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Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)

John M. 12 Oct 05 - 03:33 PM
frogprince 12 Oct 05 - 04:52 PM
John M. 12 Oct 05 - 05:32 PM
Suffet 13 Oct 05 - 10:33 AM
GUEST,Carrie 26 Apr 10 - 05:43 PM
GUEST,Trevor 02 Mar 11 - 07:44 AM
GUEST,Tim Peierls 06 Jun 11 - 06:13 PM
GUEST,Tom 23 Feb 13 - 10:56 AM
Lighter 23 Feb 13 - 02:04 PM
Lighter 23 Feb 13 - 04:09 PM
GUEST 05 Jun 13 - 10:01 AM
John on the Sunset Coast 05 Jun 13 - 10:46 AM
GUEST,Mike in Santa Monica, CA 29 Aug 13 - 01:18 AM
GUEST,Brian 13 Sep 13 - 10:56 AM
GUEST,Jim Wright 28 May 14 - 06:56 PM
GUEST,# 29 May 14 - 06:35 PM
GUEST 21 Jul 15 - 03:01 AM
Mrrzy 21 Jul 15 - 11:49 AM
Cool Beans 21 Jul 15 - 02:19 PM
GUEST,Joe 20 Aug 15 - 12:46 PM
GUEST,Joe 20 Aug 15 - 12:50 PM
Lighter 20 Aug 15 - 04:16 PM
Lighter 20 Aug 15 - 04:32 PM
GUEST,Ebor Fiddler 21 Aug 15 - 09:04 AM
Lighter 21 Aug 15 - 09:32 AM
GUEST 01 Jan 17 - 10:47 PM
GUEST,limapapa 05 Apr 17 - 08:06 PM
Helen 06 Apr 17 - 04:16 PM
Helen 08 Apr 17 - 04:06 PM
GUEST,IndigoHawk 16 Jun 20 - 12:39 AM
GUEST,AH 02 Jun 23 - 04:09 PM
GUEST 26 Oct 23 - 09:51 AM
GUEST 26 Oct 23 - 09:51 AM
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Subject: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: John M.
Date: 12 Oct 05 - 03:33 PM

Click for the 'PermaThread™: List of all joke threads'


Does anyone here know the joke/cante fable like that below? If yes, when was the earliest you remember hearing it? What tune did you use for the song? Are the words to the song different?

Any help is appreciated.

Sincerely,

John Mehlberg
~
My website: www.immortalia.com

SINGING TELEGRAM CANTE FABLE

Mrs. Murphy. Mrs. Murphy. Telegram for Mrs. Murphy.

       Is this a singing telegram?

Well, ma'am. It's rather sad news.

      I've always wanted a singing telegram.

Well here goes....
dada, dada, da ,da

Your sister Rose is dead.
I'm here to tell you that she died in bed,
And even though the broad was feelin' great,
She'd just turned ninety-eight,
Your sister Rose is dead!


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: frogprince
Date: 12 Oct 05 - 04:52 PM

No idea of the origen of the thing, but before I heard "Sister Rose" I had heard an even grimmer version, in two slight variations:
   
       dada, dada, da, da,
       Your Sonnnn is Deeeaad...

and, to "Camptown Races":

      Your son was killed in Vietnam,
      Doo da, Doo da,...


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: John M.
Date: 12 Oct 05 - 05:32 PM

frogprince, when is the earliest you remember hearing "Sister Rose" ?   Would you be willing to sing it over the phone to me for folklore purposes?

Any help is appreciated.

Sincerely,

John Mehlberg
~
Afternoons:   314.647.3883
Evenings:    314.381.0492


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: Suffet
Date: 13 Oct 05 - 10:33 AM

John,

I first heard that joke around 1965. It only had a one line punchline, "Your sister Rose is dead," and the tune was Hooray for Hollywood!

--- Steve


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: GUEST,Carrie
Date: 26 Apr 10 - 05:43 PM

Well this is how my friends say it:

Mrs. Murphy. Telegram......

Oh I have always wanted a telegram!! Is it a signing telegram?

