Lyr Req: In the Little Red School House

Subject: In The Little Red School House
From: Whitedog
Date: 18 Oct 01 - 12:05 AM

I'm still working on getting a little pamphlet made for my Uncle-- that will contain many of the old ballads/folksongs/diddies that he and his wife sang in their early years. Mudcat Cafe has been one of the absolute best places to come and ask for lyrics. I thank everyone that has helped or sent me to other sites. I am going to make another request..for the written lyrics to the song, In The Little Red School House, by Billy Jones and Ernest Hare. Thanks to suggestions on Mudcat, I did go to the www.turtleservices.simplenet.com place and I found it and I have downloaded it. It is a 3:51 playing time song, and I am working on transcribing it, but I am pretty slow at it and my ears don't always catch the words. If anyone knows where the printed lyrics to this song is, please tell me. My Uncle, that is almost 89, is in Intensive Care with congestive heart failure and I am trying to beat the clock. Not trying for pity here, his body and mind are tired and he is ready to "go on out", but still one hopes for a little more time. I liked the old Mudcat and I like the newer Mudcat..as in reply to an earlier thread. I think it serves a great purpose, and 99% of the time, will deal with the Blues and music one thinks of when you say "Mudcat". But, it also allows for some diversions and I am thankful. And I sign my name, Judy Malone

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: In The Little Red School House
From: Louie Roy
Date: 18 Oct 01 - 10:27 PM

Whitedog,this was posted in a thread within the last 3 months but I can't locate the thread.I do have it in my collection somewhere and I'll try to locate tonight and post tomorrow,unless some one with the knowledge of how to bring this thread back up helps out Louie Roy

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: In The Little Red School House
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 18 Oct 01 - 11:39 PM

There seem to have been an awful lot of Little Red Schoolhouses, and an awful lot of songs about them.  There are texts for two in this thread: Need the words- Red Schoolhouse

Not apparently indexed by the search engine yet; I found it by typing red school house into the "Filter" box on the main Forum page and setting the "Age" box to 1 year.  The second text is -so far as it goes- the one you're looking for; though it's by no means complete, it should at least be a start.

Subject: Lyr Add: IN THE LITTLE RED SCHOOL HOUSE
From: Whitedog
Date: 19 Oct 01 - 02:18 PM

Thank you guys so very much. I don’t haven’t figured out exactly how to make it look like lyrics on this page, but this is the words that Poppa sang:

In the little red school house with my book and slate
In the little red schoolhouse, I was always late.

Altho’ I yearned to be back yonder in the days of yore
How I would stand up and holler two plus two are four.

When I should have been learning about the golden rule
Our little hearts were yearning for the swimming pool.

Though we could hardly wait for the eight o’clock bell
The moment we heard it we ran like mell.

O, gee I want to be in the little red schoolhouse.

Ten o’clock spelling had just begun
Johnny throwed an ink ball just for fun.

Hit the teacher’s ear with an awful splat.
She turned and said, “Who did that?”

Pretty little Percy on the very front row
Raises up his hand and says, “Teacher, I know!”

Little Johnny whispers to the teachers pride
You just wait until I get you outside.

Johnny supposed to stand up with his face to the wall
He says, “I don’t wanna” and he tries to stall.

If I stood up there, I would take an awful chance
I got a great big tear in the seat of my pants.

Anyway, the above is exactly how my Uncle Franklin, better known as “Poppa” sang the song. When I went to the http://www.turtleservices.simple.com/In%20Little%20Red%20House...and I could click on the actual song by Billy Jones and Ernest Hare. It was amazing how many verses Poppa had actually matched up too. (Considering Poppa is 88 yrs old) Billy and Ernest have a few more verses, and they sing the song in the back and forth style...kinda like straight man playing to comic one.

Poppa did say “mell” and not hell... I’m not sure what is on original song...or if it was truly “mell” as they didn’t want to offend an audience that KNEW what they were implying. Also, Poppa used the word “pants” in the last line...to rhyme with chance. On the record, they say trousers. They also had another verse on the end about the teacher saying “go home and wash your face”...and the boys say something like, “Why, it’ll only get dirty again.”

Poppa is still in hospital, and it has turned to pneumonia. Not unexpected, but he still responds to us all.

The other song for now is one called TITTLE TITTLE TATTLETALE. His wife sang it the most, but he also knew it. It goes:

The school children were singing
The school bells were ringing.
Soon roll, the teacher would call
“Johnny?” “Bright Present”
“Mary?” “Bright Present.”
“Where were you Monday morning, John Paul?”

“I had a toothache, an awful toothache
And maw made me stay home from school.”

“Teacher,” says Winnie, “John Paul told a lie.
He went a fishing on Monday morn.”

