Lyr Req/Add: Gretchen Pumpernickel

Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Add: Gretchen Pumpernickel
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Nov 19 - 08:54 AM

There once was a maiden named Gretchen Pumpernickel
Who lived way up in a chalet,
And there was a yokel named Hymie Dillypickle,
Who lived way down in a valley,
And thus every morn at a quarter past four,
She'd put on her bonnet and open the door,
And yodel to Heimie an hour or more,
With an oo la la, oo la la layee.

CHO   Oh la layee, o la layee,
            Oh la layee, oo la la lay.

And what an effect upon Heimie Dillypickle,
Who lived way down in the valley,
For whene'er his eardrums that yodeling would tickle,
He'd start right out for the chalet,
As Gretchen was stretching to reach the high notes,
The people got sore at her, so did the goats,
But Heinie climbed up like a horse after oats,
To that oo la la, oo la la layee.

Her yodeling blighted the grain, the vegetables,
The cabbages and cauliflower,
Till folk at their tables, and horses in the stables,
Had nothing at all to devour,
For Gretchen's foghorn burst the ears on the corn,
The fish in the streams wished they'd never been born,
And yet at a quarter past four every morn,
Came that oo la la, oo la la layee.


And what an effect on all the cows and chickens,
Had Gretchen's oo la la, oo la la layee,
And with the cows' milking it sure raised the dickens,
And the hens refused to lay.
The people petitioned the mayor of the town
To make some new laws on all noises to frown,
But you cannot keep a good yodeler down,
Who goes oo la la, oo la la layee.


At last one day Gretchen was sick with tons'litis,
And the doctor was called to examine,
As soon as he looked, he decided he might as
Well get at the cause of the famine,
So out came his bloodthirsty surgical saw,
With gimlet and crowbar he jimmied her jaw,
And took out her yodel with never a flaw,
And the oo la la, oo la la layee.


And now all the people are grateful to the doctor
Who used his power to free 'em,
And so they all thanked him, and then they took and locked her
Old yodel up in a museum,
They picked out a very conspicuous space,
Then put up some arrows to point to the place,
But the yodel kept yodeling loud from its case;
With an oo la la, oo la la layee!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Add: Gretchen Pumpernickel
From: Joe Offer
Date: 24 May 12 - 09:09 PM

This version was sent to me by a guy named Spike. It's almost the same as the version posted by Bob Coltman from Song Fest:

Gretchen Pupernickel
[first heard sung by Ernest Sachs, Jr. ca. 1936 in Keene Valley, New York]

There once was a maiden named Gretchen Pumpernickel
Who lived way up in a chalet,
And there once was a yokel named Heine Dillipickel,
Who lived way down in the valley.
Every morning at four
Gretchen would go to the door
And yodel to her Heine for an hour or more
With her Oolala, oolala,oolala ayy
With her oolala, oolala ay-ee
Odle-ay-ee, odle-ay-ee
With her oolala, oolala, ay-ee.
***
Her yodel affected the corn and vegetables
And the hens refused to lay-ee
Both the horses in their stables
And people art their tables
Were affected by her oo-la-la-lay-ee
The people petitioned the mayor of the town
To pass a new law on all yodels to frown
But you cannot keep a good yodeler down

With her oo-ala-oo-lla-ay-ee
Odle-ay-ee, odle-ay-ee
With her oolala, oolala, ay-ee.
***
One day our poor Gretchen became sick with tonsillitis
And the doctor was called to examine;
He decided to get at the cause of all the blight, and
Finish the terrible famine:
He took out his blood-thirsty surgical saw:
With gimlet and crowbar he jimmied her jaw
And out came her yodel with nary a flaw,
Yes her oo-lala-oo-lala lay-ee
Odle-ay-ee, odle-ay-ee
With her oolala, oolala, ay-ee.
***
They took her yodel and
Lo-o-ocked it up in
A brand new museum
They picked out a very conspicuous space
And put up some arrows to point to the place
And the yodel kept yodeling loud from its case,
Yes her OO-lala-oo-laa-layee
Odle-ay-ee, odle-ay-ee
With her oolala, oolala, ay-ee.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req/Add: Gretchen Pumpernickel
From: GUEST,Keith
Date: 09 Jan 12 - 02:14 AM

You can find a version of Gretchen Pumpernickel on i-Tunes for $0.99!

Subject: RE: Req/ADD: Gretchen Pumpernickel
From: GUEST,Shila_1976
Date: 15 Nov 09 - 06:34 PM

I would love a copy of the whole album.. but ill be happy with the song as well. I used to have a copy of the album handed down to me from my mother and then it just disappeared over the years. Please post a link to the song if you truly have a mind to do so.

