Songs that recap previous verses

[Shoeless]

On Todd Rundgren’s “Something/Anything?” album he has a song called “Piss Aaron” where he and his daddy reminisce about kids they knew in school. The first verse is about Piss Aaron, the second verse is about Dumb Larry, and the third verse is about Chuck Biscuits. At the end he recaps:

Chuck Biscuits, they always caught him eatin’ in the class
Dumb Larry, they always caught him smokin’ in the john
Piss Aaron, they always caught him pissin’ in the hall
Another example is Lucinda Williams’ “Changed the Locks” where she recaps all the previous verses describing how she’s trying to avoid her ex.

I changed the lock on my front door
I changed the number on my phone
I changed the kind of clothes I wear
I changed the kind of car I drive
I changed the tracks underneath the train
I changed the name of this town

[ThelmaLou]

Chad Gadya (Passover song)

Chad gadya. Chad gadya.

That Father bought for two zuzim, Chad gadya. Chad gadya.

Then came a cat and ate the goat, That Father bought for two zuzim, Chad gadya. Chad gadya.

Then came a dog and bit the cat, that ate the goat, That Father bought for two zuzim, Chad gadya. Chad gadya.

Then came a stick and beat the dog, that bit the cat, that ate the goat, That Father bought for two zuzim, Chad gadya. Chad gadya.

Then came fire and burnt the stick, that beat the dog, that bit the cat, that ate the goat, That Father bought for two zuzim, Chad gadya. Chad gadya.

Then came water and quenched the fire, that burnt the stick, that beat the dog, that bit the cat, that ate the goat, That Father bought for two zuzim, Chad gadya. Chad gadya.

Then came the ox and drank the water, that quenched the fire, that burnt the stick, that beat the dog, that bit the cat, that ate the goat, That Father bought for two zuzim, Chad gadya. Chad gadya.

Then came the butcher and slaughtered the ox, that drank the water, that quenched the fire, that burnt the stick, that beat the dog, that bit the cat, that ate the goat, That Father bought for two zuzim, Chad gadya. Chad gadya.

Then came the Angel of Death and killed the butcher, that slaughtered the ox, that drank the water, that quenched the fire, that burnt the stick, that beat the dog, that bit the cat, that ate the goat, That Father bought for two zuzim, Chad gadya. Chad gadya.

Then came the Holy One, Blessed be He and slew the the Angel of Death, that killed the butcher, that slaughtered the ox, that drank the water, that quenched the fire, that burnt the stick, that beat the dog, that bit the cat, that ate the goat, That Father bought for two zuzim, Chad gadya. Chad gadya.

[Biotop]

This one takes me back:

Eddy Arnold’s The Horse in Striped Pajamas as sung by Captain Kangaroo and Mr. Greenjeans.

[garygnu]

Gaelic Storm has a song on their most recent album called “Damn Near Died in Killaloe,” wherein the verses detail the various hijinks that happen to a wedding guest in Ireland. The chorus successively adds a line about each episode. Eventually the final chorus:

Well, I did survive in Killaloe
My liver fried in Killaloe
And I lost my pride in Killaloe
Got locked outside in Killaloe
With a furry tie in Killaloe
No clothes had I in Killaloe
I crashed my ride in Killaloe
The knot was tied in Killaloe
He kissed the bride in Killaloe
Got ossified in Killaloe
We damn near died in Killaloe

(It’s pronounced “kill-a-loo”)

[FastDan1]

Does this count?

Parked Out by the Lake by Dean Summerwind

I’m still parked out by the lake
Eighty miles from Santa Fe
And I’m sittin’ here just parked out by the lake
If you’re wonderin’ where I parked
I’m out parked by the lake
It’s the lake that’s eighty miles from Santa Fe
And I’m parked out by the lake
…

[Chronos]

[Moderating]
A reminder to post only brief excerpts from songs, unless they’re in the public domain.

[drad_dog]

Children go where I send thee
How shall I send thee?
I’m gonna send thee six by six
Six by the six that couldn’t get fixed
Five by the five couldn’t get by
Four by the four that stood at the door
Three by the Hebrew children
Two by Paul and Silas
One by the little bitty baby
Who was born, born, born in Bethlehem
Six by the six, couldn’t get fixed
Five by the five that couldn’t get by…

[ThelmaLou]

@Chronos

[Moderating]
A reminder to post only brief excerpts from songs, unless they’re in the public domain.

Hehe. “Chad gadya first appeared in a Haggadah printed in Prague in 1590, which makes it the most recent inclusion in the traditional Passover seder liturgy.”

[Skywatcher]

Has anybody here seen my old friend Bobby,
Can you tell me where he’s gone?
I thought I saw him walkin’ up over the hill
With Abraham, Martin and John.

[Skywatcher]

Duplicate created by the board itself.

[Chronos]

Yeah, ThelmaLou, I figured that one was probably OK.

And I’ve heard much the same patter from an old shaggy-dog story I learned at camp once, except there, each successive item was called upon to punish a previous item for not doing as requested:
“Cat, cat, kill rat; rat won’t gnaw rope; rope won’t hang butcher; butcher won’t kill ox; ox won’t drink water; water won’t quench fire; fire won’t burn stick; stick won’t beat dog; dog won’t bite piggy; piggy won’t cross style; and I shan’t get home tonight”

[Kent_Clark]

Billy Joel’s Piano Man

He starts out with the regular crowd shuffling in, then goes to detail each of the regulars, and comes back around to it being a pretty good crowd for a Saturday.

[drad_dog]

“The house that jack” built must be one.

This is the last verse fom a parody of that in “The Space Childs Mother Goose” by Frederic Windsor

This is the Space Child with Brow Serene
Who pushed the Button to Start the Machine
That made with the Cybernetics and Stuff
Without Confusion, exposing the Bluff
That hung on the Turn of a Plausible Phrase
And, shredding the Erudite Verbal Haze
Cloaking Constant K
Wrecked the Summary
Based on the Mummery
Hiding the Flaw
And Demolished the Theory Jack built.

[kaylasdad99]

I know an old lady who swallowed a fly.

Ahh, do the rest of it yerselves.

[Mark_Finn]

Would this song meet the thread’s criteria?

The Court of King Caractacus by Rolf Harris with lyrics - YouTube

[GESancMan]

Dream Theater’s album Octavarium is not a concept album, but each of the eight songs have a loose theme about cycles and coming full circle. “Oct” for eight, “octave” for returning to the starting point, and so on.

The final track, “Octavarium,” clocking in at around 25 minutes, has a verse near the end that recaps the entire album - two or three lines for each song, including “Octavarium” itself.

[solost]

How about the granddaddy of all repetitive verse songs, The Twelve Days of Christmas?

[Biggirl]

@kaylasdad99

I know an old lady who swallowed a fly.

Ahh, do the rest of it yerselves.

Was thinking of this one and The Twelve Days of Christmas. Don’t know why I bought five golden rings.

[Shoeless]

There was a song I heard many years ago on local blues radio program that was like this, but I don’t know the song or the artist. Pretty sure it was a live track, and it had to do with the parts of a tree (leaves on the tree, tree has roots, roots in the ground… something like that.) Any help?

[Chronos]

There’s also an old song called “Green grown the rushes” that has the same sort of count-and-repeat structure as “The Twelve Days of Christmas”:

Twelve for the twelve apostles
Eleven for the eleven who went to Heaven
Ten for the ten commandments

and so on