# 'my uncle used to love me but she died'

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-uncle-used-to-love-me-but-she-died/49905>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 13, 2001, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-uncle-used-to-love-me-but-she-died/49905 "2001-01-13T21:42:11Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![tzvi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ed8c4c/32.png) [@tzvi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tzvi)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2001, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-uncle-used-to-love-me-but-she-died/49905/1 "2001-01-13T21:42:11Z")

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Does anyone know if there is any particular meaning to this Roger Miller tune?

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**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2001, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-uncle-used-to-love-me-but-she-died/49905/2 "2001-01-13T22:43:21Z")

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Not that I am aware of. Should there be?

_Apples are for eatin and snakes are for hissin  
I’ve heard about a’huggin and I’ve heard about kissin  
I read about it free in a fifty cent illustrated guide  
My uncle used to love me but she died_

[Lyrics](http://www.netlink.com.au/~clarks/myuncle.htm)

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**Author:** ![mongrel\_8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@mongrel\_8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mongrel_8)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2001, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-uncle-used-to-love-me-but-she-died/49905/3 "2001-01-13T22:53:35Z")

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Roger Miller didn’t always make the most sense in his songs. I think he was just trying to make a funny lyric.

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**Author:** ![RailroadShorty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/858c86/32.png) [@RailroadShorty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RailroadShorty)\
**Post date:** [January 14, 2001, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-uncle-used-to-love-me-but-she-died/49905/4 "2001-01-14T01:58:45Z")

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The lyrics may have turned out a little too silly even for Roger Miller. He remade this song in the early '70s as “My Mama Used to Love Me but She Died.”

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**Author:** ![Ad\_Noctum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b19c9b/32.png) [@Ad\_Noctum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ad_Noctum)\
**Post date:** [January 14, 2001, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-uncle-used-to-love-me-but-she-died/49905/5 "2001-01-14T02:08:52Z")

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reminds me of the Greenday lyrics  
"I went to a shrink,  
to analyze my dreams,  
she says it’s lack of sex that’s bring me down;  
I went to a Whore,

- he said my life’s a bore,  
so quite my whining 'cause it’s bringing \* her down."

I think they just do that to add a little variety to their songs, keep people wondering, and make people post threads like that. Also helps popularize their songs, and keep them popularized.