Origin:All God's Critters Got a Place in the Choir

Subject: Chords/Tune Add: A PLACE IN THE CHOIR
From: alison
Date: 28 Nov 98 - 11:22 PM

Hi,

barbara's friend asked for this one

ABC format:

X:1
T:A Place in the Choir
M:4/4
Q:1/4=140
K:F
A2A2AAAA|A2GGF4|G2G7/4G13/4F|A2c2AGF2|F2F2F2FF|
DCB,2C4|C3CA2G2|F3FF3F|FFFFF4|AAAAA2AA|A2AAAGFF|
G2G2G2GG|A2c2AGF2|F2F2F2FF|DCB,2C2AA|A2A2G2G2|
F8||

(F)All God's critters got a place in the choir
(C7)Some sing low, (F)some sing (F7)higher,
Some (Bb)sing out loud on the telephone wires,
And (C7)some just clap their (F)hands, or paws, or anything they got now

(F)Listen to the bass, it's the one on the bottom
Where the (C7)bullfrog croaks and the (F)hippopotamus
(Bb)Moans and groans with a big t'(F)do
And the (C7)old cow just goes (F)moo.

slainte

alison

---

Click to play

To play or display ABC tunes, try concertina.net

Subject: All Gods creatures got a place in the choir
From: Mike Ireland
Date: 10 Jan 99 - 04:07 PM

Hi

Happy New Year All.

Would anyone have the words and notes for

All Gods creatures got a place in the choir Some sing low and some sing higher Some sing out loud on the telephone wire Some just clap their hands or paws or anything they've got now.

Ta

Mike

---

Click here for lyrics in the Digital Tradition

Subject: RE: All Gods creatures got a place in the choir
From: Big Mick
Date: 10 Jan 99 - 04:20 PM

Mike
The box in the upper right corner is a search engine for the Digital Tradition database. Always search there first. You can list title or key phrase, and chances are that you will find it. In this circumstance, I put the phrase [place in the choir] in it and found the lyrics immediately. One of the prime courtesy's on the 'Cat is that you do this before you ask for the lyrics. For now, you can click HERE for the lyrics to this song.

Great to have you here. Enjoy.

Mick Lane

Subject: RE: All Gods creatures got a place in the choir
From: mikeIreland
Date: 10 Jan 99 - 04:46 PM

Hi Big Mick

You must have better luck than I have - as before I asked for help I TRIED THE SEARCH FACILITY - I tried the full title, and various combinations of the title and they came back as not found - I then posted a request. Having used Mudcat for along time I know the system or at least some of it.

Sorry for shouting - as you said to another Mudcat user recently - but your reply (One of the prime courtesy's on the 'Cat is that you do this before you ask for the lyrics) assumes I didn't and does not come across friendly at all even though its supposed to be helpful.

Having read your replys to others before it dosn't 'sound' like you at all.

However thanks for the link.

Mike

Subject: RE: All Gods creatures got a place in the choir
From: bbc
Date: 10 Jan 99 - 05:11 PM

Hi, Mike,

In the original (by Bill Staines), the words are "All God's critters..." Tommy Makem sings it w/ "creatures." Regardless, the title is "A Place in the Choir." Hope that helps.

bbc

Subject: RE: All Gods creatures got a place in the choir
From: Big Mick
Date: 10 Jan 99 - 05:22 PM

Well Mike, sorry you are offended, however, I do not check to see how long folks have been on the cat. As you will note in a posting from Joe Offer in the last few days, we get an awful lot of inquiries that we know folks have not done the search. Those of us who are regular visitors have found that we must use a very direct approach to get folks into the habit of using the search function.

As to your inability to find the lyrics, may I ask a question? Did you bracket the request? Putting the brackets on a request will cause the engine to look for specific phrases. I tried [God's creature's} and didn't get what I was after, but then put in [place in the choir] and had it. Process took about a minute.

Sorry you were offended, it was not my intent. But it was to help those less experienced visitors to understand the DT in a short and direct way, one of the first courtesy's they should learn.

Keep on truckin', my friend. Hey, that sounds like a great title for a song.

Mick Lane

Subject: RE: All Gods creatures got a place in the choir
From: Big Mick
Date: 10 Jan 99 - 08:23 PM

Michael,

I went back and reread the post and I can see why you thought I was being rude. Context is so difficult to relay sometimes. It was not my intent to be rude to you. I hope you will accept my apologies.

