ADD: (Poor Little Robin) Walkin' to Missouri

Subject: HELP ON LYR: ROBIN WALKIN' TO MISSOURI
From: Gene
Date: 09 Jul 98 - 03:28 PM

Looking for the lyrics to an old Pop song from the 50's (?)......artist unknown....Guy Mitchell maybe? Teresa Brewer?

(POOR LITTLE ROBIN) WALKIN' TO MISSOURI

Poor Little Robin
Walkin', Walkin', Walkin' to Missouri
He can't afford to fl-y-y
Poor Little Robin
Walkin', Walkin', Walkin' to Missouri
Got a teardrop in his eye.

His wings are tattered, his feathers bent
Now he hasn't got a cent
He feels like his heart is gonna break
So if he ever walks up to you
Please give him a crumb or two
'Cause you could have made the same mistake.

Got a penny for a - Poor Little Robin
Walkin', Walkin', Walkin' to Missouri
He can't afford to fl-y-y
Got a penny for a - Poor Little Robin
Walkin', Walkin', Walkin' to Missouri
Got a teardrop in his eye.

Subject: RE: HELP ON LYR: ROBIN WALKIN' TO MISSOURI
From: Gene
Date: 22 Jul 98 - 03:07 PM

Refresh!

Still need some help on lyrics.

Any NEWCOMERS to MUDCAT recognize this tune?

Subject: lyrics needed: Poor Little Robin
From:
Date: 27 Jul 98 - 04:12 PM

Looking for a children's song, remembered from a recording from the 50's. The song includes "Poor little robin, walking, walking, walking to Missouri. He can't afford to fly..."

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Threads combined - Mod

Subject: Lyr Add: (POOR LITTLE ROBIN) WALKIN' TO MISSOURI
From: Ferrara
Date: 03 Aug 98 - 02:25 AM

I bought the sheet music for this in a thrift shop a couple months ago, along with "Cinco Robles" as done by Les Paul and Mary Ford. Sorry it took so long to locate and type it.

The copyright is 1952 and it seems to me the other kids told me it was a sly dig about Harry Truman having to leave the White House. (?) By the way, the thrift shop charged me 50 cents; it was only 40 cents when it was new, according to the price printed on the cover.

(POOR LITTLE ROBIN) WALKIN' TO MISSOURI

CHORUS: Poor Little Robin,
Walkin', Walkin', Walkin' to Missouri
He can't afford to fl-y-y
Got a penny for a
Poor Little Robin
Walkin', Walkin', Walkin' to Missouri
Got a teardrop in his eye.

1
I hope my story don't make you cry,
But this birdie flew too high
He flew from his old Missouri home.
He fell right into the city ways,
Like dancin' in cabarets,
From party to party he would roam.
(CHORUS)

2
He met a birdie who looked so nice,
A real bird of paradise,
Good lookin' but fickle in the heart.
She gave him kisses and gave him sighs,
But oh, how she told him lies,
'Cause she loved another from the start.
(CHORUS)

3
His dreams are battered, his feathers bent
Now he hasn't got a cent
He feels like his heart is gonna break.
So if he ever walks up to you,
Please throw him a crumb or two,
'Cause you could have made the same mistake.
(CHORUS)

Subject: RE: HELP ON LYR: ROBIN WALKIN' TO MISSOURI
From: Gene
Date: 03 Aug 98 - 10:50 AM

Thanks A Lot, Ferrara! I remember 5 Oaks and 5 Hills Away, but never connected P/L/Robin with Les Paul & Mary Ford. 'Preciate it.

Subject: RE: HELP ON LYR: ROBIN WALKIN' TO MISSOURI
From: Joe Offer
Date: 03 Aug 98 - 01:29 PM

Hey, Ferrara, wanna make a stab at entering the tune for us? Alan's MIDITXT works very well, once you get used to it.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: HELP ON LYR: ROBIN WALKIN' TO MISSOURI
From: Ferrara
Date: 03 Aug 98 - 04:20 PM

Gene, sorry if I may have given you the wrong idea, it was just a coincidence that I found the two pieces of sheet music in the same stack.

It says here that Walkin' to Missouri was written by Bob Merrill and recorded by Sammy Kaye and his orchestra. But you know, I think I do remember Teresa Brewer singing it.

Joe, You gonna make-a me do some work! -- But, all right, you're right, this song is a good opportunity to learn to type Midi Text because it's a simple one. I'll give it a try. No promises though.

