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"St. James Infirmary Blues" is an American folksong of anonymous origin. One of Louis Armstrong's several recordings of the song credits it to "Joe Primrose," but this was a pseudonym for Irving Mills, a musical agent and songwriter who is unlikely to have contributed lyrically, though he may have published an original arrangement. The song seems to have also been known early on as "The Gambler's Blues," and in this form the lyrics can be traced back as far as 1899. There is also evidence that the song is descended from an older Irish/British folk song, "The Unfortunate Rake", which speaks of a "St. James Hospital". This ballad is also the ancestor of the cowboy ballad "Streets of Laredo". Another possible origin is that the song is a derivation of the older English folk song "St. James Hospital," performed by John Langstaff, Douglas Kennedy and others.

It is likewise hard to determine where the infirmary of the title was. Suggested candidates include former hospitals of that name in New Orleans, Louisiana, London, England and Liverpool, England. Despite the connection the song has with New Orleans in modern times (since Louis Armstrong made his influential 1928 recording), the European origin of the song would rule out the New Orleans hospital being the original reference in the song. The St. James Infirmary in San Francisco, California opened in 1999 and is named for Margo St. James, one of its founders. The song involves a man telling the singer/narrator, at a bar, how he went down to St James Infirmary (hospital) and tragically found his girl (baby) dead.

Like most such folksongs, there is much variation in the lyrics from one version to another. One set of lyrics goes this way:

I went down to old Joe's bar room, on the corner by the square
Well, the drinks were bein' served as usual, and this motley crowd was there

Well, on my left stood Joe McKennedy, and his eyes were bloodshot red
When he told me that sad story, these were the words he said:

I went down to the St. James infirmary, I saw my baby there
She was stretched out on a long white table, so cold, and fine, and fair.

Let her go, let her go, God bless her, wherever she may be
She can search this world over, never find another man like me

When I die Oh lord please bury me In my high top stetson hat
Put gold coins over my eyelids So the boys wil know I died standing pat

Get six crapshooting pallbearers Six chorus girls to sing me a song
Put a jazz band behind my hearse wagon To raise hell as we roll along

Get sixteen coal black horses, to pull that rubber tired hack
There's thirteen men going to the graveyard Only twelve men are coming back

Well, now you've heard my story, well, have another round of booze
And if anyone should ever, ever ask you, I've got the St. James infirmary blues!

Notable performers of this song include Cab Calloway, who can be heard singing it in the Betty Boop cartoon Snow White; Louis Armstrong, "Spider" John Koerner, Jack Teagarden, Poor Wendy, Billie Holiday, Stan Kenton (who infused the breaks, between verses, with rival Woody Herman's "Blue Flame"), Lou Rawls, Bobby Bland, Danny Elfman who would perform the song nearly every night in the early Oingo Boingo days,Turk Murphy, Janis Joplin, The Doors who performed it in the middle of Light My Fire on occasion, The Animals, The Triffids, Dr. John (both solo and with Eddie Bo), Blues Creation with Carmen Maki, Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan, Doc Watson and more recently The White Stripes, the Stray Cats, the Tarbox Ramblers, Tom Jones with Jools Holland, and Van Morrison. Eric Clapton and Dr John performed a rendition of the song during a 1996 concert called "Duets". Arlo Guthrie has recently recorded a version with slightly different lyrics learned from Cisco Houston. Robert Crumb even released a version of it on a CD included in the 'R. Crumb Handbook'. Live versions appear on Joe Cocker's albums Something To Say (1972, also known as Joe Cocker), and Live in L.A. (1976), and on The Devil Makes Three's live album A Little Bit Faster and A Little Bit Worse (2007). Van Morrison often performed this in concert, in 2006 and 2007, playing saxophone. Morrison included his version on the live limited edition album, Live at Austin City Limits Festival (2006).

Heh heh! Love that pup, PA. Great collage today, Raggedy. Wow! a quintet of guys, folks.

I had to smile at Tom's mistaken identity.

Weather Report:

It is a very warm 91 degrees here. I stepped outside to admire my family of moorhens, (four babies and Mamma and Papa) and the air was oppressive.

Hey, dys. Be back to review your DYSography in a moment. I need to get something cooooolllllllll.

Great background, dys. I had no idea that it might have involved a baby that had died. I know the entire song is done in a minor key.

Well, folks. We love the interludes of music history, right?

Speaking of the weather.....

