Animal Songs

21 Dec 99 - 07:05 PM (#152634)
Subject: Animal Songs
From: JenEllen

Planning a benefit concert for our local Humane Society. Looking for good animal songs. They don't have to be squeaky clean ;) Jen

[Some song titles in this thread have been converted to links by a Mudelf.]

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21 Dec 99 - 08:13 PM (#152663)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: McGrath of Harlow

Well if you go to the DT Lyrics search thingy at the top of the page, and click search buy keywords, there are 260 songs listed under animal. That's probably rather more than you want. But you can search by individual animals.

Cats, sharks, dogs...

I'd sing The Cat Came Back or The Body in the Bag if I had just one song to sing.

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21 Dec 99 - 11:14 PM (#152742)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Roger in Baltimore

Oh, definitely the cat came back. The Humane Society will understand.

Roger in Baltimore

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21 Dec 99 - 11:32 PM (#152753)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: MK

Black Bird

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22 Dec 99 - 03:12 AM (#152799)
Subject: Lyr Add: BESTIARY (from Burl Ives)
From: _gargoyle

It is very hard to imagine that this one is not in the DT...searched but could not find this old classic.

The Bestiary
Key of D
2/4 time

/D/Alliator, Hedgehog, /G?/Anteater, /D/Bear
/A7/Rattlesnake, /D/Buffalo, /E7/Anaconda, /A/Hare.
/D/Bullfrog, Woodchuck, /G/Wolverine, /D/Goose
/A7/Whip-poor-will, /D/Chipmunk, /E7/Jackal /A7/Moose,/D/

Mud-turtle, Whale, Glow-worm, Bat
Salamander, Snail, Maltese cat
Black squirrel, Raccoon, Opossum, Wren.
Red Squirrel, Loon, South Guinea hen.

Polecat, dog, wild otter, rat,
Pelican, hog, dodo, bat,
Eagle, kangaroo, sheep, duck, widgeon,
Conger, armadillo, beaver, seal, pigeon.

Reindeer, blacksnake, ibis, nightingale,
Martin, wild drake, crocodile, quail.
House-rat, touse-rat, white bear, doe,
Chickadee, peacock, bobolink, crow.

This is a REAL doozy to memorize, (harder than "I've Been Everywhere") but it is WELL worth it.

Perfect for a family setting where the performer and audience are comfortable with each other...Because of the simple rhyme scheme the audience begins to anticipate the ending of the couplet....and can be encouraged to shout out (after the first two examples) what they perceive to be the matching word....the singer nods approval or corrects.

This one is a great deal of fun...perfect for your animal shelter setting.

What is your production date?

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Click to play

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Bestiary is from "Song in America -Our Musical Heritage" Burl Ives, Arrangement by Albert Hague, New York 1962 p 52.

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22 Dec 99 - 02:38 PM (#152988)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: JenEllen

Loved the ideas...where can I find the Cat Came Back? Gargoyle's Beastiary is going to be a "must sing". In response, the concert is planned for March third. We've got a local guy up here that does folk radio, and is like a human jukebox, should be a fine night to howl!

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22 Dec 99 - 02:52 PM (#152991)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: MMario

Garg? you have a tune for that?

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22 Dec 99 - 03:49 PM (#153016)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: dick greenhaus

The Cat Came Back is in DigiTrad.

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22 Dec 99 - 04:48 PM (#153034)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Susanne (skw)

What about 'Dead Puppies (aren't much fun)'? Or even 'Billy the Squid' on which there is a hilarious thread hidden away in the Mudcat archives (c. last summer). :-) - Susanne

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22 Dec 99 - 04:53 PM (#153037)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: MMario

Billy the Squid

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22 Dec 99 - 05:11 PM (#153049)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Jenny

Forgot about Dead Puppies...Kind of along the same lines as "The cat got dead", another gem.

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22 Dec 99 - 05:22 PM (#153053)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Jeri

Here's BODY IN THE BAG. I've heard this sung a few times, but still can't remember the whole tune. Also, in the fourth verse, where it says: "But do you want a room?"'
I've heard it sung "But do you parlez-vous?"

TONGUE TWISTER
I wish there was a tune for THE NEIGHBOUR'S CAT
And this one is far from squeaky-clean, but it's very funny: DOGS MEETING - an explanation of why dogs smell each other's butts.

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22 Dec 99 - 05:36 PM (#153059)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Jeri

Ack - and there's one that'll leave the rolling on the floor if you can find the lyrics. It's called "Don't Pet The Dog," by John Robert Hadley. I seem to recall a discussion on it in here, but I don't recall the name of the thread. Maybe somebody else can help. It's on this tape, which looks interesting. There's a sound (wav) file here

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22 Dec 99 - 07:11 PM (#153092)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: emily rain

how about the newer, all animal version of mole in the ground?

do you know "I'm Proud to Be a Moose" by someone who's name i never learned?

then there's LITTLE BROWN DOG

and the peter paul and mary version thereof: AUTUMN TO MAY

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22 Dec 99 - 07:39 PM (#153103)
Subject: Lyr Add: JOHNNY DOOLAN'S CAT (from Burl Ives)
From: _gargoyle

Another fun one - also not able to find it in the DT....

JOHNNY DOOLAN'S CAT
As recorded by Burl Ives

You may have seen some wonders
But we'll bet our Sunday hat
You haven't seen as big a one
As Johnny Doolan's Cat.

You needn't contradict us.
If you do, you'll get us vexed,
For we know there's not an equal
In this world or in the next.

They say a cat has seven lives,
But this has many more;
Unto our certain knowledge,
It's already had a score.

They've often tried to drown it
Or to kill it with a knife
But all in vain, for Doolan's cat
Will not depart this life.

And it's still alive and prowling (meow)
Still alive and howling (Meow)
Still alive and growling (MEOW)
Is Johnny Doolan's Cat.

I will work out the tunes to both of these.

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Johnny Doolan's Cat is from "Something to Sing About - The Personal Choices of America's Folk Singers" collected and arranged by Milton Okun, Choice of Burl Ives, The Macmillan Company, London, 1968, p40.

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Click to play

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Version in DT (click)

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Sheet music exists for:
JOHNNY DOOLAN’S CAT
Words by George Horncastle, music by John Cooke.
Published in London by Francis, Day & Hunter, 1890.
“Sung by Rhodes & Conley.”
First line: “You may have seen some wonders”

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22 Dec 99 - 08:04 PM (#153117)
Subject: Lyr Add: MIDNIGHT RUN
From: Mary in Kentucky

Only us Yorkie lovers understand this one...To the tune of Jingle Bells.

Stomping thru the snow,
Just me and my Yorkie.
Over the fields we go,
Just so she will pee.

Darkness all around,
We know she won't obey.
Her nose is anchored to the ground
Sniffing all the way. Hey!

Midnight Run
Where's the sun?
Can't we make this quick?
When I think we're almost done
She finds something to lick. Ick!

Midnight Run
Ain't this fun?
The snow is glistening bright.
When she turns around and looks at me
Her beard is full of white.

I can't suppress a yawn
When she finally picks a spot.
On my neighbor's lawn
She turns and takes a squat.

She's not quite done it's clear,
Impatience makes me sigh
When I see my Yorkie disappear
in a snow drift two feet high.