Mick

Subject: RE: All Gods creatures got a place in the choir
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 10 Jan 99 - 08:31 PM

A modest suggestion: For an initial search, try just one word--choir, say. If you get too many hits, more words help limit the number of hits, but they increase the likelihood of encountering something like creatures/critters. [place in the choir] is a fine compromise for specificity.

Subject: RE: All Gods creatures got a place in the choir
From: Joe Offer
Date: 10 Jan 99 - 08:53 PM

It is important for us "regulars" to remember that what we think of as our prime courtesies aren't quite as self-evident to outsiders as we might think we are. Our search engines are pretty good, but there are tricks of the trade you pick up after a while. If you're one of those blasted blatteraps who spells plurals with apostrophes, you're not going to find songs with plurals in them - unless the song happened to have been posted by a similar blatterap.
I got a little grouchy yesterday when I saw the 30th lyrics desparately needed thread of the day (and they always spell "desperately" wrong). Maybe I should have been more patient.
This particular song is difficult to find, because there are many variations on the title. I think I even saw a CD that called it "The Porcupine Talks to Himself." And the thread had an appropriate title, so that's cool. Bad thread titles are the worst offense. There have been times when I've researched and found a song, only to find I couldn't remember which "lyrics requested" thread had asked for that particular song. Sometimes I wish the magic edit button Max gave me would allow me to change generic thread names and thread names with quotation marks. Actually, I have figured out a way, but it's a tedious process, so I don't do it often.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: All Gods creatures got a place in the choir
From: Big Mick
Date: 10 Jan 99 - 09:09 PM

Which is why I apologized upon going back and reading the post.

Mick

Subject: RE: All Gods creatures got a place in the choir
From: Mike Ireland
Date: 11 Jan 99 - 04:02 AM

Hi All

Thanks for your replys and to Big Mick thanks for the link and don't worry no damage done.

Ta Mike

Subject: All God's Creatures
From: Len Wallace
Date: 04 Sep 99 - 11:02 PM

Who wrote "All God's Creatures got a place in the choir..." ?

Len Wallace

Subject: RE: All God's Creatures
From: Sandy Paton
Date: 04 Sep 99 - 11:12 PM

Bill Staines, who recorded it first on Folk-Legacy's CD-70 (Whistle of the Jay. The real title is "A Place in the Choir," although many people prefer to call it "All God's Critters." The Mudcat "shop" tells you that the recording is available only as a cassette. Don't believe 'em! It's been on CD for months. But I know Max and his elves have a hard time keeping up, so all is forgiven.

Sandy

Subject: Lyr Add: A PLACE IN THE CHOIR (Bill Staines)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 05 Sep 99 - 03:04 AM

A search of our lyrics database for critters brings up A PLACE IN THE CHOIR and an interesting parody, PLACE IN THE FIRE, plus a road kill song for dessert....
-Joe Offer-

---

Here are the Digital Tradition lyrics on the left. Lyrics on the right are from the Staines songbook, If I Were a Word, Then I'd Be a Song (1980, Folk-Legacy Records, page 74). The only differences are in the layout of the lyrics. The words in the DT are correct.

A PLACE IN THE CHOIR (DT Lyrics) All God's critters got a place in the choir Some sing low, some sing higher, Some sing out loud on the telephone wires, And some just clap their hands, or paws, or anything they got now REPEAT Listen to the bass, it's the one on the bottom Where the bullfrog croaks and the hippopotamus Moans and groans with a big t'do And the old cow just goes moo. The dogs and the cats they take up the middle While the honeybee hums and the cricket fiddles, The donkey brays and the pony neighs And the old coyote howls. CHORUS Listen to the top where the little birds sing On the melodies with the high notes ringing, The hoot owl hollers over everything And the jaybird disagrees. Singin' in the night time, singing in the day, The little duck quacks, then he's on his way. The 'possum ain't got much to say And the porcupine talks to himself. CHORUS It's a simple song of living sung everywhere By the ox and the fox and the grizzly gear, The grumpy alligator the the hawk above, The sly racoon and the turtle dove. CHORUS REPEAT