(I think there should be another line or two here, but the song ended this way)

Tittle Tittle Tattletale
Shame, Shame, Shame
Tittle Tittle Tattletale is your name
Always been the teachers pet
Never kept a secret yet
Tittle tittle tattletale is your name.

I wish I could give you the chords, but I don’t play or sing. I just wondered if any of you have heard this song and know where it might be found.

Any help always appreciated, and again my thanks for all your research and help.

Judy Malone.

HTML line breaks added & some spelling & punctuation fixed. --JoeClone, 28-Nov-01.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: In The Little Red School House
From: GUEST
Date: 11 Apr 10 - 09:13 PM

The line in little red school house is."The minute they would ring it I would run pell-mell"...without order or method..in a jumbled, confused mass.

Subject: Lyr Add: IN THE LITTLE RED SCHOOL HOUSE
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 13 Apr 10 - 06:47 PM

I posted the lyrics to this song in another thread here. Although I neglected to say where those lyrics came from, it looks as if they came from sheet music. Jones & Hare changed a bit and embellished a lot, so their lyrics are worth having.

Click to play an mp3.

IN THE LITTLE RED SCHOOL HOUSE
As sung by Billy Jones and Ernest Hare, 1922

VERSE 1: Sometimes I think I was a little fool
(You think you were, or think you are?)
Back in the days when I used to go to school.
(Can you remember back that far?)
When you* were a kid, gee, how you* hated (What?)
The little place where you* were educated.
Although I didn't know it, I was lucky then.
I wish that we were back again.

CHORUS 1: In the little red school house (Me, too!)
With my book and slate, (Those were the happy days!)
In the little red school house, (Oh, boy!)
I was always late. (Yes, dear, you were, always.)
Do you remember, Bill, when you* were a scholar,
In the days of yore, (Do I?)
How I'd stand right up there and holler,
"Two and two is three!"
When we should 'a' been learning, (Learning what?)
About the golden rule, (We didn't want the golden rule.)
Our little hearts were yearning
For the swimming pool. (That good old pool!)
When I was late, the teacher said, "Go bring your father right away."
You* brought your* dad and after that he came 'most ev'ry day.
Oh, gee (Jiminy gee!), I want to be
In the little red school house.

VERSE 2: Each morn when Mother said, "It's after eight,"
(What a time poor Mother had!)
Then she'd say, "Hurry! You surely will be late,"
(When I was late, it made the teacher mad.)
We'd start down the road with footsteps lagging,
But you remember we were always bragging.
I said, "When I get bigger, no more school for me!"
But now that's where we want to be.

CHORUS 2: In the little red school house,
With a book and slate,
In the little red school house,
We were always late.
We long to be back there where we were scholars
In the days of yore.
How we'd stand right up there and holler:
"Two and two are three!"
When we should 'a' been learning
About the golden rule,
Our little hearts were yearning
For the swimming pool.
Because I was so bad and acted like a clown,
You* got a good lickin' then you* couldn't sit down.
Oh, gee (Jiminy gee!), I want to be (I want to be)
In the little red school house.

PATTER: Ten o'clock: the spelling lesson's just begun.
Johnny throws an ink-ball just for fun,
Hits the teacher's ear with an awful splat.
She turns around and says, "Who did that?"
Pretty little Percy in the very front row
Lifts up his hand and says, "Teacher, I know."
Then little Johnny whispers to the teacher's pride:
"You just wait till I get you outside."
Johnny's told to stand up with his face to the wall.
He says, "I don't want ter," and he tries to stall.
"If I stood up there. I'd take an awful chance.
I got a great big tear in the seat o' my trousers."
Teacher sent you home to wash your face and then
You say, "Ah, what's the use? It gets dirty again."
Oh, gee, I want to be
In the little red school house.

Ha-ha-ha-ha! With green shutters!


[* Sometimes Jones starts a sentence and Hare finishes it (or vice versa) which is why the pronoun sometimes shifts from "I" to "you." In the sheet music, it is always "I."]

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: In the Little Red School House
From: GUEST,whyaskquestions
Date: 09 Nov 15 - 09:06 PM

lyrics for "Little Red Schoolhouse"

Several people contributed their own versions of "Little Red Schoolhouse" to a website listing folk song lyrics. I've included each answer below, and hopefully you can piece together the song you remember.
From http://www.grandfolkies.com/l.htm

VERSION 1
-----------
In the little red school house with my book and slate.
In the little red school house where I was always late.
Remember how we listened for the four o'clock bell?
The minute we would hear it we would run like mad-
O gee! I wanna be in the little red school house.


