ADD:The Way that the World Goes Round (Prine)

Subject: Did you ever stand and shiver...
From:
Date: 19 Oct 01 - 01:17 AM

Halp! Trying to track down a song I heard a coulple of times about 25 years ago. It was a sort of folk/blues narrative involving (as I recall) a visit to New Orleans, "a sort of ex-ballet dancer" who danced naked in the rain, and a 3-legged cat. The final lines, as I recall, were "Did you ever stand and shiver, 'cause you were looking at a river?" If you know, post here, or e-mail me. Thanks!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Did you ever stand and shiver...
From: masato sakurai
Date: 19 Oct 01 - 06:30 AM

Probably Ramblin' Jack Elliott's "912 Greens." It is discussed HERE.

~Masato

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Did you ever stand and shiver...
From: Art Thieme
Date: 20 Oct 01 - 12:00 AM

If you want a truly fine look at Jack Elliott and his place in the American folk revival, please read the new issue of SING OUT ! magazine. It's much more thoughtful and fulfilling than the short piece the blue clicky takes you to.

By the way, "Frank", in the song 912 Greens is FRAMK HAMILTON, a once-in-a while Mudcat poster, former member of the Weavers, wonderful guitarist, banjo picker harmonica blower (Woody taught him) as well as being one of the 4 founders of the Old Town School Of FOLK MUSIC in Chicago. Frank was their first teacher who devised the group class method of teaching that they still use today---almost 50 years later.

"Guy" is GUY CARAWAN an unyielding worker for Civil Rights, workers dignity and human empowerment for social change. He is often cited as the one who brought WE SHALL OVERCOME to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.

BILLY FAIER ia a fine 5-string banjo player who, with his seminal album The Art Of The Five String Banjo in the late 50s for Riverside Records, showed how the banjo might and could be used for all kinds of music nobody except Pete Seeger had even thought of using it for: calypso, blues, flamenco, greek, arabic---just about anything. It was a great LP.

Art Thieme

Subject: Lyr Add: THAT'S THE WAY THAT THE…(Reilly & Maloney
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 20 Oct 01 - 03:02 AM


The description at the link posted by masato certainly sounds like what is described, but the line "did you ever stand and shiver ..." comes straight from "Thats' the Way the World Goes 'Round," by John Prine, in the version done by Dave Maloney and Ginny Reilly. Could be they got it from "912 Greens," or maybe GUEST,kwanlu is remembering more than one song(?). Been There - Done That.

Incidently Art, we'll second the recommendation on the SingOut article on Jack Elliot. Very good.

The lyric line in question does not appear at one John Prine site we checked, but is repeated at beginning and end of Reilly and Maloney's version.
Since we think Reilly and Maloney are no longer active, at least together, and the CD we have is probably out of print, a quick transcription (by Lin In Kansas) of their lyric follows:
That's The Way the World Goes 'Round, John Prine, ASCAP

Performed by Dave Maloney and Ginny Reilly
Reilly & Maloney, a collection Freckle Records, 1989

Did you ever stand and shiver
While you were starin' - at a river.

Well I know a guy that's got a lot to lose
He's a pretty nice fella, kinda confused,
He's got muscles in his head, ain't never been used,
He thinks he owns half of this town

Well he starts drinkin' heavy, gets a big red nose
And he fights with his lady 'til it shows,
Then he takes her out to dinner and buys her new clothes
And that's the way the world goes 'round

That's the way that the world goes 'round
You're up one day and the next you're down
It's a half an inch of water but you think you're gonna drown.
That's the way that the world goes 'round
That's the way that the world goes 'round

I was sittin' in the bathtub, a countin' my toes
When the radiator broke, the water all froze
I got stuck in the ice, without my clothes
Naked as the eyes of a clown
I was cryin' those ice cubes, hopin' I'd croak
When the sun came through the window, the ice all broke
I stood up and laughed, I thought it was a joke,
That's the way that the world goes 'round

CHO
That's the way that the world goes 'round
You're up one day and the next you're down
It's a half an inch of water but you think you're gonna drown.
That's the way that the world goes 'round

That's the way that the world goes 'round
You're up one day and the next you're down
It's a half an inch of water but you think you're gonna drown.
That's the way that the world goes 'round

Did you ever stand and shiver,
While you were starin' (Lord) at a river

That's the way that the world goes 'round
That's the way that the world goes 'round
That's the way that the world goes 'round
That's the way that the world goes 'round
That's the way that the world goes 'round
That's the way that the world goes 'round
The way that the world goes 'round

That's the way that the world goes 'round
You're up one day, the next you're down
It's a half an inch of water, but you think you're gonna drown,
That's the way that the world goes 'round
That's the way that the world goes 'round
That's the way that the world ----- goes 'round


John

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Did you ever stand and shiver...
From: Art Thieme
Date: 20 Oct 01 - 12:10 PM

Why the hell did they do that? I liked Riley and Maloney, musically as well as personally but taking that line was the wrong thing to do in my opinion. It seems they just grabbed it from Jack's amazing and moving portrait of a wondrous, mesmerizing and fantasic (in the the true sense of the word fantasy) occurance. His song/recitation made me really wish I'd been there or ,at least, been a fly on the wall. Jack Kerouac (and Elliott too) made me feel that way enough in the 50s and 60s that I, to an extent, lived the life they wrote about. Many a night, in many a town and festival, things happened for me in very similar ways. And it was all because of the folk scene.

