SONGS OF CHILDHOOD

HAIL THE ETERNAL CHILD WITHIN 

Funny thing is that I still think of this song when any one disses me--or I think that they have  neglected me in some way 


 I don't want to play in your  yard
I don't like you anymore
you'll be sorry when you see me
Sliding down my cellar door.
You can't holler down  my rain barrel
You can;t climb my apple tree
I don't want to play in your yard
if you won't be nice to me.

That is a song that  I some times chanted to a girlfriend who lived  nearby. We were part of a trio--Kathy Rigly and Eleanor Cute and me--and you know how unstable triangles are  in terms of friendships -- someone is always feeling  left out.  And that some one was sometimes  me.

It was not until I was  in the 3rd grade that I made a friendship with a  girl in my class  who was  my best friend. We never fought and we did every thing together. Her  name was Lucille Boucher.

Other songs that I remember  that I sang or my mother sang around the house---
ALWAYS IN THE WAY  became a hit in 1903

Always In The Way

Please, Mister, take me in your car, I want to see Mamma,
They say she lives in Heaven, is it very, very far?
My new Mamma is very cross, and scolds me every day,
I guess she does not love me, for I’m always in the way.

Always in the way
So they always say,
I wonder why they don’t kiss me,
Just the same as sister May,
Always in the way,
I can never play,
My own Mamma would never say
I’m always in the way.

JUST BREAK THE NEWS TO MOTHER


BREAK THE NEWS TO MOTHER (Chas. K. Harris) **This song was was an 1897 re-write of another Charles K. Harris song, "The Brave Fireman" (written in 1891). It became a big hit the following year, 1898, with the outbreak of the Spanish American War While shot and shell were screaming across the battlefield The boys in blue were fighting, their noble flag to shield Then a cry from our brave captain said, "Boys, the flag is down Who'll volunteer to save it from disgrace?" "I will," a young boy shouted, "I'll save the flag or die!" Then rushed into the thickest of the fray Saved the flag, but gave his young life, all for his country's sake We carried him back and heard him softly say... Just break the news to Mother, she knows how dear I love her And tell her not to wait for me, for I'm not coming home Just say there is no other can take the place of Mother Then kiss her dear sweet lips for me and break the news to her >From afar, a noble general had witnessed this brave deed "Who saved the flag? Speak up, boys, 'twas a noble and brave deed" Then a cry from our own captain said, "Sir, he's sinking fast" Then slowly turned away to hide a tear The general in a moment knelt down beside the boy And gave a cry that touched all hearts that day "'Tis my son, my brave young hero. I thought you safe at home" "Forgive me, father, for I ran away" Just break the news to Mother, she knows how dear I love her And tell her not to wait for me, for I'm not coming home Just say there is no other can take the place of Mother Then kiss her dear sweet lips for me and break the news to her

AFTER THE BALL

After the ball is over
After the break of dawn
After the dancer's leaving
After the stars are gone
Many a heart is aching
If you could read them all
Many the hopes that have vanished
After the ball.

I looked these  songs  up on You TUBE--how wonderful to have this memory check so close at hand  -- and all these songs were written in the  1890s by a man named Charles Harris.  

        My mother was not born until 1910--so these must have been songs that her mother  learned  and sang to her. And I guess they were very popular in the early decades of the 20th Century. Harris was the  first man to sell  over one million song sheets of the same song.  The radio   gave people the chance to hear music in their homes. 

My father sang me to sleep some nights  and he had two favorites that I asked for over and over:
Beautiful Brown Eyes
Willie, I love you, my darlin'
I love you with all my heart
Tomorrow we might have been married
But ramblin' has kept us apart

Beautiful, beautiful brown eyes
Beautiful, beautiful brown eyes
Beautiful, beautiful brown eyes
I'll never love blue eyes again

Down through the barroom he staggered
And fell down by the door
The very last words that he uttered
I'll never see brown eyes no more

Beautiful, beautiful brown eyes
Beautiful, beautiful brown eyes
Beautiful, beautiful brown eyes
I'll never love blue eyes again

Funny to admit that years later I heard the  Song  "Brown -eyed Handsome Man"
And loved it.  Kind of the story of my life -- my father and any boy or man that caught my eye  had those Brown Eyes.  Early imprinting--I guess..

and Pistol Packin' MAMA


Pistol Packin' Mama by Al Dexter, 1943
Drinkin' beer in a cabaret And I was havin' fun!
Until one night she caught me right, And now I'm on the run
Lay that pistol down Babe, Lay that pistol down,
Pistol Packin' Mama, Lay that pistol down.
She kicked out my windshield, She hit me over the head,
She cussed and cried, and said I lied, And I wished that I was dead.
Lay that pistol down Babe, Lay that pistol down,
Pistol Packin' Mama, Lay that pistol down.
Drinkin' beer in a cabaret, And dancing with a blonde,
Until one night she shot out the light, Bang! That blonde was gone.
Lay that pistol down Babe, Lay that pistol down,
Pistol Packin' Mama, Lay that pistol down.
I'll see you every night Babe, I'll woo you every day,
I'll be your regular Daddy, If you'll put that gun away.
Lay that pistol down Babe, Lay that pistol down,
Pistol Packin' Mama, Lay that pistol down.
Lay that pistol down Babe, Lay that pistol down,
Pistol Packin' Mama, Lay that pistol down.
Now down there was old Al Dexter, He always had his fun,
But with some lead. she shot him dead, His Honkin' days are done.
Recorded in 1943 by Al Dexter, an ol' East Texas boy from Troup.
After my father left in 1953 I would ask my mother to sing them to me but she  refused-- said I was too old for that  lullaby stuff.
I get it now--it was too painful. 
My mother had to take a factory job and she worked the second shift. So I only had Anna there and it was us two trying to lull my sisters to sleep. No one was singing to me.

My mother started singing a new song around the house  by another Country star Ferlin Husky   "Since You've Gone".

Since you've gone the moon the sun the stars in the sky know the reason why I cry
Love divine once was mine now you've gone
Since you've gone my heart my lips my tear dimmed eyes a lonely soul within me cries
I acted smart broke your heart now you've gone
Oh what I'd give for the lifetime I've wasted
The love that I've tasted I was wrong now you've gone

(You can hear Ferlin sing this song on YOUTUBE and you will hear the longing dripping from every note) 
 Finally my Aunt Anna asked her to stop singing --it was all too close to the bone.
Notice that  I do not include the Irish songs.  The list would be too long--anything John McCormack  recorded. My mother knew them all.  One of her first purchases after  my father left and she had a regular  salary that would not be spent on horse racing was to buy a new rug and a new record player.
And then I discovered  a local DJ on the radio CHUCK STEVENS
and he opened the doors to musical heaven for me,