VERSION 2
-----------
In a little red school house
With my book and slate
In a little red school house
I was always late

I re-mem-ber well (do not remember this exact line so just murmur & drag it out)
In those days of yore
I used to stand right up there and holler
TWO AND TWO ARE FOUR

When we shoulda been learnin'
About the golden rule
Our little hearts were yearnin'
for the swimmin' pool

We could hardly wait for the four o'clock bell
The minute we would hear it we would run like.....MAD
Oh gee, I wanna be
In a Little Red School House

Ten o'clock spelling lesson just begun
Johnny throws an inkball just for fun
Hits the teacher's ear with an awful SPLAT
She turns around and says "Who did that?"

Purty little Percy on the very front row
Raises up his hand and says "Teacher, I know"
Little Johnny whispers to the teacher's pride
"You just wait till I get you outside"

Oh gee, I wanna be
In a Little Red School House

Johnny's told to stand with his face to the wall
He says "I don't wanna" and he tries to stall
"If I stand up there I take an awful chance,
I got a great big hole in the seat of my pants!"

Teacher sends you home to wash your face and then
You say "Oh what's the use, it just gets dirty again!"
Oh gee, I wanna be
In a Little Red School House!


VERSION 3
-----------
Sometimes I think I was a little fool
Back in those days when I used to go to school.
Now when I was a kid, gee, how I hated
The little place where I was educated.

Even though I didn't know it then
I wish that I was back again
In the Little Red School House
with my book and slate.

In the Little Red School House
We were always late.

Oh, now what I would give to be a scholar
In those days of yore.
How I'd stand right up there and hollar,
"Two and two is four!"

When we shoulda been learnin'
About the golden rule,
Our little hearts were yearnin'
For the swimmin' pool.

Now we could hardly wait for the four o'clock bell.
The moment that it rang we would run like......mad!
Oh gee, I wanna be-e-e in the Little Red School House.

Ten o'clock spelling lesson just begun.
Johnny throws an inkball just for fun.
Hits the teacher's ear with an awful splat!
Teacher turns around and says "Who did that?"

Johnny's told to stand with his face to the wall.
He says "Oh I don' wanna" and he starts to bawl.
If I stood up there I'd take an awful chance:
I got a great big tear in the seat of my pants!

Teacher sends you home to wash yer face, and then
You say, "Oh what's the use, it jus' gets dirty again?"
Oh gee, I wanna be-e-e in the Little Red School House.

VERSION 4
-----------

4 o' clock a spelling lesson just begun.
Zeke through an inkball just for fun.
Hit the teacher's ear with an awful splat.
She turned around and said "Who did that?"

Pretty little Heathcliff in the very front row
Raised up his hand and said "Teacher, I know.
Little Zeke whispered to the "teacher's pride"
"You just wait till I get you outside."

Zeke was told to stand up with his face to the wall.
He said "I don't wanna," and he tried to stall.
"If I stand up there I'll take an awful chance.
I gotta great big rip in the seat of my pants."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: In the Little Red School House
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Dec 15 - 12:16 AM

The first version is how my mother always sang it. Have been looking for the lyrics for a long time. Thank you so much.

Subject: Lyr Add: IN THE LITTLE RED SCHOOL HOUSE
From: Joe Offer
Date: 18 Mar 19 - 03:07 PM

Here's a pretty good transcription, a little different from Jim's.

In The Little Red School House
Words and Music By AL. WILSON and JAS. A. BRENNAN
Published 1922 by Edw. B. Marks Music Co.

[Verse 1]
Sometimes I think I was a little fool,
Back in the days when I used to go to school.
When I was a kid, Gee! how I hated,
The little place where I was educated,

Altho' I didn't know it, I was lucky then,
I wish that I was back again.

[Chorus]
In the little red school house with my book and slate,
In the little red school house I was always late.
I long to be back there where I was a scholar In the days of yore;
How I'd stand right up there and holler; "two and two are four."

When we should have been learning, about the Golden Rule,
Our little hearts were yearning for the swimming pool.
Why we could hardly wait for the four o'-clock bell,
The moment that we heard it we would run like mad,
Oh! Gee! I want to be, In the little red school house,
In the little red house.

[Verse 2]
Each morn,When mother said "It's after eight,
If you don't hurry you surely will be late!"
I'd start down the road, My footsteps lagging,
Of course I went but I was always bragging,

"You bet when I get bigger No more school for me,
But now that's where I want to be.

[Chorus 2]
In the little red school house with my book and slate,
In the little red school house I was always late.
I long to be back there where I was a scholar In the days of yore;
How I'd stand right up there and holler; "two and two are four."

When we should have been learning, about the Golden Rule,
Our little hearts were yearning for the swimming pool.
Why we could Teacher sends you home to wash your face and then!
You say; "aw what's the use it just gets dirty again,

Oh! Gee! I want to be, In the little red school house,
In the little red house.

Source: http://parlorsongs.com/content/l/littleredschoolhouse-lyr.php