straight & sober song circle

19 Sep 97 - 10:09 PM (#12619)
Subject: Lyr Add: THE BAD GIRL
From: Alice

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

Well, here it is for all of you to join in with the songs that bemoan lives ruined by rum, Irish whiskey, or other chemicals. Prohibition, temperance, prodigal sons and daughters, opium eaters,... whatever. I'll start with one that I couldn't find in the database. My source for this song is FOLK SONGS OF NORTH AMERICA by Alan Lomax, but the second verse is a verse that I wrote.

THE BAD GIRL

When I was a young girl, I used to seek pleasure
When I was a young girl, I used to drink ale.
Out of an ale house and right into a jailhouse.
Right out of a barroom and down into my grave.

So go tell my mama that my life is over.
And go tell my papa to dig me a grave.
My whole life was wasted by the liquor I tasted.
My body is ruined and I'm bound to die.

Come papa, come mama, and sit you down by me.
Come sit you down by me and pity my case.
My poor head is achin', my sad heart is breakin'
My body's salivated, and I'm bound to die.

Oh, send for the preacher to come and pray for me.
And send for the doctor to heal up my wounds.
My poor head is achin', my sad heart is breakin'.
My body's salivated and I'm bound to die.

I want four young ladies to bear up my coffin.
I want four young ladies to carry me on.
And each of them carry a bunch of wild roses.
To lay on my coffin as they pass along.


Alice in Montana

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19 Sep 97 - 11:52 PM (#12627)
Subject: RE: straight & sober song circle
From: Barry

Isn't that to the tune "The Streets Of Libido" Barry

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19 Sep 97 - 11:58 PM (#12628)
Subject: RE: straight & sober song circle
From: Earl

How about "The Fatal Glass of Beer" made famous by W.C. Fields?

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20 Sep 97 - 12:34 AM (#12630)
Subject: RE: straight & sober song circle
From: Alice

Barry... close, but not really. "The Bard of Armagh" tune has more of the Laredo/Libido bent, so to speak.

Alice

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20 Sep 97 - 12:52 AM (#12633)
Subject: RE: straight & sober song circle
From: Alice

Barry, couldn't resist looking up more info on the "Bad Girl". I found more than I have the time to post here. It is derived from "The Sailor Cut Down in His Prime." The family of ballads with the guilt-ridden moral that Love Kills... Other titles in the family include, "The Unfortunate Rake", "The Irish Rake", "The Unfortunate Lad", "The Rakish Young Fellow", "St. James Hospital", and "The Rambling Boy". Syphilis often did them in:

Had she but told me before she disordered me
Had she but told me of it in time,
I might have got salts and pills of white mercury,
But now I'm cut down in the height of my prime.

The bad girl versions include "One Morning in May" and "The Young Girl Cut Down in Her Prime". There is that "wrapped in white linen and cold as the clay" fate that later befalls our American cowboy. There are also versions for a lumberjack and a miner dying of silicosis, which comes close to home here.

Twas once in the saddle I used to go dashing,
Twas once as a cowboy I used to be brave,
But ain't it a pity I came to Butte City,
To work for Jim Brennan, and now to my grave.

Alice in Montana (but not in Butte)

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20 Sep 97 - 01:44 AM (#12635)
Subject: Lyr Add: JACK RADCLIFFE and BOSTON BURGLAR etc.
From: Tim Jaques [e-mail]

Why, there are many songs that warn against drink and fast company. The ones you quote, BTW, I call the "beat the drums slowly" genre of song. "A Young Girl Cut Down in Her Prime" (or "Unfortunate Lass,” which is in the database) is one such, as is "When I Was On Horseback" by Steeleye Span. I think they are indeed related to "Streets of Laredo" although there is a cowboy song very close to "When I Was On Horseback", the lyrics of which escape me now. It does say "I am a poor cowboy, who done no one wrong."

I venture that the rarely heard full version of "Saint James Infirmary" (the one that begins, "I went down to Old Joe's bar-room") is also of this genre, except it asks for a twenty-dollar gold piece on the watch chain rather than roses and a jazz band rather than pipers.

"The devil has all the best songs,” as Martin Luther said. Here are a few, pardon if I didn't split up the lines properly. They are just songs of downfall and warning, not of the above genre to which I refer. I post them because they don't seem to be in the database and the muse moves me:

JACK RADCLIFFE

When first I came to Liverpool, I went upon a spree
Me hard earned cash I spent it fast, got drunk as drunk could be
And when me money was all gone 'twas then I wanted more
But a man must be blind, to have a mind to go to sea once more.
(Chorus) Once more! Once more! To go to sea once more!

Last night I slept with Angeline too drunk to roll in bed
Me pants were new, me money was too and in the dawn with them she fled
And as I went stumbling down the street the whores they all did say
There goes poor Jack, poor sailor lad, he must go to sea once more.
(Chorus) Once more! Once more! He must go to sea once more!

