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Lyr Req: Sewer songs
DigiTrad:
DOWN BELOW
MOVING FATHER'S GRAVE
Related threads:
Thames Water Singing sewermen carol (10)
(origins) Origins: Oh, a Sewer Man Am I (7)
Lyr Add: This Christmas Think of Sewer Men (14)
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Subject: Sewer song From: GUEST,Trevor Bond Date: 31 May 01 - 10:20 AM Does anyone know the words to the song about working in the London sewers. Think it was by Flanders and Swann |
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Subject: RE: Sewer song From: IanC Date: 31 May 01 - 10:31 AM It's in DT, here: MOVING FATHER'S GRAVE Think it's music hall rather than Flanders & Swan
Cheers! |
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Subject: RE: Sewer song From: Charley Noble Date: 31 May 01 - 10:38 AM There are many versions of this lovely ditty. I'm sure they are discussed in various "threads" if you place "moving father's grave to build a sewer" in the Mudcat super-search engine. |
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Subject: RE: Sewer song From: IanC Date: 31 May 01 - 10:48 AM Thinking about it, there probably is a different Flanders & Swan song as well. I'll look it up.
Cheers! |
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Subject: RE: Sewer song From: Hollowfox Date: 31 May 01 - 01:44 PM This sounds more like "Down Below" to me. When you're working in the dark Down Below Underneath Saint James's Park Down Below When you're working in the dark Underneath Saint James's Park Well, it isn't half a lark Down Below. There are more verses, and I'll see if I can scare them up at home tonight. I think I remember hearing that Sidney Carter wrote it. |
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Subject: RE: Sewer song From: fat B****rd Date: 31 May 01 - 02:47 PM Ian Wallace (Mud, Glorious Mud) used to do "Down Below". My personal favourite line is "There are watches you can't wind all wrapped up in bacon rind" all the best from the fB |
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Subject: RE: Sewer song From: Mr Red Date: 31 May 01 - 03:28 PM I vaguely remember the verse There are lots of things to find Down Below ????????????? Down Below Such as wathces you can't find, wrapped up in bacon rind And that's not all that you can find Down below Sounds a lot like Flanders & Swan but I do remember classical/buffo singer Ian Wallace made it one of his party pieces. |
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Subject: RE: Sewer song From: Bob Bolton Date: 31 May 01 - 11:06 PM G'day Trevor, Hollowfox is right - it is by Sydney Carter. I can give your the words and tune sometime in the next few days ... if nobody else comes up with them. They are bound to be in one of the four Sydney Carter Songbooks I bought in 1973, when he was in Australia. I am not sure what his carers/family would think of the lyrics being kept in DigiTrad - there is a bit of a barney on about others taking 'squatter's right' to his song Lord of the Dance. Sadly, Sydney is probably not paying as much attention. as he has been stricken with Alzheimer's Disease. Regards, Bob Bolton |
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Subject: Lyr Add: THE SONG OF THE SEWER From: CRANKY YANKEE Date: 01 Jun 01 - 02:02 AM Here's another one. I do it with a "Brooklyn, New York" accent. It would be done just as well with a london (Soho accent. THE SONG OF THE SEWER. I I woik down da sewer it's a very fine job And you know dey won't hire any ol' slob You don't hafta'drive or row a boat But y' do hafta' know how to float, ooooooooohhhhhhhh..... (chorus) we sing the song of d' sewer, of d' sewer we sing dis song Tuh-gedduh we stands, wid shovels in hands Just to keep t'ings rollin' along. II Oooohhh!! I woik down a manhole wid a guy named "Bruce" He's d' one that's in charge o' all the refuse Hed let's me go foist while he holds d' lid (spoken)I'm tellin' yuh folks, 'dat's a democratic kid. (repeat chorus) III Me fodder he woiked in a sewer downtown, He started at the top and woiked his way down 'D'at's how I got started in dis here industry,(spoken)I just kind'a fell into it, lucky me, (repeat chorus) The melody is the same as the "Beverly Hillbillies" theme. Flat and Scruggs recorded it for the American "Columbia" Co. The verses are sung more or less rythmless, and the chorus is done in 4/4 (march) time |
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Subject: Lyr/Tune Add: DOWN BELOW (Sydney Carter) From: Bob Bolton Date: 01 Jun 01 - 07:25 AM G'day again ..., I found this in Songs of Sydney Carter – In the present tense, Galliard Limited, Great Yarmouth, 1969, p.14. The tune is set below in MIDItext format (in the key of Eb, as Sydney Carter set it). BTW: I notice that, as of the date of this book, 1969, the only recordings listed were by Sydney Carter himself, on Fontana STL 5418 and Rolf Harris on EMI SX 6002! As I said in my posting above, there is some contention as to whether we should have Sydney Carter's copyright material in the DigiTrad. Be that as it may, it seems that most people can't find his books to buy them, and I want to have people sing his beaut songs ... just remember they are his – and pay the copyright if you record them. Regards, Bob Bolton DOWN BELOW © Sydney Carter, 1958 When you're working in the dark, Down below, Underneath St James's Park, Down below. When you're working in the dark. Oh, it isn't half a lark, When you're working in the dark, Down below. It isn't hard to tell, Down below. If it's Bow or Clerkenwell, Down below, For Bow and Clerkenwell Have a diff'rent kind of smell And we know it very well, Down below. Over Covent Garden way, Down below. In the merry month of May, Down below. The fragrance of the flow'rs Gives us many happy hours And we sing a roundelay Down below. The objects that we find Down below Help to entertain the mind Down below. There are watches we can't wind Wrapped up in bacon rind And that isn't all you find Down below. When you're under Floral Street, Down below, With the water 'round your feet, Down below. 'Mid the cabbages and beet You may find a marguerite, And the thought is very sweet, Down below. Hatton Garden is a spot Down below. Where we like to go a lot, Down below. Since a bloke in Leather Lane Dropp'd a diamond down the drain We've been waiting, but in vain, Down below. When to Billingsgate we come, Down below. When to Billingsgate we come, Down below. When to Billingsgate we come Then things begin to hum And we wish we'd never come Down below. There is something in a sewer Down below. That has a strange allure Down below. The magic of the drains Is a thing you can't explain But it's calling us again Down below. MIDI file: downbelo.mid Timebase: 240 TimeSig: 4/4 24 8 This program is worth the effort of learning it. To download the March 10 MIDItext 98 software and get instructions on how to use it click here ABC format: X:1
