Lyr ADD: Ging Gang Goolie (Robert Baden-Powell ??)

Subject: ging gang gooly
From: Wotcha
Date: 10 Feb 99 - 10:40 PM

I am trying to get the full text of the kids' (Boy Scout??) song that begins "Ging gang gooly, gooly goooly wotcha, ging gang gool, ging gang gool ..." What are the origins of this song? Is it nonsense? Or is there some other meaning?

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: Cuilionn
Date: 10 Feb 99 - 10:49 PM

I cannae help ye, tho' I ken aboot th' sang. There's a group in British Columbia ca'd "Zuben an' th' Nyets" that I haird on th' radio a few years back, an' their lead-in tae performin' th' sang wis as follows: "Some of you may be familiar with the song 'Ging-Gang Goolie', an old camp song that purports to include every possible sound available in every language of the world. We are now going to do the instrumental version."

--Cuilionn

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: reggie miles
Date: 10 Feb 99 - 11:03 PM

Wotcha, I used to be in the scouts and we sang that song. It was taught to us by an Iranian scout leader. Though I'm not aware of what it means in english. Reggie Miles

Subject: Lyr Add: Ging Gang Goolie
From: Joe Offer
Date: 11 Feb 99 - 03:13 AM

I found this here (click).
-Joe Offer-

GING GANG GOOLIE

Divide the group into two halves.
Sing the song through once. Keep
one group singing "oompah" and
start the second group singing
"ging gang goolie. When the second
group comes to "hayla" the entire
group sings together. Then switch
parts. At the last shally wally,
stop at Oom. (cut off cold)

Ging gang goolie, goolie, goolie, goolie, watcha,
Ging gang goo, ging gang goo.
Ging gang goolie, goolie, goolie, goolie, watcha,
Ging gang goo, ging gang goo.
Ohh, hayla, oh hayla shayla,
Hayla shayla, shayla,

Oh ho Hayla, oh hayla shayla,
Hayla shayla, shayla, oh.
Shally wally, Shally wally,
Shally wally, Shally wally,

Oompah, Oompah, Oompah, Oompah.

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: AndyG
Date: 11 Feb 99 - 08:07 AM

Here we go again,
back down Memory Lane.

I never was a member of the Scout movement, so what follows is hearsay. I learned the song at that wonderful British institution, School Camp and later, when singing it in the presence of a Scout I got a outraged mouthful from him because I was singing the "Guide's" part.
Is this true ? Is (or was) the tune divided into harmonies on a Boys/Girls basis which only they could sing ? Any ex-scouts know the answer ?

Andy(Still singing the same harmony)G

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: Bert
Date: 11 Feb 99 - 11:12 AM

Back in the Fifties I remember my sister bringing this one home from Girl Guides (English Girl Scouts). She said that it was written in 'no particular language' so that everyone could sing it at International gatherings.

Bert.

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: Bobby Bob, Ellan Vannin
Date: 11 Feb 99 - 02:03 PM

And the late Karl Denver recorded a version of it on an album released by Decca. I think they eventually put it out on the cheap Ace of Clubs label.

I was never in uniform myself.

Shoh slaynt,

Bobby Bob

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: o'hanrahan
Date: 11 Feb 99 - 03:22 PM

When I first learned it i was told it was a World War I song soldiers could sing with other troops of a differing languages. I learned it Ging gong gooley gooley gooley gooley rush rush, ging gong goo, ging gong goo....etc. After singing it through twice (each side taking the lead once) you then oompa numerous times fading. It is a great dining hall song that I have shared with many students over the years.

Subject: ADD Version: Ging Gong Gooly
From: o'hanrahan
Date: 11 Feb 99 - 05:22 PM

After consulting my son Patrick we remembered it as follows:

GING GONG GOOLY

Ging gong gooly gooly gooly gooly rush rush;
Ging gong goo, ging gong goo;
Ging gong gooly gooly gooly gooly rush rush;
Ging gong goo, ging gong goo;

A-la, A-la A-la, A-la A-la, A-la mon;
A-la, A-la A-la, A-la A-la, A-la mon;

Sha-lee Wa-lee, Sha-lee Wa-lee;
Sha-lee Wa-lee, Sha-lee Wa-lee;

Oompah, oompah, oompah, oompah...

One group, sings the song completely through, while the does 'Oompah' completely throug. Then when the first group finishes, they reverse roles. At the end, oompahs continue in unison, at first loudly, but then gradually fading to a soft whisper.

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: Bob Landry
Date: 11 Feb 99 - 06:38 PM

In our Scout region, we were told that the words were no written in any particular language and had no particular meaing. The purpose was, as Bert notes, so that everyone could sing it at international gatherings.