As I went walking down the street I spied old Napier Brown
I asked him would he take me in, he looked at me with a frown
He said, "Last time I took you in, with me you made no score"
"But I'll give you an advance, and give you a chance to go to sea once more.”
(Chorus) Once more! Once more! To go to sea once more!

He put me on board of a whaling ship, bound for the Arctic seas
Where there's ice and cold and the wind do blow and even our rum do freeze
Oh, I can't stay here, 'cause I got no gear, and I spent all me money in town
'Twas then that I said, "Oh, I wish I was dead, and could go to sea no more!"
(Chorus) No More! No more! Could go to sea no more!

Sometimes we catches sperm whales, boys and sometimes we do catch none
With a twelve-foot oar that's stuck in your paw you row the whole day long
And until the evening comes along you bend upon that oar
Your back's so weak, you wish you could seek a berth at sea no more
(Chorus) No more! No more! A berth at sea no more!

So come all me bold sea-faring laddies and listen to my song
When you get paid off of a damned long trip make sure you don't go wrong
Don't stay out all night, or go drinking rum, or go sleeping round with whores
But get married me lads, and spend all night in, and go to sea no more.
(Chorus) No more! No more! Go to sea no more!

THE BOSTON BURGLAR

I was born and raised in Boston, a city you all know well
Brought up by honest parents, the truth to you I'll tell
Brought up by honest parents, and reared most tenderly
Until I became a sporting lad, at the age of twenty-three.

My character was broken, and I was sent to jail
My friends and parents did their best, to get me out on bail
But the jury they found me guilty, and the judge he wrote it down
"For the breaking of the Union Bank, you are sent to Charlestown.”

I can see me dear old father, standing at the bar
And likewise my dear mother, tearing out her hair
Tearing out her old grey locks, as the tears came tumbling down
"My son, my son, what have you done, to be sent to Charlestown?"

They put me on an eastbound train, one cold December day
And at every station I passed by, you could hear the people say
"There goes the Boston Burglar, in fetters he is bound
For the breaking of the Union Bank he is sent to Charlestown

All you who have your liberty, take heed if you can
And don't go midnight rambling, or you'll break the laws of man
And if you do, you're sure to rue, and end up just like me,
Sentenced down to twenty years in the penitentiary.

SAVE YOUR MONEY WHEN YOU'RE YOUNG ME BOYS

(Forgot first two verses of earlier foolishness)

If you are a single man, I'll tell you what to do
Find yourself a pretty girl, and one who will be true
Find yourself a pretty girl; don't matter if she's bold
Who will stick with you for life and be a comfort when you're old.

(Chorus) For once I was a shanty boy, and wasn't I a lad
The way I spent me money, now wasn't it too bad
For it's now that I regret the day, I'm working out in the cold
Save your money when you're young, me boys, you'll need it when you're old.

And if you are a married man, I'll tell you what to do
Be true to your wife and children, as you are pledged to do
Stay away from grog shops, where liquor is bought and sold
And save your money when you're young me boys, you'll need it when you're old.

(Chorus same)

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20 Sep 97 - 12:40 PM (#12658)
Subject: RE: straight & sober song circle
From: Alice

Tim... just to clarify, my point was that the TUNE of Streets of Laredo is closer to the Bard of Armagh, than the TUNE of the Bad Girl. The sentiments and some lyrics are definitely of the same family of songs.

Alice

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21 Sep 97 - 03:05 AM (#12726)
Subject: RE: straight & sober song circle
From: Tim Jaques [e-mail]

I see that I forgot to put in the penultimate lyric of the Boston Burglar.

Here it is:

There's a girl in Boston City, a girl I know so well,
And if I had my liberty, with her I'd mean to dwell,
And if I had my liberty, rough company I would shun,
And likewise walking late and night, and likewise drinking rum.

It's been a while since I've sung it, so you may excuse me.

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21 Sep 97 - 12:35 PM (#12752)
Subject: Lyr Add: WHEN I WAS A YOUNG GIRL
From: Shula

This is the version of "The Bad Girl" I learned; don't recall the source; sorry:

WHEN I WAS A YOUNG GIRL

When I was a young girl,
I used to seek pleasure.
When I was a young girl,
I used to drink ale:
Out of the alehouse,
And into the jailhouse;
My body is ruined,
And I'm bound to die.

Send for the preacher,
To come and pray for me.
Send for the doctor,
To heal up my sores.
My poor head is achin'
My sad heart is breakin'
My body is ruined,
And I'm bound to die.

Get six fancy ladies
To bear up my coffin.
Get six fancy ladies
To sing me a song.
Let each of them carry
A bunch of wild roses,
To lay on my coffin
As they pass along.

