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Lecture (Singing) 3a: Supplement of Song Lyrics to:
TALL TALES IN SONGS AND LEGENDS
Adam Blatner
February 10, 2014 for
Lectures for Senior University Georgetown (supplement
to talk on Tall Tales)
I WAS BORN ABOUT TEN
THOUSAND YEARS AGO
I was born ten thousand years ago,
And there's nothing in this world that I don't know!
I saw Peter, Paul, and Moses playing ring around the roses---
And I'll whup the guy what says it isn't so!
(To be sung in counterpoint by another singer who is trying to out-brag the first guy:)
2. I'm just a lonesome traveler, a Great Historical Bum---highly educated, from history I have come.
I built the Rock of Ages, 'twas in the Year of One, and that's about the biggest thing that man has ever done.
1. I saw Satan when he looked the Garden o'er; I saw Adam and Eve driven from the door;
And from behind the bushes peepin', I saw the apple they was eatin',
And I’ll swear I was the guy what ate the core!
2. Garden of Eden?
Well, I built the Garden of Eden, that was the year of two!
Joined the apple pickers union, and I always paid my dues;
I'm the man that got the contract to raise the rising sun,
and that's about the biggest thing that man has ever done!
1. I taught Samson how to use his mighty hands, I first showed Columbus these happy lands.
An' for Pharoah's little kiddies, I built all the Pyramiddies, and to Sahara carried all the sands.
2. Pyramids?
I was straw boss on the Pyramids, the Tower of Babel, too; I opened up the ocean, let the migrant children through,
I fought me a million battles and I never lost a one, and that's about the biggest thing that man has ever done.
1. I was present at the battle of the Nile; the arrows were flyin; thick and fast and wild!
And when David with his sling popped Goliath on the wing, I was lyin’ at the bottom of the pile.
2. I beat the daring Roman, I beat the daring Turk, defeated Nero's army with thirty minutes work,
I fought the greatest leaders and I licked them everyone, and that's about the biggest thing that man has ever done.
1. Queen Elizabeth, she fell in love with me; We were married in Milwaukee secretly
But I got tired of her shook her and went off with General Hooker, a-fightin skeeters down in Tenessee
2. I was in the Revolution when we set the country free. Me and a couple of Indians that dumped the Boston tea;
We won the battle at Valley Forge, the battle of Bully Run; and that's about the biggest thing that man has ever done.
Repeat the first two verses both singing in counterpoint.
LOGGER LOVER
I went out one evening, ‘twas in a small hotel. A forty year old waitress to me this tale did tell:
I see that you are a logger, and not just a common bum; 'cause nobody but a logger stirs his coffee with his thumb.
My lover, he was a logger. There’s none like him today. If you poured coffee on it, he would eat a bale of hay.
And he never shaved his whiskers from off his horny ol hide. He just drove them in with a hammer and bit them off inside.
My lover came to see me, ‘twas on a wintry day. He held me in a fond embrace that broke three vertebrae.
And he kissed me when we parted, so hard it broke my jaw. I could not speak to tell him he forgot his Mackinaw (jacket).
I saw my lover leavin,’ saunterin’ through the snow, goin’ gaily homeward at forty-eight below.
The weather it tried to freeze him, it tried its level best. At a hundred degrees below zero, he buttoned up his vest.
It froze clear down to China, it froze to the stars above! At a thousand degrees below zero, it froze my logger love.
Although they tried to thaw him, alas, he would not stir: So they made ax-blades from him, to chop the Douglas Fir.
And that’s how I lost my lover, and to this café I come. And here I wait until someone (wink) stirs his coffee with his thumb.
- - -
OLE-ANNA
(This is a satirical folk song based on the mid-19th century immigration efforts of land speculators in America, working in Scandinavia. These people were known to have exaggerated their descriptions of the "promised land," more than a little a bit. Ole is the name of the fellow who set up this tract of land in I think Western Pennsylvania. The song was given English lyrics by the mid-20th century folk singer, Pete Seeger, shown at right::)
(Chorus:)
Ole- Ole- anna, Ole- Ole- anna, Ole- Ole-, Ole- Ole- Ole- Ole-anna!
Oh to be in Oleanna, that's where I would rather be, than be bound in Norway, and wear the chains of slavery.
(Chorus)
In Oleanna, land is free. The corn and the wheat just plant themselves. Then grow a good four feet a day while on your back you rest yourself.