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Subject: Lyr Add: Sewer song From: Bob Bolton Date: 01 Jun 01 - 07:30 AM Er.... G'day again, I suppose I should have inserted Lyr Add: into the title of the post above so the song is garnered ... as well as CRAZY YANKEE's local offering! (Very nice, Jody!) Regards, Bob Bolton |
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Subject: RE: Sewer song From: Charley Noble Date: 01 Jun 01 - 08:37 AM Nice to get Carter's lyrics (folk processing above didn't improve them), and great song CY, one I've never run across before, no shit! |
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Subject: RE: Sewer song From: GUEST,fretless (at work) Date: 01 Jun 01 - 09:21 AM There's another one, too but I only remember the chorus: Down below,down below, It's dark, but it's home to me, you know. It's the only place I find I can get some peace of mind. I'm glad [or something like that] I'm working down below. David Jones sang this at the Eagle Tavern in NYC, back in the 70s when there was an Eagle Tavern in NYC. Maybe Liam's Brother remembers more of it. |
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Subject: RE: Sewer song From: GUEST,fretless (at work) Date: 01 Jun 01 - 09:23 AM and now with better formatting: ......... Down below,down below, It's dark, but it's home to me, you know. It's the only place I find I can get some peace of mind. I'm glad [or something like that] I'm working down below.
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Subject: RE: Sewer song From: GUEST,JohnB Date: 01 Jun 01 - 12:44 PM A man sat by a sewer, and by that sewer he died, well at the coroners inquest they called it SEWERCIDE. Sorry I can't provide the tune. JohnB |
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Subject: RE: Sewer song From: Bat Goddess Date: 01 Jun 01 - 01:33 PM The words I are evidently the same or similar to Guest's, above. I got it from Evan Leonard. The verses all work up to the big finish -- one of the worst (best) puns in history: At our local sewerage farm There was cause for alarm When a man fell down a pit a year ago. Since the accident occurred He's been lying there, interred I'm glad I'm working down below! Bat Goddess (damn! I'm going to be away from the computer until sometime Sunday) |
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Subject: RE: Sewer song From: GUEST,CraigS Date: 01 Jun 01 - 08:32 PM The INTERRED verse has been transferred from another song - an old rugby song called WORKING DOWN THE SEWER CHORUS: Working down the sewer, shovelling manure That's the way the soldier does his bit You can hear the shovels ring with a ting-a-ling-a-ling When you're working down the sewer with the gang I have a full set of words somewhere - I'll post them if I find them.
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Subject: RE: Sewer song From: Bert Date: 02 Jun 01 - 12:53 AM Dan, Dan the lavatory man Underneath the ground all day In and out urinals picking out the finals Oh what a game to play. See the movie - Carry On Screaming.
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Subject: RE: Sewer song From: Billy the Bus Date: 02 Jun 01 - 01:14 AM JohnB, Your Sewerside verse? Not from the same old song as... Peanut sitting by the railroad track His heart was all a-flutter Engine comes flyin' around the curve, Toot-toot - Peanut butter Ummm.... I'm thinking back to a 78 we had 50 years ago... It ain't gonna rain no more? Think I've got the tune in my head... Ummm... Chorus Oh it ain't gonna rain no more, no more, It ain't gonna rain no more, But how in the hell, Can the old folk tell, That it ain't gonna rain no more Probably in Digitrad Cheers - Sam
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Subject: RE: Sewer song From: dr soul Date: 02 Jun 01 - 03:13 AM Good work, Billy the Bus: the "sewer-side" lyric IS from "Ain't gonna rain no more". We're planning on doing it as part of our Utility song sing along on Monday. (It fits well - there's a drought around here). I was thinking about posting the new parody lyrics my partners have come up with . . . |
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Subject: RE: Sewer song From: Billy the Bus Date: 02 Jun 01 - 03:26 AM Dr Soul. I want the original lyrics and the parody...;) And if you get a ghostly off-key bass coming through on Monday - don't panic, it'll just be me - from the past;) Sam |
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Subject: RE: Sewer song From: CRANKY YANKEE Date: 02 Jun 01 - 09:15 PM I learnd this one when I was a little kid. I guess it's a street song parody of "It Aint Gonna Rain No more. Oddly enough, us street urchins sang it, "Isn't gonna rain Anymore Anymore. GRAMATICALLY CORRECT. I woke up in the mornin' and I looked upon the wall, The bedbugs and the roaches were havin' a game of ball. The score was six to nothin', the roaches were ahead A bedbug hit a homer and knocked me out of bed. II OOOOOHHHHHHHHH!! at five o'clock in the mornin', the jailer comes around With a piece of bread and butter that weighed a half a pound The Butter was all rancid and the bread it was all stale III (here it comes) A cat was by the sewer and over there he died And in the mornin' papers, they called it "Sewer cide"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH!! Isn't gonna rain anymore anymore, isn't gonna rain anymore, So how in the heck can I wash my neck if it isn't gonna rain anymore. Incidentally, Wally Whyton and I are responsible for the cleaned up version of "The British Workers Grave" that Peter Sellers recorded as "Grandpa's