Thank you for visiting!
This page provides information and links for my research on singing and dementia. Here you will find musical scores and audio for songs used in my doctoral dissertation and following publications. These songs are old, and some readers have said they are unfamiliar with them. I hope this provides useful context. There are several video links for some of the songs in case the videos get removed before I have a chance to update this webpage.
I've also had questions about my long name and which names are my first, middle, and last/family name. Here you go!
First: Roy
Middle: M. G. L. W.
Last: Foster
Previous name: Roy Warnock
Here are the songs performed by the man with vascular dementia ("Dan") in my research, including links to public versions. I do not post videos of my research participants for their privacy.
SONGS IN REPERTOIRE
1. “Bicycle Built for Two” – a.k.a. “Daisy Bell”
2. “Farmer in the Dell”
3. “The Fireman’s Band” – a.k.a. “The Life of a Fireman”
4. “I’ve Got Sixpence”
5. “Kansas City”
6. "Old McDonald"
7. “R.P.I. was R.P.I. When Union Was a Pup”
8. “She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain”
9. “There’s a Meeting Here Tonight”
1. “Bicycle Built for Two” a.k.a. “Daisy Bell”
"Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two)" is a popular song, written in 1892 by Harry Dacre. The following is a portion of the song that Dan often sings.
Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer true
I’m half crazy over the love of you
It won’t be a stylish marriage
I can’t afford a carriage
But you’ll look sweet
Upon the seat
Of a bicycle built for two
(Dacre, 1892)
A musical score can be found on Miriam Berg's folksong collection:
http://folksongcollector.com/bicycle.html
Publicly available performances can be found here:
2. “Farmer in the Dell”
3. “The Fireman’s Band” a.k.a. “The Life of a Fireman”
4. “I’ve Got Sixpence”
5. “Kansas City”
6. "Old McDonald"
7. “R.P.I. was R.P.I. When Union Was a Pup”
8. “She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain”
9. “There’s a Meeting Here Tonight”
"The Farmer in the Dell" is an old nursery rhyme and singing game. There are multiple verses of this song. To provide a general understanding of the song’s structure, I quote three verses from the website http://www.kididdles.com/lyrics/f001.html. You can also listen to a version of the song on that website.
The farmer in the dell
Hi-ho, the derry-o
The farmer in the dell
And the farmer takes a wife
The farmer takes a wife
Hi-ho, the derry-o
The farmer takes a wife
And the wife takes the child
The wife takes the child
Hi-ho, the derry-o
The wife takes the child
(http://www.kididdles.com/lyrics/f001.html)
There are many versions of this song. Additional audio version can be found here:
“The Fireman’s Band” is a drinking song. To the best of my knowledge, its author and year of composition are unknown. I have reproduced the musical score from Best & Best (1948/1955). It appears that this book is no longer covered by copyright and has moved into the public domain. (Also, I could not find the book in the publisher’s database. I attempted to contact the publishers did not received a response.)
(spoken)
Oh, for the life of a fireman!
Oh, for the life of a fireman!
To jump upon the engine red,
And shout to the horses,
“Go ahead! Go ahead! Go ahead!”
(chorus)
The fireman’s band, the fireman’s band,
Here’s my heart and here’s my hand.
The fireman’s band, the fireman’s band,
Here’s my heart and here’s my hand.
Now don’t you really, really think,
That we should have another drink?
The fireman’s band, the fireman’s band,
Here’s my heart and here’s my hand.
(spoken)
The fireman’s band, the fireman’s band,
Here’s my heart and here’s my hand!
Clang, clang clang!
Ppsssssss - - - -
God damn fire’s out!
Eins, zwei, drei, spiel! (repeat chorus)
(Best & Best, 1948/1955)
A slightly different version of the text can be found in The James T. Callow Folklore Archive:
http://research.udmercy.edu/find/special_collections/digital/cfa/index.php?fl_id=10398
I have been unable to find any recordings.
“I’ve Got Sixpence” is a folksong and drinking song, and Boy Scouts sometimes sing it during camping trips. The singer spends tuppence (i.e., two pence) until he has no money to spend, lend, or even send home to his wife (poor wife!). Box, Cox & Hall (1941) are known for an elaborated version.
I've got sixpence, jolly jolly sixpence
I've got sixpence to last me all my life
I've got twopence to spend and twopence to lend
And twopence to send home to my wife - poor wife
Chorus:
No cares have I to grieve me
No pretty little girls to deceive me
I'm happy as a lark believe me
As we go rolling, rolling home
Rolling home (rolling home)
Rolling home (rolling home)
By the light of the silvery moo-oo-on
Happy is the day when we line up for our pay
As we go rolling, rolling home
I've got fourpence, jolly jolly fourpence
I've got fourpence to last me all my life
I've got twopence to spend and twopence to lend
And no pence to send home to my wife - poor wife.
