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Origins: Sam, Sam the Lavatory Man (aka Dan Dan)

02 Jan 25 - 05:27 PM (#4214606)
Subject: Origins: Sam, Sam the Lavatory Man (aka Dan Dan)
From: Jack Horntip

Do you know Sam (or Dan) the Lavatory Man song?   

Would you mind singing your version over the phone and leave it
as a voice mail so that I can get a copy of the tune &
lyrics ?

Please call +1-314-474-0101 and leave a voice mail. Thanks!


An American version:
Sam, Sam the lavatory man
Chief inspector of the outhouse clan
He issues the tissues the papers and the towels
And listens to the sounds of the human bowels
Down, down, down below the ground
Where all the little poopies are floating all around
There sits Sam the lavatory man
Scooping up the poopies in his little tin can, Dink!

See this sung here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEzW4Wd8uRA

02 Jan 25 - 05:30 PM (#4214607)
Subject: RE: Origins: Sam, Sam the Lavatory Man (aka Dan Dan)
From: Jack Horntip

"Sam Sam the Lavatory Man" is Roud song #44404

See here: https://archives.vwml.org/search/all:combined/0_50/all/score_desc/extended-roudNo_tr:44404

There is only one reference for this song -- an audio recording
from the D.K. Wilgus sound collection at UCLA, Los Angeles.
This is not in the ballad index.

I was quite surprised that there wasn't a thread dedicated to
this ditty. All I find is "Lyr Req: The Lavatory Man (not the usual one)".

As time allows, I will post the versions scraped from various
mudcat posts, field collected versions, and manuscript examples
going back to the 1920s.

The tune seems quite variable and there is some variation
to the lyrics -- the British version is strange to me --
hence the request above for voicemails. Any contribution
is appreciated.

02 Jan 25 - 05:38 PM (#4214609)
Subject: RE: Origins: Sam, Sam the Lavatory Man (aka Dan Dan)
From: Jack Horntip

One from Girl Scout Camp...
Sam, Sam, the lavatory man
Chief inspector of the Dew Drop Inn
Issues the tissues, the papers and the towels
As he listens to the rumble of the human bowel

Down, down, down beneath the ground
Where all the poopies go floating all around
There lives Sam the lavatory man
Scooping up the poopies in his little tin can

Posted by Carolyn in the Naughty kids'greatest hits thread on June 19, 1998.


See here: https://mudcat.org/detail_pf.cfm?messages__Message_ID=31027

02 Jan 25 - 08:39 PM (#4214615)
Subject: RE: Origins: Sam, Sam the Lavatory Man (aka Dan Dan)
From: Jack Horntip

Only lyrics i can remeber from this old bawdy song.
was the one my wifes grandpa used to sing.
"DAN...DAN... The lavatory man.
cleaning up the crap all day.
in and out urinals, picking up the finals.
don't know shit from clay.

Posted GUEST,Gazza in the Lyr Req: The Lavatory Man (not the usual one) mudcat thread on June 11, 2011.

See here: https://mudcat.org/detail_pf.cfm?messages__Message_ID=3177015

02 Jan 25 - 08:44 PM (#4214616)
Subject: RE: Origins: Sam, Sam the Lavatory Man (aka Dan Dan)
From: Jack Horntip

Dan Dan the lavatory man
Underneath the ground all day
In and out urinals
Sorting out the finals
Dan did every way
In and out the traps
Sorting out the craps
Didn’t know shit from clay
‘Cause the only thing that Dan could hear
Was ‘Brrut Brrut Brrut’ all day

Posted by GUEST,Phil in the The Lavatory Man (not the usual one) mudcat thread on Jun 19, 2020.


See here: https://mudcat.org/detail_pf.cfm?messages__Message_ID=4060226

02 Jan 25 - 08:48 PM (#4214617)
Subject: RE: Origins: Sam, Sam the Lavatory Man (aka Dan Dan)
From: Jack Horntip

Dan, Dan the lavatory man...
cleaning up the muck all day...
cleaning up the 'you know'...
reading the football final,
passing the merry hours away gor blimey...

Posted by GUEST,guest to the mudcat Lyr Req: 'Once in China there lived a great man... on April 18, 2007.