A PLACE IN THE CHOIR (Staines songbook) (Bill Staines) All God's critters got a place in the choir Some sing low, some sing higher, Some sing out loud on the telephone wires, And some just clap their hands, or paws, or anything they got now Listen to the bass, it's the one on the bottom Where the bullfrog croaks and the hippopotamus Moans and groans with a big t'do And the old cow just goes moo. The dogs and the cats they take up the middle While the honeybee hums and the cricket fiddles, The donkey brays and the pony neighs And the old coyote howls. CHORUS Listen to the top where the little birds sing On the melodies with the high notes ringing, The hoot owl hollers over everything And the jaybird disagrees. Singing in the night time, singing in the day, The little duck quacks, then he's on his way. The 'possum ain't got much to say And the porcupine talks to himself. CHORUS It's a simple song of living sung everywhere By the ox and the fox and the grizzly gear, The grumpy alligator the the hawk above, The sly racoon and the turtle dove. CHORUS REPEAT

By Bill Staines, copyright 1979
On "The Whistle of the Jay", FSI-70

@animal
filename[ PLACHOIR
TUNE FILE: PLACHOIR
CLICK TO PLAY
DC


By Bill Staines, copyright 1979
On "The Whistle of the Jay", FSI-70

@animal
filename[ PLACHOIR
TUNE FILE: PLACHOIR
CLICK TO PLAY
DC

---

...and that parody, also from the Digital Tradition:

PLACE IN THE FIRE
(Donald A. Duncan, Sara Freed)

(TUNE: A Place In The Choir By Bill Staines)

CHO: All God's critters got a place in the Fire
Some are roasters, some are Fryers
We cook 'em all as they require
And serve them up with jams or sauces, or anything we've got now...

Cows and pigs make many a meal
Steak and hamburger, liver and veal,
Ribs and bacon, chops and peel,
All the pig except the squeal.

Sheep and goats may take the crown;
The Darby ram fed two whole towns
Mutton helps the ale go down
Or was that the other way around? [spoken musinglyl

cho:

We gnaw up chickens piece by piece,
And gobble turkeys at every Feast.
Peking ducks and goose pate'
Fowl is fare eaten any old way!

Swimmin' in the rivers, swimmin' in the sea
Fish make dinners for you and me,
Fried or broiled or poached in sauce,
And Yuppies eat it raw! (spoken disparagingly. or as an epithet)

cho:

Things that crawl on the ocean Floor
Things that live along the shore
Crabs and lobsters, clams and more,
Shuck the shell and eat the core.

We eat'em in the nighttime, eat 'em in the day,
Gorge ourselves at work and play:
If it walks or crawls or swims or Flies,
We chuck it on the grill and give it a try.

cho:

Optional verses for strong stomachs aka "Vegetarian's Horror'·
or Carnivore's Delight"

We slice 'em and dice 'em and skewer them through
Sauce 'em and gloss 'em in savory brew
Slap them on the barbecue
And breathe that wonderful smell!

Pickled pigs-Feet, leg of Frog.
Eat a horse, or toast a dog,
Sweetmeats and tripe, offal in grog
Not to mention (Haggis and) Rocky Mountain oysters!"

Kill 'em with guns or clubs or knives
Whack 'em, stab 'em, boil them alive:
Hang 'em, bleed 'em into a trough,
Or twist their necks 'til their heads come off!

Skin 'em, slice them into parts,
Fry their liver, dice the heart.
When you've carved out all the choicest cuts,
Grind the rest to pack the guts.

Copyright Duncan and Freed


@food @parody
filename[ PLACFIRE
TUNE FILE: PLACHOIR
CLICK TO PLAY
XX
oct99

Subject: RE: All God's Creatures
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 05 Sep 99 - 10:27 AM

Hi Len. Does this mean you're thinking of visiting the Mudcat on a regular basis? Best decision I've made this year. Welcome, my friend!

Rick

Subject: RE: All God's Creatures
From: Fred Hutchins
Date: 09 Sep 99 - 09:46 AM

John McCutcheon (sp?)performs All God's Critters; I have the sheet music at home, which presumably identifies the writer. Let me know if that would help.

Fred Hutchins
[e-mail] (that's "zero - five - six")

---

McCutcheon's Home Page is http://www.folkmusic.com
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: All God's Creatures
From: Tiger
Date: 09 Sep 99 - 12:14 PM

Just to clear up the confusion, Bill Staines DID write it. It's called "A Place in the Choir". He's also published it as a children's book.

Subject: RE: All God's Creatures
From: Jack Hickman - Kingston, ON
Date: 09 Sep 99 - 07:52 PM

Tommy Makem also recorded it, possibly with Liam Clancy.