Grave" (on the other side of "Goodness Gracious Me", Peter Sellers and Sofia Loren) I made enough money on that one to buy a Rolls Royce. Allright, it was made in 1932 and had half a million miles on the odometer. But,The damned thing ran like a new car. It could have been the last Rolls Royce Logo in Red. My chassis number was GZU 15 and the double "R" was in red, The guy who sold it to me, Frank Jordan, had another . the Chassis number was GZU-18, the RR was in black. The morning after Frank sold me the car, he asked, "Jody, are the peasants bowing and pulling at their forelocks as you drive by"? "No" says I. to which frank (raising his voice and tongue in cheek) replied, "Well, get out and kick them, they should, you know"!!! I paid 180 quid for the car (&540 at the time) I drove it around England for three years and the USAF paid to have it shipped to my new station in Sacramento, Calif, where I drove it around for another 4 years before I sold it. (I got a lot more than 180.quid in royalties, you get the same author's royalty regardless of which side of the record your song is on) I had no Idea that I had authored a moneymaker until at EMI's annual Christmas party, Peter Sellers came over and said, "well, Jody, looks like we've got a hit record". What do you mean "We"?, I asked, are you pregnant? No, he said, "Grandpa's Grave" is on the other side of "Goodness Gracious Me". "Hot dog" I mumbled to myself". Next day, I went to the publisher and asked for an advance. How much do you want? he asked. Right there I knew we did, indeed have a hit. I like the original Shitty version better, although we did write a dandy "Middle 8" which is completely lacking in the original. Love and kisses Jody Gibson. |
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Subject: Lyr Add: I'M GLAD I'M WORKING DOWN BELOW (Garrett) From: Joan from Wigan Date: 11 Jun 01 - 04:06 PM I'M GLAD I'M WORKING DOWN BELOW (Words & Music by John M Garrett) 1. Oh, a sewerman am I And my trade I deftly ply As underneath the city streets I go And my hope for paradise Is to wade up to my thighs Oh, I'm glad I'm working down below CHORUS: Down below, down below Oh, it's dark but it's home to me, you know It's the only place, I find, I can get some peace of mind Yes I'm glad I'm working down below 2. There are rules to the trade That have to be obeyed And every movement must be made just so You must watch just where you stand, And just where you put your hand Still I'm glad I'm working down below 3. There was cause for alarm At a nearby sewage farm When a man fell down a pit some years ago Since the accident occurred; He's been lying there interred Oh, I'm glad I'm working down below 4. Oh, in Paris I have found They take tourists underground And even charge a small fee for the show While in Venice I've heard tell They sail boats on it as well Oh, I'm glad I'm working down below 5. Oh, it is a wonderful life, You can hide here from your wife And leave behind your every care and woe I may be a sewer rat, But I'm not to be sniffed at Oh, I'm glad I'm working down below |
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Subject: RE: Sewer song From: GUEST Date: 16 Oct 02 - 08:33 PM When you're working in the dark DOWN BELOW Underneath St James' Park DOWN BELOW When you're working in the dark, Underneath St James' Park Oh, it isn't half a lark DOWN BELOW When to Billinsgate you come DOWN BELOW Things begin to really hum DOWN BELOW Oh, there's watches you can't wind Wrapped up in old bacon rind And that's not all you'll find DOWN BELOW When to Covent Garden way DOWN BELOW In the merry month of May DOWN BELOW Oh, the fragrance of the flowers Gives us many happy hours And we dance round with delight DOWN BELOW Oh, there's something in a sewer, DOWN BELOW That has a strange allure, DOWN BELOW Oh, the magic of a drain Is a thing I can't explain But it's calling me again, DOWN BELOW |
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Subject: RE: Sewer song From: Nigel Parsons Date: 17 Oct 02 - 06:21 AM Quoted recently in another thread (but worth repeating) The corporation muck cart was full up to the brim The driver fell in backward, too bad he could not swim He sank right to the bottom, just like a little stone. And as he sank he gurgled "There's no place like home" Nigel |
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Subject: Lyr Add: THE SEWERS OF THE STRAND From: Nigel Parsons Date: 17 Oct 02 - 07:22 AM I also remembered this as being 'sewertable' for the thread! THE SEWERS OF THE STRAND (1961) You can find this on... EMI Comedy Classics Spike Milligan: A Collection of Spikes (Songs and sketches from this Unique Comic Talent) (c) 1990, catalog # 7 95306 4 (for the tape) Available also on CD The Sewers of the Strand (1961) Phew! Yes folks, I can understand their feelings because they are about to play: Sideways through the sewers of the Strand on a Sunday afternoon Sideways through the sewers of the Strand will be our honeymoon Ankle deep folks in sludge dear we'll walk hand in hand They do say that the sewers of the Strand are the finest in the land Sideways through the sewers of the Strand will be paradise for two Who cares if the atmosphere is blue 'Cause there's nothing wrong with a good old British pong Sideways through the sewers of the Strand with you.... Ah my darling little bride. We meet by accident, folks -- she ran over me with a tram Her name was Buler, mine was Jim. I was glad they called me Jim, folks, because that was my name I found that she had been going out with an Irish dentist called Phil McCavity He walked with a pronounced limp -- l-i-m-p pronounced limp, folks Oh the worry turned me grey. This gave me a strange appearance as I was bald at the time. Ah the first time I met her was late early one morning in Spring. There was a heavy dew on the grass -- the had just be thrown out of a synagogue for eating during the sermon I told her 'Darling, let me take you away from the squalor you live in, and live in the squalor I live in' So, we were married in the Spring, folks We had the reception in the pond There was plenty to drink folks And then off we went! Folks! Sideways through those naughty sewers of the naughty Strand will be a paradise for two (not one but two, folks) Who cares if the atmosphere is blue (phew!) 'Cause there's nothing wrong (is there) with a goold old British PONG! Sideways through the sewers of the Strand with you I don't mean maybe. found at this site Nigel |