See here: https://mudcat.org/detail_pf.cfm?messages__Message_ID=2028992

02 Jan 25 - 08:55 PM (#4214618)
Subject: RE: Origins: Sam, Sam the Lavatory Man (aka Dan Dan)
From: Jack Horntip

Dan, Dan the lavatory man
Underneath the ground all day
In and out urinals
picking out the finals
Oh what a game to play.

Posted by Bert to the mudcat thread Sewer song on June 2, 2001.


See here: https://mudcat.org/detail_pf.cfm?messages__Message_ID=474995

02 Jan 25 - 08:56 PM (#4214619)
Subject: RE: Origins: Sam, Sam the Lavatory Man (aka Dan Dan)
From: Jack Horntip

Goddamn Sam I

Goddamn Sam, the lavatory man,
Chief Engineer of the shit house clan,
Pass out the paper, pass out the towels
Run to the rhythm of the people's bowels.
Deep Down, under the ground
Little black turds swimming round and round
Flip, flap, under that shack
I've got the shithouse blues.....
I Learned on the playground while at Elementary school in
Kensington MD USA. I sang it for my singing teacher,the l are
great Lisa Null at a lesson once and she sang me a different
but similar set of words, so the song got around.

Posted by Severn to the Lyr Req: Sewer songs on February 13, 2024.

See here: https://mudcat.org/detail_pf.cfm?messages__Message_ID=4197148

03 Jan 25 - 06:41 AM (#4214635)
Subject: RE: Origins: Sam, Sam the Lavatory Man (aka Dan Dan)
From: GUEST,PMB

Salford, Lancs, UK, 1950s:

Sam Sam, the dustbin man
Washed his face in a frying pan,
Combed his hair with a donkey's tail
And scratched his belly with his big toenail.

Rather mild, not so scatological, more 7 year old than adolescent. There wasn't much of a tune to it, a sort of vague modulation, a worn- out version of "Over the hills and far away".

09 Jan 25 - 09:21 PM (#4215032)
Subject: RE: Origins: Sam, Sam the Lavatory Man (aka Dan Dan)
From: Jack Horntip

Dan, Dan the Dirty Old Man

Dan, Dan the dirty old man
Washed his face in the frying pan
He combed his hair with a leg of chair
Dan, Dan the dirty old man.

2006. Smorgasbord cd by Sharon Hampson, Lois Lilienstein, and Bram Morrison


Listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKu4d68anGI

09 Jan 25 - 09:29 PM (#4215033)
Subject: RE: Origins: Sam, Sam the Lavatory Man (aka Dan Dan)
From: Jack Horntip

SAM

Sam, Sam,
The Lavatory Man.
Scoop'n up the poop in the outhouse can.

(Chorus)
Toilet paper, Toilet paper, Paper towels!
Listen to the rhythm of the human bowels.

Goin down, down
under the ground,
Scoop'n up the poop that's float'n around.

(Chorus)
Toilet paper, Toilet paper, Paper Towels!
Listen to the rhythm of the human bowels.
(make hearty fart sounds to end)

Directly line RA audio file: http://www.jldr.com/realaudio/sam.ra


Text and audio from: https://www.jldr.com/samtheman.html

09 Jan 25 - 09:36 PM (#4215034)
Subject: RE: Origins: Sam, Sam the Lavatory Man (aka Dan Dan)
From: Jack Horntip

Shithouse Rock
Tune: Unknown.

Shh… Shh… Shh-sh-sh-Shh…
Shh… Shh… Shh-sh-sh-Shh… (Continues through song)

Well, Sam, Sam the lavatory man,
He's the leader of the shithouse gang,
He spends all his day washing lavatory towels
Listening to the rhythm of the swinging bowels.

All of a sudden a sound was heard,
The slipslop plop of a slimy turd,
Slip! Slop! Into the pot!
Hoochie-koochie-koochie, it's the… Shithouse Rock!

Shh… Shh… Shh-sh-sh-Shh…
Shh… Shh… Shh-sh-sh-Shh…

The I's Reunion Record EP record by Intercoursers Records/Rugby Records.
Recorded September 1986, Palmerston North, New Zealand. Reportedly this
was a Massey University rugby team in the early 80s.