I've got twopence, jolly, jolly twopence
I've got twopence to last me all my life
I've got twopence to spend and no pence to lend
And no pence to send home to my wife - poor wife.
I've got no pence, jolly jolly no pence
I've got no pence to last me all my life
I've got no pence to spend and no pence to lend
And no pence to send home to my wife- poor wife.
(Box, Cox & Hall, 1941;
http://www.scoutsongs.com/lyrics/sixpence.html)
A score and slightly different lyrics can be found Miriam Berg's folksong collection:
http://folksongcollector.com/sixpence.html
Here is a link to a wonderful performance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzFaR_61qK8
Here are other variants
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mE64VikuTc
“Kansas City” is a song from the musical Oklahoma! (Rodgers & Hammerstein II, 1943). The song includes the lyrics:
Everything's up to date in Kansas City
They gone about as fer as they can go
They went an' built a skyscraper seven stories high
About as high as a buildin' orta grow.
(Rodgers & Hammerstein II, 1943)
More lyrics can be found on this website:
http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/o/oscar_hammerstein/kansas_city.html
There are many performances publicly available, including these two:
“Old McDonald” is a children’s song and nursery rhyme about a farmer McDonald and the animals on his farm. Each verse features a different animal and the sound that it makes. Here are two example verses:
Old MacDonald had a farm e-i-e-i-o
And on that farm he had a cow e-i-e-i-o
With a moo moo here
And a moo moo there
Here a moo, there a moo
Everywhere a moo moo
Old MacDonald had a farm e-i-e-i-o
Old MacDonald had a farm e-i-e-i-o
And on that farm he had a duck e-i-e-i-o
With a quack quack here
And a quack quack there
Here a quack, quack
Everywhere a quack quack
Old MacDonald had a farm e-i-e-i-o
There are versions on these websites:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsTvKD4COLg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z26DWJKwBHU
http://www.kidsongs.com/lyrics/old-macdonald-had-a-farm.html
Cray (1992) provides the following lyrics sung to the tune of another “bawdy song” learned at university titled “The Cardinals Be Damned.”
R.P.I. was R.P.I. when Union was a pup.
And R.P.I. will be R.P.I. when Union’s busted up.
And any Union son of a bitch we catch within our walls,
We’ll nail him up against the wall and castrates his balls.
(p. 335)
“She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain” is often categorized as a children’s song. Sandburg (1972, p. 372) notes that the song is based on “[a]n old-time negro spiritual When the Chariot Comes.” There are many versions to this song. The following is an excerpt from a longer version provided by Best & Best (1948/1955):
She'll be comin’ 'round the mountain, when she comes.
She'll be comin’ 'round the mountain, when she comes.
She'll be comin’ 'round the mountain, blowin’ steam off like a fountain,
She'll be comin’ 'round the mountain, when she comes.
She'll be ridin’ six white horses, when she comes, (etc.)
She'll be wearin’ pink pajamas, when she comes, (etc.)
Oh, we’ll all go out to meet her, when she comes (repeat)
(p. 5)
See these websites for video recordings and more lyrics:
http://bussongs.com/songs/shell-be-comin-round-the-mountain
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17AiiU1q5Bg
http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/n/neil_young/shell_be_comin_round_the_mountain.html
“There’s a Meeting Here Tonight” is a folk song. The Limeliters are known for a version of the song. Here is a portion of their lyrics.
Some come to dance
Some come to play
Some merely come to pass time away
Some come to laugh
Their voices do ring
But as for me I come for to sing
'Cause there's a meetin' here tonight
There's a meetin' here tonight
I know you by your friendly face
There's a meetin' here tonight
(The Limeliters, 1961)
Performances of different versions can be viewed on these websites:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMoPZd-4Fq8
REFERENCES
Best, D., and B. Best eds. 1948/1955. Song Fest. New York: Crown Publishers, Inc.
Box, E., D. Cox, and Hall. 1941. I've got sixpence (as I go rolling home). Sydney: Chappell & Co.
Cray, E. 1992. R.P.I was R.P.I when Union was a pup. In The Erotic Muse: American Bawdy Songs, 335. Urbana & Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
Dacre, H. 1892/1925. Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two). New York: Harms, Inc.
The Limeliters. 1961. There's a meeting here tonight. In Tonight: In Person: RCA Victor (Live).
Rodgers, R., and O. Hammerstein II. 1943. Kansas City. In Oklahoma!, Act I. New York: Williamson Music Co.
Sandburg, C. 1927. She'll be comin' round the mountain. In The American Songbag, 372-373. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Company.
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