Subject: RE: lyrics needed: Poor Little Robin
From:
Date: 18 Mar 04 - 02:25 PM

I am also interested in the lyrics for this, but not the song Sammy Kaye sang--I remember different lyrics (same refrain) on a children's record I had in the early 50s. It's possible that the real lyrics were too "racy" for kids then. I still have the record, just am without a 45 turntable at the moment so can't check.

The lyrics I remember include "...and he got burned, and that's how poor Robin learned it's foolish to try to fly too high..."

The same record also had "The Gandy Dancers Ball," among other songs I loved but didn't understand at the time!

Subject: RE: lyrics needed: Poor Little Robin
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 18 Mar 04 - 06:56 PM

I have heard when I was a kid the song in post number 1, but don't remember it..

Actually I would be pleased to find any songs/tunes about Robin...

I have heard a Medieval/15C dance tune called 'Mad Robin' - must be my theme tune... :-)

Robin

Subject: RE: lyrics needed: Poor Little Robin
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 18 Mar 04 - 07:39 PM

Burl Ives Robin Song

Subject: RE: lyrics needed: Poor Little Robin
From: GUEST,Hootenanny
Date: 19 Mar 04 - 04:33 AM

How about a kid's rhyme that I recall

Poor little robin, poor little fing
No fevvers (feathers) on 'is 'ead, none on is wing
Can't fly, can't sing
Cut 'is bleedin' 'ead orf

Subject: RE: lyrics needed: Poor Little Robin
From: GUEST,Tracey Dragonsfriend (no cookie here)
Date: 19 Mar 04 - 08:46 AM

Like this one :
Baby Robin in 'is nest
Not a fevver on 'is chest
Cannot fly, cannot sing
Bl**dy useless little fing!

Subject: RE: lyrics needed: Poor Little Robin
From: Flash Company
Date: 19 Mar 04 - 09:17 AM

Recorded by Guy Mitchell in the '50s, Can't remember it all.
Chorus goes:-
Poor little robin, walking walking walking to Missouri,
He can't afford to fly
Poor little robin, walking walking walking to Missouri
Got a teardrop in his eye!

It was a story of a two timing bird,
FC

Subject: RE: lyrics needed: Poor Little Robin
From: GUEST,MUDCAT LINK
Date: 19 Mar 04 - 01:28 PM

http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=5615#32164

Subject: RE: HELP ON LYR: ROBIN WALKIN' TO MISSOURI
From: JJ
Date: 20 Mar 04 - 08:23 AM

Good heavens! Another early hit for Bob Merrill, creator of HOW MUCH IS THAT DOGGIE IN THE WINOW? (Arf! Arf!). Merrill wrote on a toy xylophone, but it didn't stop him from writing Broadway musicals a few years later on, NEW GIRL IN TOWN, CARNIVAL and the lyrics to FUNNY GIRL. Sadly, Merrill ended his life with a shotgun in the late 90s.

Subject: RE: HELP ON LYR: ROBIN WALKIN' TO MISSOURI
From: Flash Company
Date: 20 Mar 04 - 09:20 AM

I seem to recall that it was Guy Mitchell that recorded this in the early fifties.

FC

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Robin Walkin' to Missouri
From: GUEST,Malcolm
Date: 21 Nov 04 - 07:40 PM

Guy Mitchell did record it and it was on the UK hit parade (Top Twenty Radio Luxemburg), but I have never seen a CD Re-issue

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Robin Walkin' to Missouri
From: Peace
Date: 21 Nov 04 - 07:51 PM

Wasn't there a song from the late 1950s entitled "Walkin' Wobin"?

(Sorry, but I HAD to ask.)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Robin Walkin' to Missouri
From: semi-submersible
Date: 22 Nov 04 - 06:08 AM

I would enjoy the tune too, thank you. Mom sang this occasionally. She told me it had to do with a political campaign but I don't recall if she mentioned the man's name.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Robin Walkin' to Missouri
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 23 Nov 04 - 08:43 AM

allmusic lists 6 albums containing WALKIN' TO MISSOURI. These include one recording by Tony Brent, 3 by Sammy Kaye & His Orchestra, 1 by Russ Morgan & His Orchestra, 1 by The Original Norman Petty Trio & Ensemble. There are sound samples of all of them. A clever person might be able to piece together the complete tune from them.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: (Poor Little Robin) Walkin' to Missouri
From: Genie
Date: 21 Aug 07 - 02:29 AM

Rita, thanks so much for reminding me of that last verse.