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22 Dec 99 - 08:51 PM (#153142)
Subject: Lyr Add: CONGO RIVER / THE MONKEY'S WEDDING
From: Barry Finn

Here's a beast of a shanty, from the Carribean, it's in the DT (Congo River 2), these are extra verses. Also known as the Monkey's Wedding. Barry

Who do you think do the music form them
Calliali (sp?) Band with a drumfish playing

Butterfish get up to sneak a piece
Baboon say leave me cake alone

Who do you think do the cermonony
Blackfish King do the cermonony

Who do you think do the music form them
Calliali (sp?) Band with a drumfish playing

Butterfish get up to sneak a piece
Babboon say leave me cake alone

Monkey get up to share some rice
Babboon say leave me rice alone

Where do you think go for holiday
Out on a raft in Montego Bay

What do you think that they do on the water
Monkey & Babboon fight till the slaughter

What do you think they had for supper
Blackfish tail & a dip of the scupper

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22 Dec 99 - 11:22 PM (#153210)
Subject: Lyr Add: SING SAID THE MOTHER (from Cecil Sharp)
From: T in Oklahoma (Okiemockbird)

This one isn't in the DT

Sing, said the mother
Source: Olive Dame Campbell and Cecil J. Sharp, English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1917.

1. Over in the meadows in the nest in the tree
Lived an old mother birdy and her little birdies three.
Sing, said the mother; we sing, said the three.
So they sang and were glad in the nest in the tree.

2. Over in the meadows in the sand in the sun
Lived an old mother toady and her little toady one.
Hop, said the mother; we hop, said the one.
So they hopped and were glad in the sand in the sun.

3. Over in the meadows in a sly little den
Lived an old mother spider and her little spiders ten.
Spin, said the mother; we spin, said the ten.
So they spun and caught flies in their sly little den.

I have a recording of this with ten verses, but these three are the only ones I can provide provenance information for.

T.

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22 Dec 99 - 11:34 PM (#153216)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: paddymac

Don't overlook the cat fart thread, wherein resides a marvelous little ditty of the same name. [The Cat Farts Serenade] Maybe it's most funny to cat lovers. Cats and I seem to have a mutual toleration pact, but I still think the song is hilarious.

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22 Dec 99 - 11:41 PM (#153222)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: frank m.

don't forget "four wet pigs"

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22 Dec 99 - 11:57 PM (#153226)
Subject: Lyr Add: OVER IN THE MEADOW
From: Jon Freeman

I have these words for Over in the Meadow from the Faber Book of Nursery Verse.

Over in the meadow in the sand in the sun
Lived an old mother turtle and her little turtle one
Dig said the mother We dig said the one
So they dug all day in the sand in the sun

2: where the stream runs blue / fish/fishes/swim/swam

3: in a hole in a tree /owl owls / Tu-hoo/ Tu-hooed

4: by the old barn door/ rat/little ratties/ gnaw/gnawed.

5: in a snug behive/ bee/bees/ buzz/ buzzed.

6: in a nest built of sticks/ crow/crows/caw/cawed

7: the gras grows so even/ frog/froggies/ jump/ jumped

8: by the old mossy gate/lizard/lizards/bask/basked

9: by the old scotch pine/duck/ducks/quack/quacked

10: in a cosy we den/beaver/beavers/beave/beaved

Jon

PS No Unicorns yet?

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22 Dec 99 - 11:57 PM (#153227)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: JamesJimFolk

"All God's Critters got a place in the choir," by Bill Staines -

Chorus "All God's Critters got a place in the Choir,
Some sing low, some sing higher,
Some sing out loud on the telephone wire,
Some just clap their hands or feet, or anything they got, now.

I'm sure it's on a folk website somewhere, but can get you the verses, if you like.

Jim

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23 Dec 99 - 12:50 AM (#153257)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: _gargoyle

Thanks Mr. Freeman,

The lyrics were buried in a section of four-year-old's-memory-recesses of my brain...

The tune and lyrics have tumbled out refreshed after all these years.

THANX....

When I find the midi cord (tomorrow?) the three tune can be added.

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23 Dec 99 - 02:42 AM (#153284)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Liz the Squeak

How about some hymns?

Gladly, my cross-eyed bear

or Just as I am, without one flea......

I learnt this one from my father, the only clean song he ever taught me....

THE TALE OF A GUINEA PIG

How can you tell if a guinea pig is pleased if he hasn't got a tail to wag?
All other animals you will find, have got a little tail stuck on behind.
If they'd only put a tail on a guinea pig, and finished off a decent job,
The price of the animal would then go up, from a guinea up to 30 bob.

(guinea = £1 and 1 shilling, pre-decimal coinage, so they tell me. Bob is an abbreviation for a shilling.) Can't write the tune, but it goes well as a monologue.

LTS

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23 Dec 99 - 02:54 AM (#153288)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: MudGuard

There is the funny Bodhran Song which is about a goat. It did not yet find its way into the database but can be found here:
The Bodhran Song
MudGuard

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23 Dec 99 - 08:32 AM (#153335)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Liz the Squeak

From what I remember of it, it isn't particularly funny for the goat, remember what bodhrans are made of>>>>!

LTS

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23 Dec 99 - 09:43 AM (#153364)
Subject: Lyr Add: THE GNU SONG^^
From: Wincing Devil

Flanders And Swann did a whole series of amimal songs. My Favorite is "I'm a GNU!"

A year ago last thursday, I was strolling in the zoo
When I met a man who thought he knew the lot
He was laying down the law about the habbits of baboons
And the number of quills a porcupine has got
So I asked him "What's that creature's name?" and he answered "That's a helk!"
And I'd have gone on thinking that was true
If the animal in question hadn't put that chap to shame,
And remarked-"I ain't a helk-I'm a gnu!

I'm a gnu-I'm a gnu
The g-nicest work of g-nature in the zoo
I'm a gnu, how do you do?
You really oughtta g-know w-who's w-who
I'm a gnu-spelt G - N - U
I'm not a camel or a kangaroo
So let me introduce, I'm neither man nor moose
Oh, g-no, g-no, g-no, I'm a gnu!"

I had taken furnished lodgings down at Rustington-on-Sea
Whence I travelled on to Aston-under-Lyne
On the second night I stayed there I was wakened from a dream
Which I'll tell you all about some other time
Among the hunting trophies on the wall above my bed
Stuffed and mounted was a face I thought I knew
A bison? An okapi? Could it be a hartebeast?
Then I seem to hear a voice: "I'm a gnu!

I'm a gnu, a g-nother gnu
I wish I could g-nash my teeth at you
I'm a gnu, how do you do?
You really oughtta g-know w-who's w-who
I'm a gnu-spelt G - N - U
Call me bison or okapi and I'll sue
Nor am I in the least like that dreadful hartebeast
Oh, g-no, g-no, g-no, I'm a gnu!
G-no, g-no, g-no, I'm a gnu!
G-no, g-no, g-no, I'm a gnu!"

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23 Dec 99 - 09:52 AM (#153365)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Okiemockbird

J. Freeman, thanks for the source info.

When I sing verse five, I don't sing "old mother bee and her little bees five", I change it to "honey bee queen and her worker bees five." More zoologically correct.

Could "Great green gobs of greasy grimy gopher guts" by considered an animal song ?

T.

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23 Dec 99 - 10:12 AM (#153370)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Okiemockbird

JenEllen, are you new to the Mudcat, or have you been posting under another name ? If you're new, then welcome. If you're a long-time regular, hi anyway. T.

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23 Dec 99 - 10:17 AM (#153371)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Midchuck

There's always "The Castration of the Strawberry Roan," which I believe can be found in Digitrad - an "animal song" in at least two senses of the word. Probably not what you'd do at a children's party. I'm afraid I know some children who would demand to hear it again and again...

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23 Dec 99 - 10:24 AM (#153375)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: margaret

Robin Williamson did a funny song called, I think, "Zoo Blues," in which all manner of animal puns are used to tell of the demise of a relationship, along the lines of "when I had the bucks, my deer, you were so fawn, but now my doe is gone and you're so colt to me. . ." It runs along very quickly and I admit to finding myself singing it with alarming frequency while driving in the car.