Bob

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: Wotcha
Date: 11 Feb 99 - 10:40 PM

Thanks fellas. Now, how do you place this in the retrievable database? Sounds like it has some interesting history. I learned this one at prep school in London: I only heard it once but somehow the words have stuck for 30 years. The overlapping verses reminds me of another classic: London's Burning! Ta very much.

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: Joe Offer
Date: 12 Feb 99 - 02:01 AM

Hi, Wotcha - well, the song is on a retrievable database right now. Dick and Susan of the Digital Tradition monitor all the messages - it the song makes the cut, it ends up as a permanent part of the renwoned Digital Tradition folk song database.
Ya think Dick & Suasn will buy that gooleegoolee stuff? Heck, Dick put "Strip Polka" in when the Folk Police weren't watching.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: Wolfgang
Date: 12 Feb 99 - 06:54 AM

I was singing that too in the German boy scouts. Wolfgang

Subject: Kili kili kili kili watch watch watch watch
From:
Date: 12 Feb 99 - 07:17 AM

I know a song that is a bit like ging gang gooly.
It goes more or less like this:

Kili kili kili kili watch watch watch watch
Kay um ken kayava
Ali at chalma at chalma podey watch

I think it also has a scouting background.

Subject: ADD: Killy Watch Watch Song (camp song)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 12 Feb 99 - 01:39 PM

Hey, I know that one. Don't know the original, though. When I learned it, it was the song of Camp Chippecotton, the camp of the Racine County Council of the Boy Scouts in southeastern Wisconsin. I was there the last year the camp was open, about 1960, I think.

The Killy Watch Watch Song

Killy killy killy, watch watch watch watch,
Kay you killy koom ka-wa
Killy killy killy, watch watch watch watch,
Kay you killy koom ka-wa
Hail, Chippecotton, Chippecotton polly-wah!
Hail, Chippecotton, Chippecotton polly-wah!

The council closed the camp that year and opened the Robert S. Lyle Scout Reservation on the Wolf River in northern Wisconsin. Not as nice a name, but a much nicer camp in the wilderness. Now the Racine County Council is no more - absorbed by Milwaukee, I think.
Still, I've always wondered about the killy watch watch songs - are words in the message above the complete words for the original?

Apparently, Detroit's Charles Howell Scout Reservation near Brighton had the same song:

The Reservation Song

[Background singers chant "Um Pa, Um Pa, Um Pa..."]

Killy, Killy, Killy, Killy, Watch, Watch, Watch, Watch,
Kay You Killy Come Cah Wah.
Killy, Killy, Killy, Killy, Watch, Watch, Watch, Watch,
Kay You Killy Come Cah Wah.
Hail Reservation, Reservation, Polly Wah
Hail Reservation, Reservation, Polly Wah


[Those singing the words return to chanting "Um Pa", and everyone then fades out.]

-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: reggie miles
Date: 12 Feb 99 - 03:20 PM

I understood the words as this, as we sang it:

ching gan goly goly goly goly vacha,
ching gan go, ching gan go.
ching gan goly goly goly goly vacha,
ching gan go, ching gan go.

hayla, hayla shala, hayla shala hayla o-oh
hayla, hayla shala, hayla shala hayla oh

wally wally wally wally
umpa umpa umpa

Then the whole thing would repeat. The group would divide into sections and sing it as a round.

Reggie Miles

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: GUEST
Date: 31 Oct 04 - 01:24 AM

Is there some where that you can download the song from

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: masato sakurai
Date: 31 Oct 04 - 02:13 AM

"Ging, Gang, Gooley" [lyrics & midi] is here (scroll down).

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: Les in Chorlton
Date: 31 Oct 04 - 03:59 AM

Very nicey, very nivey,
we likey, we likey,
cuckoo, cuckoo!

Collected in Cheshire around 1965.

The Scout/Guide movement is a repostery of strange songs and in a very clear way a living oral tradition.

I guess I am not the only folky to discover folk from the scout end of things. As a campfire leader in the scouts at 17, folk songs where a natural step. I have searched my scout collection with the hope of finding things I could sing in Folk Clubs but most seemed too daft. Although I do remember very long rounds of 'Who's pigs are these' at Jones's Ale in Chester around 1970 and Grandfather's Clock is well known in the Scouts and Guides.

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: Fee
Date: 31 Oct 04 - 07:10 AM

Ah, it takes me back.....When I was in the Guides we sang this in a round as described above, but I seem to recall if we were at some jamboree type thing where there were scouts AND guides, the guides sang the hayla shayala bit and the scouts didn't?.

As for a lving oral tradition, we did swap songs...We guides learnt the 'Quartermasters Stores' from the scouts and they learnt 'Kookaburra' and 'You'll never get to heaven' from us (a good one for big groups because we'd sing line 1 then they'd repeat it, etc, until the chorus which was sung all together...) I don't know why certain songs were identified with the male and some with the female side of the movement though!. But yes, a lot of them were very daft...:o)

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: Azizi
Date: 31 Oct 04 - 10:00 AM

Hey!

