In one of the Little House books, Pa sings a song about "Old Grimes" as he fiddles

[conuly]

(To the tune of Auld Lang Syne)

Old Grimes is dead, that good old man
We ne'er shall see him more
He used to wear an old gray coat
That was buttoned down before

I hadn't thought of that in years. Yesterday I suddenly realized something - when we say that his coat was buttoned down before, we don't mean that it was buttoned at some previous point in time, we mean that it was buttoned in the front.

I found more information on google, if you're interested. Having looked up the original poem, I think the site is correct - only the catchier, more humorous endings saved it from utter obscurity.

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Comments

[steorra]

In a choir I used to sing in, we sang a song with a related text. But the melody wasn't Auld Lang Syne.

"Old Abram Brown is dead and gone
You'll never see him more
He used to wear a long brown coat
That buttoned down before"

EDIT: Ah, I see that one is mentioned in your link.

Also, your linklist is broken.

[conuly]

Fixed now!

[conuly]

As for Auld Lang Syne, we know that's the tune that it was sung to because later Pa sings Auld Lang Syne to that same tune... though, come to think, Auld Lang Syne wasn't always married to the present tune, so maybe he sang them both to a different tune entirely.

[sallymn]

Yep, I have now that one going round and round my head like a musical hamster in a wheel... we used to sing it as a round when I was in kindy choir. They never go away...

[robby]

I have always liked old traditional folk songs, but never heard of these.

Here's an old cowboy song

Old Bill Jones had two daughters and a son
One went to Denver the other went wrong
His wife she died in a poolroom fight
Still he keeps singing from morning 'til night

https://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/ramblin_jack_elliott/i_ride_an_old_paint.html

[wpadmirer]

It was interesting reading about the AFM cause. That is some scary shit. As if parents didn't have enough to worry about!

The wool vs. linen burial thing was curious.

And the vodka and coke thing kind of hilarious.

[chasing_silver]

Some of Pa's song were undeniably racist (which was apt for the time, I know), but I didn't know this one was set to Auld Lang Syne. I find the history of his music fascinating. I read two books, one being Pioneer Girl, and one being Prairie Fires, both historical (and autobiographical in Pioneer Girl's case) accounts of the Ingalls family and their contemporaries, and the history of the time. They are fascinating.

[loligo]

I have lived from one end of this country to the other (Washington DC, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Washington State, California) and never heard the phrase Taco Tuesday until The Lego Movie. Neither had my husband, who has lived in most of those same places. How did we miss this?

[conuly]

Bad luck, I guess.

[conuly]

And the vodka and coke thing kind of hilarious.

I know I couldn't stop giggling.

[conuly]

Thanks :)

[janewilliams20.livejournal.com]

That looks very similar to a song I learnt in school that certainly wasn't to "Auld Lang Syne". Googling.... yes, this one.
https://www.mamalisa.com/?t=es&p=1825
Listen to the video, you'll hear it being done as a round, and that's how we used to sing it. In fact, that's about all that makes it worth singing.

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

"Yesterday I suddenly realized something - when we say that his coat was buttoned down before, we don't mean that it was buttoned at some previous point in time, we mean that it was buttoned in the front."

Um, yeah. Like "fore and aft" on a boat, right? Before and after only indicate position; the context is what tells you whether it's position in time or in space. Probably the Romans are to blame for this.

[conuly]

I'm a little slow sometimes!

(And I did already know, incidentally, that this is the origin of the word "pinafore" - it's a garment that used to be literally pinned on.)

[conuly]

Well, Auld Lang Syne wasn't always married to its present tune, so for all we know Pa sang both songs to some other tune. (But hey, it's in the common meter, so it can be swapped around to nearly any singable song out there, at least the traditional ones!)