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23 Dec 99 - 11:17 AM (#153391)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Blackcat2

oddly enough most (if not all) of my fav. animal songs are about their demise. Can't understand why - I really do like animals a lot, I was even going into Zoology years ago until that first semester of fruit fly larvae dissection.

Anyway, here's my list, though whether these are appropriate for the Humane Society is debatable.

Somebody's Moggie [He's Nobody's Moggy Now] (Eric Bogle)
Dead Skunk (Loudon Wainwright III)
Dead Puppies (Aren't Much Fun) (Ogden Edsl)
Fish Heads (Barnes & Barnes)
The Unicorn (Shel Silverstein)

oh well . . .

I like Three Drunk Newts too - and they don't die from what I can remember :-)

pax yall

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23 Dec 99 - 03:37 PM (#153482)
Subject: Lyr Add: MARKING UP MY WINTER WONDERLAND
From: JenEllen

Hey all; Thanks for the glorious noise. Emily and Gargoyle, thanks for the songs. OkieMockingbird, we may have to resort to "greasy grimy gopher guts"..lord help us..and I think it's John McCutcheon. One of those kids' albums anyway, that does a smash-up version of "Over In the Meadow" with kids included. Will look for "Castration of the Strawberry Roan"...I am a veterinary technician, and it is myself and fellow techs putting together this show. Blackcat2, we have been FORBIDDEN to even mention the Unicorn song (bg), Dan would have fits. We'll end up with nothing but "Dead Techs Aren't Much Fun"...At least we have some cool stuff to work with now. Including the only clean song Liz's dad ever taught her (ebg). Adding to the pile, for Mary's Yorkie, this is one that my folk buddy, the guy that's doing our show, e-mailed to my dog. (think winter wonderland)

Dog tags ring, are you listening
In the lane, snow is glistening
It's yellow, not white, I've been here tonight
Marking up my winter wonderland

Smell that tree? That's my fragrance
It's a sign for wandering vagrants
"Avoid where I pee, it's my prop-er-ty!"
Marked up as my doggie wonderland

In the meadow dad will build a snowman
Following the classical design
Then I'll lift my leg and let it go, man
So all the world will know that it's
MINE MINE MINE

Straight from me to the fence post
Flows my natural incense boast
"Stay off my turf, this small piece of earth
I've marked it as my Winter Wonderland"

It beats the ever-living crap out of what I was singing to the dog before. (Pacing the floors, in pants with back doors, walking in my winter underwear.....) Merry Christmas to all you Mudcatters, I'm lucky to have found you. Elle

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26 Dec 99 - 02:15 PM (#154314)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: MudGuard

Liz, the Bodhran Song is funny for the goat as the goat WANTS to become a bodhran!
MudGuard

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26 Dec 99 - 02:42 PM (#154318)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Hoolet

As long as it doen't have to be PC

He's Nobody's Moggy Now by Eric Bogle,
The Last Leviathan.
The animals went in two by two [One More River],
Froggy went a-courting,
El condor pasa

lots and lots. Good luck

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26 Dec 99 - 06:15 PM (#154341)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Marymac90

How about "If I Were a Moose" by Fred Small. It's an allegory based on a true story, about a bull moose who really did come a-courtin' a cow, in New England somewhere, I think.

"If I were a moose and you were a cow
Would you love me anyhow?
Would you introduce me to your folks?
Would you tell your friends 'No moose jokes!'"

Or there's another one by Fred based on a different true story-"Hot Frogs on the Loose", about frogs that were exposed to radioactive stuff at a nuclear power plant. It's great with kids, cause there are different noisy parts for the audience to do, such as the frogs going "Gurk, gurk" and the frightened populace screaming.

Mary McCaffrey

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27 Dec 99 - 04:34 AM (#154433)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: bseed(charleskratz)

There's "Cats on the Rooftop"--a long way from squeaky clean.

Bill Groggins' Goat [Bill Grogan's Goat]

And "The Wild West Show"--actually about a menagerie. Only the chorus is sung:

Oh, we're going to the Wild West Show,
We'll see the elephant and the wild kangaroo,
Never mind the weather, as long as we're together,
We're going to the Wild West Show.

A typical verse:

(spoken, as if by a guide to the zoo): Step right this way ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. In this first cage, we have the Ooo-ah bird.

(audience response). The Ooo-ah bird?

(guide) That's right, the Ooo-ah bird.

(audience) And what does the Ooo-ah bird do?

(guide) The Ooo-ah bird, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, is native to the Hawaiian Islands. It derives its name from the fact that although it weighs only one pound, it lays a two-pound egg. Hence the OOOOOOO-Aaahh...

Other verses tell about the kee-kee bird, the lee-oh-pard, the male alligator, the woo-foo bird, the elephant, the Rhodesian talking frog, and the bowdeeni bird. I added the last two--it's easy to make up your own.

--seed

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27 Dec 99 - 04:48 AM (#154434)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: bseed(charleskratz)

I'm kinda sleepy and forgot the line breaks to the chorus of "The Wild West Show."

Oh, We're goin' to the Wild West Show:
, We'll see the elephant and the wild kangaroo.
Never mind the weather, As long as we're together.
We're going to the wild west show!

The melody is close to "Careless Love."

I learned it from a girl working during the summer at Mt. Hood's Timberline Lodge (Kubrick's Overlook Hotel).

--seed

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27 Dec 99 - 11:36 AM (#154485)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: dwditty

Dave Van Ronk covers several animal songs on his Peter and The Wolf tape/CD. Swinging on a Star, Glad to be a Moose [Proud to Be a Moose], Mairzy Doats, etc.

DW

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27 Dec 99 - 11:40 AM (#154486)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Blackcat2

OH!

I forgot another of my favorite animal(dead) songs - Nell Flaherty's Drake

My god, why is it I love dead animal songs - I really do like animals - I even visit friends specifically to see their pets sometimes. I've got to think of an animal song that doesn't deal with death that I really like. .. . Hmmmmmmm

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27 Dec 99 - 01:13 PM (#154521)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Wordwitch

How about THE FOX, also right here in the DT? I've loved this song ever since I listened to Belafonte sing it on the record player when I was a tyke.

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27 Dec 99 - 02:50 PM (#154573)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: JenEllen

To Blackcat2: Don't delve too deep into your psyche, you might leave a mark. You want irony? My big girl job is trying to keep these critters ALIVE, yet my favorite animal song is Kat-Fox Hamilton's "Chipmunk with a Death Wish", where the little beastie is trying to die and no one will let him. Elle.

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27 Dec 99 - 02:57 PM (#154576)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: McGrath of Harlow

I've heard that greyhound is the best skin for a bodhran. But I can't see it myself.

Here's a slightly different version of The Body in the Bag

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27 Dec 99 - 04:53 PM (#154612)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: BK

I didn't see "Waltzing with Bears" (generally loved by kids - & corny adults like me), nor it's -sort of- sequel/prequel "Aunt Emily" by Andy Wilkinson, out of north Texas. In it, she sings in her sleep, attracts bears, with whom her hubby, the famous Uncle Walter, starts waltzing... Severely cute & great chorus for a sing-along. Andy is a cowboy poet, songwriter, balladeer, historian & well worth seeing if you're lucky enough that he comes your way. Also plays a lot for kids at schools & festivals, in the historian/teaching-with-song-&-story mode. I'll try to find where I put his internet address if anybody is interested (for permission, words, etc..).