Subject: RE: All God's Creatures
From: John Nolan
Date: 09 Sep 99 - 08:26 PM

Further (possibly useless) information. Bill Staines lives in Rollinsford, NH. Tommy Makem lives in neighboring Dover, NH. Tommy performed this very song at a free open-air concert in Dover last week, paying tribute to Bill in the process. The crowd, happy in its lawn chairs, sang along, applauded and, soon after, an unrepresentative slice thereof retired to nearby Biddy Mulligans to partake of strong drink.

Subject: RE: All Gods creatures got a place in the choir
From: Kerstin
Date: 30 Nov 01 - 10:48 AM

Is it out there somebody who knows the lyrics to this song All Gods Creatures got a Place in the Choir I have looked everywhere, asked everyone but no way. This is my last try!! Please!

Subject: RE: All Gods creatures got a place in the choir
From: nutty
Date: 30 Nov 01 - 10:57 AM

It's in the DT Kerstin

HERE

Subject: RE: All Gods creatures got a place in the choir
From: JedMarum
Date: 30 Nov 01 - 11:55 AM

wonderful song!

Subject: RE: All Gods creatures got a place in the choir
From: Sandy Paton
Date: 30 Nov 01 - 01:55 PM

Bill's FIRST recording of the song is on his second Folk-Legacy CD: Whistle of the Jay (CD-70). Take a look at the Folk-Legacy web site! The CD comes with a booklet that includes the texts of all the songs.

Blatant commercial plug! But things are awfully slow this year.

Sandy

Subject: RE: All Gods creatures got a place in the choir
From: Kerstin
Date: 30 Nov 01 - 03:15 PM

Thank you very much,nutty. The search is over!! I spend hours there. Now I can consentrate myself on other things CARPE DIEM Kerstin

Subject: RE: All Gods creatures got a place in the choir
From: raredance
Date: 01 Dec 01 - 07:58 AM

As an irrelevant aside, it comes up first when you search for "hippopotamus". As Dick always says, look for the odd words or phrases. The down side of this strategy is that if you know that "hippopotamus" is in there, you might already know the whole song; but, at least with me, it is often the odd words that stick in my mind.

rich r

Subject: RE: All Gods creatures got a place in the choir
From: Snuffy
Date: 01 Dec 01 - 04:00 PM

I spent hours looking for "Lining Track" without success (it's Linin' Track), but found lots of threads on it when I typed in "Moses"

WassaiL! V

Subject: Lyr Req: All God's children - place in the choir
From: cobber
Date: 31 Oct 03 - 11:24 PM

My daughter loves this song and wants me to learn the words. The tape I have of Tommy Makem is fuzzy and I can't find the ori8ginal one that she heard by John McCutcheon. Can anyone help me with the lyrics. Thanks.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: All God's children - place in the choir
From: Stewie
Date: 31 Oct 03 - 11:43 PM

It's in the DT: Click Here

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: All God's children - place in the cho
From: open mike
Date: 31 Oct 03 - 11:55 PM

this wonderful song is by Bill Staines.
his web site is here

http://www.elyrics.net/songs/b/Bill_Staines/

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: All God's children - place in the choir
From: cobber
Date: 01 Nov 03 - 10:30 PM

Thanks folks, I put in the search in DT but somehow didn';t find it. Yes it is a gfreat song

Subject: RE: All God's Creatures
From:
Date: 05 May 04 - 11:09 AM

I am looking for the music score for this song. If anyone has a copy it would be most appreciated.

Subject: RE: All God's Creatures
From: GUEST,KB
Date: 05 May 04 - 12:38 PM

A local guy sings this. Om thought it was:
"some just clap their hands, pause, and everything they've got"

Subject: RE: All God's Creatures
From:
Date: 06 Jun 04 - 10:50 AM

I was searching for information Title, Author, Lyrics,Available Recordings, for the song All God's Creatures/ A Place in the Choir, so far my web search has yeilded conflicting results as to all of the above.
      Title ;
            All God's Creatures
            All God's Critters
            A Place in the Choir
      Writer;
            Bill Staines -- ??
            Preston Beachwood --   http://www.prestonbeachwood.com/

Subject: RE: All God's Creatures
From:
Date: 01 Apr 06 - 04:34 PM

Hi,
Can anyone tell me where I can get a recording of this please? I don't mind who is singing it or if it has to be on cassette, but would prefer CD. Thanks.

