Same Old Shillelagh
Maybe everyone has a personal song or two -- something you know you
can sing if someone pushes a microphone at you, some little ditty you
know all the words to, a tune that fits your vocal range. In case there
are howls of laughter, it's better if the song was supposed to be
funny. But beware, the songs a girl sings in front of a party crowd may
turn into her children's lullabies.
My mother didn't have one Song, but more of a repertoire. This song
is a little too uptempo for a lullaby but I do recall her singing it to
me when I was little.
When she was a teenager, her family had a thoroughly modern tabletop
record player that also cut records. When I went through the old stack
recently to convert the 78s to digital, "The Same Old Shillelagh" got 3
solos and one group sing.
Here's a funny thing. When I searched the net for the words, the best
I came up with was the chorus. The version I heard on the old 78s
included a couple of verses and the fragment of a third.
Here are three versions in MP3:
10.29.43 Kash sings alone
-- maybe hasn't mastered all the words yet.
12.2.43 Kash sings with
some sort of insensitive piano accompaniment. I thought maybe it was
their player piano, but she says it was defunct during the War, when
parts were unavailable.
10.28.44 Kash sings with
a group at a family Halloween party. (A few glitches in the restoration)
THE SAME OLD SHILLELAGH
Verse 1:
Fifty years ago me father left old Erin’s shore
He landed with shillelagh in hand
And divil a fair-thee more
He got a job and then a wife
And then a family
But up he dies
and leaves his old
shillelagh stick to me
Chorus:
Sure it’s the same old shillelagh
Me Father brought from Ireland.
And Divil a man prouder than He,
As He walked with it in his hand.
He'd lead the band on Paddy's Day
And twirl it round his mitt
And divil a bit we'd laught at it
Or Dad would have a fit
Sure with the same old shillelagh,
Me Father could lick a dozen men
As fast as they'd get up be golly,
He'd knock 'em down again
And many's the time
He used it on me
To make me understand
Sure it's the same old shillelagh
Me Father brought from Ireland.
Verse 2:
I’m goin’ on the p’ lice force
It’s the only thing to do
Instead of having one nightstick
By golly I’ll have two.
If there’s a fight I’ll do all right
There’s none can bother me
Because I have the old shillelagh
Father gave to me.
Repeat Chorus
Verse 3 fragment:
He used to take it to bed with him
When he'd get home half lit.
And divil a bit we'd monkey with it
Or Dad would have a fit.
Shapiro
Bernstein & Co. has this to say: "Crooner Bing Crosby recorded
“It’s The Same Old Shillelagh” for Decca Records in New York on
December 6, 1945. Crosby was at the height of his career and gave a
lively interpretation to songwriter Pat White’s tale of old Ireland.
Though not a chart single for Crosby, the song was one of the highlights
of his album entitled Shillelaghs and Shamrocks."
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