This is one of those songs that became embedded in my mind at around age 10, with no effort on my part.   Not only was it a radio hit one summer when our family traveled by car from NJ to Kansas with little else to keep us 4 kids occupied but games (like spotting and counting red convertibles or dogs) and the radio, but my brother's name is Robin -- so we others, of course, kind of sang the song to taunt him.

It's one of my favorite songs from that era, and I used to know the whole thing. But recently when I "revived" it from memory, I totally forgot there was a 3rd verse.   So glad I looked up this thread -- for no good reason, really -- and found your 'reminder.'

Genie

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: (Poor Little Robin) Walkin' to Missouri
From: Genie
Date: 21 Aug 07 - 02:32 AM

BTW, a few years ago I tried to "google" this song using the title (phrase) "Poor Little Robin," and I did not find the "Walking To Missouri Song." Instead, I was directed to a totally different, blues song with that title -- and to at least one really weird porno short-story!

(Mudcat is a much better source!)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: (Poor Little Robin) Walkin' to Missouri
From: GUEST,Renee Bee
Date: 21 Aug 07 - 05:36 AM

I had a children's album in the 60's that had a verse:

...the sun was hot and his wings got burned
and that's how this robin learned it's foolish
to try and fly too high.

I can't remember the other part of the verse. This record took liberties with other songs: "Oh How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning" (Irving Berlin) had the substitution of "someday I'm going to be a bugler, someday I'll be waking them up instead" instead of "someday I'm going to murder the bugler, someday they're going to find him dead"

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: (Poor Little Robin) Walkin' to Missouri
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 21 Aug 07 - 10:17 AM

Wikipedia says:

According to the IMDb Merrill was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Other sources claim he was born and raised in Philadelphia in 1923. In any case he moved to New York City and later to Hollywood.

(I think we can assume that the CIA has not falsified this data.)

This is just about the bio I would have predicted for someone who thinks that Missouri, with its jazz centers of St Louis and Kansas City, would not be a place for parties, dancing, and cabarets.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: (Poor Little Robin) Walkin' to Missou
From: Ferrara
Date: 21 Aug 07 - 10:59 AM

LOL leeneia

It was a neat coincidence that I had just bought the sheet music when Gene asked for this song. (I had the sheet music when the song was new, but lost it at some point.)

Thread creep warning here.... another neat bit of Mudcat serendipity, actually two connected bits of serendipity. Once I was trying to reconstruct a song called "Dear Old Donegal." I remembered it from "Everybody's Favorite Book of Irish Songs for Piano," but only remembered a fragment, as usual. I had been all over the web and not found quite the words I remembered. Then one day I absently started leafing through my father's old notebook: poems, sayings, jokes, etc, all laboriously typed out on a manual typewriter. I found the full text of Dear Old Donegal.

So, I typed it into the computer. About two days later, someone put up a Mudcat request for Dear Old Donegal, saying his grandfather used to sing it. I was able to post it in seconds. Very satisfying.

Subject: RE: Lyr: (Poor Little Robin) Walkin' to Missouri
From: Genie
Date: 21 Aug 07 - 02:00 PM

A bit further indulgence in thread creep:

Renee, my guess is that the "P.C" police got hold of that kids' song book (that changed "someday I'm going to murder the bugler, someday they're going to find him dead" to
"someday I'm going to be a bugler, someday I'll be waking them up instead") are the same sort that changed "misty taste of moonshine" to "misty haze of moonlight" -- for the sake of the young 'uns, don't ya know -- when they put "Take Me Home, Country Roads" in a public school songbook.   (sigh)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: (Poor Little Robin) Walkin' to Missouri
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 22 Aug 07 - 11:09 AM

Considering the toxins and filth in modern-day moonshine, I certainly wouldn't want anybody suggesting to MY kids that normal people would drink it.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: (Poor Little Robin) Walkin' to Missouri
From: Flash Company
Date: 22 Aug 07 - 11:15 AM

Hope they got Irving's permission to mess with his lyrics, he had a very heavy (legal) fist for a little guy!

FC

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: (Poor Little Robin) Walkin' to Missouri
From: Cattail
Date: 25 Aug 07 - 04:35 PM

Try this site for lyrics / chords to this song.

http://www.theguitarguy.com/songs.htm


cheers

Cattail !

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: (Poor Little Robin) Walkin' to Missouri
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Apr 11 - 04:24 PM

Thank you so much! I was looking for this! :)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: (Poor Little Robin) Walkin' to Missouri
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Jun 11 - 09:43 AM

I also had this album.
Poor little robin walking walkin walking to missouri
He can't afford to fly
He flew too high and his wings got burned
and that's how this robin learned
its foolish to try to fly too high
Got a penny for a poor little robin
Walking walking walking to Missorut
Got a teardrop in his eye

I never knew what this song meant.
I now sing it to my grandaughter..
I may choose another song....