(Chorus)
Beer as sweet as Muncheneer springs to the ground and flows away! The cows all like to milk themselves, and the hens lay eggs ten times a day!
(Chorus)
Little roasted piggies run about the city streets, inquiring so politely if a slice of ham you'd like to eat.
(Chorus)
The trees and shrubs grow by themselves, there really is no need for rain. It only rains at banquet time: Instead of water, pure champagne!
(Chorus)
(* In the mid-late 1950s folk singing was popular, on television, on records, and in colleges. So this verse was added by some:
In Oleanna there's no homework, on all your midterms you get A's; and pretty girls all call you up and ask you out ten times a day.)
(Chorus)
So if you'd begin to live, to Oleanna you must go: The poorest wretch in Norway can become a king in a year or so!
(Chorus)
JOHN HENRY
Some folk tales evolved into songs, the better to communicate the drama:
When John Henry was a little baby, sittin on his momma’s knee
He picked up a hammer an’ a little piece of steel, said “Hammer’s gonna be the death of me,
Lord, Lord; Hammer’s gonna be the death of me!
John Henry was a little baby, sittin’ on his daddy’s knee.
Said the Big Bend Tunnel on the C & O Line, that’s gonna be the death of me, Lord God,
That’s gonna be the death of me!
John Henry had a little woman, her name was Polly Ann.
John Henry took sick and he had to go to bed: Polly Ann drove steel like a man,
Lord, Lord. Polly Ann drove steel like a man.
Cap’n said to John Henry, "I’m gonna bring me a steam drill ‘round.
Gonna take that steam drill out on the job, gonna whop that steel on down, Lord God!
Gonna whop that steel on down."
John Henry said to his cap’n: “Lord, a man ain’t nothin’ but a man.
But before I’ll let that steam drill beat me down, I’ll die with the hammer in my hand,
Lord, Lord! I’ll die with a hammer in my hand."
John Henry called to his shaker, “Oh shaker, why don’t you sing?
I’m swingin’ forty pounds from my hips on down! Jes’ listen to that cold steel ring!
Lord God! Listen to that cold steel ring!"
Cap’n called out to John Henry, “I do believe this mountain’s sinkin’ in ! "
John Henry called to his cap’n, “No, Man, that’s jes’ my hammer suckin’ wind, Lord Lord,
Jes’ my hammer suckin wind ! ”
John Henry called to his shaker, "Shaker, you better pray!
‘Cause if’n I miss this six-foot piece of steel, tomorrow’ll be your burying day, Lord, Lord,
Tomorrow’ll be your buryin’ day!”.
John Henry calls out to his cap’n. “Looky yonder what I see!
Your steam drill’s broke, your hole done choke! You can’t drive steel like me, Lord God!
You can’t drive steel like me!”
The man that invented the steam drill—he thought he was mighty fine.
But John Henry made his fourteen feet, steam drill made only nine, Lord, Lord,
Steam drill made only nine.
John Henry was hammerin’ on the mountain, His hammer was strikin’ fire.
He hammered so hard, he broke his poor heart, and he laid down his hammer and he died, Lord God, He laid down his hammer and he died.
They carried John Henry to the buryin’ ground, and they laid him in the sand. And every locomotive comes a-roarin’ by says,
“There lies a steel-drivin' man, Lord God, there lies a steel drivin’ man.”
Some Songs
You ask how I know all this? Well I am a lot older than I look. I take magic potion brewed up by a special alternative medicine practitioner---but back in my time we called in magic old ladies. My friend the witch doctor told me what to say.... So actually I'm ten thousand years old!
Yeah! I was born about ten thousand years ago! There ain't nothin' in this world that I don't know!
I saw Peter, Paul and Moses playin' ring-around-the-roses, and I'll whup the guy what says it isn't so!
This little song goes on for many versus, and shows several features of some tall stories.
It is not precisely veracious, a made up word, made to sound all smarty pants and college-like,
because Moses did his thing over a thousand years before Peter and Paul, and anyway, Peter probably never met Paul, but don't matter..
And it's braggin'--that is a characteristic of the bold old-timers. They could enjoy a good brash brag. Being all deferential and modest was for pussy-cats.
And it was fun for the audience, seeing someone brag, when they had been whupped for squeakin' in school.
School days, school days, were actually pretty boring, and the experience was peppered by torture. Nowadays a whippin with a hick'ry stick would be called child abuse and none of your kids---and probably not you---would stand it if some teacher would hit your kid, much less with a stick, much less several times. But in our own time whether or not to spank a kid has been a live issue---even with a paddle. We've come a long way and aren't there yet.