When I was a young girl,
I used to seek pleasure.
When I was a young girl,
I used to drink ale:
Out of the alehouse,
And into the jailhouse;
My body is ruined,
And I'm bound to die.

Shula

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21 Sep 97 - 11:07 PM (#12799)
Subject: Lyr Add: MICHAEL ROY
From: Barry

I was being tongue and cheek when I mentioned The Bad Girl being sung to the tune of The Streets Of Laredo/Libido.

In 1856, Michael Roy appeared published in songsters. In 1888 it appeared in a collection compiled by Evert Wendell with an added last verse. This seems to be a composite of two earlier songs "The Charcoal Man" and "My Boy With The Auburn Hair.”

In Brooklyn City there lived a maid, and she was known to fame.
Her mother's name was Mary Ann, and hers was Mary Jane.
And every Saturday morning she used to go over the river
To Fulton Market where she sold eggs and sausages, likewise liver.

CHO. For O, for O, for he was my darling boy.
For he was the lad with the auburn hair and his name was Michael Roy.

She fell in love with a charcoal man. McCloskey was his name.
His fighting weight was 7 stone 10 and he loved sweet Mary Jane.
He took her to ride in his charcoal cart on a fine St. Patrick's day,
But the donkey took fright at a Jersey man and he started and ran away.

They both did holler with all their might for the donkey for to stop,
But he overturned Mary Jane, wagon and all, right into a policy shop.
When McCloskey saw his heart moved to pity,
So he stabbed his donkey with a piece of charcoal and started for Salt Lake City.

Now ladies all take warning by the fate of Mary Jane,
And never get into a charcoal cart unless you step out again.
The latest news from o'er the plain comes straight from Salt Lake City:
McCloskey he has 45 wives and is truly an object of pity.

From June Lazare's Folk Songs Of New York City" 1966-Folkways
Barry Finn

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22 Sep 97 - 02:12 PM (#12841)
Subject: Lyr Add: HAVE COURAGE, MY BOY, TO SAY NO
From: Jon W.

Okay, here's my entries:

"Fareweill tae Whiskey" (it's in DT)

"God Don't Like It (And I don't Either)" - this was sung by an unknown female vocalist, accompanied by Blind Willie McTell, about the evils of moonshine. I'll have to listen to it again before I can post the lyrics but the chorus goes like this:

'Cause God don't like it and I don't either (3x)
It's scandalous and a shame.

And finally, from my own (Utah Mormon) tradition:

"Have Courage, My Boy, To Say No"

You've started today on your journey, alone on the highway of life
You'll meet with a thousand temptations, each city with evil is rife
The world is a stage of excitement, no matter wherever you go
But if you are tempted in weakness, have courage, my boy to say "No."

Chorus: Have courage, my boy to say "No."
Have courage, my boy to say "No."
Have courage, my boy,
Have courage, my boy,
Have courage, my boy to say "No."

The bright ruby wine may be offered, no matter how tempting it be
From poison that stings like a viper, my boy have the courage to flee
The vile gambling dens are before you, the lights how they sway to and fro
But if you are tempted to enter, have courage, my boy, to say "No."

Chorus

In courage alone lies your safety, as you the long journey begin
But trust in your Heavenly Father will keep you unspotted from sin
Temptations will go on increasing, like streams from a rivulet flow
But if you are true to your manhood, have courage, my boy, to say "No."

Chorus

PS to Barry: I like to think my great-great-grandfather Omer loved my great-great-grandmother Eleanor just as much as he loved his other wives. And if you called him an object of pity, he'd probably kickbox you all the way back to Nauvoo ;-)

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22 Sep 97 - 03:47 PM (#12851)
Subject: Lyr Add: THE JUICE OF THE BARLEY
From: Wkailey

Note to Time Jaques:

The "Old Jack Sprat, the poor sailor man, who must go to sea once more" song is included in a collection of Sea Chanties I got from the Smithsonian Institution when I was there. It may still be available from the Smithsonian. They have alternative versions of several verses. One of there's, I think, is clearly superior to one of yours. It goes

"But I'll give yer a chance and I'll TAKE yer advance and I'll send you to sea once more"

This makes more sense than the version you recorded because sailors were often paid advances when signing up with a vessel. A percentage of this advance would often go to the agent who found them a birth. This particular agent is complaining because last time "to me you chalked no score." Therefore, he will take all of the advance money from the whaler this time. Hence, Jack has "no hard weather gear, since I'd spent all me money ashore."

Here's one from the Clancy Brothers. It is typically Irish, and so I love it. OK, so it's not all sackcloth and ashes, but it's a good, light-hearted parody of this genre.

The Juice of the Barley
In the sweet county Limerick one cold Winter's night,
As the turf fires were burning I first saw the light,
And a drunken old midwife went tipsy with joy
As she danced round the floor with her slip all keboy

Singin' fall de-rall rovers sendover
It's the juice of the barley for me!

