|
09 Feb 00 - 08:13 AM (#175452) Subject: Johnny be gay From: GUEST,jaorree@netscape.net Hi! Does anybody know the lyrics or/and some history of the wonderful ballad with the chorus "Johnny be gay if you can be"? Thanks, Jaorree |
|
09 Feb 00 - 10:17 AM (#175512) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Johny be gay From: Jacob B I know a version of The Devil And The Farmer's Wife with the chorus "Daddy be gay if you can be". The devil takes the wife down to hell, and finds that he can't keep her there, because she's too bad for hell. Does this sound like the one you're looking for? |
|
09 Feb 00 - 04:17 PM (#175741) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Johny be gay From: Jacob B Here is a link to a previous thread that mentions the version of The Devil And The Farmer's Wife I was talking about. Judy Collins recorded it decades ago (she turned the line "This proves the women are worse than the men/ They can go down to hell and come back again" into "There is an advantage we have over men/ We can go down to hell and come back again.") |
|
10 Feb 00 - 10:55 AM (#176153) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Johny be gay From: GUEST,Arkie There is a Johnny Be Fair by Buffy Ste Marie in the data base. |
|
10 Feb 00 - 10:59 AM (#176157) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Johny be gay From: GeorgeH Is it related to: "Girls if you must love "Love one another" ? G. |
|
11 Feb 00 - 09:51 AM (#176652) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Johny be gay From: Peg Steeleye Span also uses a snippet of that song, on the tail end of Old Maid in the Garret: "They say that the women are worse than the men; they go down to hell and they throw them out again." |
|
11 Feb 00 - 11:03 AM (#176682) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Johny be gay From: Marymac90 Isn't there also one about something like Johnny be gay & Johnny be good and he wants me for to wed And I would marry Johnny but me father to me said Daughter, (I gotta say I sowed my oats when I was young) And Johnny is a son of mine and so he's kin to you! The part in ( ) is a pure approximation that's probably way off. |
|
11 Feb 00 - 11:48 AM (#176713) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Johny be gay From: Jacob B Hi Mary. I know it as
Johnny be fair and Johnny be fine and wants for me to wed Until jaorree comes back, I guess we can take this thread wherever we want. |
|
11 Feb 00 - 03:26 PM (#176798) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Johny be gay From: GUEST,Philippa The song the last two contributors mention is Johnny Be Fair which was also mentioned earlier in this thread. The DT even contains a calypso version Shame and Scandal. But I'm not at all sure this is the song Jaorree is seeking. |
|
13 Feb 00 - 04:13 AM (#177512) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Johny be gay From: GUEST,jaorree Thanks for everybody for taking part! :) "Johny be fair" is for sure _not_ the song, and I'll check about the "Devil and the farmers wife", or some version of it, also it doesn't sound the same. If anybody is familiar with the "Tre" group, it was on their disc. Thanks again, Jaorree |
|
13 Dec 03 - 05:21 PM (#1071722) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Johny be gay From: Joybell What about John Gay who wrote "The Beggars' Opera" is there a connection with him? Maybe I'm right off but it's a thought. Joy |
|
13 Dec 03 - 09:26 PM (#1071804) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Johny be gay From: kytrad (Jean Ritchie) Hally Wood recorded this lively version of, "Farmer's Curst Wife," on her old album (1960s? Elektra?), "O Lovely Appearance of Death." But her refrain ran, "O daddy be gay," and then at the end of the verse, "Daddy be gay and eat candy!" |
|
13 Dec 03 - 10:06 PM (#1071820) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Johny be gay From: Leadfingers 'Gay' is another word that had a totally different meaning when I was but a lad !!! |
|
14 Dec 03 - 06:00 PM (#1072326) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Johny be gay From: Joybell Oh yes I was a lassie then. I had lots of friends called "Gay" too. |
|
03 Feb 10 - 04:08 PM (#2829144) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Johnny be gay From: GUEST,Esra It is I guess Terry Callier's 'Johnny Be Gay If You Can Be'...The album is 'The New Folk Sound'. Really great song. I'm also looking for the lyrics and some more information but nothing so far... |
|
03 Feb 10 - 04:23 PM (#2829161) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Johnny be gay From: GUEST,999 Well, Johnny be fair and Johnny be fine and wants me for to wed And I would marry Johnny, but my father up and said I'm sad to tell you daughter what your mother never knew But Johnny is a son of mine and so he's kin to you Well, Jimmy be fair and Jimmy be fine and wants me for to wed And I would marry Jimmy, but my father up and said I'm sad to tell you daughter what your mother never knew But Jimmy, too, is a son of mine and so he's kin to you Well, Billy be fair and Billy be fine and wants me for to wed And I would marry Billy, but my father up and said I'm sad to tell you daughter what your mother never knew But Billy, too, is a son of mine and so he's kin to you You never seen a girl so sad and sorry as I was The boys in town are all my kin and my father is the pa If this continue I shall die a single miss So I'll go to mother and complain to her of this Oh daughter, haven't I taught you to forgive and to forget Even if this all is true, still you needn't fret Your father may be father to all the boys in town, still He's not the one who sired you, so marry who you will Version as done by Buffy Sainte Marie. |
|
03 Feb 10 - 04:35 PM (#2829169) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Johnny be gay From: GUEST,999---"JBGIYCB" http://ligamusic.com/Album/2513682/Terry_Callier/The_New_Folk_Sound_Of/download-mp3/ Available here for $.15. |
|
03 Jan 12 - 11:11 AM (#3284093) Subject: Lyr Add: JOHNNY BE GAY IF YOU CAN BE From: Jim Dixon This is a version of THE FARMER'S CURST WIFE (Child 278). Terry Callier sings it at a slower tempo than any other version I have heard. JOHNNY BE GAY IF YOU CAN BE As sung by Terry Callier on "The New Folk Sound of Terry Callier" (1968) 1. There was an old man lived over the hill. Oh, Johnny, be gay. There was an old man lived over the hill. If he ain't moved away, he's a-livin' there still. Johnny, be gay if you can be. 2. The devil come up to the old man one day. Oh, Johnny, be gay. The devil come up to the old man one day, And he says, "Your old lady I'm takin' away." Johnny, be gay if you can be. 3. "Well, take her, please take her with all o' my heart. Oh, yeah, you can have her with all o' my heart. I hope to my soul you two never part." 4. The devil he packed her up on his back. The devil he packed her up on his back. Straight down the hill he went clickety-clack. 5. Well, ten little devils said, "Welcome to hell." Yeah, ten little devils said, "Welcome to hell. Pa, turn up the fire; we'll sizzle her well." 6. She caught four little devils out playin' tricks. She caught four little devils out playin' tricks. She bound 'em up tightly an' beat 'em with sticks. 7. Well six scared little devils they run down the hall. Six little devils they run down the hall, Cryin', "Take her back, daddy; she's killin' us all." 8. Oh, the devil he flung her up on his back. The devil he flung her up on his back. Straight out o' hell he come clickety-clack. 9. She found her ol' man layin' late in his bed. She found her ol' man layin' late in his bed, An' she picked up a butterknife, went to his head. 10. The old woman went whistlin' over the hill. Oh, Johnny, be gay. The old woman went whistlin' over the hill. "Devil won't have me; I wonder who will?" Johnny, be gay if you can be. Johnny, be gay if you can be. Johnny, be gay if you can be. |
|
14 Oct 12 - 03:21 PM (#3419758) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Johnny Be Gay If You Can Be From: GUEST,celticfable got the album by Tre "OAP" - this is track number 5.... and the lyrics from Jim Dixon are the ones Tre used... |