Um it's actually sad ne-

I've always wanted a singing telegram!!

Here goes......

Dada dada da

(Say it in a sad voice)

Your sister rose is dead
I'm here to tell you that she died in bed
And even though the broad was feeling great
She just turned nintey-eight,
Your sister rose is dead!!!


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: GUEST,Trevor
Date: 02 Mar 11 - 07:44 AM

The one I grew up with was:

Your sister rosie is dead, we fucked her in the head, the penetration was so great and she died!


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: GUEST,Tim Peierls
Date: 06 Jun 11 - 06:13 PM

I was challenged to come up with a full song on the basis of the lines "Your sister Rose is dead. / She's buried out behind the bed."

I came up with this.

--tim


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: GUEST,Tom
Date: 23 Feb 13 - 10:56 AM

Your sister Rose is dead
She got kicked in the head
By a horse


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: Lighter
Date: 23 Feb 13 - 02:04 PM

I can't tell you when I heard it. '80s? Anyway, the tune wasn't "Hoory for Hollywood," it was the one I associate with the French can-can. It must have a name.


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: Lighter
Date: 23 Feb 13 - 04:09 PM

Come to think of it, when I heard it I believe the telegram contained only the first line.

And for some reason I think it may have been on "The Carol Burnett Show." If true, that would probably push it back into the '70s.


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Jun 13 - 10:01 AM

The joke was made-up in 1959 or 1960 by a boy in Jacksonville, Illinois, and was soon spread in Quincy, Illinois. The young man has made up jokes all of his life. He is responsible for dozens of legendary jokes.


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: John on the Sunset Coast
Date: 05 Jun 13 - 10:46 AM

I don't know when this joke was made up, but I first heard it when I was in high school, and I graduated in 19 and 57. When we used to tell/sing this joke Rose was Sue and the line was a bit sorter (ten words...it is a telegram after all).

Knock on the door...woman opens.
Man in cap and uniform says, "Telegram for Mary Smith".
She gushes, "Oh goody, a singing telegram!"
"No lady, this is just a regular telegram. I hand it to you and you give me a tip."
"Oh, please sing it to me. I've never had a singing telegram."
"Lady, you don't understand. This ain't no singing telegram."
"Please, please sing it."
Exasperated, "O.K., Lady." Tears open the envelope and unfolds the page,and sings, "Da da da da da da 'sister sue is dead you know she died in bed'"


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: GUEST,Mike in Santa Monica, CA
Date: 29 Aug 13 - 01:18 AM

BEATRICE LILLIE used to tell this joke during her show, "An Evening with Beatrice Lillie" --in the early fifties. It is very representative of her special brand of absurdity.

THERE ARE NO ADDITIONAL LYRICS because there is no song. That's the joke: it's NOT a singing telegram, it's a single, brief and very grim sentence, that he sings anyway.

If additional lyrics have evolved in the past sixty years, I suspect it is the work of children--it sounds like jumprope rhyme--and that it has nothing to do with the joke--besides riffing on its punchline.


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: GUEST,Brian
Date: 13 Sep 13 - 10:56 AM

Yes, I first heard it when Beatrice Lillie told it on a talk show in the 1960's. It was just the one line that was sung, dadadadadada, your sister Rose is dead.


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: GUEST,Jim Wright
Date: 28 May 14 - 06:56 PM

I heard it was from early vaudeville star Fannie Brice
The telegram was just one line:
Da da ta da Your Sister Died today.


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: GUEST,#
Date: 29 May 14 - 06:35 PM

http://themindsetlist.com/2012/08/the-honor-roll-of-what-america-has-almost-totally-forgotten/


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Jul 15 - 03:01 AM

First heard Bea Lillie tell it on early 60s TV. And she tap-danced.


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: Mrrzy
Date: 21 Jul 15 - 11:49 AM

Tarara boum-de-ay? Is that the one "that must have a name?"


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: Cool Beans
Date: 21 Jul 15 - 02:19 PM

I heard it to the tune of "Milord."