Lots of songs were tall tales in verse and melody.
sss
 |
I was born ten thousand years ago,
And there's nothing in this world that I don't know!
I saw Peter, Paul, and Moses playing ring around the roses---
And I'll whup the guy what says it isn't so!
(To be sung in counterpoint by another singer who is trying to out-brag the first guy:)
2. I'm just a lonesome traveler, a Great Historical Bum---highly educated, from history I have come.
I built the Rock of Ages, 'twas in the Year of One, and that's about the biggest thing that man has ever done.
1. I saw Satan when he looked the Garden o'er; I saw Adam and Eve driven from the door;
And from behind the bushes peepin', I saw the apple they was eatin',
And I’ll swear I was the guy what ate the core!
2. Garden of Eden?
Well, I built the Garden of Eden, that was the year of two!
Joined the apple pickers union, and I always paid my dues;
I'm the man that got the contract to raise the rising sun,
and that's about the biggest thing that man has ever done!
1. I taught Samson how to use his mighty hands, I first showed Columbus these happy lands.
An' for Pharoah's little kiddies, I built all the Pyramiddies, and to Sahara carried all the sands.
2. Pyramids?
I was straw boss on the Pyramids, the Tower of Babel, too; I opened up the ocean, let the migrant children through,
I fought me a million battles and I never lost a one, and that's about the biggest thing that man has ever done.
1. I was present at the battle of the Nile; the arrows were flyin; thick and fast and wild!
And when David with his sling popped Goliath on the wing, I was lyin’ at the bottom of the pile.
2. I beat the daring Roman, I beat the daring Turk, defeated Nero's army with thirty minutes work,
I fought the greatest leaders and I licked them everyone, and that's about the biggest thing that man has ever done.
1. Queen Elizabeth, she fell in love with me; We were married in Milwaukee secretly
But I got tired of her shook her and went off with General Hooker, a-fightin skeeters down in Tenessee
2. I was in the Revolution when we set the country free. Me and a couple of Indians that dumped the Boston tea;
We won the battle at Valley Forge, the battle of Bully Run; and that's about the biggest thing that man has ever done.
Repeat the first two verses both singing in counterpoint.
LOGGER LOVER
I went out one evening, ‘twas in a small hotel. A forty year old waitress to me this tale did tell:
I see that you are a logger, and not just a common bum; 'cause nobody but a logger stirs his coffee with his thumb.
My lover, he was a logger. There’s none like him today. If you poured coffee on it, he would eat a bale of hay.
And he never shaved his whiskers from off his horny ol hide. He just drove them in with a hammer and bit them off inside.
My lover came to see me, ‘twas on a wintry day. He held me in a fond embrace that broke three vertebrae.
And he kissed me when we parted, so hard it broke my jaw. I could not speak to tell him he forgot his Mackinaw (jacket).
I saw my lover leavin,’ saunterin’ through the snow, goin’ gaily homeward at forty-eight below.
The weather it tried to freeze him, it tried its level best. At a hundred degrees below zero, he buttoned up his vest.
It froze clear down to China, it froze to the stars above! At a thousand degrees below zero, it froze my logger love.
Although they tried to thaw him, alas, he would not stir: So they made ax-blades from him, to chop the Douglas Fir.
And that’s how I lost my lover, and to this café I come. And here I wait until someone (wink) stirs his coffee with his thumb.
- - -
OLE-ANNA
(This is a satirical folk song based on the mid-19th century immigration efforts of land speculators in America, working in Scandinavia. These people were known to have exaggerated their descriptions of the "promised land," more than a little a bit. Ole is the name of the fellow who set up this tract of land in I think Western Pennsylvania. The song was given English lyrics by the mid-20th century folk singer, Pete Seeger, shown at right::)
(Chorus:)
Ole- Ole- anna, Ole- Ole- anna, Ole- Ole-, Ole- Ole- Ole- Ole-anna!
Oh to be in Oleanna, that's where I would rather be, than be bound in Norway, and wear the chains of slavery.
(Chorus)
In Oleanna, land is free. The corn and the wheat just plant themselves. Then grow a good four feet a day while on your back you rest yourself.
(Chorus)
Beer as sweet as Muncheneer springs to the ground and flows away! The cows all like to milk themselves, and the hens lay eggs ten times a day!