I've also wondered about that "Ging gang goolie" song. Have we concluded then that these are nonsense words and not from any language or languages except fun kidspeak?

And somewhat off topic,

Fee, can you share the words you sang for "You'll never get to heaven"?

I remember singing that song in the 1950s Atlantic City, New Jersey, and not as part of any organized group. As I remember it, one verse of that song went like this {I'll use my name for the insult part}:

Oh you'll never get to heaven
with ZiZi's face.
'Cause ZiZi's face
is ah disgrace.
Oh, you'll never get to heaven
with Zizi's face
'cause Zizi's face is ah disgrace.
Ain't gonna meet
my Lord no more.

I searched for "You'll never get to heaven" in the search box and found the song Johnson's Gals. I'm not sure if this children's song came from there.

Any thoughts on this?

Azizi

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: Fee
Date: 31 Oct 04 - 11:57 AM

Hi Azizi...it sounds similar a rhythm to yours so is probably the same tune, I always thought it sounded slightly American...! we sang:

Oh you'll never get to heaven
(Oh you'll never get to heaven)
In an old ford car
(in an old ford car)
cos an old ford car
(cos an old ford car)
Won't get that far
(Won't get that far)

Chorus:

You'll never get to heaven in an old ford car cos an old ford car won't get that far, I ain't gonna grieve my love no more.
I aint gonna grieve my love, ain't gonna grieve my love, I ain't gonna grieve...my love no more...

And it goes on (and on and on) for as many verses as you have things you'll never get to heaven in; our favourite, being adolescent girl guides wanting to embarrass adolescent boy scouts (in more innocent times ;o) was a 'Playtex Bra, cos a playtex bra won't stretch that far....'

My mother is a Brown Owl, I'm sure she can supply me with loads of ridiculous girl guide songs I've completely forgotten...they do keep coming back to me though e.g.: "on top of spaghetti, all covered in cheese, I lost my poor meatball, when somebody sneezed..." etc...

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 31 Oct 04 - 02:33 PM

My eyes are dim, I cannot see, I have not brought my specs with me....

Kitty

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: BusyBee Paul
Date: 31 Oct 04 - 03:38 PM

Oh, that takes you back a bit!

I too was in Brownies and Guides and the old songs are flooding back.

Just wanted to add that when my Aunt died 6 years ago (she was big in the local Guiding Movement) we wanted to sing Ging Gang Goolie at the funeral but decided that Kumbayah was more appropriate!.

BBP

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From:
Date: 31 Oct 04 - 06:29 PM

Eric Idle and Rikki Fataar, both members of The Rutles recorded this one as a single back in `78.(B side: Mr. Sheene)

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: GUEST,Cluin again
Date: 31 Oct 04 - 06:32 PM

You can download an MP3 of the B-sidefrom this website.

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: brid widder
Date: 31 Oct 04 - 07:48 PM

I remember this song really well from my girl guide days... I also remember being told it was in no-one's language so it could be sung by anyone whatever their language... sadly nowadays the song is banned in the scout movement... in England at least... because of the use of the word 'gooly'!

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: Azizi
Date: 31 Oct 04 - 08:22 PM

Okay, I'll bite.

Why is the word "gooly" causing that song to be banned? Is it because it sounds like "coolie"?

And what is a "Brown Owl"? I am assuming that it's a rank in the Girl Guides and that Girl Guides=Girl Scouts, right?

When I was a child I went to a couple of "Brownie" meetings with a girlfriend of mine. For some reason, the song that I remember the most from those meetings was "Found A Peanut".

As an aside, I remember as a young adult engaging in some light conversation about what organizations we belonged to, and I said when I was growing up I wasn't a "Brownie" but I was a "Blackie".
Of course, this was an in-race joke, and wouldn't have been well accepted by others. But you all knew that, I'm sure!

Azizi

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 31 Oct 04 - 08:25 PM

You'll never get to heaven
On roller skates.
You'll roll right by
Them pearly gates

I ain't a gonna grieve---
My Lord no more.
I aint a gonna grieve, my Lord, no more (2x)
I ain't a gonna grieve, my Lord, no more.

Usta sing this on hikes, riding on the bus, around the camp fire. Hadn't thought of it for years. There are dozens if not hundreds of verses.
A few of them here- Never get to heaven

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 31 Oct 04 - 08:27 PM

The plug-in for music doesn't worh at the site above, but the lyrics are OK.

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 31 Oct 04 - 08:47 PM

Just remembered this one-

You'll never get to heaven
If you're bringing hash
Cause old St Peter
Only takes sour mash.