Diamond Rio

Kim Williams/L. David Lewis

Something cool, hey, won't you pour me
Something cool, set one up for me
Anything will do
Just make it something cool
Something sad, hey, won't you play me
Something sad, play one that slays me
Play me something blue
To go with something cool

Bridge
There's an old flame burning in me
Like the sun in a July sky
Seems to me, I'm always thirsty
Since she left me high and dry

Something cool
Something cool

Repeat Bridge

Something cool, hey, won't you pour me
Something cool, set one up for me
Anything will do
Just make it something cool

Affair on Eighth Avenue
Gordon Lightfoot

The perfume that she wore was from some little store
On the down side of town
But it lingered on long after she'd gone
I remember it well
And our fingers entwined like ribbons of light
And we came through a doorway somewhere in the night
Her long flowing hair came softly undone
And it lay all around
And she brushed it down as I stood by her side
In the warmth of her love

And she showed me her treasures of paper and tin
And then we played a game only she could win
And she told me a riddle I'll never forget
Then left with the answer I've never found yet

How long, said she, can a moment like this
Belong to someone
What's wrong, what is right, when to live or to die
We must almost be born
So if you should ask me what secrets I hide
I'm only your lover, don't make me decide

The perfume that she wore was from some little store
On the down side of town
But it lingered on long after she'd gone
I remember it well

And she showed me her treasures of paper and tin
And then we played a game only she could win
And our fingers entwined like ribbons of light
And we came through a doorway somewhere in the night

edgar, that song made me remember, Texas, and here's one by James Taylor since I am almost certain that he and Gordon Lightfoot were in that picture that's a memory in my mind.

Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight
Artist(Band)James Taylor

Do me wrong, do me right,
Tell me lies but hold me tight,
Save your goodbyes for the morning light,
But don't let me be lonely tonight.

Say goodbye and say hello,
Sure enough good to see you, but it's time to go,
Don't say yes but please don't say no,
I don't want to be lonely tonight.

Go away then, damn you,
Go on and do as you please,
You ain't gonna see me gettin' down on my knees.
I'm undecided, and your heart's been divided,
You've been turning my world upside down.

Do me wrong, do me right (right now baby),
Go on and tell me lies but hold me tight.
Save your goodbyes for the morning light (morning light),
But don't let me be lonely tonight.
I don't want to be lonely tonight.
No, no, I don't want to be lonely tonight.

I don't want to be lonely tonight.

i wanted to sing a song for dys, and i thought of trying out, you're gnomebody till somebody loves you, but i remembered this one instead

The Laughing Gnome
David Bowie

I was walking down the High Street
When I heard footsteps behind me
And there was a little old man (Hello)
In scarlet and grey, shuffling away (laughter)
Well he trotted back to my house
And he sat beside the telly (Oaah..)
With his tiny hands on his tummy
Chuckling away, laughing all day (laughter)

Oh, I ought to report you to the Gnome office
(Gnome Office)
Yes
(Hahahahaha)

Ha ha ha, hee hee hee
"I'm a laughing Gnome and you can't catch me"
Ha ha ha, hee hee hee
"I'm a laughing Gnome and you can't catch me"
Said the laughing Gnome

Well I gave him roasted toadstools and a glass of dandelion wine (Burp, pardon)
Then I put him on a train to Eastbourne
Carried his bag and gave him a fag
(Haven't you got a light boy?)
"Here, where do you come from?"
(Gnome-man's land, hahihihi)
"Oh, really?"

In the morning when I woke up
He was sitting on the edge of my bed
With his brother whose name was Fred
He'd bought him along to sing me a song

Right, let's hear it
Here, what's that clicking noise?
(That's Fred, he's a "metrognome", haha)

Ha ha ha, hee hee hee
"I'm a laughing Gnome and you don't catch me"
Ha ha ha, hee hee hee
"I'm a laughing Gnome and you can't catch me"

(Own up, I'm a gnome, ain't I right, haha)
"Haven't you got a gnome to go to?"
(No, we're gnomads)
"Didn't they teach you to get your hair cut at school? you look like a rolling gnome."
(No, not at the London School of Ecognomics)

Now they're staying up the chimney
And we're living on caviar and honey (hooray!)
Cause they're earning me lots of money
Writing comedy prose for radio shows
It's the-er (what?)
It's the Gnome service of course

Ha ha ha, hee hee hee
"I'm a laughing Gnome and you don't catch me"
Ha ha ha, oh, dear me

(Ha ha ha, hee hee hee
"I'm a laughing Gnome and you can't catch me"
Ha ha ha, hee hee hee
"I'm a laughing Gnome and you can't catch me")

(One more time, yeah)

And I'm laughing at your gnome laughing, dj.