When I was a young lad of eight years or so,
With me t____(?) and p____(?) off to school I did go.
To a dirty old school house without any door,
Where the latest schoolmaster lay drunk on the floor!

Chorus.

At schoolin' I wasn't such a genius I'm thinkin',
But I soon beat the schoolmaster entirely at drinkin'.
Not a wake, nor a wedding for five miles around,
But myself in the corner blind drunk to be found

Chorus.

[Here's the repentant verse]
Next Sunday the priest lead me up from the alter,
Sayin' you'll end up your days wi' your neck in a halter,
And ye'll dance a fine jig between heaven and hell,
And his words they did fright me, the truth for to tell.

Chorus

Early next mornin' as the dawn it did break,
I went down to the vestry the pledge for to take,
But there in that room sat the priests in a bunch,
'Round the big roarin' fire drinkin' tumblers of punch!

Chorus.

A more genuine example of the genre that I also like is Nancy Whiskey. I won't take time to record it; it is probably in the database.

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22 Sep 97 - 04:53 PM (#12862)
Subject: Juice of the Barley
From: Wkailey

Correction to foregoing:

Juice of the Barley is in the database. The t__ and p__ words are "turf" and "primer." Primer makes sense, but turf makes no sense to me in this context. Can anyone explain it or suggest a better word? Also, the database has "danced 'round the floor with her slip of a boy," which is undoubtedly a better rendition of the third line of the song. However, I like my "in the corner blind drunk to be found" a lot better than their "in the corner was sure to be found." The latter version appears to be taken by the authors of the database from a cleaned-up version of the song that was sung when the Clancy Brothers appeared at Carnegie Hall. My version is from an earlier recording.

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22 Sep 97 - 05:06 PM (#12865)
Subject: RE: straight & sober song circle
From: Bob Landry

I have the words to Juice of the Barley in an old Clancey Brothers songbook where they use the words "turf and primer". Couldn't figure it out either. Other lines are the same as Wkailey points out.

For my contriution, I'll do an lod Newfie tune, The Liqour Book. I contributed the words in an earlier thread.

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22 Sep 97 - 05:22 PM (#12867)
Subject: RE: straight & sober song circle
From: Alice

Wkailey, You got it in ahead of me.. I was going to do the Juice of the Barley next! I grew up listening to the Clancy bros. records, too. You left out the Gaelic in the chorus: "Singing banya na mo if an ganna, and the Juice of the Barley for me." That is the way the Clancys wrote it in their songbook from 1964. It is dog-eared from all my years of using it, and there are a few words here and there in songs that they sang differently on recordings. It makes sense to take turf to school if you want a fire in the stove to keep you warm. Possibly a typo on your part, but for accuracy's sake the priests are in the "vestry". Last verse:

Well from that day to this I have wandered alone,
I'm a jack of all trades and a master of none.
With the sky for my roof and the earth for my floor
And I'll dance out me days drinkin' whiskey galore.

Alice Flynn in Montana

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22 Sep 97 - 05:35 PM (#12869)
Subject: Juice
From: Wkailey

Thanks for the additional contributions relevant to this song, Alice and Bob! Songs like that are a treasure to be cherished, and it's always a pleasure to add to ones knowledge of their history and lyrics. The world would be a dreary place indeed without the Clancy Brothers! Who will take their place, I wonder?

Alice, do you have a translation for the Irish words in the chorus?

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22 Sep 97 - 05:54 PM (#12874)
Subject: Lyr Add: CANNED HEAT (Tommy Johnson)
From: Jon W.

My favorite from the blues: Canned Heat by Tommy Johnson. Canned Heat was wood alcohol mixed with wax, used for cooking fuel and by some to ingest when they couldn't get whiskey. My CD player is broke so I can't transcribe all the words but some follow:

Cryin' Canned, Canned Heat mamma, Mamma sure Lord killin' me (3x)

Cryin' Mamma, mamma mamma, cryin' canned heat killing me (2x)
Cryin' canned heat don't, mamma, know I'll never die

Cryin' woke up, up this mornin' cryin' canned heat all on my mind (2x)
. Cryin' help somebody, can't take these canned heat blues

I had a friend at work, a talented musician I always wanted to get together with and learn from. But he died of alcoholism before we ever could. I think of him when I hear this song.

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22 Sep 97 - 05:56 PM (#12875)
Subject: RE: straight & sober song circle
From: Alice

Wkailey, no I don't, but I think the correct spelling would look completely different in Gaelic. Maybe one of our Gaelic speaking members who cruise this site can be of help. I'd be interested to know the meaning. Alice

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22 Sep 97 - 05:59 PM (#12877)
Subject: RE: straight & sober song circle
From: Jon W.

Speaking of Clancy brothers (& Tommy Makem), what about their song "The Parting Glass?" I've always interpreted it as the singer is dying from drink- "all the harm I ever did, alas it was to none but me." Am I way off base?

