You all remember that Bugs Bunny cartoon where Yosemete Sam is trying to marry an old widow to get her money (“I’ll buy the Old Ladies Home and kick the Old Ladies out!”), and Bugs disguises himself as the widow to fool Sam? There is a scene where Bugs as the Widow has locked himself in a room and Sam beats on the door and yells “OPEN UP THIS DOOR! (turns to camera) You notice I didn’t say Richard?!?”
What the hell does this mean? Was this some sort of long-forgotten novelty song from the Forties?
The reason I ask is I recenty heard an Old Time Radio program where someone sings/yells “Open the DOOOOR, Richard!” - Is this like a little piece of the song?
Several years ago, my freinds and I wrote our own version called:
Open the door for me Richard, Don’t close the door on me Dick.
(best when done in a Britich accent)
I remember the song from growing up in the '50s and hearing it on a 78 record my parents had. The version I remember is definitely not the one linked to by Lurkmeister. As I recall, the spoken part was by a woman. When she finally gets the door open, she finds an enormous rat “sitting on the bed and crying like a baby.” It made no sense to me at the time, and I can’t remember enough of the rest of the lyrics to figure it out now. Anybody recall who did this version?
I was only vaguely familiar with the song myself; the only version I have any recollection of actually hearing was on some TV show from my childhood (Mitch Miller? Lawrence Welk?) where people would sing a song while “acting it out” - in this case they were all at “Richard’s” house for a party or something IIRC. When I Googled to try to get lyrics for my initial post I got over 900 hits & just grabbed the first one with what appeared to have complete lyrics. A more extensive search shows that the song was covered rather frequently, and was used as a novelty song in a number of “black” movies.
I came across several compilation albums and CDs with various versions of it as well as a few MP3 downloads. Unfortunately I do not at this time have the necessary software on my computer to download & listen to any of them.
I also found these two items:
Maybe this will help somebody with more resources dig out the needed info.
The Louis Jordan version is the one that I am familiar with, and the spoken word part of his version is quite different
I’m not sure how much I can post but it starts out:
I met old Zeke standin’ on the corner the other day,
That cat sure was booted with liquor!
(He was what?)
He was obnoxicated!
(he was what?)
He was enebriated!
(He was what?)
Well, he was just plain drunk!
(Well all right then!)
He sure was (in)sulted with the bartender
The bartender was tryin’ to make him buy another drink.
Zeke told the bartender “Ain’t no need of me buyin’ no drinks when everybody else is buyin’ ‘em. I’m goin’ to drink to everybody’s health ‘til I ruin my own.”
Why, he don’t know who he’s throwin’ out of that joint!
Why, I’ll go back in that joint and take a short stick and bust it down to the ground!
But I hate to be caught out on the street like this ‘cause it makes you look so common. And I know I ain’t common ‘cause I got class I ain’t never used yet. But I guess I better get on in the house ‘cause I don’t want my pastor to catch me out like this.
Now look at that old woman ‘cross the street, done stuck her head out of the window, callin’ her sisters.
Look at a bunch of her sisters sayin’ “Ain’t that him? Ain’t that him?”
“Yes, it’s me, and I’m drunk again!”
This is a short sampling and not complete, transcribed off a copy that I have. (Again, I wasn’t sure how much of the lyrics I can post, and I haven’t found a link to the complete Louis Jordan version.)