Cheers, BK

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27 Dec 99 - 05:09 PM (#154615)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: BK

BIG OOPS! the correct source for "Aunt Emily" is the wonderful & wacky Berrymans, who are easy to find on the web. My only excuse is having a severe flu & should be in bed - not on the Mudcat. My humblest apologies to Peter, Lou, & Andy

Lo Siento, BK

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27 Dec 99 - 05:30 PM (#154620)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Tim Salt

Leon Rosselson has written some of the best songs including some on an animal theme:)

Kangaroos Like To Hop - Great fun for kids ( and grown-up kids)

Free To Roam - Fantastic song which works at different levels depending on the audience. Probably great for the Humane Society.

Both songs are on a Roy Bailey album - Why Does It Have To Be Me? Fuse Records CFCD 396.

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29 Dec 99 - 09:32 AM (#155132)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: T in Oklahoma (Okiemockbird)

JenEllen, let us know how your concert goes. T.

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29 Dec 99 - 08:32 PM (#155401)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: JenEllen

No fear T-Bird, we're still hanging in there. I'm just wrapped in the bowels of promotion. Geez, it stinks in here. But, it's a necessary function nonetheless. Take care, Elle

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29 Dec 99 - 10:33 PM (#155473)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Susan A-R

The Flanders and Swann Hippopotamus song is also great. It is in Rise Up Singing, and I may be able to pry music out of my husband who wrote it out for a concert (he also wrote out the gnu song.) I also have the Leon Rosselson book around somewhere, Andy's Front Hall carries it, and it is a great one.

Bob Franke did a terrific song called William the Streak about a greyhound who is adopted and moves in next to a sheep farmer. The two come to a remarkable agreement.

Leather Winged Bat is nice.

Stewball on the Horse front

I suppose the Stan Rogers Doberman Disaster [Woodbridge Dog Disaster] would be right out, but it is a lot of fun.

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29 Dec 99 - 10:37 PM (#155477)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Victoria

John McCutcheon has a great song on his "Autumnsongs" album, called "I am a Bird Dog (watch me fly)"!, and I love his "Rubber Blubber Whale" song for kids. Kate Rusby has a song on her latest CD called "Cowsong"...and Pete Seeger recorded "Who built the Ark? (Noah, Noah") that names the animals as they go through. Good luck with your project! :-)

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30 Dec 99 - 01:43 AM (#155551)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: JenEllen

Susan: William the Streak sounds perfect...thanks

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30 Dec 99 - 09:46 PM (#155914)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Susan A-R

I'm pretty sure Bob Franke does have a website. I ran across it about three years ago, so I'd guess it is still there, with lyrics. We also had a thread on a great song about a pig

[TAILS AND TROTTERS]

What'll I be when I get older
You're bacon, butt and picnic shoulder
All my sons and all my daughters
are hocks and hams and tails and trotters.

The piglet does escape and becomes executive pork. I believe it's on the Bok Muir Tricket So May We Yet album.

---

21 Feb 00 - 06:27 PM (#182420)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: kendall

O'Gradys Goat??

...they were having a party at McNills and they were having fun,
all of a sudden An earthquake come and everybody run,
the oyster stew fell on the floor and nearly drowned the cat,
the stove was smashed to smithereens and O'Grady's goat done that..

---

21 Feb 00 - 06:39 PM (#182428)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Osmium

How about the Beatles "Blackbird singing in the dead of the night" - or is this to knew to be folk yet?

---

21 Feb 00 - 07:05 PM (#182437)
Subject: Lyr Add: BONGOLO / BONGOLOLO
From: Osmium

I grew up in Africa and there was a legendary beast called Bongolo which was a jet black centipede about 6 inches long who would always turn up in the playground when least expected. We would play for a while and then in a moment of distraction the bongololo would have disappeared although quite how would be a mystery as it always seemed to move very slowly but disappear very quickly. Later said Bongolo would turn up wherever we went and the modern myth is that it's in fact the same one. So I wrote this song to celebrate a bit of my childhood.

And whether great or whether small
my favourite animal of all
Has a thousand legs or maybe more
and goes bongololo when he's sure

First he looks this way and then he looks that
as if he was waiting to take off his hat
But hat he has not, nor tail, nor ears
and when long thin and black maybe no fears

When moving along he goes at great speed
one bong and a go, one lo and a bong
which is why we gave him a name to pay heed
to follow these moves takes animal creed

But there is one secret I have to tell
look away for a sec and all won't be well
For when you look back he's sure to be gone
and the theory of this is the rest of my song

for when you are watching my little black friend
his legs go very fast but his body's no end
and when you are not his legs go very slow
but his body goes BONG as a rocket might go.

there's another verse but my finger is tired. I don't have a tune for it - any suggestions?

---

22 Feb 00 - 12:15 PM (#182783)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Molly Malone

Scroll down here and look for Ded Bob's Dysfunctional Farm. You can change the name...but I thought you might enjoy it.

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22 Feb 00 - 12:51 PM (#182800)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Bert

The old sow song

---

22 Feb 00 - 01:31 PM (#182825)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: GUEST

Sow took the measles,
Derby Ram,
The Peeler and the Goat,
The Wonderful Crocodile,
Mairzy Doats,
Three little fishies,
Carrion Crow,
Three Ravens,
Bangum and the Boar,
St. George and the Dragon,
Scewball,
Creeping Jane and a host of Westerns involving horses,
Leather-winged bat,
Possum up a gum tree,
Cow-cow boogie,
and on and on.

---

22 Feb 00 - 01:56 PM (#182840)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Amos

And the Unicorn song...

..there! I said it! And I'm glad, d'ye hear me! GLAD!!!

(Exit stage right pursued by three green alligators, and a long-necked goose, en route to the Neil Young Centre...

---

22 Feb 00 - 06:34 PM (#183004)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Gypsy

And I second the Unicorn Song! And Puff the magic Dragon!

---

22 Feb 00 - 06:38 PM (#183009)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: JenEllen

Aw crap...we'll be killed......

Thanks all for the new leads. 10 days till showtime. Elle

---

22 Feb 00 - 07:11 PM (#183022)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Osmium

This is a test of line breaks /B/ and

---

23 Feb 00 - 12:01 AM (#183153)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: GutBucketeer

I found one of my favorite song books in my local library.

Check out your local library for "Animal Folk Songs For Children" by Ruth Crawford Seeger. There are two matching cassettes put together by the Seeger Kids that sing most of the songs.

It is a great source for traditional songs about animals and the cassettes are fantastic.

JAB

---

05 Sep 04 - 12:51 AM (#1264540)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Joe Offer

Take a listen to the tunes Gargoyle submitted for "Bestiary" and "Doolan's Cat." "Doolan's Cat" has a tune reminiscent of parts of "The Marvelous Toy."
Thanks, Gargoyle.
-Joe Offer-

---

05 Sep 04 - 04:04 PM (#1264831)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: GUEST,Observer

What about Mr. Rabbit??

---

05 Sep 04 - 07:16 PM (#1264925)
Subject: Lyr Add: SKUNK SONG (aka ZaZuZa)
From: GUEST,.gargoyle

Kids truly love this song (they will sing it till adults want to scream)

First heard at a kid's campfire circa 1962.

SKUNK SONG (aka ZaZuZa)

CHORUS:
ZaZu, Za Zu, ZaZU, ZA
ZaZu, Za Zu, ZaZu, ZA
ZaZu, Za Zu, ZaZU, ZA
ZaZU, Za Zu, ZaZu, ZA

I'm a stinky little skunk
Hiding under someone's bunk
I'm as sad, as I can be
Nooo-o-body want's to play with me.

CHORUS:

I'm a stinky little skunk
Hiding under _____(give name and point)'s bunk
I'm as glad, as I can be
I found someone who smells like me.