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: GUEST,Joe
Date: 20 Aug 15 - 12:46 PM

I heard this joke from my Aunt when I was a kid, never knew what the tune was taken from but I just looked up "Milord" and that's definitely it. This would have been somewhere around 1986, and the punchline was longer:

"Your sister Rose is dead,
your mother father and your Uncle Fred.
She had a heart attack,
and now she'll never come back..."

And it always kind of trailed off at the end. I came upon this forum actually because I was wondering if there was an end to it, about how everyone else died. But this is how the joke was always told in my family who were all from The Bronx NY.


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: GUEST,Joe
Date: 20 Aug 15 - 12:50 PM

Oh also, my family is Irish, my great grandparents were from Ireland, and the joke seems sort of like Irish humor. It seems likely that could be the origin especially since many remember it starting with "Mrs. Murphy."


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: Lighter
Date: 20 Aug 15 - 04:16 PM

The can-can tune (if that's what it is) I had in mind was definitely not "Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-Di-Ay," which isn't French anyway.

I believe the tune is the one often heard - at least as I recall - in Pepe LePew cartoons.

Each note rises higher.


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: Lighter
Date: 20 Aug 15 - 04:32 PM

The joke was elaborated into an entire song by American pilots during the Vietnam War.

Those not offended by black, black humor can find several versions by searching for "Your son is dead,/ He bought the farm today."

I think I knew the tune at one time, but can't recall it now. This one could well have been "Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-De-Ay."


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: GUEST,Ebor Fiddler
Date: 21 Aug 15 - 09:04 AM

The usual cancan tune is "The Can Can" from Offenbach's "Orpheus in The Underworld",or as my Grandad used to call it, "Orpheus in His Underwear".


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: Lighter
Date: 21 Aug 15 - 09:32 AM

Absolutely. And that wasn't it.

The tune I'm thinking of goes:

CDEFGA, with a lengthened F and A. Then the line is repeated. There's more, but the words of the joke didn't go that far.

What's that tune called?


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: GUEST
Date: 01 Jan 17 - 10:47 PM

I heard this as a child, the lyrics I remember though were: da da, da da da da, your sister rose is dead, she died in bed last night, she had a heart attack, she's never coming back, they put her in the ground, she's never coming 'round, da da, da da da da.


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: GUEST,limapapa
Date: 05 Apr 17 - 08:06 PM

Flying army helicopters in Korea in 74 and 75 (after tours in Vietnam 5 years earlier) we had a spinoff on this theme using Army Aviation metaphors and sung to a vaudeville tune I cant remember the name of:

Your... son... is..(pause) dead they say, he bought the farm today
he shouldnt fly when skies are cloudy and gray.
He pulled his thirty eight, he couldn't shoot it straight, so now he gets his pay at the pearly pearly gates.

While... fly...ing..(pause) IFR, on his horizon bar, he started climbing, spinning, falling much too far.
On his recovery, to his discovery, he came in contact with a...
great big fucking tree. Hey!


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: Helen
Date: 06 Apr 17 - 04:16 PM

Video search:

Your sister Rose is dead

This version is definitely the Milord tune

Vietnam version

Edith Piaf - Milord

BTW, I've never heard this joke in Oz.

Helen


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: Helen
Date: 08 Apr 17 - 04:06 PM

refresh


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: GUEST,IndigoHawk
Date: 16 Jun 20 - 12:39 AM

This is the version I know....


Your sister Rose is dead
Your sister Rose is dead
After she got shot in the head.
A sound she did not utter
As she fell into the gutter.
She didn’t even get to die in bed.
No use crying
She’s gone away.
No use sighing.
The funeral’s coming Saturday.
Your sister Rose is dead
Your sister Rose is dead.
Your sister Rose ain’t comin’’ back no more


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: GUEST,AH
Date: 02 Jun 23 - 04:09 PM

Welcome Back Kotter into joke


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Oct 23 - 09:51 AM

I heard it a bit differently and can't exactly remember when but sometime in the late 60s. It went. "Your sister Rose is dead. The car rolled over and it crushed the dog. Your Uncle Fred, he died in bed. You're all alone, you'll have to fend for yourself."