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: (Poor Little Robin) Walkin' to Missouri
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 27 Jun 11 - 02:47 PM

From Newsweek, 1952:

Bob Merrill's "Walkin' to Missouri" refers to a robin that "flew too high" and "fell right into city ways." As a result, he is "walkin' to Missouri, can't afford to fly." While the author and publishers stoutly deny political allusions, listeners usually refer to it as "the Truman song."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: (Poor Little Robin) Walkin' to Missouri
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 27 Jun 11 - 03:07 PM

Here's my transcription of the recording at YouTube:


WALKIN' TO MISSOURI
Words and music by Bob Merrill, 1952
As sung by Tony Brent

CHORUS: Poor little robin, walkin', walkin', walkin' to Missouri,
He can't afford to fly.
Got a penny for a
Poor little robin, walkin', walkin', walkin' to Missouri?
Got a teardrop in his eye.

1. I hope my story don't make you cry,
But this bird flew too high.
He flew from his old Missouri home.
He fell right into the city ways
Like dancin' in cabarets.
From party to party he would roam.

2. He met a birdie who looked so nice,
A real bird of paradise,
Good lookin' but fickle in the heart.
She gave him kisses and gave him sighs,
But oh how she told him lies,
'Cause she loved another from the start.

3. His dreams are battered, his feathers bent.
Now he hasn't got a cent.
He feels like his heart is gonna break.
So if he ever walks up to you,
Please throw him a crumb or two
'Cause you could have made the same mistake.


YouTube also has a recording by Sammy Kaye & His Orchestra. The lyrics are exactly the same.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: (Poor Little Robin) Walkin' to Missouri
From: GUEST,Maureen Hingley
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 03:19 PM

Hi everyone

Does anyone have an MP3 of this track so I can give it to my mother please as I cannot seem to find it anywhere.

Much appreciated.

Maureen Hingley

[e-mail]

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: (Poor Little Robin) Walkin' to Missouri
From: GUEST,999
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 04:20 PM

It's on YouTube.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: (Poor Little Robin) Walkin' to Missou
From: Genie
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 05:15 PM

Maureen, if you copy the link for the YT video and paste it here, you can make download it as an mp3.
You can also probably buy an mp3 of the song for $1 on iTunes.

Jim,
The only minor correction I would make to the lyrics you posted is that, at least in the Sammy Kaye hit recording, they sing:

"I hope my story don't make you cry,
But this birdie flew too high ...

It's minor, but not only do they sing it that way, "birdie" scans better than "bird." "Birdie" is also sung in the 2nd verse.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: (Poor Little Robin) Walkin' to Missouri
From: 12-stringer
Date: 19 Jan 12 - 06:03 PM

If you want a download (two versions of the Sammy Kaye recording) w/o extracting it from youtube, go to this page:
http://www.jazz-on-line.com/pageinterrogation.php

You'll have to do a search (Missouri is sufficient info); click on the "mp3" link when it comes up.

Or (I haven't tried it) this may also work:
http://www.jazz-on-line.com/a/mp3w/1952_081.mp3

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: (Poor Little Robin) Walkin' to Missouri
From: GUEST,Frank Ravlen,Stockport,Cheshire,England
Date: 27 Jan 12 - 05:13 AM

I have most of Guy Mitchell's songs on my Itunes but have never seen Walkin' to Missouri or Poor Little Robin , listed on any CD or vinyl that has come up for sale on Ebay. Can anyone give me a CD reference for it? My email is [e-mail]
Many thanks to anyone who can help.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: (Poor Little Robin) Walkin' to Missouri
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Oct 12 - 09:54 AM

Walkin' to Missouri & When the Red Red Robin Comes Bob Bob Bobbin' Along is a Little Golden Record, a child's 78 rpm record dated 1952. It features Anne Lloyd & The Sandpiper Singers with Mitchell Miller and his orchestra.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: (Poor Little Robin) Walkin' to Missouri
From: GUEST,999
Date: 25 Oct 12 - 09:59 AM

http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=5844&messages=17#3293014

Maybe two threads can be combined?

---

Threads combined -Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: (Poor Little Robin) Walkin' to Missouri
From: GUEST,Mom
Date: 31 Mar 24 - 05:17 PM

Rhonda, here is the song I was recalling today and trying to sing for you.