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Did you ever stand and shiver...
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 20 Oct 01 - 01:28 PM


Art Thieme

I didn't know of Reilly & Maloney until my new bride went looking for a replacement of her badly worn tape, and we found their "retrospective" CD (the one cited above).

I suspect that the song was from performances contemporary with Jack Elliot's original performance.

Perhaps they were also impressed with Jack's performance.

The line does seem sort of "out of context" now, especially for those of us who don't know enough about "Ramblin' Jack." Perhaps the connection was more clear to their audience of the time?

This thread, and the SingOut bio, have certainly given me an incentive to get better acquainted with Jack.

John

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Did you ever stand and shiver...
From: Lin in Kansas
Date: 20 Oct 01 - 02:37 PM

Art, having listened to a lot of Ginny and Dave's work, both recorded and live in the Pacific Northwest, I think that if they "lifted" those lines, it was probably intended more as a tribute to Mr. Elliott than anything else. At least, the pair of them struck me that way; I never knew them personally, so am only judging by what I've seen of them in live performances.

At any rate, I would probably have skipped this thread, and never known the lines were from a Jack Elliott song, if I hadn't been familiar with the Reilly & Maloney song--so to that extent at least they've furthered my education and brought a new listener to Mr. Elliott...

Lin

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Did you ever stand and shiver...
From: Art Thieme
Date: 20 Oct 01 - 08:50 PM

Guys in Ks,

I hear ya. And you both are probably right on the mark. I overreacted but I really like that track by Mr. Elliott. Using the line ain't no big deal for sure. Knowing the people and enjoying all their music quite a lot and I meant no offense at all.

Art

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Did you ever stand and shiver...
From: Lin in Kansas
Date: 21 Oct 01 - 04:18 PM

And none taken, Art, for sure! Actually, this thread has given us incentive to go find this album. Many thanks for the background and your own unique view on the people and the song--I love your stories.

Lin

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Did you ever stand and shiver...
From: GUEST,greycat3legs
Date: 01 Jan 13 - 05:13 PM

i heard john prine sing the line "did you ever stand and shiver ..." at the start of the song "world goes round" , (seemed like a studio version) on the car radio one night, i know john is a big fan and friend of jack's and though it was surprising to hear him sing those words, i remember it as a nod to jack and the line itself, and all the fans that would get that little "gem". course now thinking about it in context of drowning in an inch of water, it's hilarious really and that's another good reason for being in the song.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Did you ever stand and shiver...
From: Elmore
Date: 01 Jan 13 - 07:24 PM

Love Reilly and Maloney. They are one of my favorite contemporary duos. Glad they're doing occasional gigs after a long interval.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Did you ever stand and shiver...
From: GUEST
Date: 03 Jun 13 - 10:00 AM

It certainly was Ramblin' Jack who did the line at the end of 912 Greens. Just tonight I played the disk, thinking about Jack. Decided to type it into my search engine and found this site. I've been there when he played the song back in the old days - in those old days Jack would stay at my place whenever he would come to Toronto. Now that I'm on the other side of the world, I think about him from time to time. Guess I miss him. Anybody who happens to see him, please give him regards from Buzz.

Subject: Lyr Add: THAT'S THE WAY THAT THE WORLD…(John Prine
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 25 Dec 21 - 06:56 PM

Just for greater clarity, I figure it’s good to have an accurate transcription of what John Prine actually recorded—


THAT'S THE WAY THAT THE WORLD GOES 'ROUND
Written by John Prine
As recorded by John Prine on “Bruised Orange” (1978)

1. I know a guy that's got a lot to lose.
He's a pretty nice fellow, kind o’ confused.
Got muscles in his head ain't never been used.
Thinks he owns half o’ this town.
Starts drinkin’ heavy, gets a big red nose,
Beats his old lady with a rubber hose,
Then he takes her out to dinner, buys her new clothes.
That's the way that the world goes 'round.

CHORUS: That's the way that the world goes 'round.
You're up one day, the next you're down.
It's a half an inch o’ water and you think you're gonna drown.
That's the way that the world goes 'round.

2. I was sittin’ in the bathtub, countin’ my toes,
When the radiator broke, water all froze.
I got stuck in the ice without my clothes,
Naked as the eyes of a clown.
I was cryin’ ice cubes, hopin’ I'd croak,
When the sun come through the window, the ice all broke.
I stood up and laughed, thought it was a joke.
That's the way that the world goes 'round. CHORUS

INSTRUMENTAL BREAK, REPEAT CHORUS.
That's the way that the world goes 'round.
That's the way that the world goes 'round.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Did you ever stand and shiver...?-Prine
From: Ebbie
Date: 27 Dec 21 - 04:08 AM

That is also the song where a fan requested Prine to sing 'The Happy Enchilada."