# Old songs that you know **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 19, 2019, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-that-you-know/837308 "2019-07-19T14:56:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-that-you-know/837308/1 "2019-07-19T14:56:04Z")
My [del]be-loved[/del] be-tolerated flip phone finally died and my kids were [del]unwilling[/del] unable to find the two spares I have, though I told them exactly where they are, so I was forced to enter the Teens with a new smart phone. Not retro-cool, but I can add outside ringtones, which I couldn’t with Flipper, so I installed the [hot line ringtone](https://youtu.be/CokN5HgyfD8) from the Flint movies, or Austin Powers if you prefer. The last phone I set it up on I had to construct a MIDI file to do it and that was when I realized it was the first few notes of “My Grandfather’s Clock,” Henry Clay Work’s big hit from 1876 and the source of the name “grandfather clock” for tall, free-standing clocks. Then I realized I was one of the few people left who know the words to that song. Not counting hymns and classical works, what are some old songs you know? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-that-you-know/837308/2 "2019-07-19T15:09:15Z")
Several Stephen Foster songs, plus “There’s no place like home.” ---
**Author:** ![Emily\_Litella](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emily_litella/32/3370_2.png) [@Emily\_Litella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emily_Litella)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-that-you-know/837308/3 "2019-07-19T15:16:13Z")
“Me and My Shadow”, my Grandmother used to sing it to me when I was a kid. Also, I had a kid’s record player back in the early 1960s and I had a 78 of “There is a Tavern in the Town” that I played until it wore out. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-that-you-know/837308/4 "2019-07-19T15:17:11Z")
Camptown Races. Only because of Blazing Saddles. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-that-you-know/837308/5 "2019-07-19T15:31:29Z")
Amazing Grace, Yankee Doodle, My Country Tis a Thee, Greensleeves, Camptown Races, Silent Night, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, God rest you merry, Gentlemen, Jimgle Bells, John Barleycorn, Maple Leaf Rag (1899, hopefully old enough), Mary had a little lamb, Star Spangled Banner actually, Drunkn Sailor, Haul Away Joe, Eliza Lee, Wedding March, Dixie, Swing Low Sweet Chariot, Yellow Rose of Texas. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-that-you-know/837308/6 "2019-07-19T15:41:45Z")
My brother searches and finds old music and records it with his blue grass group. I’ve heard my share of old, old songs. I love a lot of them. My favorites are his civil war era songs. So poignant. (Cool thread, Mikey) ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-that-you-know/837308/7 "2019-07-19T15:47:08Z")
“The White Cliffs of Dover”, by Vera Lynn ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-that-you-know/837308/8 "2019-07-19T15:50:53Z")
Old Dan Tucker ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-that-you-know/837308/9 "2019-07-19T15:52:20Z")
We learned a LOT of folk songs in elementary school music class, and for some reason I remember a lot of the words, 30+ years on. “[Big Rock Candy Mountain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Rock_Candy_Mountain)” is one I recall. As you can imagine, it describes a place enticing to both hobos and school children. “T[he Ballad of John Henry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Henry_(folklore)#Music)” too. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-that-you-know/837308/10 "2019-07-19T15:57:51Z")
Show Me the Way to Go Home is from 1925, maybe old enough. Thank you Jaws & ELP. I got carried away before, while I know the Maple Leaf Rag well, I don’t know the lyrics. I have no idea how old **I’s the B’y** is, but I learned it sailing on the [Clearwater](https://www.clearwater.org/)and I think it is over 100. But it is at least 90+. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-that-you-know/837308/11 "2019-07-19T16:01:35Z")
‘Mairzy Doats’ - 1944. (I thought it would be older.) . ‘Sloop John B.’ - best known as the Beach Boys song, but it was published in 1916, a song from the Bahamas. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-that-you-know/837308/12 "2019-07-19T16:17:38Z")
[Sumer Is Icumen In](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumer_Is_Icumen_In), from sometime in the 13th century, is the oldest folk song I can think of that I’d definitely recognise. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-that-you-know/837308/13 "2019-07-19T16:30:17Z")