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22 Sep 97 - 06:48 PM (#12883)
Subject: RE: straight & sober song circle
From: Tim Jaques [e-mail]

I'll stand corrected on Jack Radcliffe, as the correction makes more sense. I didn't record it, BTW, I learned it from a friend who told me it was formerly sung in New England. But it was definitely called "Jack Radcliffe", although there is no mention of his name in the song itself unless I am missing verses which is entirely possible.

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22 Sep 97 - 06:57 PM (#12885)
Subject: RE: straight & sober song circle
From: Catfeet

Wkaily, What is the name of this fabulous book from the smithsonian that includes this version of Old Jack Sprat the Sailor Man? I learned this version at a chanty sing, and have been looking for it ever since, I'm eternally grateful to Tim Jacques for posting all the words, but your version is the one that I learned, and somehow, original always seems to have it's charms. Anyway, I'd be very interested in seeing if the book is still in print, and if it is avalilible. There should be an isbn number on the back of the book or on the copyright page. If you could include that in any post that replies to this one, it'd be much easier to track the book down. Thanks ahead of time for any answers, Catfeet

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22 Sep 97 - 07:16 PM (#12889)
Subject: RE: straight & sober song circle
From: alison

Hi

It was perfectly normal to take a lump of turf to school to put on the fire, (it's pretty cold in Ireland in the winter,........and for that matter most of the time!!!) Just the same as all you Americans would have taken an apple for the teacher. (Or are THe Waltons and Little House on the Prairies not quite accurate??)

The words at the start of the chorus are

Ban-ya na mo if an gan-na, and the juice of the barley for me.

as far as I know they are just gibberish

Slainte

alison

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23 Sep 97 - 12:25 AM (#12925)
Subject: RE: straight & sober song circle
From: Alice

On to other chemicals. Alan Lomax writes this in his notes on "Willie the Weeper"... In this epoch, the snow-birds and hop-heads of the West had their own folky ballads, as optimistic and as unashamed as so many cowboy songs. "Take a Whiff on Me", "The Ballad of Cocaine Lil", and "Willie the Weeper", composed in the raggy style of those days, gave rise to a whole school of jazzy songs like "Minnie the Moocher" and " Calling the Vipers"...of "Willie the Weeper" he writes..."Robert Gordon found over thirty versions with a hundred different verses."

Alice in Montana

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23 Sep 97 - 01:32 AM (#12932)
Subject: RE: straight & sober song circle
From: Tim Jaques [e-mail]

Backwoodsman: Probably should have been "I should have hauled out four," so as to prevent the repetition of "more". It's been some time -- years -- since I had reason to sing it.

Speaking of cocaine songs, what was that one that Jackson Browne sang -- "You take Sally, and I'll take Sue."?

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23 Sep 97 - 06:50 AM (#12946)
Subject: RE: straight & sober song circle
From: Martin Ryan

"Bainne na mbo is na ngamhna - and the juice of the barley for me."

Basically, It means " Milk is for cows and for calves - whiskey for me!"

"turf and primer", as Alison says, is payment and textbook.

Regards

p.s. "Go to Sea No More" is in the DT.

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23 Sep 97 - 09:58 AM (#12956)
Subject: To Catfeet
From: Wkailey

What I got at the Smithsonian was a cassette tape, not a book; but it is a truly wonderful tape. It has dozens of good sea chanties on it. I will try to remember to get you a number or something off the tape when I'm at home, but I may not have it for a couple of days, because I have to go out of town. Best to send me a reminder via email. Email to [e-mail].

Regards,

Walt

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23 Sep 97 - 12:36 PM (#12968)
Subject: Lyr Add: GOD DON'T LIKE IT (Blind Willie McTell)
From: Jon W.

Here's the lyrics of "God Don't Like It." This song is sung by an unidentified female vocalist accompanied by Blind Willie McTell on slide guitar and vocal harmony in the chorus. It is found on the Yazoo recording "Blind Willie McTell, 1929 - 1935(?)"

Some say they done took whiskey out, but you can have a little wine
Most everybody gets all a-drunk by drinking this old moonshine

Chorus (repeated after each verse):
Now God don't like it and I don't either (3x)
It's scandalous and a shame.

Some of our members gets all a-drunk just to speak their sober mind
And when they raise the devil, lawd, they put all the blame on shine

Some of our preachers just as bad as the members about this old moonshine
They try to make love with every woman they meet, testifying and drinking shine

Now some of our children are naked, and their mothers never go
But the father makes that money finally roll for the women where the shine is sold

Now they say this yellow corn makes the best kind of shine
They better turn that corn to grits and stop that making shine

I know you don't like this song, just because I speak my mind
But I'll sing this song just as much as I please because I don't drink shine

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23 Sep 97 - 03:01 PM (#12974)
Subject: Go to sea & the DT
From: Wkailey

The version of this song in the DT is highly similar to the Smithsonian recording, though there are a few minor variances.

