Down on the Farm Sheet Music

Vintage documents, letters, newspaper ads, magazine articles and more -- a library at your fingertips!
Rob Farr
Godfather
Posts: 489
Joined: Fri May 29, 2009 12:00 pm
Location: Our Nation's Capitol

Down on the Farm Sheet Music

Postby Rob Farr » Thu Dec 03, 2009 10:44 pm

Two of our favorite guys composed this in 1923.
Image
Rob Farr
"If it's not comedy, I fall asleep" - Harpo Marx

Yair Solan
Associate
Posts: 28
Joined: Fri Jun 05, 2009 4:28 pm
Contact:

Re: Down on the Farm Sheet Music

Postby Yair Solan » Thu Dec 03, 2009 11:09 pm

Apparently this song is featured in the animated film BARNYARD (2006) where it's performed by Kevin James and the North Mississippi Allstars. Can't say I've seen this movie, but the fact that this song was resuscitated 80+ years after it was written is pretty amazing.
THE WORLD OF CHARLEY CHASE
http://www.charley-chase.com

Rob Farr
Godfather
Posts: 489
Joined: Fri May 29, 2009 12:00 pm
Location: Our Nation's Capitol

Re: Down on the Farm Sheet Music

Postby Rob Farr » Fri Dec 04, 2009 6:24 am

I've think the kids have Barnyard on DVD somewhere and if I can rip the song I'll post it here as an MP3.
Rob Farr
"If it's not comedy, I fall asleep" - Harpo Marx

Brent Walker
Capo
Posts: 151
Joined: Mon Jun 01, 2009 12:06 am

Re: Down on the Farm Sheet Music

Postby Brent Walker » Fri Dec 04, 2009 12:57 pm

I haven't seen BARNYARD, but seeing the title and subtitle of this song (without seeing the lyrics) I think this is the same song that The Meters did in the 1970's under the title "They All Asked for You," which apparently is based on an old New Orleans folk tale and is also known as "The Audubon Zoo." Lots of other Louisiana artists have done it, which is probably where it came from in this movie (especially with the North Mississippi All-Stars involved).

Here is a website that compares the lyrics - do you have the lyrics from this sheet music, and do they match up with the second set of lyrics below? I wonder if this is something Jimmy, Charlie and the other two guys adapted from something they'd heard previously.


http://surlalunefairytales.yuku.com/top ... -Tale.html

I've been doing some more research. There are actually two songs with the same theme, "they all asked for you." Here are the lyrics to both:

"They All Asked For You"

I went on up to the Audubon Zoo
And they only asked for you
They all asked for you
Well, even inquired about you

I went on up to the Audu'mon Zoo
And they all asked for you
The monkey's asked
The tiger's asked
And the elephant asked f'you, too.

I went on down
To the deep blue sea
And they only asked for you
I say, they all asked for you
Well, even inquired about ya

I went on down
To the deep blue sea
And they all asked for you
The dolphins asked
The whales asked
And the shark asked for you, too


"Down on the Farm"

They all asked about you
Down on the farm
The cows asked, the pigs asked
The horses asked, too
All wanna know why to the city
You moved, changed your name to Kitty
What's come over you?

It ain't true; it ain't true, Linda Lou
Say it ain't true, Linda Lou
It ain't true; it ain't true, Linda Lou
Say it ain't true, Linda Lou

They's all bawling 'bout you
Down on the farm
The cows bawl, the pigs bawl
The horses bawl, too
Miss you so much that crying's
All we can do
Weeping and wailing, praying
You'll come home soon

It ain't true; it ain't true, Linda Lou
Say it ain't true, Linda Lou
It ain't true; it ain't true, Linda Lou
Say it ain't true, Linda Lou

I hear you're working in a saloon
I hear ya work from midnight 'til noon
I might be from the woods
But them hours don't sound so good
What do you do in here barroom?

It ain't true; it ain't true, Linda Lou
Say it ain't true, Linda Lou
It ain't true; it ain't true, Linda Lou
Say it ain't true, Linda Lou

You can't dance so I assume
In a bag you couldn't carry a tune
I might be from the woods
But these hours don't sound so good
What you doin' in here barroom?
It ain't true; it ain't true, Linda Lou
Say it ain't true, Linda Lou
It ain't true; it ain't true, Linda Lou
Say it ain't true, Linda Lou

Yair Solan
Associate
Posts: 28
Joined: Fri Jun 05, 2009 4:28 pm
Contact:

Re: Down on the Farm Sheet Music

Postby Yair Solan » Fri Dec 04, 2009 2:19 pm

I double-checked Brian Anthony's Chase bio and he does include at least some of the lyrics from "Down on the Farm (They All Ask for You)" (p.54-55):

Down on the farm, they all feel blue
Every day, in every way, they all ask for you
Sister and Ma, brother and Pa
Even the mule, with his old hee-haw
Hector, the pup, since he's grown up
He keeps asking, too
Oh, the chickens ask, the cows ask,
The pigs ask, the horses ask
Down on the farm, they all ask for you

The song originally ended like this:

We have a cow, a cute little cow
Way down on our farm
It never did anybody any good
So it never did anybody harm
It never gave a drop of milk, and it doesn't know how
Just listen to me and I'll tell you why
It ain't that kind of a cow!

While these lyrics don't really match those that Brent cited, there are some similarities. As Brian notes in the book, the song was popular throughout the '20s and was recorded by many artists and performed on the stage.
THE WORLD OF CHARLEY CHASE
http://www.charley-chase.com

Rob Farr
Godfather
Posts: 489
Joined: Fri May 29, 2009 12:00 pm
Location: Our Nation's Capitol

Re: Down on the Farm Sheet Music

Postby Rob Farr » Fri Dec 04, 2009 11:14 pm

Here are the lyrics from my copy:

Reuben, Reuben was a hick
Went to see the city -
Sally was a farmer's chick
She was dumb but pretty -
Sighed for Reuben night and day
Wonder'd why he stayed away
In each note Sally wrote
Here's what she would say:

CHORUS:
Down on the farm, they all feel blue
Ev'ry day, in every way, they all ask for you
Sister and Maw, brother and Paw
Even the mule, with his old hee-haw
Hector, the pup, since he's grown up
He keeps asking, too
Oh! the chickens AND the cows AND
The horses inquire
Down on the farm, they all ask for you

Reuben read what Sally wrote
But it had him guessing
Wonder'd why the Billy goat
Didn't send his blessing
Took his pen and wrote right back
"How about the old duck's quack?"
Sally said "The poor thing's dead
And Alas, alack"

CHORUS
Rob Farr
"If it's not comedy, I fall asleep" - Harpo Marx

Tommie Hicks
Capo
Posts: 162
Joined: Fri Jun 05, 2009 9:11 pm

Re: Down on the Farm Sheet Music

Postby Tommie Hicks » Sat Dec 05, 2009 12:43 am

Is this the same Billy Dale who made some Cameos in 1928?

Ian Elliot
Associate
Posts: 66
Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2009 9:55 am

Re: Down on the Farm Sheet Music

Postby Ian Elliot » Sat Dec 05, 2009 12:49 am

The Johns Hopkins JScholarship site has the music and lyrics viewable in jpeg form--

https://jscholarship.library.jhu.edu/ha ... 74.2/24156

--and a contemporary instrumental version of it can be heard here:

http://www.archive.org/details/DownOnTheFarm_963


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 25 guests