Can't remember Ging---. Perhaps after my childhood. Can't get to Heaven heard in the 1930s, could be much older.
More here: Never get to heaven

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 31 Oct 04 - 09:18 PM

Ahm me! Heavan!
Heavan

The Opies mention "Ging, gang, gooly" as a Guides song in their book "The Singing Game," but give no other information. English origin? It also is the title of a story, "Ging Gang Goolie, the Great Grey Ghost Elephant." Author not known to me. Ging Gang Song

Scout origin? I remember when the South African Scouts came to a Jamboree here years ago. They sang adaptations of African songs, but I doubt that this one fit into that category.

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: Fee
Date: 01 Nov 04 - 05:21 AM

>Why is the word "gooly" causing that song to be banned? Is it >because it sounds like "coolie"?

Gooly is banned (I assume) because it makes small boy scouts snigger and giggle (goolie being a UK English slang word for testicle)...

In the UK guiding movement (this is sliding off topic slightly!) we have Rainbows (tiny girls) then Brownies (7 - 10/11 years old) and then Guides (10/11 - teens) and Rangers (16/17+).

Brown Owl is the big boss of the Brownies, an adult leader rather than one of the kids Our troop had three leaders (we must have been very unruly):

Brown Owl
Snowy Owl
Tawny Owl

Then two Pack Leaders (older guides) to help out.

and the Brownies are in Sixes with a Sixer and Seconder each. My history teacher used to accuse us of being a pseudo military organisation...I think he had a point!

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: Azizi
Date: 01 Nov 04 - 07:58 AM

Fee, I appreciate your info re: gooly/goolie and the Girl Brown Owl/Girl Guides group.

Thanks goodness, boys in the United States NEVER would behave like that!

ANNOUNCING THREAD DRIFT:

With regard to the last line I gave of "Oh, you'll never get to heaven", I believe that it's more likely that the line Q gives is the "correct" ending line, and the one I gave is an example of folk etymology.

I could never understand what "Aint gonna meet my Lord no more" meant. But it makes sense to say, "I ain't gonna grieve, my Lord, no more". Maybe because it's written down, I can see that "my Lord" is an exclamation inserted in the middle of the sentence.

I bet I'm the only one who was confused about this...

"You'll never get to heaven" sounds to me like this comes from an African American spiritual. If you agree, does anyone have any ideas about which one?

Azizi

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: fiddler
Date: 01 Nov 04 - 08:56 AM

What a wonderful thread!

I've found things out I never knew.

As for banning goolies - painful in the extreme.

PC gone overboard!

I imagine the story of teh two warring tribes way back when teh world was young would be banned now too!

Andy

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: Snuffy
Date: 01 Nov 04 - 09:02 AM

I've always assumed (without the least shred of evidence) that there was a genuine spiritual You'll Never Get To Heaven with verses about smoking, drinking, gambling, fornicating, and all the other sins that would disqualify you from gaining your wings.

But I've never actually heard such a song. Does it exist?

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 01 Nov 04 - 01:26 PM

There is a logical reason to ban 'gooley.' It seems, in Britain, that it is a favorite song of 'footballers,' who seem to .....

The chorus "I ain't a gonna grieve, my Lord, no more, seems to be a take from "I Ain't Goin' Study War No More."

"I Ain't..." seems to be derived from the camp meeting song (or spiritual), "Down By the Riverside," which appears in variations "Down By de Ribber Side" (in Grey, haven't seen), "I Ai'nt Goingt' Study War No More" (an early form in Dett, Religious Folk Songs of the Negro); "Down By the River," in Dett The song was not recorded by Fenner in 1874, but was added to a later edition, 1926?; and several others.
Most take the song as a spiritual (which it is, known since Civil War times) but also known as a white camp meeting song.
I am putting together a number of versions which I have and may add to the material already in the DT and Forum. (Strange, it is not in the Af-Am Spiritual Permathread).

The form of the verses could be from an 'upstart crow,' similar to this one:

If you want to go to Heaven
I'll tell you what to do;
Just grease all over in Brunswick stew;
The devil will grab at you and miss his man,
Then you'll slip right over into the promised land.
Eat chitlings.

Cho:
Oh, mourner, you shall be free
When the good Lord sets you free.

N. I. White, 1928 (1965), "American Negro Folk Songs," p. 135; coll. 1909-1916 by Taylor (MS) and Perrow.

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 01 Nov 04 - 01:32 PM

sadly nowadays the song is banned in the scout movement... in England at least... because of the use of the word 'gooly'!


Nonsense!

There are those in the Movement who, in the name of modernisation, would like to see Scouting lose its "ging gang goolie" image but the song has not been banned, certainly not for the reason given above. Where does "information" like this come from?


Doug C

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: Azizi
Date: 01 Nov 04 - 03:20 PM

Thanks, again Q!
Azizi

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: brid widder
Date: 01 Nov 04 - 04:41 PM

My son is leader of a cub pack...he says they are instructed that this song is 'inappropriate' ... (ok so that's not the same as 'banned'... my mistake)... the scouting movement is very aware of child protection issues and he says it is in this regard... rather than simply causing boys to snigger, that using the phrase 'goolie watcha' is not recommended.