Hmmm. Where's that pot of gold, folks?

The Leprechauns are Marching

The Leprechauns are marching,
They're marching down the hall,
They're marching on the ceiling,
They're marching on the wall.
They're marching two by two,
And now it's four by four,
You say you still can't see them?
Move back! Here come some more!

The leprechauns are marching,
I think it's three by three.
Just close your eyes and try now
To visualize with me.
Their merry little feet
Will never miss a beat.
They're very tricky fellows.
Look out! They're under the sheet!

How about an Irish Lexicon?

here's dean martin's lullaby so that we can all enjoy a good night's sleep
hbg

Remembering wonderful lullabies all. I guess I had better go to bed while a smile is in my head.

Who took me from my warm warm cot
And sat me on an ice cold pot
And made me pee when I could not?

Me Mither.



Goodnight everyone

From Letty with love

When I makes tea, I makes tea - old mother Grogan says - and when I makes water, I makes water

God send you don't make them in the one pot.

[loosely quoting Buck Mulligan "Ulysses"]

Brook Benton

- Words and Music by Joe South

Oh, the whippoorwill roosts on the telephone pole
And the Georgia sun goes down
Well, it's been a long, long time but I'm glad that I'm
Goin' back to my home town

Goin' down to the Greyhound station
Gonna buy me a one-way fare
And if the good Lord's willin' and the creeks don't rise
By tomorrow, ah, I'm gonna be there

Don't it make you want to go home?
Don't it make you want to go home?
All God's children get weary when they roam
Don't it make you want to go home?

There's a six-lane highway down by the creek
Where I went skinny-dippin' as a child
And a drive-in show where the meadows used to grow
And the strawberries used to grow wild

There's a drag strip down by the riverside
Where my grandma's cow used to graze
Now the grass don't grow and the river don't flow
Like it did in my childhood days

(Don't it make you wanna go home?)
(Don't it make you wanna go home?)
All God's children get weary when they roam
(Don't it make you) wanna, wanna go home?

Background singers sing It's different, it's different , it's different, so
different now while Brook scats with variations on Don't it make you wanna go home?
and then But all God's children get weary when they roam, and don't it make you wanna go
home?

Don't it make you wanna to go home don't it make you
wanna go home And now-ah, don't it make you wanna go home, don't it make you
wanna go home?
All of God's children get weary when they roam
(Don't it make you) SPOKEN: And (want to go home?)
SPOKEN: I'm goin' home

whistling plus a series of (Don't it make you want to go home?) to end

cool...thanks..I had forgotten that. Loved Joe South's lyrics..and Brook Benton voice..there's a voice for the ages.

more Joe south
"Walk A Mile In My Shoes"

(As recorded by Joe South)
JOE SOUTH

If I could be you and you could be me for just one hour
If we could find a way to get inside each other's mind
If you could see me through your eyes instead of your ego
I believe you'd be surprised to see that you'd been blind.

Walk a mile in my shoes, walk a mile in my shoes
And before you abuse, criticize and accuse
Walk a mile in my shoes.

Now your whole world you see around you is just a reflection
And the law of common says you reap just what you sow
So unless you've lived a life of total perfection
You'd better be careful of every stone that you throw.

Walk a mile in my shoes, walk a mile in my shoes
And before you abuse, criticize and accuse
Walk a mile in my shoes.

And yet we spend the day throwing stones at one another
'Cause I don't think or wear my hair the same way you do
Well I may be common people but I'm your brother
And when you strike out and try to hurt me its a-hurtin' you.

Walk a mile in my shoes, walk a mile in my shoes
And before you abuse, criticize and accuse
Walk a mile in my shoes.

There are people on reservations and out in the ghettos
And brother there but for the grace of God go you and I
If I only had the wings of a little angel
Don't you know I'd fly to the top of the mountain, and then I'd cry.

Walk a mile in my shoes, walk a mile in my shoes
And before you abuse, criticize and accuse
Walk a mile in my shoes, shoes.

Games People Play
Lyrics: Joe South
Music: Joe South


Oh the games people play now
Every night and every day now
Never meaning what they say now
And never saying what they mean

And they while away the hours
In their ivory towers
'Till they're covered up with flowers
In the back of a black limousine

Though we make one another cry
Break our hearts when we say goodbye
Cross our hearts and we'll hope to die
Said the other was to blame

Neither one will ever give in
Though we gaze on an eight by ten
Thinking 'bout the things that might have been
And it's a dirty rotten shame

Talking about you and me
And the games people play

People walking up to you
Singing glory hallelujah
And they're trying to sock it to you
In the name of the Lord

Gonna teach you how to meditate
Read your horoscope and cheat your fate
And furthermore to hell with hate
Come on get on board

Look around tell me what you see
What's happening to you and me
God grant me the serenity
To remember who I am

'Cause you've given up your sanity
All your pride and your vanity
Turn your back on humanity
And you don't give a damn

Talking about you and me
And the games people play

Good morning, WA2K folks.