Listen to preview here:

https://www.horntip.com/mp3/1980s/1986_the_I_reunion_record_(EP)/07%20-%20Shithouse%20Rock%20[Dan,%20Dan%20The%20Lavatory%20Man].mp3

10 Jan 25 - 10:17 AM (#4215070)
Subject: RE: Origins: Sam, Sam the Lavatory Man (aka Dan Dan)
From: Jack Horntip

Dan, Dan, the lavatory man
He dresses clean and tidy, and he does the best he can.
He serves out towels and brushes and soap
But he has no opportunities and very little hope.

Sept 7, 1925. POLITICAL NOTES: Federal Employees. Opening poem of the article.


See here: https://time.com/archive/6654171/political-notes-federal-employes/

10 Jan 25 - 07:10 PM (#4215107)
Subject: RE: Origins: Sam, Sam the Lavatory Man (aka Dan Dan)
From: Lighter

Buffalo Evening Times (June 21, 1916), in a list of comic songs:

"Dan, Dan the Lavatory Man."

The Republican (Springfield, Mass,) (May 25, 1925):

"There is a gay and unwashed little song heard in many cities that immortalizes 'Dan, Dan, the lavatory man' Its hero was kindly Dan - [the washroom attendant] of Jack's."   

["Jack's," the popular all-night cafe on Sixth Ave. and 43rd St. in New York City, closed in 1925 after 34 years.]

Narromine [N.S.W.] News and Triangle Advocate (Sept. 16, 1937):

"The refrain of that old classic, 'Dan, Dan, the Lavatory Man,' floated upwards."

10 Jan 25 - 08:43 PM (#4215109)
Subject: RE: Origins: Sam, Sam the Lavatory Man (aka Dan Dan)
From: Lighter

Frances Moffat, Dancing on the Brink of the World (1977), referring to 1920s:

"Then, late at night, the members shared a final round of drinks and returned to their tents. Off in the woods, someone could be heard, singing at the top of his lungs, 'Dan, Dan, the lavatory man, who spends all day in the old crapping can.'"


G. Legman, Rationale of the Dirty Joke (1968):

"The... attendant in the public toilet [is] celebrated sardonically in the song, “Dan! Dan! the Lavatory Man":

   He picks up the papers and he cleans up the towels,
   And listens to the music of the constipated bowels!

(N.Y. 1940, often with variant: 'the moving bowels.')"

Michael S. Saag, Positive (2014):

'I asked Dad to sing the old songs, including the outrageous, lewd ones that we had sung around Papaharry’s [sic] piano: 'Dan Dan the Lavatory Man,' 'Uncle Bud,' 'Grandma’s in the Cellar.'”


A song that revels in thinking about excrement while smugly ridiculing the holder of the lowest job in a fancy restaurant, one step above the sewer. Singing graphically about the lavatory befouls the mental image of the restaurant as well - and its food. A gross-out popular (in some circles) for a century and across the English-speaking world.

11 Jan 25 - 07:53 AM (#4215132)
Subject: RE: Origins: Sam, Sam the Lavatory Man (aka Dan Dan)
From: Jack Horntip

The Shit House Rag.

        Dan! Dan!
        The lavatory man,
        Has full charge
        Of the crapping can.
He picks up the papers and the hands out the towels
And he listens to the rumble of the fat men's bowels.
        Ffff! Fffff!
        A fart is heard
        Followed by the sound
        Of a splashing terd.
He finds his joy and greatest bliss
In the crackles of the paper and the trickle of the piss,
        Rah! Rah! Sis boom ah!
        Oh, you Shit House Rag!

c1926.   The Canfield Collection. Pg 88 of the digitized manuscript collection.


See online: https://archive.org/details/1926canfieldcollection/page/n87/mode/2up?q=dan

17 Jan 25 - 12:19 PM (#4215465)
Subject: RE: Origins: Sam, Sam the Lavatory Man (aka Dan Dan)
From: The Sandman

Is there a connection with the song OLD DAN TUCKER?

17 Jan 25 - 05:34 PM (#4215479)
Subject: RE: Origins: Sam, Sam the Lavatory Man (aka Dan Dan)
From: sciencegeek

this brings to mind an LP I had as a kid in the 1960s that was a single performer who sang goofy folk song parodies that had me in stitches... but my memory only retains bits of one about the Mafia and has the refrain " in the town of Brook-ly-in... Manny O, ???

