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Lyr ADD: Shooting of Dan McGrew (Robert W Service)

11 Nov 01 - 06:46 AM (#590177)
Subject: the shooting of dan mcgrew
From: GUEST

find please

11 Nov 01 - 07:01 AM (#590181)
Subject: RE: the shooting of dan mcgrew
From: Dave the Gnome

Poem. Robert Service. Try Google. Your welcome.

11 Nov 01 - 07:26 AM (#590193)
Subject: RE: the shooting of dan mcgrew
From: GUEST,MCP

It's been discussed and posted on the forum. Do a forum search for 'Dan McGrew'. In particular the words are in this message

Mick

11 Nov 01 - 10:59 AM (#590242)
Subject: RE: the shooting of dan mcgrew
From: GUEST,_gargoyle

Thanks for the link to the old thread

In partial answer to my own question found there.

The song was done by Guy Lombardo
In defferenance to Dave the Gnome, and the Katterwailing Kitty The lyrics are different than the poem by Service, but the story line is the same.

A bunch of the boys were whooping it up at the Malamut Cafe
The kid that handles the music box was hitting a tune that was gay

Picked it up on the old Napster system. Ripped a single-song disk for a friend and then discarded it since it wasn't trad. If he is at today's gathering I will post more, since it is also inside his head

11 Nov 01 - 11:13 AM (#590245)
Subject: RE: the shooting of dan mcgrew
From: GUEST,_gargoyle

Currently, the song is being shared by three different servers on MORPHEUS

11 Nov 01 - 12:06 PM (#590262)
Subject: Lyr Add: DANGEROUS DAN MCGREW (A Kramer, J Whitney
From: GUEST,.gargoyle

Not as good as the old Napster, but Morpheus and Kazaa are excellent sources for MP3 collections that are out of print. The simple, lilting, piano tune is easy to pick out.

[You can hear the recording, and see an image of the record label, at The Internet Archive--a Mudelf.]

DANGEROUS DAN McGREW
As recorded by Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians, with vocalist Kenny Gardner, 1949.

A bunch o' the boys were whoopin' it up at the Malamute Café,
And the ragtime kid at the music box was a-jazzin' a tune that was gay,
And back of the bar in a poker game sat a man that ev'ryone knew:
He was grim and cold; he was bad 'n' bold; he was Dangerous Dan McGrew.

And while Dangerous Dan was a-playin' his hand and keepin' his mind on his game,
You could see standin' by, with a gleam in her eye and her hair just as red as a flame,
A gal who was tall, with a face like a doll, and her fingernails painted blue:
A gal who was tall, with a face like a doll: the lady that's known as Lou.

When out of the night, which was fifty below, and into the din and the glare,
A man staggered in who was haggard and thin, and his face was filled with despair.
Now he looked all around until he had found the lady that's known as Lou,
And then the stranger turned and his eyes they burned on Dangerous Dan McGrew.

Then suddenly, wham! all the lights went out, and a voice cried: "Die you must!"
And then a woman screamed, and a shot rang out, and somebody bit the dust;
And then the lights flashed on, and the Northwest Mounted police came a-crashin' through.
They drew their guns and they said: "Which one is Dangerous Dan McGrew?"

And then somebody said: "Ooh! they're so big!" and skipped across the floor,
A one-two skip, hand on hip, right out through the open door.
Now was it the stranger a-takin' his leave, or the lady that's known as Lou?
It was nobody else in this whole wide world but Dangerous Dan McGrew.

11 Nov 01 - 12:28 PM (#590270)
Subject: RE: the shooting of dan mcgrew
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)

Phee-yu, Phew and Poo. Both Service and McGrew are twirling in their graves. The Lady is upchucking.

11 Nov 01 - 03:03 PM (#590329)
Subject: RE: the shooting of dan mcgrew
From: SINSULL

I remember playing this LP to death as a child and acting it out with my cousin. Neat memories. Thank you, all.

28 Jan 04 - 06:52 PM (#1103835)
Subject: RE: song lyrics: the shooting of dan mcgrew
From: GUEST,artl@lincsat.com

A bunch of the boys were whooping it up in one of them Yukon halls,
And the boy that played the music box was placidly scratching his balls,
When out of the night as dark as a bitch, and into the din and the mob,
There stumbled a stranger fresh up from the crick with a rusty old load in his knob.

His pants were split and covered with shit and his balls they swung to and fro.

I can't remember the rest of it but would like to see it.

28 Jan 04 - 07:10 PM (#1103851)
Subject: RE: song lyrics: the shooting of dan mcgrew
From: Gareth

Click on this Click 'Ere for a comprehensive collection of the Service poems.

Now a question I will ask. Having sung/recited that seminal poem "The Ballad of Eskimo Nell", at many a Rugby Club or similar night, did Service write "Eskimo Nell".

Serious replys please !

Gareth

When a man growes old,
And his b**ls grow cold,
And the tip of his C**k turns blue,
When it bends in the middle
Like a one string fiddle.
He can tell you a tale or two."

Eskimo Nell thread here (click).

28 Jan 04 - 08:16 PM (#1103899)
Subject: RE: song lyrics: the shooting of dan mcgrew
From: mack/misophist

It always amused me that Service made a mint with his poems and retired to the Riviera.

28 Jan 04 - 09:02 PM (#1103926)
Subject: RE: song lyrics: the shooting of dan mcgrew
From: GUEST,Jim Ward

Here's the Billy Bennett version-

A bunch of the boys were whooping it up
In the Malamute Saloon;
An American guy from Peckham Rye
Was playing a ragtime tune.