CHORUS:

Sincerely, Gargoyle

---

Click to play

---

06 Sep 04 - 06:47 PM (#1265585)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Joe Offer

I just added Gargoyle's transcription of the "Skunk Song" tune. Sound to me like a tune I heard as a kid, a song in which every line ended in "tiny-o." That's all I can recall. Can anybody help me remember?
-Joe Offer, foggily-

---

06 Sep 04 - 07:02 PM (#1265592)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: GUEST,Murkey

Another good Leon Rosselson song is, The Neighbour's Cat..

Trad. wise, try the excellent Broomfield Hill, where the lord complains to his hawk and horse they didn't wake him up so he could kill the lady!

Murk

---

06 Sep 04 - 08:44 PM (#1265650)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Jen M

Joe, It's the tune to Tideo

Pass one window tideo
Pass two windows Tideo
Pass three windows Tideo
Jingle at the window Tideo
jinglen Jinglen Jinglen Joe
Jingle at the window Tideo
jinglen Jinglen Jinglen Joe
Jingle at the window Tideo

---

07 Sep 04 - 12:43 AM (#1265782)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: GUEST,.gargoyle

Jen M - when / where did you first hear "Tideo"

Enquiring minds want to know.


Sincerely,

Gargoyle

---

07 Sep 04 - 07:01 AM (#1265843)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Jen M

I really don't remember when I first heard it, I refreshed my memory of it when my daughter (a music ed major) was getting ready to teach it in a summer class. I'll be teaching it today as I once again sart the school year substitute teaching in elementary music. ( And me unable to play a single instrument!)

---

07 Sep 04 - 10:57 AM (#1265987)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: rumanci

Forgive me if they've been mentioned already ........but I don't think they have.
There are two volumes in print available of Richard Digance's "Animal Alphabets" ....... mostly humorous, and all eminently singable ....at least by him *g*

---

21 Apr 07 - 11:42 AM (#2031990)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Muttley

Sorry: Buggered up a couple of lines.

From - CROCODILE ROLL

The verse with the husband SHOULD have ended:

Y-you c-c-can't g-g-g-go round eatin Q-Q-Q-Queenslanders you overgrown g-g-g-goannas; I'll turn you all into sh-shoes (CHOMP) oooh!
It was in the news!

And they were....... etc

And from OLD MAN EMU

The chorus after the "dingo" verse is different to the other choruses. It SHOULD read:


Ba da doo doo da doo doo doo: Doo da doot doot doo doo
He can't fly but i'm tellin you -
he can run the pants off a dingo too.
(Oh, Yeah! But 'e 'ad t' kick me in the shins, first!)

Sorry

Mutt

---

22 Jun 07 - 12:53 PM (#2084156)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: GUEST,Jennifer

Hi there, I've been searching for the words of the Animal Song, We're off to the Animal Fair (Wild West Show, and you have written one of the verses

Oh, We're goin' to the Wild West Show:
We'll see the elephant and the wild kangaroo.
Never mind the weather, As long as we're together.
We're going to the wild west show!

I've been searching everywhere for this song, do you have any other verses?

If I'm going about this the wrong way, please forgive me, I've never partaken in 'Threads (?)" before
Many thanks

---

22 Jun 07 - 01:35 PM (#2084193)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Rog Peek

I don't think anyone has mentioned 'The Vicar and the Frog'.

If they have then apologies.

---

22 Jun 07 - 08:53 PM (#2084525)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Joe_F

Among Flanders & Swann songs, in addition to the hippopotamus & the gnu already mentioned, I am fond of the sloth and the armadillo (Vive l'amour, vive l'armadillo).

---

14 Jan 08 - 09:37 AM (#2236052)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: LeTenebreux

I must confess a certain fondness for a Greek children's song called "To Kokoraki". Flanders and Swann sang it to great comic effect.

---

24 Aug 08 - 10:43 PM (#2421550)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: GUEST,Bill Ladmer

Looking for a song Pete Seeger used to sing at shows. It was about dogs at a party having to leave quickly so they grabbed the wrong behinds, and that's why to this day they smell other dogs' behinds trying to find their own. Can anyone help? [The Dogs' Party?]

---

25 Aug 08 - 02:54 AM (#2421605)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Jim Carroll

Heard it as a story, not a song. Used to be whole (no pun intended) repertoire at one time of how various animals.......etc
Jim Carroll

---

25 Aug 08 - 03:21 AM (#2421609)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: VirginiaTam

The Cat Came Back is brilliant.

Have you considered Eric Bogel's Song of the Humpback - haunting and contains message that sympathises with plight of whale.

Song of the Humpback lyrics

For humour - there is Will the Turtle be Unbroken, sung to the tune of Will the Circle be Unbroken by Les Bqarker (I think).

Will the Turtle Be Unbroken lyrics

Good luck and wishing your event much success.

---

25 Aug 08 - 04:50 AM (#2421630)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: GUEST

Paddy McGinty's Goat and Delaney's Donkey

---

19 Nov 08 - 08:19 PM (#2498112)
Subject: Lyr Add: THE HEN AND THE ROOSTER
From: GUEST,greg

This is a follow-up on Debbie from Utah's post above.
Here are all the words to the hen and the rooster from my dad's version, but if anyone knows more verses, I'd be happy to have them:

The hen and the rooster lived away out west,
said the hen to the rooster, "hun, I love you best"
said the rooster to the hen, "hun, I know you lie,
since I saw you in the alley with a big Shanghai".

Ain't it so
now listen honey, I don't know.
Now sweetie don't you lie to me,
cuz' I'm not as dumb as I used to be.

I once knew a doctor by the name of Peck.
He fell into the well and broke his gosh-darned neck.
It served him right that he broke his bones,
he should have tended to the sick and left the well alone.

Ain't it so.....etc

We put some Easter eggs under our old hen,
for the kids to find on Easter morning,...then
the rooster came in and saw the green and red
Hopped the fence and killed the neighbor's peacock dead.

Ain't it so....etc

I bought a pair of combination underwear,
to keep out the cold and the wintery air.
I wore 'em six months, and without exaggeration,
when I went to take them off I had forgot the combination.

Ain't it so....etc

I went to a dance last Saturday night,
when all at once, I had a terrible fright.
I heard a loud rip, and I knew at a glance,
that I was quickly losin' my desire to dance.

Ain't it so.....etc

---

19 Nov 08 - 09:02 PM (#2498127)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: maple_leaf_boy

Carrion Crow.

---

04 Jan 09 - 12:30 AM (#2530969)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: GUEST

Pls advise if somebody has lyrics of Richard Digance's poem The Bear, started as follows:

"When a bear held a fancy dress party...?"


from "The Nation's Favourite Children's Poems" of BBC?

Rgds,
Alex, Odessa, Ukraine

---

04 Jan 09 - 03:50 AM (#2530997)
Subject: Lyr Add: I HATES ELEPHANTS (SPB Cooperator)
From: SPB-Cooperator

I hates elephants, I do!
I hates elephants, I do!
Elephants they are not nice
And while I'm at it, I don't like mice
I hates Elephants, I do!

I hates Aardvarks, I do!
I hates Aardvarks, I do!
I don't like the Aardvark's nose
And I hates hippos I suppose
I hates Aardvarks, I do!

I hates lions, I do!
I hates lions, I do!
I don't lik ethe lion's roar
And I don't like the tiger's claw
I hates lions, I do!

I hates wallabies, I do!
I hates wallabies, I do!
I don't like the way they jump
And camels just give me the hump
I hates wallabies, I do!

I hates peoples, I do!
I hates peoples, I do!
Peoples just get in the way
Why can't they all go away?
I hates peoples, I do!

I don't want to go home!
I don't want to go home!
Why must we go? Why can't we stay?
Why can't we be at the zoo all day?
I don't want to go home!

hates elephants, I do!
I hates elephants, I do!
Elephants they are not nice
And while I'm at it, I don't like mice
I hates Elephants, I do!