Anyone old enough to remember Dan Sorkin?

18 Jan 25 - 12:06 AM (#4215481)
Subject: RE: Origins: Sam, Sam the Lavatory Man (aka Dan Dan)
From: sciencegeek

Dan Sorkin Folk Singing
One

24 Jan 25 - 10:17 PM (#4215913)
Subject: RE: Origins: Sam, Sam the Lavatory Man (aka Dan Dan)
From: Jack Horntip

Van, Van

Van, Van the Shithouse Man
Chief engineer of the public can
He hands out paper.
He hands out the towels
And he listens to the people as they move their bowels
Way down
Underground
A big fat turd came a-tumbling down
Flip, flop.
Hear them plop
I got the shithouse blues.

I got the shithouse blues.
I told her once or twice.
They shot playing cards 'n' playing dice
I got the shithouse blues.

November 11, 2005. Transcribed from the singing of James McWilliam. Recording in The Jack Horntip Collection.


Listen here: https://archive.org/download/jack_horntip_collection_field_recordings/0878%20Van%2C%20Van%20The%20Lavatory%20Man%20%5BAka%20Sam%20Sam%20The%20Lavatory%20Man%20Unknown%20Tune%20And%20Extra%20Stanza%5D.mp3

22 Mar 25 - 09:10 PM (#4219628)
Subject: RE: Origins: Sam, Sam the Lavatory Man (aka Dan Dan)
From: Jack Horntip

Craphouse Blues

Dan, Dan the sanitary man
Chief superintendent of the shithouse pan
He issues the tissues
And hands out the towels
And listens to the music of the rumbling bowels.

Hot shit!
I've got the craphouse blues
Hot shit!
I've got the craphouse blues

You come in and let down the seat
Make your deposits all complete
Who helps you to go out looking neat
Smelling sweet?
Well it's Dan.

Dan, Dan the sanitary man
Chief superintendent of the shithouse pan
He issues the tissues
And hands out the towels
And listens to the music of the rumbling bowels.

Hot shit.
I've got the craphouse blues
Hot shit!
I've go the craphouse bluuuuuuuuuuuuuuues!

[2006?]. Bawdy Ballads CD by Tony Mason-Cox.


Listen to preview: https://amazon.com/music/player/tracks/B000QZBFDA?marketplaceId=ATVPDKIKX0DER&musicTerritory=US&ref=dm_sh_OUz2ATS9vUj481sbyHbUYL6bl

29 Mar 25 - 06:05 AM (#4219997)
Subject: RE: Origins: Sam, Sam the Lavatory Man (aka Dan Dan)
From: GeoffLawes

Various songs for Internatioal Toilet Day from Mudcat Thread Any November Songs? /mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=170494#ohdearwhatcanthematterbe:~:text=Subject%3A%20RE%3A%20Any%20November%20Songs%3F%0AF

15 Nov 25 - 11:11 AM (#4231632)
Subject: RE: Origins: Sam, Sam the Lavatory Man (aka Dan Dan)
From: Lighter

John Brophy & Eric Partridge, "Songs and Slang of the British Soldier 1914-1918" (1931), referring to WW1:

"No less cheerful...is the following spirited ditty:

   Dan, Dan, the sanitary (or lavatory) man,
   Working underground all day
   Sweeping (or cleaning) up urinals,
   Picking out the finals,
   Whiling the happy hours away -
      Gorblimey!
   Doing his little bit,
   Shoveling up the ----,
   He is so blithe and gay,
   And the only music that he hears
   Is poo-poo-poo-poo-poo all day.

"Verses 7 and 8 ... had the variant:
   
   Always on the dap,
   Shoveling up the ----"


"On the dap" = dipping suddenly into water (I think).

16 Nov 25 - 07:50 AM (#4231654)
Subject: RE: Origins: Sam, Sam the Lavatory Man (aka Dan Dan)
From: Big Al Whittle

I wrote a song a bit like this:-

https://soundcloud.com/denise_whittle/sam-sam-the-lavatory-man


Songs like this have defined the trajectory of my career.