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Oct 23 - 09:51 AM

I heard it a bit differently and can't exactly remember when but sometime in the late 60s. It went. "Your sister Rose is dead. The car rolled over and it crushed the dog. Your Uncle Fred, he died in bed. You're all alone, you'll have to fend for yourself."


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: and e
Date: 02 Mar 24 - 09:32 PM

Dear Mom Your Son Is Dead [aka The FAC (forward air command) Song]
[Tune - Milord]

Mrs. Murphy. Mrs. Murphy. Telegram for Mrs. Murphy.

Is this a singing telegram?

Well, ma'am. It's rather sad news.

I've always wanted a singing telegram.

Well here goes....

Dear Mom, your son is dead.
He bought the farm today
He crashed his OV-10 on Ho Chi Minh's highway
It was a rocket pass, and then he busted his ass.
Mmm, mmm, mmm.

He went across the fence to see what he could see,
There it was a plain as it could be
It was a truck on the road,
With a big heavy load.
Mmm, mmm, mmm.

He got right on the horn, and gave The Dasc' a call,
"Send me air I've got a truck that's stalled"
The Dasc' said "That's all right,
I'll send you Pirate flight
For I am the POWER."

The fighters checked right in, gunfighters two by two,
Low on gas, and tankers over due.
They asked that FAC to mark,
Just where that truck was parked.
Mmm, Mmm, mmm.

The FAC he rolled right in, with his smoke to mark,
Exactly where that fucking truck was parked.
The rest is still in doubt,
because he never pulled out.
Mmm, mmm, mmm.

Dear Mom your SON is dead
He bought the farm today
He crashed his OV-10 on Ho Chi Mihn's highway
It was a rocket pass, and then he busted his ass
Mmm, mmm, mmm.


HIM, HIM, FUCK HIM!
How did he go?...straight in
What was he doin'?...169
Indicated? .....Yeah.


This is transcribed from the CD A Night at the Bar with the Boys by a trio of Warthog pilots. It was recorded in Scotland in 1989 and originally issued on cassette.   The tune is "Milord". The song shows up in numerous Air Force fighter pilot songs books from Vietnam and after.


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: and e
Date: 02 Mar 24 - 09:42 PM

Your son was killed in Vietnam,
do dah, do dah,
Your son was killed in Vietnam, all the do da day.
Shot him through the head.
Shot him through the head.
Your son was killed in Vietnam, all the do dah day.


From autobiography I Served by Don C. Hall & Annette R. Hall. 2001. pg 273.

The setting is the NCO club.

Google books here: https://books.google.com/books?id=kRxfrchUBncC&pg=PA273&lpg=PA273&dq=%22was+killed+in+vietnam%22+%22do+dah%22&source=bl&ots=33d3cIleDn&sig=ACfU3U1P_fdXvTUqxg99Zf3ATIBW6fq4IA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi1qs7ahNeEAxVTKlkFHc9ZDSYQ6AF6BAgJEAM#v=onepage&q=%22was%20killed%20in%20vietnam%22%20%22do%20dah%22&f=false


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: and e
Date: 02 Mar 24 - 10:30 PM

This guy delivers a telegram to an old lady.
“Could you make it a singing telegram for me. I love
singing telegrams .. .” “Lady,” he says. “Puh-leez ...”
she begs. “I do so love singing telegrams .. .” -
“Okay, you asked for it—da, da, da,
YOUR SON IS DEAD,
OH HOW HE BLED..

From the 1978 book Teen Angel by Sonia Pilcer.

See online here:

https://archive.org/details/teenangel0000pilc/page/96/mode/2up?q=singing


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: and e
Date: 02 Mar 24 - 10:57 PM

DEAR MOM
Melody--Itself

Dear Mom, your son is dead, he bought the farm today,
He crashed his OV-10 on the Ho Chi Minh highway.
He made a rocket pass, and then he busted his ass,
Hmm, hmm, hmmmmm.

He flew across the fence to see what he could see,
And there it was, as plain as it could be.
There was a truck on the road, with a big heavy load.
Hmm, hmm, hmmmmm.