Subject: RE: Req/ADD: Gretchen Pumpernickel
From: GUEST,sandy
Date: 17 Nov 08 - 09:34 PM

Not sure if anyone is still interested in this, but I recently transfered some of my childhood LPs from vinyl to MP3. I was searching for the lyrics to Gretchen Pumpernickel and came upon this thread. I'm not tech-savy, but if anyone wants an audio version of this song, I can probably get it to you in an electronic version. It brought back a lot of fun memories for me.

summer_in_dcATyahoo.com

Subject: RE: Req/ADD: Gretchen Pumpernickel
From: GUEST,Doctom
Date: 23 Mar 08 - 09:03 PM

We used to sing this in my scout troop, and a couple of guys and I sang it in our High School talent show in 1977 (yikes!).
A few minor corrections, as I remember them:
2nd stanza:
The people got sore at her, so did the GOATS (not boats).
4th stanza, more in the way it is sung:
And the hens refuse-ed to lay-ee.
At the very end, we would sing the refrain twice, with a kind of Hawaiian-esque transition between:
Oo la layee, Oo la layee, Oo la lay-HEE, Oo la lay,
ay-ay(kinda sung hula-like),
Oo la layee, oo la layee, oo la laheeeeeee, oo la lay!
Also, at the end of every refrain, we'd say, "boom-boom" or "bum-bum", kind of like a tuba or bass drum.

Subject: RE: Req/ADD: Gretchen Pumpernickel
From: GUEST,NC
Date: 28 Apr 07 - 07:33 AM

Yes, thanks for the lyrics. I actually remember the song from a record I had as a child in the mid-sixties - I believe it was "Fun on a Rainy Day."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Gretchen Pumpernickel
From:
Date: 03 Feb 05 - 07:32 PM

Oh, Bob, you are wonderful!

No need to transcribe the tune, *that* part I remember. I have a gift for remembering tunes, but not lyrics.

Thank you thank you thank you!

Gia

Subject: ADD: Gretchen Pumpernickel
From: GUEST,Bob Coltman
Date: 03 Feb 05 - 03:11 PM

Transcribing from my copy of the Bests' Song Fest:
^^
GRETCHEN PUMPERNICKEL

There once was a maiden named Gretchen Pumpernickel
Who lived way up in a chalet,
And there was a yokel named Heinie Dillypickle,
Who lived way down in a valley,
And thus every morn at a quarter past four,
She'd put on her bonnet and open the door,
And yodel to Heinie an hour or more,
With an oo la la, oo la la layee.

CHO   Oh la layee, o la layee,
            Oh la layee, oo la la lay.

And what an effect upon Heinie Dillypickle,
Who lived way down in the valley,
For whene'er his eardrums that yodeling would tickle,
He'd start right out for the chalet,
As Gretchen was stretching to reach the high notes,
The people got sore at her, so did the boats,
But Heinie climbed up like a horse after oats,
To that oo la la...

Her yodeling blighted the grain, the vegetables,
The cabbages and cauliflower,
Till folk at their tables, and horses in the stables,
Had nothing at all to devour,
For Gretchen's foghorn burst the ears on the corn,
The fish in the streams wished they'd never been born,
And yet at a quarter past four every morn,
Came that oo la l a...

And what an effect on all the cows and chickens,
Had Gretchen's oo la la, oo la la layee,
And with the cows' milking it sure raised the dickens,
And the hens refused to lay.
The people petitioned the mayor of the town
To make some new laws on all noises to frown,
But you cannot keep a good yodeler down,
Who goes oo la la ...

At last one day Gretchen was sick with tons'litis,
And the doctor was called to examine,
As soon as he looked, he decided he might as well
Get at the cause of the famine,
So out came his bloodthirsty surgical saw,
With gimlet and crowbar he jimmied her jaw,
And took out her yodel with never a flaw,
And the oo la la ...

And now all the people are grateful to the doctor
Who used his power to free 'em,
And so they all thanked him, and then they took and locked her
Old yodel up in a museum,
They picked out a very conspicuous space,
Then put up some arrows to point to the place,
But the yodel kept yodeling loud from its caseL
With an oo la la, oo la la layee!

Object lesson: never let a surgeon lay hands on your pipes. I've never actually heard anyone sing this (we sang most of the rest of them while in the Dartmouth Outing Club all those years ago). The Bests' Song Fest, by the way, is still the most wonderful source of outing club songs and has some of the most deliriously wonderful silly songs anywhere. It should be reprinted!

Sorry, I have no means to input the tune.

Bob

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Gretchen Pumpernickel
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 03 Feb 05 - 09:33 AM

Sheet Music Plus is advertising GRETCHEN PUMPERNICKEL arranged as a choral piece. It says it's by Eberhard Leisy.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Gretchen Pumpernickel
From: masato sakurai
Date: 31 Jan 05 - 08:07 PM

According to Brunnings' Folk Song Index, "Gretchen Pumpernickle" is in Dick and Beth Best's Song Fest and The New Song Fest, neither of which I have.

Subject: Lyr Req: Gretchen Pumpernickel
From:
Date: 31 Jan 05 - 07:05 PM

Help! I am looking for the lyrics to a song that was one of my childhood favorites.

There once was a maiden called Gretchen Pumpernickel,
Who lived way up in the (shally?)
And there was a Yokel named Hymie Dilly Pickle,
Who lived way down in the Valley.

in the song, Hymie is in love with Gretchen and every morning when she "opens her throat" to yodel at the goats, Hymie climbs up to see her. But the villagers are annoyed by her yodel, so when she comes down with tonsillitis, the doctor takes out her tonsils an the yodel. They lock the yodel in the museum, where people can visit it. The chorus has yodelling in it, of course.

I have a new co-worker named Gretchen, and I think of this song everytime I see her, and it drives me nuts that I can't find the lyrics!

Thanks for your help,
Gia