Lyr Req: Buried six feet under ground for lookin'

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Buried six feet under ground for lookin'
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 05 Nov 13 - 03:06 PM

San Francisco Public Library, the British Library, and the University of Cambridge have sheet music described thus:

THE TWIN BROTHERS: A SONG OF MYSTERY
by Henry S. Leigh
London: Cramer & Co., [1865]
"As sung by Arthur Sketchley."

The British Library also has:

THE TWINS: HUMOROUS PART-SONG FOR MEN'S VOICES
Words by H. S. Leigh; music by Walter Rolfe
Philadelphia: Theodore Presser Co., ©1918.

Several libraries have:

THE TWINS
Words by H. S. Leigh; music by Michael Head
London: Boosey & Hawkes, ©1960.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Buried six feet under ground for lookin'
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 05 Nov 13 - 02:42 PM

The poem THE TWINS that Nathan in Texas posted above, with only a couple of minor words different, can be found in Carols of Cockayne by Henry Sambrooke Leigh (London: John Camden Hotten, 1869), page 9.

The poem has this notation at the end:

(Published with music by Messrs Cramer.)

Subject: Lyr Add: THE TWINS (from Routledge, 1871)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 05 Nov 13 - 01:56 PM

Here's a longer version of the poem posted by Nathan in Texas (though it is probably not the song OP wanted). Note that this version has no author attribution.

From Routledge's Readings: Comic edited by Edmund Routledge (London: George Routledge and Sons, 1871), page 79:


THE TWINS.

In form and feature, face and limb,
    I grew so like my brother,
That folks got taking me for him,
    And each for one another.
It puzzled all our kith and kin,
    It reached an awful pitch,
For one of us was born a twin
    Yet not a soul knew "which."

When quite a little infant child
    My trouble did begin,
For when I called for nourishment
    'Twas given to the other twin;
They gave "me" Godfrey's cordial
    When he kicked up a shine,
And when his nose was troublesome
    They took to wiping mine.

One day to make the matter worse,
    Before our names were fixed,
As we were being washed by nurse
    We got "completely mixed;"
And thus you see by fate-decree,
    Or rather nurse's whim;
My brother John got christened "me,"
    And I got christened "him."

This fatal likeness even dogged
    My footsteps when at school,
For I was always being flogged
    'Cause he turned out a fool.
But once I had a sweet revenge,
    For something made me ill;
The doctor came and gave poor Jack
    A black draught and a pill.

We both set up at last in trade,
    My prospects were but grim;
The people bought my things, but paid
    The money all to him.
And once when he had had a drop,
    And broke a P'liceman's nob;
They took me into custody,
    And fined me forty bob.

This fatal likeness turned the tide
    Of my domestic life,
For somehow my intended bride
    Became my brother's wife.
Year after year, and still the same
    Absurd mistakes went on;
And when I died the neighbours came
    And buried brother John.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Buried six feet under ground for lookin'
From: GUEST
Date: 04 Nov 13 - 05:22 AM

I found it :D I posted it above..Thanks to those who tried, i did enjoy the songs :)

Subject: Lyr Add: BROTHER JOHN (Daniel Payne)
From: GUEST,flounder
Date: 04 Nov 13 - 05:19 AM

BROTHER JOHN
(Daniel Payne) with lyrics and video

Oh, first when I came in this world my troubles they began,
Because I had a brother, John, who proved to be a twin;
We looked like one another, you couldn't tell one from the other,
And often I would bear the blame for looking like my brother.

Oh, John he was a hunchback and he proved to be a crook,
One night upon the street he swiped a lady's pocketbook;
As soon as he had swiped it, sure he escaped and ran,
And when they saw me comin' up they said I was the man.

I said I wasn't the man who swiped the lady's pocketbook,
The cop he cracked me on the pole, me knees they fairly shook;
He didn't believe I had a twin, we looked like one another,
And I spent the night a jailbird for looking like my brother.

One night as I was walking with my girlie by my side,
John's wife she comes creepin', comes creepin' up behind;
Saying, John, you little filthy, you filthy little rat,
Says I, you are mistaken, you are takin' me for Jack.

Oh, she grabbed me by the hair of the head and she hauled me to her home,
She hauled me up the stairs and she barred me in the room;
She went down and got her mother, her mother I suppose,
And the both of them beat me black and blue from my head down to my toes.

Well, time went by, old John got sick and died,
He was taken to the cemetery, it was a full event;
The hearse went fast, the corpse slipped off, they did not miss him gone,
And when they saw me by the grave they said that I was John.

Well, the undertaker grabbed me and says, John, you must behave,
You know you're dead, and you must not kick, you must go in your grave;
They put me in a pine box, I hollered like a bugger,
And they buried me up in under the ground for looking like my brother.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE TWINS (Henry S. Leigh)
From: Nathan in Texas
Date: 31 Mar 03 - 09:59 PM

Sounds similar to this poem I encountered in junior high.

THE TWINS
by Henry Sambrooke Leigh

In form and feature, face and limb,
I grew so like my brother,
That folks got taking me for him,
And each for one another.
It puzzled all our kith and kin,
It reached a fearful pitch;
For one of us was born a twin,
Yet not a soul knew which.

One day, to make the matter worse,
Before our names were fixed,
As we were being washed by nurse,
We got completely mixed;
And thus, you see, by fate's decree,
Or rather nurse's whim,
My brother John got christened me,
And I got christened him.

This fatal likeness even dogged
My footsteps when at school,
And I was always getting flogged,
For John turned out a fool.
I put this question, hopelessly,
To everyone I knew,
"What would you do, if you were me,
To prove that you were you?"

Our close resemblance turned the tide
Of my domestic life,
For somehow, my intended bride
Became my brother's wife.
In fact, year after year the same
Absurd mistakes went on,
And when I died, the neighbors came
And buried Brother John.

Subject: Lyr Req: Buried six feet under ground for lookin'
From: flounder
Date: 31 Mar 03 - 08:56 PM

I've been looking for a song that my uncle blaine used to sing me. If I recall, it was about a feller who had a brother who looked just like him. His brother (John,I think) was always getting in trouble and he would always get the blame. I can just remeber a couple of words here and there like: 'he learned to be a gangster, he learned to be a crook, one day, for the love of god, stole a lady's pocketbook' and the end goes 'I got buried six feet under ground for lookin' like me brother' Thanks b'y's