Subject: RE: All God's Creatures
From: Big Mick
Date: 01 Apr 06 - 05:24 PM

It is on Folk Legacy's Whistle of the Jay by it's author, Bill Staines. It is called "A Place In The Choir" on the CD. Please give this company the business. Folk Legacy and it's owners, Caroline and Sandy Paton, are some of the most valuable jewels in the folk music treasury.

All the best,

Mick

Subject: RE: All God's Creatures
From: GEST
Date: 02 Apr 06 - 01:02 PM

I'm inclined to agree with GUEST,Larry Odom.

In the liner notes for Whistle of the Jay, Bill Staines notes this is the first recording of this song, but does not claim authorship.

The following note, however, is on the lyrics page of the Preston/Beachwood site:

All God's Creatures

Words & Music by Michael Beachwood - BMI - C & P 1983

Michael Beachwood

This song was inspired by the trees being cut down and the intense whale hunting in the 70s. Michael saw field after field in the lower Santa Clara Valley being bulldozed and cover[ed] with asphalt. This song is very religious as well as environmental.

Subject: RE: All God's Creatures
From: NOMADMan
Date: 02 Apr 06 - 06:07 PM

Hi Folks,

It's fairly obvious that we are talking about two different songs that just happen to use a similar, but not identical phrase. No lyrics are posted on the Preston/Beachwood website, but were there any I think it would be clear that it is a different song.

Note also that the copyright date for the Beachwood song is 1983, while the Staines Folk Legacy recording was issued in 1979. There is no environmental slant to Staines's lyrics. Also, it is not true that Staines did not claim authorship. See the last page of the booklet accompanying the Folk-Legacy recording.

Why would anyone think these were the same song?

Regards,
John

Subject: RE: All God's Creatures
From: GEST
Date: 02 Apr 06 - 07:15 PM

Thanks for clearing that up, John. For those who have not seen the Beachwood lyrics it was confusing because of the conflicting use or overlap of titles.

Subject: RE: All God's Creatures
From: GEST
Date: 02 Apr 06 - 07:28 PM

For example, All God's Creatures (A Place In The Choir). :-)

Subject: RE: All God's Creatures
From: open mike
Date: 06 Jul 07 - 05:54 PM

i sang this recently as part of a gospel sing-along at a music festival
all who heard it enjoyed it and it is a great audience participation
song as it is not only a sing but a clap honk howl and moo along!

Subject: RE: Req: All God's Critters Got a Place in the Choir
From: GUEST,bbc
Date: 11 Nov 18 - 07:27 PM

John, they are, certainly, the same song & it was written by Bill Staines! I just happened across a movie, starring Tommy Makem as a Catholic priest. He leads the boys choir in singing the song. In the closing credits, it is attributed to Bill Staines. It’s a 1987 movie, entitled “A Time to Remember.”

Respectfully,

bbc

Subject: RE: Req: All God's Critters Got a Place in the Choir
From: GUEST,Gerry
Date: 11 Nov 18 - 08:52 PM

Back on 05 Sept 99, Joe Offer posted lyrics, and asked whether there were any corrections. No one posted any corrections (at least, not in this thread), but there are a couple of typos there, in the last stanza. "Gear" should be "bear", and while Google tells me that "racoon" is an alternative spelling, I think "raccoon" is more standard.

[Also, on 10 Jan 99, Joe used the word, "blatterap". Is that really a word?]

Subject: RE: Req: All God's Critters Got a Place in the Choir
From: Joe Offer
Date: 12 Nov 18 - 12:11 AM

Thanks, Gerry, corrections of "gear" and "racoon" made as suggested in my post above. Unfortunately, we have not yet been able to agree on an easy way to correct mistakes in the Digital Tradition.

"Blasted blatterap" was an epithet used often by Fr. Daniel York (ne, Jurkevich), my high school seminary Latin and Greek professor. He was infallible, by his own admission, so the term must be correct.

-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Req: All God's Critters Got a Place in the Choir
From: bbc
Date: 12 Nov 18 - 08:57 AM

Apologies to NOMADMan. I didn't read carefully enough & thought he was referring to the version sung by Tommy Makem, not the 1983 song. Still interesting to see the song sung by Makem in the movie, "A Time to Remember." It's currently on Amazon Prime.

bbc