Help! With old song lyrics!

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Maybe, could it be?:

How 'Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down on the Farm
(After They've Seen Paree)


Reuben, Reuben, I've been thinking
Said his wifey dear
Now that all is peaceful and calm
The boys will soon be back on the farm
Mister Reuben started winking and slowly rubbed his chin
He pulled his chair up close to mother
And he asked her with a grin


Chorus (sung twice after each verse):
How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm
After they've seen Paree'
How ya gonna keep 'em away from Broadway
Jazzin around and paintin' the town
How ya gonna keep 'em away from harm, that's a mystery
They'll never want to see a rake or plow
And who the deuce can parleyvous a cow?
How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm
After they've seen Paree'


Rueben, Rueben, you're mistaken
Said his wifey dear
Once a farmer, always a jay
And farmers always stick to the hay
Mother Reuben, I'm not fakin
Tho you may think it strange
But wine and women play the mischief
With a boy who's loose with change


Chorus (sung twice after each verse):
How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm
After they've seen Paree'
How ya gonna keep 'em away from Broadway
Jazzin around and paintin' the town
How ya gonna keep 'em away from harm, that's a mystery
Imagine Reuben when he meets his Pa
He'll kiss his cheek and holler "OO-LA-LA!
How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm
After they've seen Paree'

 
I'm not sure - all that I can remember is


'Ruben, Ruben, I've been thinking,
What a great world this would be........'

Can't get any further than that.
 


Reuben and Rachel
(Version 2)


Written By: Unknown
Copyright Unknown

(This version is sung as a canon.
The girls start, and the boys come in after one measure.)

[size=+1]Girls:
Reuben, Reuben, I've been thinking
What a strange world this would be
If the men were all transported
Far across the northern sea.

Reuben, Reuben, I've been thinking
Life would be so easy then
What a lovely world this would be
If there were no tiresome men.

Reuben, Reuben, I've been thinking
If we went beyond the seas
All the men would follow after
Like a swarm of honey bees.

Boys:
Rachel, Rachel, I've been thinking
What a strange world this would be
If the girls were all transported
Far across the northern sea.

Rachel, Rachel, I've been thinking
Life would be so easy then
What a lovely world this would be
If you'd leave it to the men.

Rachel, Rachel, I've been thinking
If we went beyond the seas
All the girls would follow after
Like a swarm of honey bees.
[/size]
 
:w00t2: :winkiss: :clap: CALLIE! THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH!

Okay, now I'll tell why I needed the lyrics. DH is a morning radio guy on a local station here. One of his many talents is doing 'song parody' for local and sometimes national events. Well. We have a police chief here who's quite a character; name's Ruben Greenberg; been in the position forEVER; lately he's been having a few problems; just recently ran into a lady with his car, then blasted her for being in his way, lol. He's been given a 2-week suspension to get medical exams.:ermm:

Well, you can see the topic is rife with the opportunity to parody him; I immediately thought of that song, but all I could remember were the first lines.

TY so much!
 
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As they say "Thanks for the memories..." We use to sing that at Girl Scout camp about a hundred years ago........

Well, in the early "40":cool:
 
Callie's are the ones I grew up on!!! By the way, if any of you know of a source for a CD of these kind of folk songs (not protest songs from other eras --- Don't get me wrong, I have a collection of them, but am looking for pioneer type folk music), let me know.

How about There's a hole in the bucket??? THere's another song sitting at the back of my mind and I can't make it come out. I love these old songs, and even my family doesn't know them (where in the hades did I learn therm?) because Mom & Dad French-Canadian. Must have learned them at school. I love both, and have tapes of the old Canuck songs. But the English/American ones are being lost, too. I'm lousy at music, but love to hear it, so anyone who knows some good old lyrics, chime in here!!
 
I agree, Claire. There's some great old songs out there that are being lost. Mitch Miller (remember the bouncing ball?) and Burl Ives had albums with many, many of the oldies but goodies. A search on Amazon or Google might bring some results.

17.gif
 
A nice collection of old songs is Jerry Garcia and David Grismans "Not just for Kids". I have a lot of bluegrass records but these songs are more folky.

I began to read this thred because of the song Rueben. I remembered it as "Rueben Rueben I been thinkin', what the heck have we been drinkin'. Tastes like whiskey, smells like rye..........Then my memerory fails.

Anyway, check out the album.

