Lyr Add: Eliza (Les Barker's parody of Delilah)

19 Jul 01 - 04:39 AM (#510190)
Subject: Eliza
From: Wolfgang

This song has been asked for in another thread, so here it is. Buy Les Barker songbooklets! This man is a great songwriter. His books are a constant source of enjoyment for me. (Of course, one might say that I can profit more from them than others since I am a nonnative speaker and often without a cue to the background. I laugh when I first read the songs, I laugh again, when I understand them, and I laugh a third time, often years later, when I finally get the double sense)

Wolfgang

ELIZA

(lyrics: Les Barker, tune: Delilah)

She went astray on the day that she bought a melodeon;
She has a flute, a bassoon, french horn and a trombone,
Two large bouzoukis,
Viola, euphonium and baritone saxophone.
My, my, my, Eliza,
Why, why, why, Eliza?
Our abode has everything beaten or blowed
And I go for long walks and Martin stays out on the road.

I said "Hello; what are these two cellos in your bedroom?"
She told me she's hoping they'll mate and they'll have violins;
She turned to Martin;
"Forgive me my father," she said, "for I have mandolins."
My, my, my, Eliza,
Why, why, why, Eliza?
I suppose she grows her own piccolos,
And she knows piccolos always get up Martin's nose.

At break of day, when the car drove away, she was playing,
Scales every day without fail fill the dales before dawn;
Eight great glissandos
And the Duelling Banjos, so we've packed our bags and we've gone*
My, my, my, Eliza,
Why, why, why, Eliza?
Mart and Norma moved out around half past four;
Forgive me, Eliza, but we don't live here any more.

Forgive me, Eliza, but we don't live here any more.

*the booklet here prints 'gorn'. My guess is it is a typo, but maybe 'gorn' makes sense to somebody else.

The persons in this song:
Eliza (Carthy, daughter)
Martin (Carthy, father)
Norma (Waterson, mother)

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19 Jul 01 - 10:25 AM (#510228)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Eliza
From: Noreen

'Gorn' is another way of pronouncing 'gone', Wolfgang, so it was not a typo- it rhymes better!

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19 Jul 01 - 10:36 AM (#510249)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Eliza
From: Jeri

Noreen, how do you pronounce "dawn?"

Thanks, Wolfgang.

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19 Jul 01 - 10:41 AM (#510253)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Eliza
From: GeorgeH

To rhyne with "Lawn". Or almost with "Porn".

G.

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19 Jul 01 - 12:54 PM (#510392)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Eliza
From: Noreen

Good point, Jeri- I'm trying to think of all possible ways of pronouncing 'dawn' now...!

The way I pronounce dawn it rhymes with gorn, and in most English accents this would be the case- though some accents would make more of the 'r' sound in gorn, which is what I imagine George means.

Wasn't it the bumbling policeman in Enid Blyton's Secret Seven or Famous Five books who would say that someone had 'gorn orf'?

I meant to say, when I posted earlier in a hurry, thank you to Wolfgang for posting Eliza. I printed it out straight away and enjoyed singing it to myself in the car.

Noreen

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19 Jul 01 - 01:38 PM (#510473)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Eliza
From: GUEST,Ed Pellow

and sorry for crap html...

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19 Jul 01 - 04:05 PM (#510666)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Eliza
From: GUEST

Little Boy Blue, come blow your horn,
The sheep's in the meadow, the cow's in the corn
Eliza's accordion is greeting the dawn
No wonder her parents have packed up and gorn

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20 Jul 01 - 04:12 AM (#511049)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Eliza
From: Wolfgang

Thanks for the thanks.
Ed, I don't think there is any print date information in Les Barker's booklets but if there is, you'll read it.

The 'gorn' discussion reminds me of a branch of linguistics(?) in which they try to test theories about pronounciation in timeslong past by looking at the rhymes.

Our great Goethe who was in general a master of rhymes but has some awful rhymes in his oevre which are only understandable if you know that he comes from Frankfurt and how they pronounce the 'g'.

Wolfgang

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20 Jul 01 - 05:03 AM (#511061)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Eliza
From: English Jon

I've got a house like that.

EJ

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