Yes, These are Real Songs ...

This morning, I said I needed a new bucket at the store.  

When Mark asked why, I started singing this song, with an exaggerated country accent - to include adding an "R" to any words ending in "A" and the obligatory howling way of singing it  ...

Me: "Ohhhhhh ... thar's a hole in ma bucket, De'ahr Lizar, De'ahr Lizar, thar's a hole in ma bucket, de'ahr Lizar, ma dear."

Mark: (Blinks twice) "What the hell? LOL "

Me: (fits of giggles) LOL! I was answering your question with a song. Didn't you sing this song as a kid?"

Mark: "Erm - no. We don't sing shit like that in Detroit. That's some of your crazy Cincinnati and Southern hillbilly shit  again."

Me: "Well, reading here, it's actually originally German/Slavic, so why don't YOU know it, Pollock?" ;) 

"What childhood silly songs were you raised with, in Detroit? --- "Hey, Joe! Where you going with that gun in your hand?" lol ;)

Mark: "Lol! Hilarious, smart ass! (Playfully smacks my bum). No, a lot of the same nursery-rhyme stuff you sing, like John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt and stuff, but we did NOT sing whatever THAT was. Plus Motown, too. We made sense."

Me: "Nonsense is why it's funny to kids, but all right, you win, being raised on Motown, you were raised with soul. No argument here."

(We tease each other like this about where we were raised lol.) 

"There's a Hole In My Bucket, Dear Liza"





There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza,
There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, a hole.

So fix it dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
So fix it dear Henry, dear Henry, fix it.

With what should I fix it, dear Liza, dear Liza,
With what should I fix it, dear Liza, with what?

With straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
With straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, with straw.

But the straw is too long, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The straw is too long, dear Liza, too long.

So cut it dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
So cut it dear Henry, dear Henry, cut it!

With what should I cut it, dear Liza, dear Liza,
With what should I cut it, dear Liza, with what?

With an axe, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
With an axe, dear Henry, an axe.

But the axe is too dull, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The axe is too dull, dear Liza, too dull.

So, sharpen it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
So sharpen it dear Henry, dear Henry, sharpen it!

With what should I sharpen it, dear Liza, dear Liza,
With what should I sharpen, dear Liza, with what?

Use the stone, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Use the stone, dear Henry, dear Henry, the stone.

But the stone is too dry, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The stone is too dry, dear Liza, too dry.

So wet it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
So wet it dear Henry, dear Henry, wet it.

With what should I wet it, dear Liza, dear Liza,
With what should I wet it, dear Liza, with what?

With water, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
With water, dear Henry, dear Henry, water.

With what should I carry it, dear Liza, dear Liza,
With what should I carry it dear Liza, with what?

Use the bucket dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
Use the bucket, dear Henry, dear Henry, the bucket!

There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza,
There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, a hole.

And then there's this one, which I drive him crazy with ...

"Ole' Dan Tucker"




Now, truth be told, this song confused me as a kid.  

Being that I grew up in Cincinnati (spending summers in Kentucky with family, moved here three days after I graduated high school), I knew in the North, the evening meal is called "dinner." 

However, in the South, once you cross the Ohio river, "dinner" refers to lunch, and the evening meal is "supper." :)

So when the song says, "You're too late to get your supper, supper's over and dinner's cooking," it doesn't mean a second dinner.

It means Dan Tucker came in so late, that he missed dinner the night before, and arrived just in time for lunch cooking the next day.

There's several different versions of it, but this is the one I know. 


Old Dan Tucker was a fine old man
Washed his face with a fryin' pan
Combed his hair with a wagon wheel
And died with a toothache in his heel

Get out the way, Old Dan Tucker
You're too late to get your supper
Get out the way, Old Dan Tucker
You're too late to get your supper

Supper's o'er and dinner cooking, 
Ole Dan Tucker just stand there lookin'

Old Dan Tucker come to town
Riding a billy goat, leading a hound
The hound dog barked and billy goat jumped
And landed old Tucker on a stump

Get out the way, Old Dan Tucker
You're too late to get your supper
Get out the way, Old Dan Tucker
You're too late to get your supper

Supper's o'er and dinner cooking, 
Ole Dan Tucker just stand there lookin'

Old Dan Tucker got drunk an fell
In the fire and kicked up holy hell
A red-hot coal got in his shoe
An oh my Lord the ashes flew

Supper's o'er and dinner cooking, 
Ole Dan Tucker just stand there lookin'

Get out the way, Old Dan Tucker
You're too late to get your supper
Get out the way, Old Dan Tucker
You're too late to get your supper

Supper's o'er and dinner cooking, 
Ole Dan Tucker just stand there lookin'

Now Old Dan Tucker come to town
Swinging them ladies all round
First to the right an then to the left
Then to the gal that he loved best

Get out the way, Old Dan Tucker

You're too late to get your supper
Get out the way, Old Dan Tucker
You're too late to get your supper
Get out the way, Old Dan Tucker
You're too late to get your supper
Get out the way, Old Dan Tucker
You're too late to get your supper
Supper's o'er and dinner cooking, 
Ole Dan Tucker just stand there lookin'

And the moral of these songs are, with the bucket song, think things through carefully/don't ask stupid questions you could answer yourself.

With Dan Tucker, don't be late, carousing around and carrying on at night, or you might miss a meal.

In other words, both of these songs are saying: "Don't be foolish! :)