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 01 Nov 04 - 04:54 PM

I am the Leader of a Scout Troop and an experienced camp-fire leader. I would have a swift answer for anyone who gave me an instruction that was plainly poppycock. What on earth has the phrase 'goolie watcha' got to do with child protection?

Doug C

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: Cluin
Date: 01 Nov 04 - 05:19 PM

"Goolie Gotcha!" , on the other hand...

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 01 Nov 04 - 05:58 PM

Could it come from S.Africa? Baden-Powell got his ideas for the Scout movement from his experience in the Boer war working with local "scouts". Some of the other scout and guide songs have their origins there.
My favourite was;
Never let your braces dangle, dingle dingle dangle,
One old sport he got caught, right in the middle of a mangle.
Right in the middle he went, by gum,
Rolled as flat as linoleum,
Now he's singing in Kingdom come,
"Never let your braces dangle".

Sounds like this one originated somewhere between Australia (old sport) Lancashire (by gum) and Kirkcaldy (linoleum). It puts a date stamp on it too - what's a mangle and what's linoleum??

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 01 Nov 04 - 06:07 PM

The chorus "Ain't gonna grieve my Lord no more" appears in two religious songs reported in Newman I. White, 1928 (1965), "American Negro Folk Songs;" no. 28 and no. 70.

No. 28
One of these days, 'bout twelve o'clock
This old world's gonna reel and rock,
I ain't gonna grieve my Lord no more,
I ain't gonna grieve my Lord no more.

I'm goin' to Heaven and I'm gonna ride
Six white horses side by side,
I ain't gonna grieve my Lord no more,
I ain't gonna grieve my Lord no more.

MS J. R. Jackson, 1915-1916, Auburn, AL.
White remarks that he has heard stanza 1 sung with "Pharoah's Army."

No. 70
Lyr. Add: AIN'T GONNA GRIEVE, MY LORD, NO MORE

Oh! down in the valley where I was told
The grace of God is better than gold
The grace of God is better than gold.

Cho.
Ain't gonna grieve my Lord no more,
Ain't gonna grieve my Lord no more.

Oh! watch the sun, see how it run,
Never let it catch you with your work undone,
Never let it catch you with your work undone.

Oh! down yonder in the harvest field,
The angels are working on the chariot wheel. (2x))

Oh! Satan's like a snake in the grass,
Always in some Christian's path (2x)

Oh! mind, my sister, how you walk on the cross,
Your right foot'll slip and your soul'll get lost (2x).

These verses used in many similar songs.
MS of W. H. Lander, 1919, Durham, NC.

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 01 Nov 04 - 10:06 PM

Good material in this thread - mixed with idjets.

I have never known an association between "Ging Gang" and "Can't Get to Heaven." The measures, beats and tune are not compatable.

However, I have heard "Ging Gang" as a transition into "Zulu Warrior."

If "political correctness" castrates a nonsense song like the "Ging Gang" ……….. "This Old Man" playing with other-people's-body-parts cannot be far behind (oops -" behind" could mean "buttocks" - change behind to …..) cannot be far from the sacrificial alter.

Reading this thread - made me incredulous. Looked "goolie" up, they are right. (but only a major perv would/could suggest such a connection.)

Perhaps, its transition away from offence, could be in the form of a different spelling with the same sound...ghouly, goaly, gooli, gooly, (Personally, I thought the phrase was "ging, gang goo, ging, gang gay, which would offend even more - and lead to verification of the UK translation.)

goolies n. pl. [prob. Hindi goli 'ball'] the testicles. Rare in U.S.
1929 Aldington Death of a Hero 248 [ ref. to WWI]: At 'is stummick and goolies, Point! * 1996, *1997 in OED. 1969 in Legman No Laughing Matter 456: Well, pop it again - you've got me caought by the goolies! * 1971 in OED2.

Leighter, J.E., Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, "The Only Historical Dictionary of Slang, Sapnning Three Hundred Years of Slang Use in America." 1994.

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

(I've posted it before, I'll post it again….Joe/Max/Pene PLEASE create another area of the MC - a third section for the "good stuff." A place where serious discussion remains for seven days or more. )

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: Azizi
Date: 01 Nov 04 - 11:24 PM

FYI, Gargoyle

for others who wondered how this thread got from "Ging Gang Gooley" to "You'll Never Get To Heaven", I take responsibility for the digression.

My curiosity got the best of me {that would be a good line for a song} when Fee recalled how the Girl Guides would share different songs. No one here ever said that these two songs had the same melody or lyrics, or were connected in any way what so ever except as part of the song list of a particular Girl Guide group. Of course, both of them ARE folk songs.