Thanks, hamburger, for the Dean Martin "wine, women, and song". Missed it last night.

edgar, that little quote from Ulysses was funny. I'm with Ragman on Brook Benton. Love it, Texas. Thanks for the reminder.

Hey, Ragman. It's always nice to see you in our wee cyber studio. "Walk a Mile in my Shoes" is a mini philosophy, and "The Games People Play" always reminds me of Eric Bern.

Here's one, listeners, that follows along.

Artist: George Benson
Song: Footprints In The Sand


People hand in hand
Future in the plan
Promises we make
Sometimes fade away
Like footprints in the sand

Love's a game of chance
I've come to understand
What my greatest fear is
Someday you'll disappear
Like footprints in the sand

But life was meant to live
And love was meant to give
No-one ever said
That you could depend
On whispers to the wind

Love's a game of chance
I've come to understand
What my greatest fear is
Someday you'll disappear
Like footprints in the sand

So I will build my castle on the sea
And pray that you'll come back to me
And there I'll wait faithfully
For your return, your return

Love's a game of chance
I've grown to understand
Hope will keep you near
She will reappear
Like footprints in the sand
In the sand, in the sand

Sue Lyon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Born July 10, 1946 (1946-07-10)
Davenport, Iowa
Years active 1960 - 1980
Spouse(s) Hampton Fancher (1963-1965)
Roland Harrison (1971-1972)
Cotton Adamson (1973-1974)
Edward Weathers (1983-1984)
Richard Rudman (1985-2002)
Golden Globe Awards

Most Promising Newcomer - Female
1963 Lolita

Sue Lyon (born July 10, 1946 in Davenport, Iowa) is a former Golden Globe winning American actress.





Lolita

Sue Lyon was fourteen years old when she filmed to the role of Dolores Haze, the sexually charged adolescent and the object of an older man's obsessions in Stanley Kubrick's 1962 film, Lolita. She was chosen for the role partly because her curvy figure suggested an appearance of an adult. Based on the Vladimir Nabokov novel of the same name, Kubrick's Lolita, although a toned-down version of the story, was nonetheless one of the most talked about films of its day. Only fifteen when the film premiered, Sue Lyon became an instant celebrity and won a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer - Female. When Lolita was released in 1962, Sue Lyon went to a movie house to see her own picture, but she was not permitted to enter the theater because she was a minor.


Film career

Lyon was then cast in a similar role in John Huston's The Night of the Iguana (1964), competing for the affections of Richard Burton's defrocked alcoholic preacher against the likes of Deborah Kerr and Ava Gardner. Again, controversy surrounded her because of a provocative scene in the film in which Lyon is shown emerging from the water. In 1965, she played an innocent in director John Ford's last feature film, 7 Women.

Sue Lyon's stardom deteriorated rapidly and by the 1970s she was relegated to mainly secondary roles but continued to work in film and television until 1980.


Personal life

Divorced in 1965 after a brief marriage to Hampton Fancher, Sue Lyon married a second time in 1970 to Roland Harrison, an African-American photographer. Racism of the day caused the couple problems and they left the United States for a time to live in Spain. The marriage soon ended in divorce and she returned to the U.S. where before long she met, married, and divorced her third husband, all while he was in the Colorado state penitentiary, convicted of murder. Her often tumultuous life led to a diagnosis of bipolar disorder for which she received treatment.

In recent years, Lyon has been quite bitter about the film that made her a star. In 1998, speaking with the Reuters news service regarding Adrian Lyne's remake of the film, Lyon said, "I am appalled they should revive the film that caused my destruction as a person."

Moses & a computer

"Excuse me, Sir."

"Is that you again, Moses?"

"I'm afraid it is, sir."

"What is it this time, Moses. More computer problems?"

"How did you guess?"

"I don't have to guess, Moses. Remember?"

"Oh, yeah. I forgot."

"Tell me what you want, Moses."

"But you already know. Remember?"

"Moses!"

"Sorry, sir."

"Well, go ahead, Moses. Spit it out."

