Lyr Req: Zoom, Zoom, Cuddle and Croon

Subject: Zoom, Zoom, Cuddle and Croon
From: Richard
Date: 23 Nov 97 - 07:13 PM

Looking for the words to this lullaby, which I heard back in the 70s from a Seattle folksinger who used an open D tuning for this song. "Zoom, zoom, cuddle and croon, down by the wrinkling sea" is about all I can remember.

Subject: RE: Zoom, Zoom, Cuddle and Croon
From: Earl
Date: 24 Nov 97 - 01:32 PM

Moon Song

Zoom Zoom Cuddle and Croon
Over the crinklin sea
The moon man brings in a sliver net
Fashioned of moonbeams three

Some folks say when the net lies low
And the midnight hour is right
The moon man fishes for some old song
that fell from a sailor's pipe

Some folks say when he fishes the bars
Down where the dead ships lie
Looking for lost little baby stars
That slipped from the slippery sky

The waves roll out and the waves roll in
The nodding black wind blows
Why the moon man fishes the sea
Only the moon man knows

Zoom zoom net of the moon
Rides on the wrinklin sea
Bright is the net, shining wet
Fashioned from moonbeams three

Some folks say when the great net gleams
and the waves are a dusky blue
The moon man fishes for two little dreams
He lost when the world was new

Some folks say in the late night hour
While the long thin shadows lie
The moon man fishes for the cold sea flowers
Under the tumblin tide

And the waves roll out and the waves roll in
The gray gulls dip and doze
Why the moon man fishes the sea
Only the moon man knows

Zoom zoom cuddle and croon
over the crinklin sea
The moon man brings in a sliver net
Fashioned of moonbeams three

Some folks say while the soft sea foams
The silver net lies snared
The moon man fished for the carven comb
That slipped from the mermaid's hair

The waves roll out and the waves roll in
The nodding black wind blows
Why the moon man fishes the sea
Only the moon man knows

Subject: RE: Zoom, Zoom, Cuddle and Croon
From: Richard
Date: 24 Nov 97 - 06:39 PM

Thanks, Earl. Do you know any more about it - who wrote it? It's much longer than I remember singing to my kids. Thanks again.

Subject: RE: Zoom, Zoom, Cuddle and Croon
From: Earl
Date: 25 Nov 97 - 10:02 AM

I learned it from a Michael Hurly recording. He recorded it twice, most recently on his CD "Wolfways", but he provided absolutly no information on the song.

Subject: RE: Zoom, Zoom, Cuddle and Croon
From: GUEST,rishe
Date: 04 Dec 07 - 08:13 PM

The poem is by Mildred Plew Meigs

I learned it as a child in a large Golden Book of children's poetry along with Custard the Dragon, The Owl and the Pussycat, and more.
I'd like to hear the musical setting you refer to. In 1969 I set the poem myself as a 'folk song'. My children loved it, my music students loved it, the children my daughter nanny'd in Boulder loved it...

Subject: RE: Zoom, Zoom, Cuddle and Croon
From: Don Firth
Date: 04 Dec 07 - 08:32 PM

I first heard it sung by Walt Robertson in the very early 1950s. He had learned it from a Seattle country music DJ named Buck Ritchie ("B. Buck Butterball Ritchie"). As I understood it, Buck Ritchie put the tune to the Mildred Plew Meigs poem.

Some of the words I learned to the song are a bit different from those above, and the poem itself is actually somewhat longer.

No time now, but I'll be back.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Zoom, Zoom, Cuddle and Croon
From: GUEST,Guest-Gigi
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 04:25 PM

I am trying to find the book that had all these wonderful poems in it..."The Owl and the Pussycat", "Custard the Dragon", "The Raggedy Man", "Mr. Nobody", and "Moon Song". I once owned the book, but someone took it...I'd really like to purchase another one for my grandson. Thanks for any assistance you can give!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Zoom, Zoom, Cuddle and Croon
From: Barbara
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 04:46 PM

The Golden Treasury of Children's Verse, I'm pretty sure, but I can look. I grew up with it and remember all of those.
Blessings,
Barbara

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Zoom, Zoom, Cuddle and Croon
From: Barbara
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 04:50 PM

Also, see this thread Moon man song? for more discussion.
Blessings,
Barbara

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Zoom, Zoom, Cuddle and Croon
From: GUEST,Dreaming Wizard
Date: 04 Nov 10 - 03:08 PM

It is a poem by Mildred Merryman entitled Moon Song

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Zoom, Zoom, Cuddle and Croon
From: Deckman
Date: 04 Nov 10 - 10:12 PM

Quite a wonderful song ... I put my three children to bed with this song for many years. bob(deckman)nelson

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Zoom, Zoom, Cuddle and Croon
From: GUEST,Randolph
Date: 08 Jan 12 - 02:50 AM

I had this song on a 45 rpm record when I was a teenager. It was performed by Bonnie Guitar. I do not know what happened to the record, and I have not been able to find it online either. But I am quite sure that somewhere out there, there is at least 1 phonograph record of this poem as a song, although the recording is alot shorter than the poem. I keep searching because the internet is quite dynamic and it may appear some time in the future as a youtube video.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Zoom, Zoom, Cuddle and Croon
From: GUEST,B Byrd
Date: 15 Nov 16 - 01:02 AM

Your lyrics are incorrect. I won't correct them all, but the first line should be "Zoon" not "Zoom" to rhyme with "croon."

The second line should read "The moon man flings him a silvered net, Fashioned of moonbeams three."

Look up the original and get it corrected before you publish this for people to learn it wrong.

Thank you very much...

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Zoom, Zoom, Cuddle and Croon
From: leeneia
Date: 15 Nov 16 - 10:53 PM

Here's a site with words that look authentic, although if I were singing it, I'd make it shorter.

https://mdlbear.dreamwidth.org/698282.html