(Chorus)
Little roasted piggies run about the city streets, inquiring so politely if a slice of ham you'd like to eat.
(Chorus)
The trees and shrubs grow by themselves, there really is no need for rain. It only rains at banquet time: Instead of water, pure champagne!
(Chorus)
(* In the mid-late 1950s folk singing was popular, on television, on records, and in colleges. So this verse was added by some:
In Oleanna there's no homework, on all your midterms you get A's; and pretty girls all call you up and ask you out ten times a day.)
(Chorus)
So if you'd begin to live, to Oleanna you must go: The poorest wretch in Norway can become a king in a year or so!
(Chorus)
JOHN HENRY
Some folk tales evolved into songs, the better to communicate the drama:
When John Henry was a little baby, sittin on his momma’s knee
He picked up a hammer an’ a little piece of steel, said “Hammer’s gonna be the death of me,
 |
John Henry was a little baby, sittin’ on his daddy’s knee.
Said the Big Bend Tunnel on the C & O Line, that’s gonna be the death of me, Lord God,
That’s gonna be the death of me!
John Henry had a little woman, her name was Polly Ann.
John Henry took sick and he had to go to bed: Polly Ann drove steel like a man,
Lord, Lord. Polly Ann drove steel like a man.
Cap’n said to John Henry, "I’m gonna bring me a steam drill ‘round.
Gonna take that steam drill out on the job, gonna whop that steel on down, Lord God!
Gonna whop that steel on down."
John Henry said to his cap’n: “Lord, a man ain’t nothin’ but a man.
But before I’ll let that steam drill beat me down, I’ll die with the hammer in my hand,
Lord, Lord! I’ll die with a hammer in my hand."
John Henry called to his shaker, “Oh shaker, why don’t you sing?
I’m swingin’ forty pounds from my hips on down! Jes’ listen to that cold steel ring!
Lord God! Listen to that cold steel ring!"
Cap’n called out to John Henry, “I do believe this mountain’s sinkin’ in ! "
John Henry called to his cap’n, “No, Man, that’s jes’ my hammer suckin’ wind, Lord Lord,
Jes’ my hammer suckin wind ! ”
John Henry called to his shaker, "Shaker, you better pray!
‘Cause if’n I miss this six-foot piece of steel, tomorrow’ll be your burying day, Lord, Lord,
Tomorrow’ll be your buryin’ day!”.
John Henry calls out to his cap’n. “Looky yonder what I see!
Your steam drill’s broke, your hole done choke! You can’t drive steel like me, Lord God!
You can’t drive steel like me!”
The man that invented the steam drill—he thought he was mighty fine.
But John Henry made his fourteen feet, steam drill made only nine, Lord, Lord,
Steam drill made only nine.
John Henry was hammerin’ on the mountain, His hammer was strikin’ fire.
He hammered so hard, he broke his poor heart, and he laid down his hammer and he died, Lord God, He laid down his hammer and he died.
They carried John Henry to the buryin’ ground, and they laid him in the sand. And every locomotive comes a-roarin’ by says,
“There lies a steel-drivin' man, Lord God, there lies a steel drivin’ man.”
Some Songs
You ask how I know all this? Well I am a lot older than I look. I take magic potion brewed up by a special alternative medicine practitioner---but back in my time we called in magic old ladies. My friend the witch doctor told me what to say.... So actually I'm ten thousand years old!
Yeah! I was born about ten thousand years ago! There ain't nothin' in this world that I don't know!
I saw Peter, Paul and Moses playin' ring-around-the-roses, and I'll whup the guy what says it isn't so!
This little song goes on for many versus, and shows several features of some tall stories.
It is not precisely veracious, a made up word, made to sound all smarty pants and college-like,
because Moses did his thing over a thousand years before Peter and Paul, and anyway, Peter probably never met Paul, but don't matter..
And it's braggin'--that is a characteristic of the bold old-timers. They could enjoy a good brash brag. Being all deferential and modest was for pussy-cats.
And it was fun for the audience, seeing someone brag, when they had been whupped for squeakin' in school.
School days, school days, were actually pretty boring, and the experience was peppered by torture. Nowadays a whippin with a hick'ry stick would be called child abuse and none of your kids---and probably not you---would stand it if some teacher would hit your kid, much less with a stick, much less several times. But in our own time whether or not to spank a kid has been a live issue---even with a paddle. We've come a long way and aren't there yet.
Lots of songs were tall tales in verse and melody.
sss