And back of the bar, in a poker game,
Sits dangerous Dan McGrew;
Watching his luck is his lady love,
The lady that's known as "Loo"

Now Dangerous Dan was a dirty old man,
And he worked underground all alone-
Digging for dope, scrounging for soap,
Pumping for Eau-de-Cologne.

He claimed to be Mother Seigel's son
Vouch for that statement I can't,
But I think he was born on a liner
Whilst travelling abroad with his aunt.

Now Dan was a gink that could mop any drink
From laudanum to unsweetened gin;
You can tell he was tough, he'd eat salmon and stuff
Without even opening the tin.

Just picture a real tough son of a gun,
A man that could fight any two,
With hair on his chest where the birds used to nest,
And that's dangerous Dan McGrew.

Out in the snow it was fifty below
And would give a brass monkey the croup,
When in came a stranger, dismounted, on foot,
Disguised as a slice of pea soup.

He looked like a man with one foot in the grave,
You could see at a glance he was queer,
For he made a rude noise with the back of his neck,
And bubbles came out of his ear.

In a football shirt that was glazed with dirt
He looked strange in his evening dress clothes;
Icicles hung from his eybrows,
And bicycles hung from his nose.

"Who is this man?" said Dangerous Dan,
And Loo with a voice like a crow
Said: "I know the stiff, it's Buffalo Biff,
And he's running a Wild West show."

At the cocoanut shies, Dan McGrew shut his eyes,
He picked up a ball made of lead,
He let fly at a nut, but it bounced in a rut
And hit a bald man's nut instead.

The cannon ball bounced off the bald fellow's nut
And bang went a parrafin lamp,
Set fire to the bearded lady's moustache
And up went the whole of the camp.

In less than a second, or longer than that,
Pandemonium started to reign:
The skeleton slipped up the elephant's trunk,
And the fat lady slipped down a drain.

Dan McGrew fired a shot at a wild leopard's spot
(I couldn't say which spot he chose):
It bounced back on his chest, his braces went west
And down came his how-do-you-do's.

The girl with tattoos had a fit of the blues,
For they'd scorched all the paint off her chest;
A man with a hose started pinching her clothes,
Singing ''Everything's done for the best."

There were Esquimaux, half a mo's, Ikey mo's, too,
Greek freaks and pip-squeaks as well;
Chinese, and knock-knees, and buzza-bazooks,
That only a mother could tell.

White men and black, with no shirts to their back,
That morning looked tattered and torn;
One poor little Hindu, he just made his skin do
The same as the day he was born.

With a heart like a rock, And a boot full of sock,
Buffalo Biff started off with his crew;
Though the journey's a big'un, they all walked to Wigan
Through the shooting of Dan McGrew

29 Jan 04 - 11:57 AM (#1104379)
Subject: RE: song lyrics: the shooting of dan mcgrew
From: Dead Horse

This site has several of his monologues
http://www.monologues.co.uk/

17 Jan 11 - 04:20 PM (#3076646)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shooting of Dan McGrew (Robert W Service)
From: GUEST,CLW

RE: Meaning of "spread misere"

http://certusgames.com/rules.php?game=180

The above link explains the rules of Whist, a common cardgame. In the poem, Dangerous Dan McGrew was playing a solo game. Spread misere is a type of bid in Whist, where the bidder plays solo and must complete the play with all cards face up on the table after the first trick has been taken - with the object of a spread misere, to take NO tricks. Failure of the bid is costly in points but the most lucrative of bids for those who succeed.

I believe Dangerous Dan's declaration of the bid during a quiet part of the piano playing, brought him to the attention of the stranger. Dan was recognized as someone who had done the stranger grievous injury and the exchange of bullets left both of them dead.

The poem does not match the lyrics I've seen posted here.

17 Jan 11 - 04:41 PM (#3076656)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shooting of Dan McGrew (Robert W Service)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)

Yep, the lyrics posted here are pretty bad.

22 Jan 11 - 05:05 PM (#3080270)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shooting of Dan McGrew (Robert W Service)
From: Jim Dixon

You can see the original text of THE SHOOTING OF DAN McGREW in The Spell of the Yukon, and Other Verses by Robert W. Service (New York: Barse & Hopkins, 1907), page 55.

There is also a copy in the DT (see the link at the top of the page).

I haven't done a thorough and detailed comparison, but I think those words are pretty close to the original.

23 Jan 11 - 06:24 AM (#3080523)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shooting of Dan McGrew (Robert W Service)
From: JHW

Robert W. Service wrote much more than this; a 'complete works' of two thick volumes of bible thin pages. Well worth a look.

23 Jan 11 - 12:19 PM (#3080719)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shooting of Dan McGrew (Robert W Service)
From: puck

ALL who may care to hear the difinitive version should hurry to Llantrisaint Folk Club on a singer's night, and listen to our resident 'Robert Service' specialist 'GWYN' performing, entirely from memory and with full animation, many of R.S's poems - and this one in particular.
He is world class!
P

23 Jan 11 - 12:21 PM (#3080723)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shooting of Dan McGrew (Robert W Service)
From: puck

'the difinitive version'
....or even definitive!
P

01 Jan 17 - 12:56 PM (#3829854)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Shooting of Dan McGrew (Robert W Service)
From: GUEST,Lighter

Here is the truly definitive performance - as recited by the author, Robert W. Service.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zESPCjTN-6k

17 Mar 23 - 10:04 AM (#4167807)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: My Mate (Robt. W. Service)
From: Lighter

Hear RWS read his most famous poem:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zESPCjTN-6k