---

28 Aug 10 - 11:45 AM (#2974593)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: GUEST,koko

someone mentioned "I'm Proud to be a Moose"
It's a Dave Van Ronk original that was on his Peter & The Wolf album

---

28 Aug 10 - 11:48 AM (#2974594)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: GUEST,koko

apologies...it was preformed by DVR, but it's written by Willie Nininger(sp?)

---

27 May 11 - 01:06 AM (#3161177)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: MorwenEdhelwen1

"My Donkey Wants Water", also called "Hold 'Em Joe" and "Sly Mongoose" are about animals.

---

04 Mar 16 - 07:50 PM (#3776698)
Subject: Lyr Add: IF I WERE A MOOSE (Fred Small)
From: wysiwyg

IF I WERE A MOOSE
Fred Small
© FREDERICK E. SMALL D/B/A PINE BARRENS MUSIC


1. If I were a moose and you were a cow
Would you love me anyhow?
Would you introduce me to your folks
Would you tell your friends, "No moose jokes!"
If I were a moose and you were a cow

2. Would you invite me to your club
And risk a cruel bovine snub
Would you lead me down the receiving line
And boldly boast, "This moose is mine!"
Would your parents watch us graze
Shake their heads, "It's just a phase"
Or would they thank the stars above
Their precious heifer's found her love?

3. Would your grandparents change their will?
They'd really expected a Holstein bull
"For this, we toiled before the plow
You bring home someone who's not even a cow
"There's lots of proper stock around
Like that nice young Guernsey at Farmer Brown's
Or that last one we ridiculed and cursed
On second thought you could do worse

4. "But if you think this thing will last
Could he learn to moo and eat our grass
Shed his antlers in the dirt
Could you persuade him to convert?"

5. If our anatomies did not quite fit
Would you make the best of it
Would you nuzzle up so near
And hum sweet cow tunes in my ear?
Or would you sadly break it off
When all the hillside sneered and scoffed
"You know these moose are all the same
They're lazy, they're stupid, they come from Maine"

6. It's true things slip a moose's mind
That cows remember all the time
Bulbous nose and knobby knees
A coat that harbors ticks and fleas
But a moose can be a handy thing
When hungry wolves come visiting
In icy gust of winter storm
Our fur is deep and dry and warm

7. And someday should your milk run dry
And farmer stare with baleful eye
In dead of night, I'd slip your noose
And lead you home to the land of moose
If I were a moose and you were a cow


bridge:
If hunters came to do me harm
Would you hide me in the barn
Would all the herd come on the run
And glare until they dropped their guns?

8. Might you permit a goodnight kiss
Could you learn to love wet moose lips?
If I were a moose and you were a cow
If you were a cow and I were a moose


SH

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NRxrj8KlIE

---

05 Mar 16 - 06:20 PM (#3776879)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: CupOfTea

What fun to come across this thread! It brings to mind some good songs.

For singing with kids, a cappella and/or beating a rhythm: Jan Harmon's "Deepest Africa" which shows up as a hit for the Chenille Sisters, but I fell in love with it sung by Hot Soup, with their little additions (gnit one pearl two..)

Cindy Mangsen's "Cat Tales" is n entire album of cat songs - including a retooling of "I had a cat and the cat pleased me". I particularly like the Berrymans' "Dog of Time" as it gets both a good number of interesting dogs and the Kitty of Romance"

Thinking of Lou and Peter, their very funny (yeah, that's redundant) "Pair of Geese" at least doesn't get the bird killed, like Nell Flaherty's Drake (though the indignation to that one might be good for those opposed to killing animals). Then there are a remarkable number of songs that describe the passengers on Noah's ark

The idea of a concert to benefit the humane society sounds like fun & less likely to turn folks off than the horrific commercials they run on TV here with revolting images of animal abuse.

Joanne in Cleveland

---

06 Mar 16 - 03:08 PM (#3777010)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: keberoxu

Flanders and Swann had more animals yet in their bestiary.

"No-one ever wants to court a warthog,
Though a warthog does her best...
We know her These and Those are like Marilyn Monroe's..."

And I wish I could recall, exactly, the F & S salute to the Sea-Horse.
The male Sea-Horse watches over the young, instead of leaving it to the female. And so, his "horse-faced wife" makes the round of charity matinees, "busily doing goo - HOOOOD, busily doing good."

Liz the Squeak, good on you for recalling "my cross-eyed bear." there was also "the chicken hymn," which opened with "Foul I to the fountain fly..."

which reminds me:
that version of Glenn Miller's In The Mood with clucking hens!

---

09 Mar 16 - 05:03 PM (#3777715)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: keberoxu

And I have searched Mudcat, without success, for the F & S tune, "The Whale (Mopy Dick)," for which, in the live performance (the Hat-Trick CD box set), Michael Flanders asks the audience to "imagine that Donald and I are on a whaler, and the auditorium is completely full of Orson Welles."

---

13 Jun 17 - 01:42 PM (#3860678)
Subject: Lyr Add: KATZBURSCHLIED(E. T. A. Hoffmann)
From: keberoxu

The author of this one is E. T. A. Hoffmann, both author and composer; most famous perhaps for his fairy tale about the Nutcracker and the King of the Mice, which became the Tchaikovsky ballet eventually.
It is unmistakeably satire.

KATZBURSCHLIED

The Chorus, repeated between verses, is Psalm scripture, in Latin:
Ecce quam bonum et jucundum
habitare fratres in unum.

[Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brethren to dwell together in unity.]

The Verses.

Gar zu spitzig klafft der Spitz,
Gar zu grob der Pudel.
Jenem gönnt den Steiß zum Sitz,
Dem die Schnauz zum Hudel.

Höflich zieht die Mütz vom Kopf,
Kommt Philister gangen.
Froh gebehrdet sich der Tropf,
Will vor nichts ihm bangen.

Schwimmen muß der muntere Fisch,
Vögelein muß fliegen.
Floß und Federn wachsen frisch,
Werd't sie nimmer kriegen.

Miaut und knurr't und knurr't und miaut,
Nur bei Leib' nicht kratzen;
Seid galant, daß man euch traut,
Schonet eure Tatzen.

Denkt Herr Aff' nach seinem Maaß,
Alle uns zu messen!
Spitzt das Maul, trägt hoch die Nas' ,
Wird uns doch nicht fressen.

Pfot' im Pfot' und Brust an Brust
Soll uns nicht verdüstern.
Katzbursch sein ist uns're Lust,
Trotzen Katz-Philistern!

[and conclude with the chorus, in Latin.]

The musical setting, WV number 84, is fragmented and unfinished, written near the end of Hoffmann's life; he got as far as composing the music (men's chorus) for the Latin chorus, and for only one of the verses -- the Cat verse, with "knurr't und miaut."

from E. T. A. Hoffmann's Ausgewählte Schriften, Achter Band. Berlin: G. Reimer, 1827. in Zweiter Band: Lebens Ansichten des Katers Murr, nebst fragmentarischer Biographie des Kapellmeisters Johannes Kreisler in zufälligen Makulaturblättern, dritter Abschnitt: "Die Lehrmonate. Launisches Spiel des Zufalls," pages 278 - 279. Digital file copy from the Austrian National Library at books dot google dot com.

---

13 Jun 17 - 04:59 PM (#3860697)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: keberoxu

It would take me a long tedious while to translate the song lyric in the previous post. A few comments, at least, can be entered here. Anybody who wants a go at translating from Hoffmann's German into English, feel free. This book is published in an English translation, which I have yet to get my hands on, and which cannot be viewed online.

"Katzburschlied" means "The Song of the University Fraternity of Cats."