This is a CD list of songs my brother recorded: 1 Soldiers Joy 2 Joe Bowers 3 Polly Wolly doodle 4 Abners Shoes 5 Just before the Battle Mother 6 Old Zip coin 7 The Glendy Burke 8 Jordan’s stormy banks 9 Cluck ol’ Hen 10 The Johnson Boys 11 Dandy Jim from Caroline 12John Bell of Tennessee 13 The Battle of Pea Ridge 14 Angel Band ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-that-you-know/837308/14 "2019-07-19T18:00:14Z")
Lots, I guess, but I’ll settle for [Any Old Iron](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4GdWK_WoNs). For a reason. It’s an old music hall number. Many were filthy fun for the rowdy working class, with a meaning which is now fairly obscure to a twenty first century listener. This song is hypothesised to be (in part)[the story of a failed gay pick-up](https://www.theguardian.com/friday_review/story/0,3605,448635,00.html), but masquerading as a song about a rag and bone man on his rounds. I mean, does this really sound like chatter by a rag and bone man? Lest we forget the context - homosexuality was very illegal at the time. And NB that this was invariably sung by a man. Any old iron? Any old iron? [Rhyming slang - Iron hoof = poof] Any, any, any old iron? You look neat. Talk about a treat! You look so dapper from your napper [head] to your feet. Dressed in style, brand-new tile [hat], And your father’s old green tie on. [this apparently being code, cf San Francisco handkerchief code] But I wouldn’t give you tuppence for your old watch and chain, [shockingly unfashionable; therefore clearly, it turns out, not gay] Old iron, old iron. I love the subversion. I really hope the hypothesis is correct. j PS - the second link will walk you through Daddy Wouldn’t Buy Me a Bow-Wow as well. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-that-you-know/837308/15 "2019-07-19T18:42:23Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > (Cool thread, Mikey) all y’alls, nobody else is permitted to call me that. :mad: > [@Beckdawrek](#): > > This is a CD list of songs my brother recorded: > 1 Soldiers Joy > 2 Joe Bowers > 3 Polly Wolly doodle > 4 Abners Shoes > 5 Just before the Battle Mother > 6 Old Zip coin > 7 The Glendy Burke > 8 Jordan’s stormy banks > 9 Cluck ol’ Hen > 10 The Johnson Boys > 11 Dandy Jim from Caroline > 12John Bell of Tennessee > 13 The Battle of Pea Ridge > 14 Angel Band \ Confederate scum \ 😉 I was at a Fourth of July parade that included some treasonous bastard trash. Totally inappropriate, so I sang the chorus of another of Work’s works, Marching Through Georgia. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-that-you-know/837308/16 "2019-07-19T18:53:33Z")
I remember finding a stack of old '78s that had been handed down a few generations, and this was maybe the oldest of them - first heard it in the 1960’s but obviously much older than that. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/9YGl4fFQl-Q/maxresdefault.jpg "The Sailor's Plea by Jimmie Rodgers (1928)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YGl4fFQl-Q) ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-that-you-know/837308/17 "2019-07-19T19:21:16Z")
_The Sheik of Araby_ was a Tin-Pan Alley hit from the twenties, which frequently runs through my mind because “Araby” rhymes with the name of the street I live on. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofXvX5wtyY8) ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-that-you-know/837308/18 "2019-07-19T20:17:02Z")
Drunken Sailor Keep on the Sunny Side Can the Circle Be Unbroken ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-that-you-know/837308/19 "2019-07-19T20:44:42Z")
[Die Gedanken sind frei](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Gedanken_sind_frei), [a song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvcTOxXz3gU) that ought to be a motto for every decent human being, especially in our times. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2019, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-that-you-know/837308/20 "2019-07-19T23:05:36Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > [Die Gedanken sind frei](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Gedanken_sind_frei), [a song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvcTOxXz3gU) that ought to be a motto for every decent human being, especially in our times. Great tune, I first encountered it in our old Unitarian church. I also know “Sumer is icumen in”. Now that’s an oldie! 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-songs-that-you-know/837308.md?page=2)