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Subject: RE: Sewer song From: GUEST,Martin Ryan Date: 17 Oct 02 - 07:32 AM Another nice sewer reference, so to speak, is in "The Maid of Cabra West": So I follied him up to his lodgin's in Rathgar or thereabout And as walked up an alleyway, I battered him inside out He gave out many's the curse and swear - 'til he was dead, I'm sure Then I lifted up the manhole lid, an' I thrun him down the sewer! Regards |
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Subject: RE: Sewer song From: Herga Kitty Date: 17 Oct 02 - 05:10 PM Oh, but Martin Ryan's song sounds like a version of the London-based "She loved a Portuguese" - in which he was battered black and blue (er?)before being bunged down the sewer. As a consequence of seducing someone else's girlfriend on pints of Babycham. "And when she heard what he had done, she made his poor life hell. So just for the sake of peace and quiet he done her in as well. And now he's up before the beak, to answer for his crime. The judge said, I don't like what you did first off, my lad, but I forgive you the second time." The song is also notable for, "I didn't like Portuguese in general, and in particular I didn't like him" |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sewer song From: Teresa Date: 03 Feb 05 - 08:04 PM Ok, now it's gone from a passing hazy memory to a serious question. It's been at least fifteen years since I've heard this song. I think it's called "Working on the midnight Mill" I'll try to dredge the chorus up out of my hazy brain: Working on the midnight mill, Working on the midnight mill, With me hoe and me shovel and me pail I'm working on the midnight mill. [chorus lyrics vary from verse to verse I think] The song mentions his inability to get a girl because of his smell, etc. etc. :) Teresa |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sewer song From: GUEST,Saroise Date: 08 Mar 06 - 12:32 PM The song you are looking for is by Jez Lowe, and is called Working on the Midnight Mail. You can find words and music in The Jez Lowe Songbook Vol 2, or on Jez Lowe and the Bad Pennies album with London Danny, Another Man's Wife etc on it. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sewer songs From: MartinRyan Date: 02 Aug 09 - 06:13 PM Just to tidy up: "The Maid of Cabra West" is indeed a version of "The Maid of Camden Town"/"She loved a Portugese". Regards |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sewer songs From: Nigel Parsons Date: 23 Jan 14 - 04:02 AM Refreshed as linked to current discussion on "Songs a toilet might sing" |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sewer songs From: GUEST,Richard Felixstowe Date: 07 Oct 16 - 05:42 AM How about this one, adapted from an original version by myself The Sewer Song Me mate and me are bosum pals and have been, since we was kids a'playing on the park. But now we work for 'Civic Sanitation', up to our waists in muck, and in the dark. Chorus Oh I likes working down the sewer, shovelling up manure , that's where the navvy does his bit. I like to hear the shovels ring with a 'clang, clang clang', working down the sewer with me gang. Now I likes me job down the sewer, all amongst the widdle and the poop, Sorting out the little bits of paper, and slinging out the biguns with an 'ook Chorus One day I found a special piece of paper, in Tory blue, though slightly stained wiv brown. Signed 'Teresa May', I thought well what a caper, it's floated all the way from London Town. Chorus I squeezed it out and put it in me pocket, a souvenir to show the kids at tea And now it's tucked away inside me locket, a hanging round me neck for all to see. Chorus One day I dropped me lunch box down the sewer, I must admit I felt a trifle pained. Me mate said "It's all right, it aint lost nothing" To tell the truth I think that it had gained! Chorus I opened up the lid to have a sandwich, a pity that I didn't have a scoop. I'll 'ave to tell the missus not to do it. I just can't 'andle her Brown Windsor Soup Chorus Lunch time down the sewer's really smashing, me missus makes a stew of high renown. Boiled beef and carrots reall take a bashing, but the dumplings are a funny shade of brown! Chorus For tea break I just love a nice cold sausage, I eats it in me fingers like a cake, But I make sure that I squeezes it beforehand, 'cos I'd hate to bite a wrong'un by mistake. Chorus The things that people flush away amaze you, condoms by the score and we sell lots. We wash 'em in the water as it runs by, the hardest bit is undoing the knots. Chorus They say that 'Jack the Ripper' used this sewer to wash away the gore from where he'd been. We sometimes find a bit he might have handled, all soggy and a nasty shade of green, Chorus The animals down here, you ought to see them, rats as big as cats and that's no boast, They can't 'alf run but sometimes we can catch one. It makes a very tasty Sunday roast. Chorus Me Ganddad lived and died 'ere down the sewer, and when I die I want the same for me. To float off down the tunnel in me coffin, there's nuffin like a burial at sea. Oh I likes working down the sewer, shovelling up manure , that's where the navvy does his bit. I like to hear the shovels ring with a 'clang, clang clang', working down the sewer with me gang. Yes working down the sewer, shovelling up manure, working down the sewer with me gang. Richard Bloomfield 1988 |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sewer songs From: GUEST,Richard Felixstowe Date: 07 Oct 16 - 05:47 AM I wrote this one after performing the original at a local venue Yet anotber 'Sewer Song' We've all got together to sing you a song, remember our faces, remember the pong. Remember the sewers where we worked all day, we remember with pleasure the way we would stay Underground, underground, with familiar faeces all floating around. Now we all worked together and all did our bit, in culverts and sewers we peddled our wit. But we misbehaved and we all got the sack, and went into building how I wish we were back Underground, underground, with