And wouldn't a determination of what conversation or which music is "good stuff" depend on one's personal taste and one's mood at the time?

As for me, though I'm sorry I did go off topic, I'm finding both topics {Ging Gang Goolie AND "You'll Never Get To Heaven" to be interesting and informative. And maybe there are others share that viewpoint.

Beides, Gargoyle, I'm just wondering, do you need to be serious all of the time?

If that's your choice, go for it!

Azizi

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: Fee
Date: 02 Nov 04 - 04:55 AM

...you beat me to it Azizi...:o), nowhere in this thread have the "measures, beats and tune" of either song been compared nor has it been suggested they are in any way similar, this thread has simply become a discussion of two completely different songs which have come (for whatever reason) to be identified with the scout and guiding movement...

I wouldn't (unfortuantely) be at all surprised if political correctness castrates a nonsense song like the "Ging Gang"...I've seen and heard of stupider things in its name...

Fee (not serious all of the time and proud of it)

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 03 Nov 04 - 08:13 PM

gooly- Variant of Scottish gully, a large knife.
gooly- a stone, a pebble. Australian.
gooly- a bullet, a ball. Hindustani goli.
gooly- a testicle. Slang, English
The above from OED.

"ain't Gonna grieve' songs to be moved to another thread.

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: Cobble
Date: 03 Nov 04 - 08:22 PM

I was born in a town called Goole, in Yorkshire where, you've guessed it Goolies come from. Who renowned for fighting off the dreaded Ging Gangs From Lancashire. Does that help.

                      Cobble (The Goolie)

Subject: RE: ging gang gooly
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 04 Nov 04 - 12:12 AM

Goole should have some songs.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ging Gang Goolee
From: GUEST,Anna
Date: 04 Apr 06 - 06:30 PM

Thanks to everyone for interesting information and lyrics.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ging Gang Goolee
From: Mr Happy
Date: 04 Apr 06 - 07:27 PM

The group of Goole of silicon, Goole, Goole, Goole and watch was?

They are those that are united?


Of the group that goes they are those that are united the group that goes.

The group of Goole of silicon, goalie, goalie, goalie and watch was?

They are those that are united?

Of the group that goes they are those that are united the group that goes.

Sheila of hail and shale Hail de Ohm, state of Ohio and state of Ohio of hail of shale -, been of Ohio of hail of shale of shale Hail, hail and shale of Ohio it indicates Ho.

-. Wally Shelly, Wally Shelly, Wally Shelly, Wally Shelly,


Oomph, Oomph, Oomph and Oomph.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ging Gang Goolee
From: GUEST,Jen
Date: 19 Aug 07 - 10:05 AM

I was actually looking on a Scouting site that has explained a possible meaning of gin Gan Gooly which is relating to a Grey Ghost elephant that comes wandering after the rains, when the elephant reaches a village it would either walk through it or go round it. If it walked round the village would be prosperous and if it went through they would be hungry and suffer bad crops. In the tribal village of Watcha the leader Ginga Gool (or something like that) was troubled by 3 years of the elephent going through his village. He arranged spearsmen to chantand frighten the elephant to go round and his Medicine man (Hayla SHayla) to make magic potions and throw them around village (Shally wally shallywally) and the elephent replied Oompa Oompa Oopma this went on and the chants got louder and eventually the elephant swerved round the village - thus the oompa getting quieter.
Or it could just be the most common explanation in that it was easy for scouts and guides round the world to pick up!!
Braw to remember camp fires though.
Rolling home blind drunk was my fav!!
By the light of the silvery moooon
laughing ha ha hee with a bottle on my knee
and the shadow of my top hat on the wall!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ging Gang Goolee
From: GUEST,Chelle Pinkenba
Date: 05 Sep 07 - 06:13 PM

Ging Gang Gooley
During the first world jamboree, Lord Baden Powell realized that all the different scouts spoke different languages. Because of that, he made this song which no one understood the words or meaning.


Ging gang gooley, gooley, gooley, gooley, watcha

Ging gang goo, ging gang goo

Ging gang gooley, gooley, gooley, gooley, watcha

Ging gang goo, ging gang goo

Heyla, heyla sheyla, heyla shey-la heyla ho

Heyla, heyla sheyla, heyla shey-la heyla ho

Golly wally, golly wally, golly walla, golly walla

Um-pa, Um-pa, Um-pa

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ging Gang Goolee
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 06 Sep 07 - 04:16 AM

I remember a 70s pop band, maybe The Scaffold, recorded a verson.
Something like
There's a pretty little brown eyed brownie lives next door,
Lives next door,
And I......... that's for sure,
That's for sure,
Hayla, her name is Shaela, and her eyes are summer blue,
Heyla, heyla sheyla, heyla shey-la heyla ooh.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ging Gang Goolee
From: GUEST,Maya Bou HAYLA
Date: 15 Sep 07 - 01:33 PM

Hello everyone!