"Well, I have a question, sir. You know those 'ten things' you sent
me?"

"You mean the Commandments, Moses?"

"That's it. I was wondering if they were important."

"What do you mean 'were important', Moses? Of course, they're
important.
Otherwise I wouldn't have sent them to you."

"Well, sorry, but I lost them. I could say the dog ate them, but of
course
you would see right through that."

"What do you mean 'you lost them'? Are you trying to tell me you
didn't
save
them, Moses?"

"No, sir. I forgot."

"You should always save, Moses."

Yeah, I know. You told me that before. I was going to, but I forgot. I
did
send them to some people before I lost them though."

"And did you hear back from any of them?"

'You already know I did. What about the one guy who said he never uses
'shalt not'? Can he change the words a little bit?"

"Yes, Moses. As long as he doesn't change the meaning."

"And what about the guy who thought your stance was a little harsh,
and
recommended calling them the 'Ten Suggestions, ' or letting people pick
one
or two to try for a while?"

"Moses, I'll act like I didn't hear that."

"I think that means 'no.' Well, what about the guy who said I was
scamming
him?"

"I think the term is 'spamming,' Moses."

"Oh, yeah. I e-mailed him back and told him I don't even eat that
stuff,
and
I have no idea how you can send it to someone through a computer."

"And what did he say?"

"You know what he said. He used Your name in vain. You don't think he
might
have sent me one of those - er - plagues, and that's the reason I lost
those
ten things, do you?"

"They're called 'viruses,' Moses."

"Whatever! This computer stuff is just too much for me. Can we just go
back
to those stone tablets? It was hard on my back taking them out and
reading
them each day, but at least I never lost them."

"We'll do it the new way, Moses."

"I was afraid you would say that, sir."

"Moses, what did I tell you to do if you messed up?"

"You told me to hold up this rat and stretch it out toward the
computer."

"It's a mouse, Moses. Mouse! Mouse! And did you do that?"

"No, I decided to try the technical support first. After all, who
knows
more
about this stuff than you, and I really like your hours. By the way,
sir,
did Noah have two of these mice on the ark?"

"No, Moses."

"One other thing. Why didn't you name them 'frogs' instead of 'mice,'
because didn't you tell me the thing they sit on is a pad?"

"I didn't name them, Moses. Man did, and you can call yours a frog if
you
want to."

"Oh, that explains it. Kind of like Adam, huh, sir? I bet some woman
told
him to call it a mouse. After all, wasn't it a woman who named one of
the
computers Apple?"

"Say good night, Moses."

"Wait a minute, sir. I am stretching out the mouse, and it seems to be
working. Yes, a couple of the 'ten things' have come back."

"Which ones are they, Moses?"

"Let's see. 'Thou shalt not steal from any grave an image' and 'Thou
shalt
not uncover thy neighbor's wife.'"

"Turn the computer off, Moses. I'm sending you another set of stone
tablets."

I had a rare Saturday night off this weekend so Nair and I visited Medway Lotus a bar where my niece Liz ran the karaoke. When I used to sing there she would call me up she called me Uncle Bob. Everyone including the waiters started calling me Uncle Bob. I was realy surprised after such an abscence when I found the appelation still applied. I was also surprised since I was used to singing 3 or 4 songs to find fewer singer so I ended up singing 9 songs. This was one of my favorites.


TOBY KEITH

"I Love This Bar"

We got winners, we got losers
Chain smokers and boozers
And we got yuppies, we got bikers
We got thirsty hitchhikers
And the girls next door dress up like movie stars

Hmm, hmm, hmm I love this bar

We got cowboys, we got truckers
Broken-hearted fools and suckers
And we got hustlers, we got fighters
Early birds and all-nighters
And the veterans talk about their battle scars

Hmm, hmm, hmm I love this bar

[Chorus:]
I love this bar
It's my kind of place
Just walkin' through the front door
Puts a big smile on my face
It ain't too far, come as you are
Hmm, hmm, hmm I love this bar

I've seen short skirts, we got high-techs
Blue-collar boys and rednecks
And we got lovers, lots of lookers
And I've even seen dancing girls and hookers
And we like to drink our beer from a mason jar

Hmm, hmm, hmm I love this bar
Yes I do

I like my truck (I like my truck)
I like my girlfriend (I like my girlfriend)
I like to take her out to dinner
I like a movie now and then

But I love this bar
It's my kind of place
Just trollin' around the dance floor
Puts a big smile on my face
No cover charge, come as you are
Hmm, hmm, hmm I love this bar
Hmm, hmm, hmm I love this bar