familiar faeces all floating around. The foreman came down and the look on his face when he saw we were all lined up for a race The winner would float his turd right round the track, the going was soft and the water was slack. Underground, underground, with familiar faeces all floating around. Our friendship was strong, it was good it was sweet, 'till William erupted and called Ted a cheat When a piece of bog paper stuck in with a nail, gave him an advantage 'cos he had a sail. Underground, underground, with familiar faeces all floating around. Now off down the 'stream' they did float on that day and we waded behind them to see for fair play. But Fred's shot ahead and the rest they did trail. Then William passed water all over Fred's sail. Underground, underground, with familiar faeces all floating around. Our Fred got upset when he witnessed the sight, and he rounded on Ted intent on a fight, But they'd hardly got started, not come to blows, the foreman stepped in and got punched on the nose Underground, underground, with familiar faeces all floating around. He ranted, he raved, and he sacked us that night, now we're breaking our backs on this old building site With barrows and shovels and no time for tea, we've all decided we'd much rather be Underground, underground, with familiar faeces all floating around. There's only one place here where we feel at home, a little hut where a man sits all alone Though it's not built for comfort, we'll all tell you this, the aroma brings memories of moments of bliss Underground, underground, with familiar faeces all floating around. Now we saw some jobs advertised in the 'Star', the incentive was there, it said you could go far. We applied and we got them, the whole bleeding crew. It was servicing cesspits and the odd Portaloo! On the ground, on the ground, with familiar faeces all floating around. Our own mobile sewer, now we've got it made as round Kirton and Falkenham we ply our trade Sweet smells of success drift around in our heads, and at last we find we can sleep sound in our beds. On the ground, on the ground, with familiar faeces all floating around. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sewer songs From: GUEST,Richard Felixstowe Date: 07 Oct 16 - 05:55 AM The third (and last) Sewer song from me Yet another 'Sewer Song' We are four working men who have gone astray, why, why, why? 'Cos down in the sewer we lost our way, why, why, why? Lost in the sewer far from home, deep in manure midst fleck and mids foam Under the city condemned to roam Chorus - Oh why, oh why, oh why? We tried to get out, acted on a hunch, why, why, why? Took a wrong turn now we've missed our lunch, why, why, why? Out of the sun and out of the rain, trying our best to stay quite sane, Flushed with success when you pull the chain Chorus - Oh why, oh why, oh why? Bill wades along, doesn't pause to speak, why, why, why? With his nose in the air, looking just like a beak, why, why, why? With his new haircut, and wading in muck, when he's up to his neck he looks like a duck, There are lots of big 'worms' so he could be in luck Chorus - Oh why, oh why, oh why? Things have become quite desperate I hear, why, why, why? No home comforts at all I fear, why, why, why? Fred's dying to pee, s a terrible sight. we sympathise with his horrible plight 'Cos a public convenience is nowhere in sight Chorus - Oh why, oh why, oh why? Rats we can hear, all heading our way, why, why, why? So we hurry along, can't afford to stay, why, why, why? Wading along, the muck getting higher, we're out of the frying pan into the fire We know the true meaning of 'stuck in the mire' Chorus - Oh why, oh why, oh why? We've come across hazards as we progressed why, why, why? But natures ways override the rest, why, why, why? Alf's got wing and we stand him apart, he lifts his leg and away we dart, His face goes red and his cheeks they smart Chorus - Oh why, oh why, oh why? There's a gate ahead, all battered and bent, why, why, why? There's muck round the lock and it's set like cement, why, why, why? We hit it with shovels, it would not budge, sealed at the hinges with dark brown sludge So back down the tunnel we had to trudge Chorus - Oh why, oh why, oh why? A new gate we find but it's far too high, why, why, why? We can't get over we can't get by, why, why, why? To fail right there tore our hopes asunder, then Fred had a brainwave, it struck like thunder, Though we can't get over - we might get under Chorus - Oh why, oh why, oh why? Submerged in manure we crawled along, why, why, why? Noses filled up and the stench was strong, why, why, why? With Fred's pipe as a snorkel we breathed the air, took our time and we made it there, A passer by said we smelled quite rare Chorus - Oh why, oh why, oh why? So now we emerge in the sweet fresh air, why, why, why? Folk hurry by, they don't stand and stare, why, why, why? Feeling so happy now we're in the pink but others avoid us making us think That they are of the opinion we stink. Chorus - Oh why, oh why, oh why? |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sewer songs From: Mr Red Date: 07 Oct 16 - 07:28 AM Peggy Sewerage? I'll get my coat and wellingtons........... |
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Subject: Down Below written by Carter, sung by Swann From: GUEST,keberoxu Date: 07 Oct 16 - 02:59 PM The OP was not completely mistaken. Although Down Below is a Sidney Carter song, it is also one of a number of Carter songs promoted and performed live by Flanders and Swann. For example: "The Youth of the Heart" would be sung and played by Swann as a solo during the "At the Drop of a Hat" tour. "Down Below" was recorded live on tour in Canada, and the recording released on Flanders and Swann's "Hat-Trick" compact-disc set, I think on compact disc number 2 titled "Hats Around the World." As with "The Youth of the Heart," Flanders is absent, and Donald Swann sings and plays "Down Below" as a solo. Together, Flanders and Swann would sing Carter's "Good Literature" with its refrain line, "I'm waiting for the film to come!" Swann also performed, again as a solo, "Take me Back to Byker," affecting a Newcastle accent. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sewer songs From: Fossil Date: 07 Oct 16 - 06:08 PM Peter Sellers did a brilliant song "They're moving Grandpa"s grave to build a sewer". YouTube URL here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFN8Wj37WYI |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sewer songs From: Nigel Parsons Date: 07 Oct 16 - 07:41 PM The first song from: Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sewer songs From: GUEST,Richard Felixstowe - PM Date: 07 Oct 16 - 05:42 AM Gives the author as Richard Bloomfield (1988) Is that the date of this little ditty? Or the date of the original on which it's based? I only ask because of the reference to Theresa May as a Tory. Her first attempt at election was only 1992, and she didn't get elected until 1997. Cheers Nigel |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sewer songs From: Gda Music Date: 08 Oct 16 - 07:00 AM Lord Investor musically recalls a calypso that brilliantly tackles the subject of sanitation with his http://lordinvestor.net/a-song-for-the-sewers/ GJ |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sewer songs From: Tattie Bogle Date: 09 Oct 16 - 04:15 AM Not quite a sewer song, but about the disposal of sewage, "The SS Shieldhill", a ship that took cargos of the stuff far out into the Clyde and dumped them there. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sewer songs From: Tattie Bogle Date: 09 Oct 16 - 04:48 PM Sorry, SHIELDHALL". The lyrics are in another thread, here: http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=83729#1541062 |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sewer songs From: GUEST,.gargoyle Date: 09 Oct 16 - 05:45 PM Consider, URINE TOWN....saw it, loved it. It spoofs such standards as "Les Mes" and "Three Penny Opera". Sincerely, Gargoyle You can almost smell the Paris subway from twenty years ago. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sewer songs From: GUEST,Sone bloke or other Date: 10 Oct 16 - 03:27 AM I know the feeling. Most of my songs are full of shit too. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sewer songs From: Joe_F Date: 09 Nov 17 - 03:14 PM ...'neath a pale brown sky, A little old lady eats shit on rye. I am happy to say that I have never heard the rest of it. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sewer songs From: GUEST,.gargoyle Date: 09 Nov 17 - 07:22 PM Music by Mark Hollmann Lyrics by Hollmann and Greg Kotis Book by Kotis Broadway 2001-2004 Theme Chorus URINETOWN Women You our humble Audience You have come to See What it's like when People can't pee Free First act lasts an Hour Don't assume you're Fine Best go now, there Often is a Line Men You our humble Audience You have come to See People can't pee People can't pee free Can't pee free First act lasts an Hour Don't assume you're Fine Often is a, Often is a line All This is Urinetown! One restroom here at Urinetown! It's unisex at Urinetown! All by design Lockstock, McQueen, Fipp, Barrell It's the oldest story - Masses are oppressed Faces, clothes and bladders All distressed Rich folks get the good life Poor folks get the woe In the end It's nothing you don't know All You're at Urinetown! Your ticket should say Urinetown! No refunds, this is Urinetown! We'll keep that dough! Sopranos People can't Pee free! People can't Pee free! People can't Pee free! They can't Pee free In Urinetown! Urinetown! Urinetown! Altos This is Urinetown! Here we are In Urinetown! This is Urinetown! Here we are In Urinetown! Yes, This is Urinetown! Urinetown! Urinetown! Tenors This is Urinetown! Here we are In Urinetown! This, this Is Urinetown! Here we are In Urinetown! Yes, here we Are in Urinetown! Urinetown! Yes, This is Urinetown! Yes, This is Urinetown! Basses It's the Oldest story It's the Oldest story It's the Oldest story With masses Oppressed Masses Masses Oppressed In UrineTown Sincerely, Gargoyle |
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Subject: Lyr Add: SONG OF THE SEWER (via Art Carney) From: Jim Dixon Date: 12 Nov 17 - 05:40 PM Several words of this are different from the version Cranky Yankee posted above, and the dialect isn't as intense, and it has a whole new verse, so I thought I'd post the whole thing. You can hear it at The Internet Archive. SONG OF THE SEWER Written by Matt Dubey & Harold Karr As recorded by Art Carney, with orchestra directed by Sid Feller, 1954. 1. I work in the sewer; it's a very hard job. You know they won't hire just any old slob. You don't have to wear a tie or a coat. You just have to know how to float. CHORUS: We sing the song of the sewer. Of the sewer we sing this song. Together we stand, with shovel in hand, To keep things rollin' along. 2. I work down a manhole with a guy named Bruce, And we are in charge of all the refuse. He lets me go first while he holds the lid. I'm tellin' ya—jeez!—What a sweet kid! 3. A funny thing happened to Bruce yesterday. The tide came along; he got carried away. He come out in Jersey, but it's OK now, 'Cause that's where he lives anyhow. 4. My father he worked in a sewer uptown. I followed his footsteps and worked my way down. That's how I began in this here industry. I just sort o' fell into it—lucky me! [The similarity with the Beverly Hillbillies theme isn't very close.] [John Lithgow also recorded this in 2006. His version can be heard on Spotify.] |
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Subject: Lyr Add: THE SEWERS OF THE STRAND (Spike Milligan) From: Jim Dixon Date: 12 Nov 17 - 11:02 PM THE SEWERS OF THE STRAND As recorded by Spike Milligan [Crowd noises.] [Spoken:] Yes, folks, I can understand their feelings because they are about to play-- [Sings:] Sideways through the sewers of the Strand on a Sunday afternoon, Sideways through the sewers of the Strand will be our honeymoon. Ankle-deep, folks, in sludge, dear, we'll walk hand in hand. They do say that the sewers of the Strand are the finer....(?) Sideways through the sewers of the Strand will be paradise for two. Who cares if the atmosphere is blue? 