He got right on the horn, and gave the DASC a call,
"Send me air, I ve got a truck that s stalled."
The DASC said, "That s all right, I ll send the Stinger Flight,
For I AM THE POWER!"

Those Hornets checked right in, gunfighters two by two,
Low on gas and tanker overdue.
They asked the FAC to mark, just where the truck was parked,
Hmm, hmm, hmmmmm.

That Bronco rolled right in , with his smoke to mark,
EXACTLY where that truck was parked.
But now the rest is in doubt, cause he never pulled out,
Hmm, hmm, hmmmmm.

(With reverence): Dear Mom, your son is dead, he bought the farm today,
He crashed his OV-10 on the Ho Chi Minh Highway.
He made a rocket pass, then he busted his ass,
Hmm, hmm,
FUCK HIM!

(Sung to "Camptown Races"): Motherfucker s dead, motherfucker s dead,
Son s comin home in a body bag,
Oh, doo dah day!

(Spoken): How did he go? STRAIGHT IN!
What was he doing? THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-ONE!
Hell of a deal. WHOOEE!

Cocksucker, motherfucker, eat a bag of shit,
Cunt hair, douche bag, bite your mother s tit.
We re the best fighter squadron, all the others suck.
Bronco FAC, Bronco FAC, rah, rah, FUCK!


Note: "FAC" = forward air controller; "DASC" = direct air support
coordinator; "Stinger Flight," "Hornets" = aircraft and crews of the 43rd Tactical Fighter Squadron.

Contributed the Ed Cray's unpublished Erotic Muse. 3rd ed. by Paul "Flying Booger" Woodford

https://archive.org/details/ed-cray-collection-aka-erotic-muses-iii/page/352/mode/2up?q=dear+mom

Lacks the "singing telegram" introduction by has the camptown races addition.


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: and e
Date: 03 Mar 24 - 09:35 AM

THE SINGING TELEGRAM

Your son got killed today
He bought the farm Ha Ha.
He flew his F-4B right into Subic Bay
While flying high and far
On his horizon bar
He went down spinning, turning descending, way to fast.
Upon recovery, quite accidentally
He had a rendevous wiht a Friendly Sparrow III
(pause) . . . . . . FLY NAVY

Dedicated to the USS RANGER

From The Crusader Hymnal. 1967. Pg 11.

See online here: https://archive.org/details/1967thecrusaderhymnal/page/12/mode/1up


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: and e
Date: 03 Mar 24 - 10:11 AM

PHU BAI G C A

This is the true story of an episode in the life of a young spud pilot.

"Miss Smith was born in 1912 and she lost her father in the first world
war... Her mother managed to keep the family together and Miss Smith got
married in 1939 and became Mrs. Jones. Mr Jones became Sergeant Jones and went
to war and in two years Mrs Jones got a telegram telling her that she was now
the idow Jones... Well the widow Jones struggled and kept her family and when
her son Johnny grew up he joined the army and went into army aviation...
He went to viet name and became a spud. Every day the widow Jones went to
the mailbox and pulled out a letter from Johnny... Then one day the letter didn't
come... The next day there was a knock at the door 'Knock, Knock' the widow
went to the door and there stood a man in uniform... "Oh wonderful" the widow
Jones did say "You must be the new postman with a letter from my son". "No
Madam, this is a rather special telegram" the man in uniform said. "Oh, I
know its a singing telegram, a singing telegram from my son." "Well, ma'am
it's not exactly a singing telegram" the man in uniform said, "Oh yes, I
just know that its a singing telegram---Please Mr Telegram Man sing me my
telegram..."

And this is what the man in uniform sang:

Your son is dead, they say--he bought the farm today,
He got below glisdeslope on the Phu Bai G C A
And now he's on the ground, He's sort of spread around
What....More...Can....I ...Say....

(CHORUS)
Your...sons comin home in a body bag, doo dah, doo dah
Your sons coming home in a body bag, doo dah, doo dah day
Shot through the head---That Motherfuckers dead
Your songs coming home in a body bag, oh doo dah day

And the grieving widow said "How did my son go?"