Bryan
 
I don't remember "There's a hole in the bucket", but I do remember "There's a hole in the bottom of the Sea"

There's a hole, there's a hole, there's a hole in the bottom of the sea
Repeat above
Repeat again

(Then a chorus using each item one at the time)

There's a fly on a wart and a wart on a frog and a frog on a knot and a knot on a log and a log in a hole in the bottom of the sea
Repeat twice

I don't really know why I remember the words to this.
 
Maybe, could it be?:

How 'Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down on the Farm
(After They've Seen Paree)

Reuben, Reuben, I've been thinking
Said his wifey dear
Now that all is peaceful and calm
The boys will soon be back on the farm
Mister Reuben started winking and slowly rubbed his chin
He pulled his chair up close to mother
And he asked her with a grin

Chorus (sung twice after each verse):
How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm
After they've seen Paree'
How ya gonna keep 'em away from Broadway
Jazzin around and paintin' the town
How ya gonna keep 'em away from harm, that's a mystery
They'll never want to see a rake or plow
And who the deuce can parleyvous a cow?
How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm
After they've seen Paree'

Rueben, Rueben, you're mistaken
Said his wifey dear
Once a farmer, always a jay
And farmers always stick to the hay
Mother Reuben, I'm not fakin
Tho you may think it strange
But wine and women play the mischief
With a boy who's loose with change

Chorus (sung twice after each verse):
How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm
After they've seen Paree'
How ya gonna keep 'em away from Broadway
Jazzin around and paintin' the town
How ya gonna keep 'em away from harm, that's a mystery
Imagine Reuben when he meets his Pa
He'll kiss his cheek and holler "OO-LA-LA!
How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm
After they've seen Paree'
Thanks for that. I've only heard the the chorus (my Dad used to sing it). Interesting to see the verses.
 
Callie's are the ones I grew up on!!! By the way, if any of you know of a source for a CD of these kind of folk songs (not protest songs from other eras --- Don't get me wrong, I have a collection of them, but am looking for pioneer type folk music), let me know.

How about There's a hole in the bucket??? THere's another song sitting at the back of my mind and I can't make it come out. I love these old songs, and even my family doesn't know them (where in the hades did I learn therm?) because Mom & Dad French-Canadian. Must have learned them at school. I love both, and have tapes of the old Canuck songs. But the English/American ones are being lost, too. I'm lousy at music, but love to hear it, so anyone who knows some good old lyrics, chime in here!!
There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza,
There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, a hole.
So fix it dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
So fix it dear Henry, dear Henry, fix it.
With what should I fix it, dear Liza, dear Liza,
With what should I fix it, dear Liza, with what?
With straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
With straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, with straw.
But the straw is too long, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The straw is too long, dear Liza, too long.
So cut it dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
So cut it dear Henry, dear Henry, cut it!
With what should I cut it, dear Liza, dear Liza,
With what should I cut it, dear Liza, with what?
With an axe, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
With an axe, dear Henry, an axe.
But the axe is too dull, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The axe is too dull, dear Liza, too dull.
So, sharpen it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
So sharpen it dear Henry, dear Henry, sharpen it!
With what should I sharpen it, dear Liza, dear Liza,
With what should I sharpen, dear Liza, with what?
Use the stone, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Use the stone, dear Henry, dear Henry, the stone.
But the stone is too dry, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The stone is too dry, dear Liza, too dry.
So wet it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
So wet it dear Henry, dear Henry, wet it.
With what should I wet it, dear Liza, dear Liza,
With what should I wet it, dear Liza, with what?
With water, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
With water, dear Henry, dear Henry, water.
With what should I carry it, dear Liza, dear Liza,
With what should I carry it dear Liza, with what?
Use the bucket dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Use the bucket, dear Henry, dear Henry, the bucket!
There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza,
There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, a hole.

Liza gets more and more exasperated with Henry as the song goes along. I haven't heard it in years but remember it like it was yesterday as I had to coach the two pupils who sang it in a school concert when I was substituting in a junior school (about 900 years ago!)
 
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Did you used to sing "One Man Went to Mow, went to mow a meadow"


One man went to mow,
Went to mow a meadow.
One man and his dog
Went to mow a meadow.

Two men went to mow,
Went to mow a meadow
Two men, one man and his dog
Went to mow a meadow.

Three men went to mow,
Went to mow a meadow.
Three men, two men, one man and his dog
went to mow a meadow.

It goes on indefinitely until the participants get fed up. Great for long journeys. Keeps the kids busy but drives the adults crazy!


I've a feeling that when we were in Girl Guides "and a bottle of pop" was added after the dog.
 
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