The main character in the story is "Kater Murr" which means, Murr, the tomcat. In fact, the author had a pet tomcat named Murr, and they were bosom companions. Murr died a short time before Hoffmann's final illness, and Hoffmann was heartbroken.

Also in this hallucinatory, experimental book (presaging James Joyce in certain techniques) is a fictitious fellow named Johannes Kreisler.
Composer Robert Schumann was much taken with Hoffmann's writings and especially with the human character of Kreisler, which is how Schumann ended up composing a solo piano suite called "Kreisleriana."

---

13 Jun 17 - 06:01 PM (#3860705)
Subject: Lyr Add: THE PETS (Malvina Reynolds)
From: Joe_F

*The Pets*

by Malvina Reynolds

I have a doggie, his name is Dolally,
O Dally Dolally so faithful and true.
He lives upon flip-floppers, golly-whoppers, and soda-poppers,
And that makes him hop around like grasshoppers do.

/Chorus:/
We love our pets, yes we do, we do.
When they go (Woof! Woof!)
They're talking to you.

I have a kitty, her name is Miss Feedle Faddle,
O fit feedle faddle, foot feedle faddle, fair as a rose.
She lives upon livers, and mousey come hithers,
And that's why she slithers wherever she goes.

(Chorus) (Meow! Meow!)

I have a birdie, his name is MacMurdie,
O wing-feather and tail-feather and top-feather so bright.
He lives upon prinkles, and pink periwinkles,
And that's why he twinkles from morning till night.

(Chorus) (Tweet! Tweet!)

I have a donkey, his name is Old Klonkey,
O hip hoppity, klip kloppity, all over town.
He lives upon thistles, and tin penny whistles,
And that's why he whoops like a merry-go-round.

(Chorus) (Eeaw! Eeaw!)

I have a barnacle, his name is McGonigle,
O wish washery, slish-sloshery, under my boat.
He lives on the boring of old teakwood flooring,
And when he is snoring he can't sing a note.

We love our pets, yes we do, we do.
When they go (Snore)
They're sleeping, of course!

*Notes:* words and music by Malvina Reynolds; copyright 1960 Schroder
Music Company, renewed 1988. This song originally had no chorus, but a
group of New Zealand children recorded it with a chorus added by their
teacher, Jack Davidson. Malvina liked the addition and started singing
the song with his chorus. The new version, dubbed "The Pets II," was
copyrighted in 1966 by Schroder Music Company.

---

14 Jun 17 - 01:33 PM (#3860841)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: GUEST,LynnH

What about Loudon Wainright III's "Dead Skunk (in the middle of the road)"?

Or, decades ago a favourite on BBC radio childrens programmes "I had a hippopotamus"

---

14 Jun 17 - 01:46 PM (#3860849)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: Senoufou

I love "There was an old farmer had an old sow". You have to snort, blow a raspberry and whistle very quickly after each line.

But "Suzannah's a funniful man" is rather a strange remark. Surely a sow is a female?? and I've never come across the word 'funniful' except in this song.

It's on Youtube (several versions) and Jon Pertwee sings it beautifully, but the repeated line after each verse is hard to distinguish. It sounds like:-

"Sing lasses hoo ring hoo low" but I'm sure that's wrong.
Any ideas anyone?

---

19 Jun 17 - 12:47 PM (#3861747)
Subject: Lyr Add: KATZBURSCHLIED (trans. Anthea Bell)
From: keberoxu

This English translation refers back to Post number 95 on this thread, dated 13 June 2017, and the German-language "Katzburschlied."

The six verses (singable translation, so not really literal)

All too sharply barks the Pom [eranian / Spitz-dog],
Far too loud the Poodle.
See the bold and valiant Tom [cat],
Silencing that noodle!

See the Philistine go by!
Doff your cap politely.
Such a fool, his head held high,
We don't suffer lightly.

Merrily the fish must swim,
Birds fly in fair weather.
Fin and feather let us hymn,
Though we catch them never!

Mew and growl and growl and mew
But do not scratch; pray pause!
Show yourselves in rosy hue
And spare your nice sharp claws.

Master Coxcomb thinks he can
Judge us by his standard.
Looks haughty, acts the gentleman,
But we're more even-handed.

(That last one isn't even CLOSE, it's supposed to be about an ape.)

Each of us beside the others
Paw in paw we sang:
"We're a merry bunch of brothers!
Philistines go hang!"

English translation copyright © Anthea Bell, 1999. Published by Penguin Classics, London, 1999, as part of The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr, pages 188 - 189. Translation from the original German of Lebensansichten des Katers Murr by Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann, 1822.

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20 Jun 17 - 09:11 AM (#3861906)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: eftifino

Beat Farmers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEZtII8rt_Y

Pretty sure there is a thread dedicated to 'The Wild West Show"

We had an intro which went over well: (Shout the words in caps)

ROLL UP ROLL UP! See the fat lady standing on the skinny man's
COCK your eye over here and see the leopard with the 14 spots on his
MICKEY close the door theres a draught comin in from the elephant's
HOLE(d) your tickets for the next performance please.

We're off to see the Wild............

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16 Apr 20 - 01:02 PM (#4046493)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: keberoxu

a good thread to refresh, it appears to me,
when we're looking for relief from cabin fever or what have you.

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21 May 21 - 05:17 PM (#4106907)
Subject: Lyr Add: HOT FROGS ON THE LOOSE (Fred Small)
From: Jim Dixon

This song was mentioned by Marymac90 on 26 Dec 99.


HOT FROGS ON THE LOOSE
As recorded by Fred Small on “Everything Possible: Fred Small in Concert” (1993)

[singer:] Frogs! Guck! Guck! [audience:] Whoo!
[singer:] Guck! Guck! [audience:] Whoo!
[singer:] Guck! Guck! [audience:] Whoo!
[singer:] Hot frogs on the loose!

By the light of a Tennessee moon,
From the bilious bubbles of a black lagoon,
They make a hound-dog howl, a swat team swoon.
Hot frogs on the loose!

They’ve multiplied since fifty-three,
Slurping nuclear debris,
Amphibious fabulous fancy-free.
Hot frogs on the loose!

Hippity-hoppity, here they come,
Radioactive, lookin’ for fun.
If you kiss ‘em, look out for the tongue.
Hot frogs on the loose!

[singer:] All right, frogs! Guck! Guck! [audience:] Whoo!
[singer:] Guck! Guck! [audience:] Whoo!
[singer:] Guck! Guck! [audience:] Whoo!
[singer:] Hot frogs on the loose!

They got little skinny legs and big bug-eyes.
Fraternizing’s not advised.
They like you like they like flies.
Hot frogs on the loose!

They got a chicken-nugget body an’ a whopper leap.
In your bedroom, while you sleep,
They’ll make your Geiger counter beep.
Hot frogs on the loose!

Hippity-hoppity, here they come,
Radioactive, lookin’ for fun.
If you kiss ‘em, look out for the tongue.
Hot frogs on the loose!

[singer:] all right, frogs! Guck! Guck! [audience:] Whoo!
[singer:] Guck! Guck! [audience:] Whoo!
[singer:] Guck! Guck! [audience:] Whoo!
[singer:] hot frogs on the loose

You can put the pedal to the metal till the rubber squeals,
Squish ‘em with your tires, you got hot wheels.
Now you know how it feels
To be a hot frog on the loose.

Please do not keep them as pets.
Sautéing them may bring regrets.
Make a citizen’s arrest
Of a hot frog on the loose.

Frogs for peace, frogs for defense!
Don’t be nervous; don’t be tense.
We’ve got a sure-fire three-foot fence
To keep the hot frogs from gettin’ loose.

Hippity-hoppity, here they come,
Radioactive, lookin’ for fun.
If you kiss ‘em, look out for the tongue.
Hot frogs on the loose!