STRAIGHT DOWN !

"Well, what was my son doing?"

300 KNOTS!

(CHORUS)
Will I've got a job in the one thirty first, do dah, doo dah,
I'm taking bets on who'll die first, oh, doo dah day
Will it be IR? No, perhaps its SLAR,
Your sons coming home in a body bag, all the doo dah day

Don't wrap 'em, bag 'em!!   IN BAGGIES!!!


From The Spud Hymnal. 1970. 1st ed. pg 6.

See online here: https://archive.org/details/1971spudhymnal-1stedition/page/6/mode/1up


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: and e
Date: 03 Mar 24 - 11:00 AM

your son's been killed in vietnam, doo-dah, doo-dah

your son's been killed in vietnam, doo-dah, doo-dah your son's been killed in
vietnam, oh, the doo-dah day the mother fuckers dead, they shot him in the head;
your son's been killed in vietnam, oh the doo-dah day.

chorus

oh, gwine to fight all night, gwine to fight all day gwine ta send him home in a
body bag, oh the doo-dah day
hit him in the chest with an rpg--
he ain't got but an arm and a leg--
send him home in a body bag---

repeat first verse


----------------------------------------

the impact of mates getting killed never lessens, you just close of that part of
yourself with 'hard-core' songs like the above.
a rpg is a b-40 rocket propelled grenade, Chinese or Russian.
many versions-this is a compilation from 161 recce flight songbook, a respondent
from the snowy mts, and les cleveland, of wellington,
nz and a wwii vet and collector.


From the the telegram.txt file, in the folder "vietnam war songs 1" in the Sam Hilt digital collection. Sam Hilt was an American who served with the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Vietnam, immigrated to Australia after the war and became a citizen of that country.


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: and e
Date: 03 Mar 24 - 11:20 AM

A man knocked on my door last night
said he had a telegram for me.
I said I'd never received a singing telegram
and I told him to sing it.

He said, "I don't think I should," he said

And I said, "Sing it!"

He said, "Well if you insist."

[Stomping foot twice] "Your sister rose is dead."


As transcribed from the video of John Wayne on Don Rickles and John Wayne (1975 TV Special) on youtube here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-AlVDghSio&t=410s


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: and e
Date: 03 Mar 24 - 02:20 PM

Here's a joke for you:

A telegram man goes to the door
and he rings the doorbell
and this little old lady comes to the door.
Ninety-one year old lady comes to the door.
And he says, "I have a telegram for you ma'am."

And she says, "Is it a singing telegram?"

No, it's just a regular telegram?

Oh, could you sing it to me please. I've never had a singing telegram.
I'm 91 years old. I may never have another chance to have a singing telegram.
Could you sing it to me?

Well it's not really not the kind of message to sing.

Oh, please.

I don't sing very well.

Oh, please.

Well he gave in... and with his best try:

[Stomp foot once]
Da, da, da, ta da ta.
Your sister Rose is dead.


Transcribed from a youtube video by Parmesana posted June 9, 2011.

See video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Id5AC_otFIg


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Subject: RE: Origins: Singing Telegram Cante Fable (Joke)
From: and e
Date: 03 Mar 24 - 03:16 PM

An old lady, unused to receiving telegrams, was put into a pleasurable
tizzy when the Western Union operator called to say there was a wire for her.
"Is it one of those singing telegrams?" asked the old lady. "No, ma'am,"
said the operator. "It's just a message to be read to you." "But I've always
wanted a singing telegram," protested the old lady. "Now, you just sing that
wire to me or I'll report you to the supervisor."
"Okay," said the operator, with a note of resignation in her voice.
"You asked for it. Here goes:
Da-Da De Dum Dum-Dum:
[and to the tune of "Happy Birthday"]
'Your sister Rose is dead'..."

Brackets & indicated tune in the original

From Bennett Cerf's The sound of laughter. 1970. Pg 290.

See online here: https://archive.org/details/bennettcerfssoun00cerf/page/290/mode/2up?q=%22singing+telegram%22+%22rose+is+dead%22


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Mudcat time: 19 April 11:15 AM EDT

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