Lyr Req: Mother, Mother, may I go down to the ...

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mother, Mother, may I go down to the ...
From: GUEST
Date: 20 Apr 24 - 07:04 PM

I play this song on the piano and my daughter sings it. It is played mainly on the black keys. My grandpa taught me how to play it. He was born in 1921

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mother, Mother, may I go down to the ...
From: GUEST,Lisa M
Date: 20 Feb 24 - 04:45 PM

My dad taught this to my sister and I when we were young. Does anyone remember how this was keyed on the piano? It seems like it was all played on the black keys with just two fingers, but I really can't remember and my sister wanted to teach it to her great granddaughter.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mother, Mother, may I go down to the ...
From: GUEST
Date: 20 Feb 24 - 11:49 AM

My dad taught this to my sister and I when we were young. Does anyone remember how this was keyed on the piano? It seems like it was all played on the black keys with just two fingers, but I really can't remember and my sister wanted to teach it to her great granddaughter.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mother, Mother, may I go down to the ...
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Apr 21 - 03:12 AM

Tell your father to do the same,
He’s the beau that changed her name.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mother, Mother, may I go down to the ...
From: GUEST,Cathy
Date: 03 Jun 20 - 12:06 PM

My mother used to sing this song. She always sang the last verse as:

Mother, mother, hold your tongue,
You had beaus when you were young.
Father, father, do the same,
You're the one who changed my name.

I have no idea what that last line means, and neither did my mother.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mother,Mother, may I go down to the ...
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Dec 17 - 12:11 PM

My grandmother used to play that on the piano! We would start at the very bottom and work our way to the top, playing that same question and response! She would have been 101 today! I was looking up the song, as well. ??

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mother,Mother, may I go down to the ...
From: GUEST,Harry Fuller
Date: 13 Jan 16 - 05:09 PM

My grandpa used to play this tune on the piano also...he was born in 1891, so I'm guessing it's a very old song.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mother,Mother, may I go down to the ...
From: GUEST,#
Date: 05 Jun 14 - 12:22 PM

http://maxhunter.missouristate.edu/songinformation.aspx?ID=1379

That's worth a look.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mother,Mother, may I go down to the ...
From: GUEST,Cpayne
Date: 05 Jun 14 - 11:47 AM

My Grandfather played it on piano as well

His version was:

Mother, Mother, may I go Down to the river to see my Beau.
No Child, No Child you may not go down to the river to see your Beau.

and so on.. never heard the ending or do not recall hearing it.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mother,Mother, may I go down to the ...
From: GUEST,kate hatheway
Date: 06 Sep 13 - 10:42 AM

my mother played that song on the piano

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mother,Mother, may I go down to the ...
From: Louie Roy
Date: 02 May 02 - 11:14 AM

Nancy there is a recording of Mother May I by Liz and Lynn Anderson on the Record Lady's Web page page 6 Louie Roy

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mother,Mother, may I go down to the ...
From: GUEST,Nancy
Date: 02 May 02 - 09:26 AM

Thanks to masato for the words to "Mother, Mother..."

My mom used to play the tune on the piano many years ago.

Subject: Lyr Add: MOTHER, MOTHER, MAY I GO
From: masato sakurai
Date: 02 May 02 - 07:37 AM

Jim Dixon is right. A variant of this jump-rope rhyme.

MOTHER, MOTHER, MAY I GO

Mother, Mother, may I go
Down to the meadow to see my beau?
No, my darling, you can't go
Down to the meadow to see my beau.

Father, Father, may I go
Down to the meadow to see my beau?
Yes, my darling, you can go
Down to the meadow to see my beau?

Mother said I could not go
Down to the meadow to see my beau.
You tell your mother to hold her tongue.
She had a beau when she was young.

(Source: Roger D. Abrahams, ed., Jump-Rope Rhymes: A Dictionary, University of Texas Press, 1969, No. 354 [p. 128])

~Masato

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mother,Mother, may I go down to the .
From: Genie
Date: 02 May 02 - 02:07 AM

The only song I can think of that resembles this is "Yes, My Darling Daughter." That's not the one you're thinking of, is it? It has a "Mother, may I" theme, but not the specific lyric you cited.

Genie

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mother,Mother, may I go down to the ...
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 01 May 02 - 11:24 AM

Just from the rhythm and the subject matter of the one line you quoted, I have a hunch it may be a girls' jump-rope rhyme. No luck finding it, though.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Mother,Mother, may I go down to the ...
From: Sorcha
Date: 29 Apr 02 - 11:21 AM

No luck here.

Subject: Mother,Mother, may I go down to the ...
From: GUEST,Nancy B
Date: 28 Apr 02 - 07:40 PM

Anyone know the name of the song that starts..

"Mother, Mother, may I go down to the corner to meet my beau"