'Cause there's nothing wrong With a good old British pong, Sideways through the sewers of the Strand with you. [Spoken:] Ah, my darling little bride! We met by accident, folks; she ran over me in a tram. Her name was Beulah; mine was Jim. I was glad they called me Jim, folks, because that was my name. I found out that she'd been going out with an Irish dentist called Phil McCavity. He walked with a pronounced limp: L-I-M-P, pronounced limp, folks. Oh, the worry to my grave(?). This gave me a stranger feeling since I was bald at the time. Ah, the first time I met her, it was late early one morning in spring. There was a heavy dew on the grass. He'd just been thrown out of the synagogue for eating during the sermon. I told her: "Darling, let me take you away from the squalor you live in, and live in the squalor I live in." So we were married in the spring, folks. We had the reception in the pond. There was was plenty to drink, folks. And then off we went, folks. [Sung:] Sideways through those naughty sewers of the naughty Strand-- Not one but two, folks. Who cares if the atmosphere is blue? 'Cause there's nothing wrong--is there?-- With a good old British pong. Sideways through the sewers of the Strand with you. I don't mean maybe. [Crowd noises.] |
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Subject: Lyr Add: THREE COINS IN THE SEWER (Joe Meek) From: Jim Dixon Date: 12 Nov 17 - 11:36 PM My transcription from the recording on YouTube: THREE COINS IN THE SEWER As recorded by Alan Klein (Joe Meek), 1962. Three coins in the sewer-- They fell down the drain, Through a hole in my heart, dear. Now I'm right skint again. They rolled down the pavement, Through the muck and the slime, Went plop in the water, One at a time. Stuck my hand through the grating, But my arm was too short, And as I tried to remove it, Sawney Bean(?) has got caught. And a crowd gathered round me. They thought I was insane, As I lay in the gutter, With my arm down the drain. Off came the drain cover, And I fell with a thud, Crawled out through a manhole, All covered in mud. Now my friends won't come near me. Oh, ain't that a shame! Since that day in the sewer, I just don't smell the same. Since that day in the sewer, I just don't smell the same. [I don't understand the reference to Sawney Bean. Is this rhyming slang, or am I mishearing it, or...?] |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sewer songs From: GUEST,Gerry Date: 13 Nov 17 - 12:41 AM Wikipedia has a page on Sawney Bean, whereon it says, Alexander "Sawney" Bean was said to be the head of a 48-member clan in Scotland anywhere between the 13th and 16th centuries, reportedly executed for the mass murder and cannibalisation of over 1,000 people. The story appears in The Newgate Calendar, a crime catalogue of Newgate Prison in London. While historians tend to believe Bean never existed or his story has been greatly exaggerated, his story has passed into local folklore and become part of the Edinburgh tourism industry. Contents [hide] 1 Legend 2 Sources and veracity 3 References 4 External links Legend[edit] According to The Newgate Calendar, Alexander Bean was born in East Lothian during the 1500s.[1] His father was a ditch digger and hedge trimmer, and Bean tried to take up the family trade but quickly realized that he had little taste for honest labour. He left home with a vicious woman who apparently shared his inclinations. The couple ended up at a coastal cave in Bennane Head between Girvan and Ballantrae where they lived undiscovered for some twenty-five years. The cave was 200 yards deep and during high tide the entrance was blocked by water. The couple eventually produced eight sons, six daughters, eighteen grandsons and fourteen granddaughters. Various grandchildren were products of incest. Lacking the inclination for regular labour, the clan thrived by laying careful ambushes at night to rob and murder individuals or small groups. The bodies were brought back to the cave, where they were dismembered and eaten. Leftovers were pickled, and discarded body parts would sometimes wash up on nearby beaches. The body parts and disappearances did not go unnoticed by the local villagers, but the Beans stayed in the caves by day and took their victims at night. The clan was so secretive that the villagers were unaware of the murderers living nearby. As more significant notice of the disappearances was taken, several organised searches were launched to find the culprits. One search took note of the telltale cave but the men refused to believe anything human could live in it. Frustrated and in a frenetic quest for justice, the townspeople lynched several innocents, and the disappearances continued. Suspicion often fell on local innkeepers since they were the last known to see many of the missing people alive. One fateful night, the Beans ambushed a married couple riding from a fair on one horse, but the man was skilled in combat, deftly holding off the clan with sword and pistol. The clan fatally mauled the wife when she fell to the ground in the conflict. Before they could take the resilient husband, a large group of fairgoers appeared on the trail and the Beans fled. With the Beans' existence finally revealed, it was not long before King James VI of Scotland (later James I of England) heard of the atrocities and decided to lead a manhunt with a team of 400 men and several bloodhounds. They soon found the Beans' previously overlooked cave in Bennane Head. The cave was scattered with human remains, having been the scene of many murders and cannibalistic acts. The clan was captured alive and taken in chains to the Tolbooth Jail in Edinburgh, then transferred to Leith or Glasgow where they were promptly executed without trial; the men had their genitalia cut off, hands and feet severed, and were allowed to bleed to death; the women and children, after watching the men die, were burned alive. (This recalls, in essence if not in detail, the punishments of hanging, drawing and quartering decreed for men convicted of treason while women convicted of the same were burned.) The town of Girvan, located near the macabre scene of murder and debauchery, has another legend about the cannibal clan. It is said that one of Bean's daughters eventually left the clan and settled in Girvan, where she planted a Dule Tree that became known as "The Hairy Tree". After her family's capture, the daughter's identity was revealed by angry locals who hanged her from the bough of the Hairy Tree. Sources and veracity[edit] Sawney Bean is often considered a mythical figure. Citing an account of 1843, Dorothy L. Sayers included a gruesome narrative in her anthology Great Short Stories of Detection, Mystery and Horror (Gollancz, 1928. The book was a best-seller in Britain, reprinted seven times in the next five years.)