The Calton Weaver (which I erroneously referred to as "Nancy Whiskey" above) is also in the DT.

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25 Sep 97 - 12:27 AM (#13109)
Subject: RE: straight & sober song circle
From: Barry

Catfeet, Wkailey's version is almost the same as one of Hugill's, he also has Jack Ratcliff (no d) & Jack Rack in another, & gives it an alt. title of Shanghai Brown.Doerflinger's has Ben Breezer asthe victim landing in Liverpool or San Francisco Barry

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25 Sep 97 - 12:56 PM (#13175)
Subject: RE: straight & sober song circle
From: leprechaun

Jon W.: I suppose you could interpret The Parting Glass that way, or he could just be dying from anything, as we all are. Bob Dylan did a version of The Parting Glass also. Another song referring to drinking, but maybe not in a disparaging manner, is Carrickfergus. Come to think of it, I should post that on the men's drinking song thread.

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26 Sep 97 - 11:04 AM (#13237)
Subject: RE: straight & sober song circle
From: Alice

Martin Ryan, Thank you, thank you for that translation of the chorus on The Juice of the Barley. I wanted to sing this with a group but held back because I couldn't be sure of the meaning, especially when the printed lyrics from the Clancy songbook had a phonetic version of the words rather than the real Gaelic spelling. Thanks. Alice in Montana

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26 Sep 97 - 02:07 PM (#13250)
Subject: Lyr Add: GOOD NIGHT, AND GOD BE WITH YOU ALL
From: Bruce

"The Parting Glass" was originally a Scots song. Two early texts of the song are given below. Variants of the tune "Good night and God/joy go wi' you a'" go back to copies in the Skene and Guthrie MSS of the 17th century, and the tune is in Playford's 'Original Scotch Tunes,' 1700. Several other copies of the tune were published in Scotland prior to that in 'The Scots Musical Museum'. [Mitchell, Highland Fair, 1731; Oswald, CPC bk4, c 1752; McGibbon, 1755; Bremner's McGibbon, c 1768]

From 'Scots Musical Museum', #600 (1803/4)

The night is my departing night,
The morn's the day I mun awa,
There's no a friend of fae o' mine,
But wishes that I were awa.
What I hae done for lack o' wit
I never never can rec.
I trust ye're a my friends as yet,
Gude night and joy be wi' you a'.

Earlier, c 1750, on a broadside (Roxburghe Ballads) we have:

Good Night, and God be with you all;
Or, The Neighbour's Farewell to his Friends.

Now come is my departing time,
And here I may no longer stay,
There is no kind comrade of mine
But will desire I were away,
But if that time will me permit,
Which from your Company doth call,
And me inforceth for to fit,
Good Night, and GOD be with you all.

For here I grant some time I spent
In loving kind good Company;
For all offences I repent,
And wishe them now forgiven to be;
What I have done, for want of wit,
To Memory I’le not recall:
I hope ye are my Friends as yet,
Good Night, and GOD be with you all.

Complementing I never lov'd,
Nor talkative much for to be,
And of speeches a multitude
Becomes no man of quality;
From Faith, Love, Peace, and Unity,
I wish none of us ever fall;
God grant us all prosperity:
Good Night, and GOD be with you all.

I wish that I might longer stay,
To enjoy your Society;
The Lord to bless you night and day,
And still be in your Company.
To vice nor to iniquity,
God grant none of you ever fall,
God's Blessing keep both you and me!
Good Night, and GOD be with you all.

The Friend's Reply.

Most loving friend, God be thy guide,
And never leave thy Company,
And all things needful thee provide,
And give thee all prosperity;
We'd rather had thy Company,
If thou would'st have stayed us among;
We wish thee much felicity:
God grant that nothing do thee wrong.

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26 Sep 97 - 03:06 PM (#13259)
Subject: Lyr Add: COCAINE BLUES
From: Whippoorwill

Here's one I learned... or half-learned... from an old railroader. I always knew it as the Cocaine Blues, but it's not listed that way in DT. I'm fuzzy on the last couple of verses, but I'm sure some of you will set me straight.

Late one night as I was makin' my rounds,
I took a shot of cocaine and I shot my woman down.
I went back home and I went to bed;
Stuck a loaded .44 beneath my head.

Got up next mornin' and I grabbed that gun,
I took a shot of cocaine and I started to run.
I made a good run but I ran too slow;
They overtook me down in Juarez, Mexico.

Sittin' in a hop joint, a-smokin' my pill,
When along comes a sheriff from Jericho Hill;
He says, "Willie Lee, your name is not Jack Brown,
And you're the dirty hop that shot your woman down."