I am a guide from lebanon and was searching for my names origins...HAYLA
And could found that it is an ARAMEAN language(old language of the native people living in the middle east before the arab invasion) it means : the Power with divine contribution.

And found out that the Hayla's family is spread in lebanon, Israêl and Africa...

Could Hayla Sheyla ...be one of us?

Live lord Baden Powell!

Subject: midi
From: GUEST,Harrrrry
Date: 19 Feb 08 - 09:12 AM

Hi all,
is there a midi for this ging gang golly?

Thanks a lot

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ging Gang Goolee
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 19 Feb 08 - 11:41 AM

Guest Chelle P., you give no reference or citation for your assertion that Baden Powell wrote Ging Gang Goolie.
It is an unsupported statement unless reliable reference is provided.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ging Gang Goolee
From: GUEST,JP
Date: 15 Dec 09 - 10:11 PM

Baden-Powell wrote Ging Gang Goolie in 1920 for the first international, as mentioned so there would be a song that had equal meaning (or lack tyhere of) for all.

Check wikipedia for references.

cheers
Cubmaster JP

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ging Gang Goolee
From: GUEST,Irene
Date: 26 Jun 11 - 06:35 AM

I looked up Ging gang goolie today because I just heard it sung on a Coronation Street eposide. on a charabang (coach). I used to sing it in the 1950's when I was a Brownie. My older sister was Brown Owl then took some sort of test and was promoted to Tawny Owl, We sat around a Paper Mache toadstool to sing our songs.
A mangle is what we used to wring the water out of laundry before hanging it on the washing line to dry. 2 rubber rollers pressed together by gears when you turned a handle to the side.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ging Gang Goolee
From: GUEST,Derry
Date: 03 Sep 11 - 04:37 AM

Who originally wrote this song?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ging Gang Goolie (Robert Baden-Powell)
From: GUEST,Girl Scout Susan
Date: 03 Dec 11 - 03:09 PM

Lord Baden-Powell penned this song for the 1st World Jamboree as others have said. The words are nonsense syllables.if anything there may be an African influence. What a shame to see a (nearly) century-old tradition spoiled by a "message" that isn't there. Let's ban the overt "(ake me out to the ball game" and please stop calling some athletes "footballers". What an image that conjures!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ging Gang Goolie (Robert Baden-Powell)
From: GUEST,Brommabo
Date: 05 Jan 12 - 01:50 PM

We, my twin brother and me (born 1947), have during several years researched "Ging gang goolie" (and some various langugage and music versions), its origin, its possible meaning and its road to fame. The sources have been libraries and archives inside and outside Scandinavia as well as contacts with linguists and with the music industry. And of course the web. Our dedication has been boosted by a family tradition to sing "Ging gang goolie" (Scandinavian spelling, same melody) at family gatherings (started well before 1950 with our grandfather, 1882-1960), plain curiosity and a zeal for scientific research, in other words to find and evaluate relevant evidence.

We now want to share our humble findings of this research. We understand there are four main myths? regarding "Ging gang goolie" all over the web. Some have been discussed here.

I.        Robert Baden-Powell as originator: no evidence found (rather the opposite), highly improbable
II.        The music used was written by Mozart, 1st symphony: no evidence found, influence possible
III.        Exotic place as origin: many suggestions, none seem to be verified by evidence
IV.        Meaning of the lyrics among others indecent/vulgar/obscene: many suggestions, none seem to be verified by evidence

Please ref Wikipedia Discussion on "Ging gang goolie" for a more detailed discussion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Ging_Gang_Goolie

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ging Gang Goolie (Robert Baden-Powell)
From: GUEST,soderbo
Date: 07 Jan 12 - 07:51 AM

We, my twinbrother and me (born 1947) sing this version:

Kinkan kolli kolli kolli kolli vassian kinkan koh vassian goh
Kinkan kolli kolli kolli kolli vassian kinkan koh vassian goh
Ila ilasiava ilasiava palamba
Ila ilasiava ilasiava palamba
Tjolafalla, tjolafalla Kinkan ... and so on

But the original(?) "Niggers` Morning-Song" from 1905 (Gothenburg, Sweden) goes:

Hinkan, kolikolikolikolifejsan, Kinkan koh, kinkan koh
Hinkan, kolikolikolikolifejsan, Kinkan koh, kinkan koh
Ava, illa shava O, illa shava Kolifejs!
Ava, illa shava O, illa shava Kolifejs!
Tjolafalla, tjolafalla!

Please sing and compare with "Ging gang" (or "Qui qua Molly ..." or "Quick qwack qwanny ..." or "Shanne annee mannee ..." or "Oompa kalli alli alli ..." or ...)! Any Comments?