[2] A 2005 article by Sean Thomas[3] notes that historical documents, such as newspapers and diaries during the era when Sawney Bean was supposedly active, make no mention of ongoing disappearances of hundreds of persons. Additionally, Thomas notes inconsistencies in the stories but speculates that kernels of truth might have inspired the legend: ... from broadsheet to broadsheet, the precise dating of Sawney Bean's reign of anthropophagic terror varies wildly: sometimes the atrocities occurred during the reign of James VI [ca. early 1600s], whilst other versions claim the Beans lived centuries before. Viewed in this light, it is arguable that the Bean story may have a basis of truth but the precise dating of events has become obscured over the years. Perhaps the dating of the murders was brought forward by the editors and writer of the broadsheets, so as to make the story appear more relevant to the readership ... To add to the intrigue, we do know that cannibalism was not unknown in mediaeval Scotland and that Galloway was in mediaeval times a very lawless place; perhaps nothing on the scale of the Bean legend took place, but every story grows and is embroidered over time. The Sawney Bean legend closely resembles the story of Christie-Cleek, which is attested much earlier ? in the early 15th century. The legend of Sawney Bean first appeared in the British chapbooks (rumour magazines of the day), which today leads many to argue that the story was a political propaganda tool to denigrate the Scots after the Jacobite Rebellions. Thomas disagrees by noting: If the Sawney Bean story is to be read as deliberately anti-Scottish, how do we explain the equal emphasis on English criminals in the same publications? Wouldn't such an approach rather blunt the point? (See also "Sawney" for this theory). Another cannibal story from Scotland, even more resembling the Sawney Bean tale than the Christie-Cleek story, is contained in the 1696 work of Nathaniel Crouch, a compiler and popular history writer publishing under the pseudonym "Richard Burton".[4] In this tale, the following happened in 1459, the year before James II's death:[5] ..about which time a certain thief who lived privately in a den, with his wife and children, were all burned alive, they having made it their practice for many years to kill young people and eat them; one girl only of a year old was saved, and brought up at Dundee, who at twelve years of age being found guilty of the same horrid crime, was condemned to the same punishment, and when the people followed her in great multitudes to execution, wondering at her unnatural villainy, she turned toward them, and with a cruel countenance said, ?What do you thus rail at me, as if I had done such an heinous act, contrary to the nature of man? I tell you that if you did but know how pleasant the taste of man?s flesh was, none of you all would forbear to eat it;? and thus with an impenitent and stubborn mind she suffered deserved death. Hector Boece relates that the infant daughter of a Scotch brigand, who was executed with his family for cannibalism, though raised by foster parents, developed the cannibal appetite at 12, and was put to death for it. This was summarized by Drs. Gould & Pyle on pg.409 of Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine.[6] |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sewer songs From: Nigel Parsons Date: 13 Nov 17 - 04:18 AM "Sister Susie sewing suits for sailors". That's a song about a 'sewer'. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sewer songs From: Jim Dixon Date: 13 Nov 17 - 05:41 AM GUEST,Gerry: Yes, I know who Sawney Bean was. I just don't understand why he's mentioned in this song. It wasn't necessary to copy the entire Wikipedia article into Mudcat. A link would have been sufficient, or more than sufficient. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sewer songs From: Steve Gardham Date: 15 Mar 21 - 06:10 PM Richard F Have you got an original for the song by Richard Bloomfield? My father sang a fragment something similar from WWII Down in the sewer, you mucky little hooer (whore) I like to hear me balls go clickety clickety clack! He didn't remember any more. The tune was something like 'I took her gathering roses' |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sewer songs From: GUEST,The Man from UNCOOL Date: 12 Feb 24 - 06:07 PM I suspect Richard Bloomfield 1988 is the auto-signature of "Richard [who lives in] Felixtowe" [his original handle when he posted]. Tom Walsh suggests that the song "Working Down The Sewer" "moved up" to Preston [where he first heard it] from further South [in England, but still somewhere in The North, by southern measures]. It would be way earlier than 1988. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sewer songs From: BobL Date: 13 Feb 24 - 03:47 AM Just for the record: There was a young fellow from Hyde, Who fell in a sewer and died. Next morning, his brother Fell into another And now they're interred side by side. The Yetties actually got away with this one on BBC radio once... |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sewer songs From: GUEST,John from "Elsie`s Band" Date: 13 Feb 24 - 06:48 AM "Down Below", as detailed earlier in this thread, was a staple for Red Sullivan in the 60`s to 70`s folk clubs in the S.E. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sewer songs From: Severn Date: 13 Feb 24 - 08:24 PM Goddamn Sam I Goddamn Sam, the lavatory man, Chief Engineer of the shit house clan, Pass out the paper, pass out the towels Run to the rhythm of the people's bowels. Deep Down, under the ground Little black turds swimming round and round Flip, flap, under that shack I've got the shithouse blues..... I Learned on the playground while at Elementary school in Kensington MD USA. I sang it for my singing teacher,the l are great Lisa Null at a lesson once and she sang me a different but similar set of words, so the song got around. |
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