Friday, February 3, 2012

One for the Old Folks

This song, Henry Clay Work's My Grandfather's Clock, is in its 136th year. I have a memory of my parents and grandparents singing it for me occasionally (more than sixty years ago), although only the first verse and the chorus.

Even then it had been around long enough to have picked up slight alterations in some quarters. For example, I learned "too tall for the shelf," which is what is sung in some recorded versions, but not the majority.

My grandfather's clock
Was too large for the shelf,
So it stood ninety years on the floor;
It was taller by half
Than the old man himself,
Though it weighed not a pennyweight more.
It was bought on the morn
Of the day that he was born,
And was always his treasure and pride;
But it stopped s
hort
Never to go again,
When the old man died.

CHORUS:
Ninety years without slumbering,
Tick, tock, tick, tock,
His life seconds numbering,
Tick, tock, tick, tock,
It stopped s
hort
Never to go again,
When the old man died.

In watching its pendulum
Swing to and fro,
Many hours had he spent while a boy;
And in childhood and manhood
The clock seemed to know,
And to share both his grief and his joy.
For it struck twenty-four
When he entered at the door,
With a blooming and beautiful bride;
But it stopped s
hort
Never to go again,
When the old man died.

CHORUS

My grandfather said
That of those he could hire,
Not a servant so faithful he found;
For it wasted no time,
And had but one desire,
At the close of each week to be wound.
And it kept in its place,
Not a frown upon its face,
And its hands never hung by its side.
But it stopped s
hort
Never to go again,
When the old man died.

CHORUS

It rang an alarm
In the dead of the night,
An alarm that for years had been dumb;
And we knew that his spirit
Was pluming for flight,
That his hour of departure had come.
Still the clock kept the time,
With a soft and muffled chime,
As we silently stood by his side.
But it stopped s
hort
Never to go again,
When the old man died.

CHORUS

25 comments:

Dramlin said...

Oh. My. God. MY mother used to sing that, and we learned "too tall" as well.
Oh no.
I'm old.
But still much younger than you…

BrokenDownProgrammer said...

"Much" is a relative term, Grandma. Ah ha ha ha ha ha.

There were no home computers when *you* were a child.

I also learned "taller by far" rather than "taller by half." But Work was a Brit, and "by half" is relatively uncommon on this side of the Atlantic.

Just Another Wannabe said...

Never heard the song. Never heard of the song. Nobody ever sang it to me. Does that mean I'm the baby of the bunch? Heh ... heh ...

Dramlin said...

Yup, "taller by far" was what I learned -- I also learned the words to "This Old House" when Rosemary Clooney was the singer.
Did they even have cars when YOU were a child? she asks innocently.
And no, JAW, it doesn't!!! lol

Just Another Wannabe said...

lol, Dramlin. Well, I tried!

Both: I was trying to think back to the song I remembered hearing most when I was a kid. I remember two that my mother and older sister used to play and sing all the time - "How Much is That Doggie in the Window?" (Patti Page?) and "Makin' Whoopie." Egads - they played the Doggie one so many times that I think I actually remember all or most of the words! Sheesh! Now I can't get it outta my head.

BrokenDownProgrammer said...

A more recent version of Makin' Whoopie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQR580Iv-PE

That's Dr. John on the piano as well.

BrokenDownProgrammer said...

*You* made me do that. Ah ha ha ha ha ha.

It's Whoopee

"Whoopie" is Golderg.

BrokenDownProgrammer said...

Goldberg.

Ah ha ha ha ha ha. Gasp. Ah ha ha ha ha ha.

Dramlin said...

Stop. Breathe.
Whoopi Goldberg.
Really.

Just Another Wannabe said...

OMG! *!sputter!* Pardon me for borrowing - Ah ha ha ha ha ha! Didn't mean to get you so flustered. What were you thinking? Ah ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!

BrokenDownProgrammer said...

Whoopsie.

BrokenDownProgrammer said...

It occurs to me that we have created a new set of Goldberg Variations.

Just Another Wannabe said...

Actually, I thought the song was about baking. lol

Dramlin said...

GOLDBERG VARIATIONS??????? For shame sir!
This all reminds me of my favourite mondegreen from my childhood, a song we sang enthusiastically and often. By childhood I mean at least 6 and up; the song was called Knock, Knock, Who's There? and the chorus we sang was...
"Take off your clothes and come inside!"

BrokenDownProgrammer said...

I s'pose it's me, but I cannot relate to a single sentence in that last post.

What's wrong with the Goldberg Variations?

And why were you little thugs and thugettes singing such lyrics?

Just Another Wannabe said...

BDP: The mondegreen: "Take off your coat and come inside" from the Knock Knock song - 1969 or 1970, I think.

I didn't understand the rest either.

Dramlin: Are you "reorganizing" the stock again? lololol

Dramlin said...

I don't understand what you don't understand...
My understandable outrage at BDPs groan-worthy comment on the Goldberg Variations?
Our innocent (??) mondegreen?
Singing???
*takes another green pill*

Just Another Wannabe said...

I don't understand what I don't understand either. What I do understand are mondegreens. What I don't understand is how to get the green pills. The only ones the "staff" gives me are the inferior pink ones.

I shoulda stuck to the goofy veg.

Now I forgot what I was gonna say in the first place.

BrokenDownProgrammer said...

Ah. On the Goldberg Variations. The "for shame" made me wonder if I had inadvertently allied myself with some nefarious cause.

I couldn't identify with the knock knock business because I'd never heard - and was totally unaware of the existence of - the song. I've since googled and YouTubed it and now, oh thank God, at last, and finally understand.

Which pill makes you larger and which pill makes you small?

Dramlin said...

All: That would be telling...
*hides her stash of green pills*
I bet you're a much better person after hearing that song BDP ;-)

BrokenDownProgrammer said...

Feed your head.

R.P. said...

This song is really nice, it'd would be beautiful if you can post the original song with music...

BrokenDownProgrammer said...

Good morning, R.P.

Here's a version recorded by
Johnny Cash, which contains three of the verses:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50aZvm7yT44

Dramlin said...

Yah know, I may be old but I can still recognise spam when I see it...

BrokenDownProgrammer said...

Yeah, all at once I got email notification of spam comments on eight of the posts here.

Two of them had disappeared by the time I got to them, so perhaps blooger.com has tumbled to the swine.