Subject: RE: ADD: Ging Gang Goolie (Robert Baden-Powell ??)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 07 Jan 12 - 06:57 PM

If you search for "Ging Gang" on Spotify, you'll come up with all sorts of variations. Above, Keith A mentions a version by a 70s pop band - I wonder if that was the Tremeloes version. I couldn't understand much of it. There are two (apparently German) groups that have disco versions of the song - Der Trickser and Inner Kneipe. Most of the other versions sound like polkas.

I think I heard in Scouts fifty years ago that the song was written by Baden-Powell, but that could well be a fable. It's not a song I sang as a Boy Scout. I had heard of it, but never heard anybody sing it. Our Scout Songbook Index doesn't show the song in U.S. Scout songbooks.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: ADD: Ging Gang Goolie (Robert Baden-Powell ??)
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 08 Jan 12 - 08:38 AM

Guest Irene, I was a Tawny Owl about forty years ago. It's a rank second to Brown Owl. We also had a papier mache toadstool, which I carried in my bike basket to meetings!
We sang "Ging gang goolie" in the early fifties, and were told that it was written to be sung by all nationalities.

Subject: RE: ADD: Ging Gang Goolie (Robert Baden-Powell ??)
From: GUEST,Manuel
Date: 08 Jan 12 - 04:03 PM

Sad to say, I was never a Boy Scout; but I sure had the pleasure of often hearing"Ging Gang Goolie" being sung in my schoolyard (in what was then known as British Honduras)by kids a little older than I in the mid-to-late 1950s.

Subject: RE: ADD: Ging Gang Goolie (Robert Baden-Powell ??)
From: GUEST,Brommabo
Date: 14 Jan 12 - 01:53 PM

About the origin: The very earliest documented English version for scouts of "Ging gang goolie" crops up in 1957 in the 'Gilwell Camp Fire Book', according to the UK Scout Association. The song is there termed 'Traditional'. Gilwell was and is a central UK training camp for scouts. (No other earlier English documented version has been found so far, thus earlier references would be of interest.) This dating might fit nicely with some experiences mentioned above. However, the song was published before that in Scandinavian song books for youths, among others a Swedish student song book in 1918. Scout song books in Denmark and Sweden published the song in 1924, thus it may have entered the global scouting world in that way.

Subject: RE: ADD: Ging Gang Goolie (Robert Baden-Powell ??)
From: GUEST,Brommabo
Date: 16 Jan 12 - 04:17 PM

Hi Eliza!
I wonder where in the world did you sing "Ging gang goolie" in the early fifties? Further, did you learn by word of mouth or did you have any kind of book/document to sing from?

Subject: RE: ADD: Ging Gang Goolie (Robert Baden-Powell ??)
From: GUEST,rcarr
Date: 03 Jan 13 - 07:58 PM

my mother used to sing a song that started "killy killy killy killy wash wash wash, kia, kia kaiya....she said it was a Polish washer woman song but maybe roots elsewhere?

Subject: RE: Lyr ADD: Ging Gang Goolie (Robert Baden-Powell ??)
From: GUEST,soderbo
Date: 12 Apr 19 - 12:17 PM

1905 occurrence of the Ging Gang song verified; Baden-Powell not involved in its creation

It is now proven beyond reasonable doubt that the well known gibberish song Ging Gang (Goo/Gooli/etc) was performed at a New Year´s cabaret in 1905 (the Folkteater in Gothenburg, Sweden). For that occasion it was named "Nxxxxxx Morning Song" and had "Scandinavian" spelling (e.g. "Hinkan"/"Kinkan" instead of "Ging Gang"; there have been so many different names and spellings all over the world).

Web links (digitized documents, both provided by the National Library of Sweden):

page 12 in a jubilee edition 1895-1920 from 1920
http://runeberg.org/eajubileum/0013.html

download of the entire cabaret brochure from 1905 (60 MB), ref. the cover page for location and year, and page 21 in the actual brochure
for the song (digitized page 25/31)
http://libris.kb.se/bib/ktghzvx2h8f753cg

and link to the Wikipedia Ging Gang article
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ging_Gang_Goolie

The 1905 occurrence means of course that the claim that Robert Baden-Powell (supposedly inspired by South African songs and a Mozart piece) wrote the song for the 1st World Scout Jamboree 1920 simply is not true. It also means that whatever claims on origins that post-date 1905 are untrue. And further, that claims for earlier origin than 1905 need be well documented,

It seems very true, however, that the song is part of a family (lyrics-wise and/or tune-wise) of gibberish? songs that were documented primarily in Europe during the end of the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century: some so called Anstich Lieder (drinking songs in Germany), Em Pom Pee, Hi Politi, Nicodemo, Kili-Watch, so called Wumba-songs, In Chinesien, etc.

(The National Library of Sweden is both a library and a government agency. It collects, preserves, and provides access to everything published in Sweden - and has been doing so for 350+ years.)