"Yes, oh, yes, my name is Willie Lee,
And if you have a warrant, please serve it on me.
I shot her down 'cause she made me sore;
She said I was her daddy, but she had five more."

(Here's where Old-timer's Disease sets in. The next two lines are something about taking him to the county seat, followed by:)
I had no one to go my bail;
They threw my wore-out carcass in the county jail.

(Again the mind is gone, along with another two lines. Then:)
The judge said, "Murder in the first degree."
I cried, "Lordy, Lordy, have mercy on me."

(There may be, probably is, a final verse expounding a great moral lesson, but I couldn't swear to it. If anyone can fill in the blanks, I'd be grateful.)

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26 Sep 97 - 03:33 PM (#13264)
Subject: RE: straight & sober song circle
From: Bruce

Under "The Parting Glass" I overlooked a copy of the Scots song in D. Herd's 'Scottish Songs', II, 225, 1776. This commences:

O this is my departing time!
For her nae langer maun I stay:

The rest is almost identical to that in SMM #600.

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26 Sep 97 - 05:22 PM (#13269)
Subject: RE: straight & sober song circle
From: Nonie Rider

You know, none of us has mentioned the obvious "bad living" warning song: "The House of the Rising Sun."

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27 Sep 97 - 01:42 AM (#13308)
Subject: RE: straight & sober song circle
From: Tim Jaques [e-mail]

Jackson Browne did a version of Cocaine Blues.

As to God Don't Like It, if he didn't, then why did he turn water into wine at the Wedding of Cana (my favourite miracle)

Bruce, those are lovely lyrics to The Parting Glass, which I shall save.

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27 Sep 97 - 12:15 PM (#13329)
Subject: RE: straight & sober song circle
From: Alice

Bruce, thanks for those lyrics. A fine example of how the depth of meaning to lyrics is so evident as one traces back to the original composition. Alice in Montana

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30 Sep 97 - 11:36 AM (#13592)
Subject: RE: straight & sober song circle
From: Jon W.

Tsk Tsk, Tim.

The part God doesn't like (if I may be so bold) is illustrated in the 4th verse, repeated here so you don't have to scroll up:

Now some of our children are naked, and their mothers never go
But the father makes that money finally roll for the women where the shine is sold

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07 Mar 02 - 12:08 PM (#664254)
Subject: RE: straight & sober song circle
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)

Some wonderful songs in this old thread of 1997. Music for one posted by Jon W, "Have Courage, My Boy, To Say No!," is given in Cheney, T. E., Mormon Songs From The Rocky Mountains, 1968 (1981), p. 149. Although there are similarities, the tune differs from Streets of Laredo (Bard of Armagh).

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07 Mar 02 - 01:04 PM (#664302)
Subject: RE: straight & sober song circle
From: Ebbie

"My body's salivated"? Sounds like the folk process to me. Doesn't seem likely she's talking about drool. Anyone have an idea of what the word should be?

Ebbie

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07 Mar 02 - 02:12 PM (#664347)
Subject: RE: straight & sober song circle
From: Don Firth

On an evening in October, when I was far from sober
I was wending my way home in tipsy pride
When my knees began to flutter, so I sat down in the gutter
And a pig came up and lay down by my side.

Well, we talked about the weather, as friends do when they're together
When a lady passing by was heard to say,
"You can tell someone who boozes by the company he chooses."
And the pig got up and slowly walked away.

Don Firth

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07 Mar 02 - 02:55 PM (#664397)
Subject: RE: straight & sober song circle
From: Alice

gee, a flash back to 1997, to see this thread revived.

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07 Mar 02 - 03:00 PM (#664406)
Subject: RE: straight & sober song circle
From: MMario

time flys, doesn't it?

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07 Mar 02 - 03:18 PM (#664425)
Subject: RE: straight & sober song circle
From: Alice

yes, it flies, too. ;-)

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07 Mar 02 - 03:53 PM (#664469)
Subject: RE: straight & sober song circle
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)

The Bad Girl's Lament, in the Dt, has a different last verse than this one:

Oh send for the young sailors to carry my coffin
Oh send for a young man to sing me a song
Get four pretty maidens with a bunch of red roses
To place on my coffin as you carry me along.

Like the version in the DT, this is an Acadian-Cajun song, from this website: Bad Girl

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07 Mar 02 - 04:29 PM (#664514)
Subject: Lyr Add: LENA
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)

Alice? Wot means "salivated" in your original posting of Bad Girl? Here is one from American Memory. It had no title, so I have added "Lena."

LENA

Among the myriads of Gotham's fickle flappers,
Saucy in manner and in feminist ruses schooled,
Pursued each night by would-be trappers
To elude their profane grasp, and leave 'em fooled
Is little Lena Caffuzzi from Fordham
Who, seeing a man, runs toward him.

