambulance carried the cry of the day,
As it spread to the neighboring cities.

So a collection was made to accumulate aid,
And dwellers in highway and alley,
Gave dollars and cents not to furnish a fence,
But an ambulance down in the valley.

"For the cliff is all right if you're careful," they said,
"And if folks ever slip and are falling,
It's not the slipping and falling that hurts them so much,
As the shock down below when they're stopping."

And so for the years as these mishaps occurred,
Quick forth would the rescuers sally,
To pick up the victims who fell from the cliff,
With the ambulance down in the valley.

Said one in his plea, "It's a marvel to me
That you'd give so much greater attention
To repairing results than to curing the cause.
Why, you'd much better aim at prevention.

"For the mischief, of course, should be stopped at its source.
Come, friends and neighbors, let us rally!
It makes far better sense to rely on a fence,
Than an ambulance down in the valley."

"He's wrong in his head," the majority said.
"He would end all our earnest endeavors.
He's the kind of a man that would shirk his responsible work,
But we will support it forever.

"Aren't we picking up all just as fast as they fall,
And giving them care liberally?
Why, a superfluous fence is of no consequence,
If the ambulance works in the valley."

Now this story seems queer as I've given it here,
But things oft occur which are stranger.
More humane we assert to repair the hurt,
Than the plan of removing the danger.

The best possible course would be to safeguard the source,
And to attend to things rationally.
Yes, build up the fence and let us dispense,
With this ambulance down in the valley.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ambulance down in the Valey
From: Mrrzy
Date: 21 Oct 00 - 02:47 PM

Well, let's see, whose campaign song ought this to be?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ambulance down in the Valey
From: wildlone
Date: 21 Oct 00 - 02:56 PM

Have had a look around the web and come up with this.
Attributed to John Malins 1895. Published in the Bulletin of the North Carolina State Board of Health, vol 27, no 10, Jan 1913.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ambulance down in the Valey
From: bill\sables
Date: 21 Oct 00 - 05:51 PM

Wildone, Thankyou very much that is the one I was looking for I've been looking for it for years, Thanks again. Cheers Bill