[singer:] Come on, frogs! Guck! Guck! [audience:] Whoo!
[singer:] Guck! Guck! [audience:] Whoo!
[singer:] Guck! Guck! [audience:] Whoo!
[singer:] Hot frogs on the loose!
Hot frogs on the loose!
Hot frogs on the loose!
Hot frogs on the loose!
Hot frogs on the loose!
Hot frogs on the loose!

* * *
[“Guck” is my attempt at a phonetic spelling of Fred’s frog sound. I see Marymac90 spelled it “gurk.” Of the transcriptions I found online, one spelled it “glub” and another simply omitted that part of the song.]

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26 May 21 - 06:20 PM (#4107711)
Subject: Lyr Add: I’M PROUD TO BE A MOOSE (Willie Nininger)
From: Jim Dixon

This was mentioned by Emily Rain on 22 Dec 99. My transcription from YouTube. It’s also on Spotify.


I’M PROUD TO BE A MOOSE
As recorded by Willie Nininger on “Almost Home” (1993)

All the animals laugh at me—
(I wasn’t kidding) Ask me what I’d rather be.
I patiently explain:
I want to stay the same.

I’m proud to be a moose.
There’s nothing else I’d rather be.
Just take a look at me and you will see:
I’m as happy as an animal can be.

I’d rather be a moose than a duck or a dog,
Eagle or seagull or a polliwog.
A bird can fly, but I don’t mind.
Nobody else has got ears like mine.

I’m proud to be a moose.
A moose is what I would rather be.
Just take a look at me and you will see:
I’m as happy as an animal can be.

Never had a wish to be a fish.
Tried to be a cow; wouldn’t know how,
And if you tried to make me be a goose,
It wouldn’t be no use, ‘cause I’d rather be … [audience:] a moose!

Right! I’m proud to be a moose.
A moose is what I want to be.
Just take a look at me and you will see:
I’m as happy as an animal can be.

Moose jam! Let’s go! Whoo!
[Instrumental break]

Never had a care to be a hare,
Lion, tiger, penguin or a bear.
I have no whim to swim upstream like a salmon,
‘Cause can’t you tell by now that I’m happy as I am an’

I’m proud to be a moose.
Yeah, moose is what I will always be.
The reason is, you see:
I’m as happy as an animal can be

I’m proud—so are you, I’m sure—to be a moose.
I’m proud to be a moose!

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29 May 21 - 07:17 PM (#4108106)
Subject: Lyr Add: DEEPEST AFRICA (from Chenille Sisters)
From: Jim Dixon

CupOfTea mentioned this song on 05 Mar 16:


DEEPEST AFRICA
As recorded by The Chenille Sisters on “Teaching Hippopotami to Fly!” (1996).

I was in deepest Africa; yes, I was; yes, I was.
I was in deepest Africa, teaching elephants to dance.
Don’t look askance, for elephants love to sing and dance
In their fancy hot pants.
I was in deepest Africa teaching elephants to dance.

I was in deepest Africa; yes, I was; yes, I was.
I was in deepest Africa, watching a toucan can-can.
When in the Sudan, a toucan can can-can better than
Any two toucans can.
I was in deepest Africa, watching a toucan can-can.

I was in deepest Africa; yes, I was; yes, I was.
I was in deepest Africa, teaching a g-nu to k-nit.
Each stitch that g-nu k-nit,
He would throw a fit like a g-nu k-nitwit.
I was in deepest Africa, teaching a g-nu to k-nit.

Knit one, purl two; knit one, purl two.

I was in deepest Africa; yes, I was; yes, I was.
I was in deepest Africa, teaching a baboon to croon.
Each tune that baboon would croon
Made the she-baboon loonier than moon goon.
I was in deepest Africa, teaching a baboon to croon.

I was in deepest Africa; yes, I was; yes, I was.
I was in deepest Africa, teaching hippopotami to fly.
Don’t sigh; look up in the sky.
Hippopotami will be flying by.
I was in deepest Africa, teaching hippopotami to fly.

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30 May 21 - 06:13 PM (#4108246)
Subject: Lyr Add: CHIPMUNK WITH A DEATH WISH
From: Jim Dixon

This was mentioned by JenEllen on 27 Dec 99. My transcription:


CHIPMUNK WITH A DEATH WISH
As performed on YouTube by Dan Maher.

1. I’m a rodent by the side contemplating my last ride.
Chipmunk with a death wish!
Who would guess that my desire is to be one with your tire?
Chipmunk with a death wish!
I need a driver with the nerve,
Who’ll hit the gas and will not swerve,
But with all these PC types,
I could be here all night.

CHORUS: I’m a chipmunk with a death wish,
A chipmunk with a death wish.
Chipmunk with a death, chipmunk with a death, with a death wish.

2. Those chickens are so snide standing on the other side.
Chipmunk with a death wish!
But they’re just full of talk; takes a chipmunk to jaywalk.
Chipmunk with a death wish!
Your car won’t show a dent,
No indication that I went.
If you want a souvenir,
You’d better hit a deer. CHORUS

BRIDGE: Wheels go round in my eyes.
So easy to be hypnotized.
Nietsche would not be surprised. CHORUS

3. My mom whom I adored was flattened by a Ford.
Chipmunk with a death wish!
My cousins in a bevy jumped a fifty-seven Chevy.
Chipmunk with a death wish!
Would you think I was a snob
If I waited for a Saab?
What a classic way to go,
Getting hit by a Peugeot! CHORUS

4. Better polish off the china at Billy’s road-kill diner.
Chipmunk with a death wish!
Who would think those little critters would make such tasty fritters?
Chipmunk with a death wish!
Bet you can’t wait to wrap your jaws
Around these chewy little paws,
A bed of pasta underneath.
Just spit out the teeth. CHORUS

* * *
YouTube has another live performance by Leah Kaufman.

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30 May 21 - 10:51 PM (#4108260)
Subject: Lyr Add: THE BEAR (Richard Digance)
From: Jim Dixon

This poem was mentioned by Alex, from Odessa, on 04 Jan 09:

I found this poem on an Angelfire web page called More TEDDYS!!!--not one I would normally consider a reliable source, but the words correspond pretty closely to those recited by “Poppy, aged 8” on YouTube. Those are the only two sources I could find.


THE BEAR
Richard Digance

When a bear held a fancy dress party,
Just about everyone went.
Each animal went as another.
Well, at least that was the intent.

The bat and bull went as a cricket
And the bison went as a bath.
The viper sat on the hyena's head
And they went as a laughing giraffe.

The eagle went as a birdie
And the birdie went as a parr.
(A parr is an under-aged salmon,
In case you don't know what they are.)

The panda turned up like a penguin,
Though he hadn't quite mastered the walk.
No one could tell the difference
When the butterfly dressed like a stork.

The hedgehog turned up as a buffalo
(Hedgehogs not being that bright),
But everyone said that he'd tried very hard
And he had an enjoyable night.

He almost came second for trying,
But it went to the hippo instead.
He dressed up as a fairy-tale unicorn,
With a ice-cream stuck on his head.

The oyster, disguised as a jewelery box,
Sang when his shell opened up.
A good try by oyster but not good enough
To take home the fancy dress cup.

The skunk was most unconvincing,
Sprinting in like a gazelle.
It's hard for a skunk to be anything else,
When they have that distinctive smell.

It was time to declare the cup winner
And first place went to the cat,
Who covered his tail with red rubber
And hung from a tree like a bat.

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31 May 21 - 07:03 AM (#4108287)
Subject: RE: Animal Songs
From: John MacKenzie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7220zzl0_k
Nasty Spider, by Jeremy Taylor, lyrics posted previously in this thread.
https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=7306

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