Yes, Lena she loves to lure 'em and leave 'em
All trembling with anger and passion intense;
She gets a huge thrill when she thus does deceive 'em
Notwithstanding there's one she'll someday incense
To the point where he'll grab her, and woe betide her!
She'll find, soon enough, a stirring inside her.

Then poor little Lena, lamenting her tricks
Will find herself caught in one heck of a fix,
And may her poor mother persuade to believe
That she was immaculate when she did so conceive.
But Mom will tell Pop, an excitable Wop,
Upon whom this version wil be a sad flop.

No, indeed, not her father, will the story mislead.
He'll know, for he's wise, that some beau did the deed,
And with a gun, and a knife, and a loud cry of rage,
He'll start out at once on a bloody rampage.
The while, the sad beau, discretely may soar
On a plane that will take him to a far distant shore.

So at last we see Lena in a squalid dark flat,
Alone, all alone, with her loud squalling brat.
While its daddy, still free with the boys "over there",
Has forgotten long since the maiden fair,
Poor, foolish, young Lena, who out for a lark,
Was pursued and subdued in New York's Central Park.

Supposedly written as a warning, by the brother-in-law of Mrs. Rose Ivanoff, about 1926. I found it by going to American Memory and typing in Bad Girl's Lament.

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07 Mar 02 - 08:34 PM (#664714)
Subject: RE: straight & sober song circle
From: Alice

As I wrote, " My source for this song is FOLK SONGS OF NORTH AMERICA by Alan Lomax...". Salivated is what was published - I don't know if it was mis-heard or misprinted or if it is correct. It was collected by Alan Lomax from Texas Gladden, Salem, Virginia, 1941. Maybe someone else can enlighten us on "salivated".

Alice

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08 Mar 02 - 12:01 PM (#665111)
Subject: RE: straight & sober song circle
From: Midchuck

Don't forget this. I was about to type it and ran a search and found it in several old threads:

'Twas a cold winter's evening, the guests were all leaving,
O'Leary was closing the bar,
When he turned and he said to the lady in red,
"Get out, you can't stay where you are."
She shed a sad tear in her bucket of beer
As she thought of the cold night ahead,
When a gentleman dapper stepped out of the (phone booth)
And these are the words that he said:

"Her mother never told her the things a young girl should know.
About the ways of college men, and how they come and go, (mostly....go).
Now age has taken her beauty, and sin has left its sad scar;
So remember your mothers and sisters, boys, and let her sleep under the bar."

Peter.

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08 Mar 02 - 12:20 PM (#665125)
Subject: RE: straight & sober song circle
From: Fibula Mattock

I thought a wee link to this thread BS: The PubWatch might be appropriate - no more lying in the gutter when you can be guided safely home by your watch after a night out on the beer.

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08 Mar 02 - 06:43 PM (#665428)
Subject: Lyr Add: PLEASE SELL NO MORE DRINK TO MY FATHER
From: Joe_F

Please Sell No More Drink to My Father

Please, sir, will you listen a moment?
I've something important to say.
My mother has sent you a message.
Receive it in kindness, I pray.
It's of father, poor father, I'm speaking.
You know him: he's called "Ragged Gore" [?].
But we love him and hope we may save him
If you promise to sell him no more.

Please sell no more drink to my father:
It makes him so strange and so wild!
Heed the prayer of my heartbroken mother,
And pity the poor drunkard's child.

My father came home yestereven,
Reeled home through the mud and the rain.
He upset the lamp on our table
And struck my sick mother again.
Then all through the hours till the morning
He lay on our cold kitchen floor,
And this morning he's sick and he's sorry:
Please promise to sell him no more.

When sober, he loves us so dearly --
No father is kinder than he.
He wishes so much to stop drinking,
But this is the trouble, you see:
He cannot resist the temptation
He feels when he passes your door
As he goes to his work in the morning.
Please promise to sell him no more.

-- On Elsa Lanchester, _Bawdy Cockney Songs_, Everest 2065

S.|m.m.m.m.r.d.|m.r........
d.|T.l.s.f.m.r.|m..........
S.|m.m.m.m.r.d.|m.r........
d.|T.l.s.f.L.T.|d..........
Td|r.s.s.s.4..l|m.r........
r.|r.l.l.l.s..l|t..........
Td|r.s.s.s.4..l|m.r........
r.|m.t.d

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08 Mar 02 - 07:42 PM (#665457)
Subject: RE: straight & sober song circle
From: Kenny B (inactive)

How about the two grand ould ladies of the drink, Dicey Reilly And Katy Dailly

DICEY REILLY

Katie Daly

--- Links fixed. ---
<a href="url here">clickable text here</a>
---Jeff (PA)---

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08 Mar 02 - 09:58 PM (#665506)
Subject: RE: straight & sober song circle
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)

Dicey Reilly (and other notable Reilly girls)- Type Reilly into Lyrics search.

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