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Joined: Sep 2001
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old hand
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OP
old hand
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 872 |
Earlier this month while attending the funeral of a dear mutual friend my Uncle Kenny from Atlanta and I joked and kidded about the relative merits of the internet. I bragged that his lifelong interest of singing and collecting and playing and reading about the music of the thirties and forties had been rendered null and void by a simple google on our sleek computers.
"Get with it Kenny," I whispered (we couldn't shout and argue loudly, after all we were in a funeral home) "the computer age is here now, and you and your big band, be-bop, Cab Callaway memories are obsolete. Ask me a question about any obscure arcane bit of useless trivia about that shallow happy music that has cluttered up your tea drinking mind for the last fifty years and I'll give it to you in detail by phone when you return home tomorrow night."
Kenny thought a minute and then said, "OK, Dick, what are the lyrics to the song 'Little Shoes' by the Mills Brothers?".
Yesterday I got a Christmas card in the mail. It read in part...
Richard,
Ten days have run out therefore I am taking a default on receiving the words to the song, The Boy With The Two Little Shoes
Little shoes with soles so ragged and the heart of our boy is the same,
But we're thankful today for our boy and the boy with those two little shoes.
Once again I have stumped the band and the internet. he,he,he,he,
Uncle Ken.
Friends,
This is a matter of honor. Can any of you faceless but not heartless people out there help me find the rest of the lyrics to "The Boy With The Two Little Shoes"
I've tried but failed.
Richard "Dick" Milo Washington.
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Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 77
journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 77 |
Dear Milum,
Why yes, it is clearly a matter of honor, though I regret to say, that in this case it is the honor of Uncle Kenny I choose to preserve. If I could (which is doubtful, I am not a good enough web surfer, unlike most of the regulars here) I would not help you in this task.
There is something to be treasured in the nurturing of one's 'lifelong interest' that seems to me to be rather special....
And I'm hoping to see something of 'speleology' from you one day in here. I can wait patiently... perhaps on '03...
Happy Holidays,
Maria
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
I tried and failed, too.
Searching under "little boy" plus 'shoes' and a few other things didn't yield much.
Then I wondered whether your lyrics were correct, and searched more generally. I got this (it isn't what you're looking for):
"LITTLE BOY BLUE
Eugene Field
The little toy dog is covered with dust,
But sturdy and staunch he stands;
And the little tin soldier is red with rust,
and his musket moulds in his hands.
Time was when the little toy dog was new,
And the soldier was passing fair;
And that was the time when our Little Boy Blue
Kissed them and put them there.
"Now don't you go till I come.", he said.
"And don't you make any noise!"
So, toddling off to his trundle bed,
He dreamt of the pretty toys;
And, as he was dreaming, an angel song
Awakened our Little Boy Blue.
Oh! the years are many, the years are long,
But the little toys friends are true.
Ay, faithful to Little Boy Blue the stand,
Each in the same old place,
Awaiting the touch of a little hand,
The smile of a little face;
And the wonder, as waiting the long years through
In the dust of that little chair,
What has become of our Little Boy Blue,"
..and lots of hits about the boy blue who blows his horn.
Are your lyrics exactly, precisely correct? And do you know who wrote the song?
There's a search engine I used once upon a time that included so much information that it actually included our posts on AWAD. No joke. If I could remember that search engine, it might have the lyrics.
"The Little Boy with Two Little Shoes" -- entered just that way -- gets nada.
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
OK, Milo I can't find squat. But there are libraries out there from which you can order sheet music--that is, if you know the title. Ferinstance: There's a library here: http://www.magiclantern.org.uk/SRLLISTL.htm...from which you could order a copy of a song entitled "The Little Shoes." I also came across another site that offered a copy of the sheet music for the song entitled "The Little Shoes." But there's nothing I could find entitled "The Little Boy with Two Little Shoes."
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
Hey, milum! Quite a plight! Check this site out: http://allmusic.comIf it ain't on here, chances are that Uncle Kenny is hangin' a good one on ya!  (unless the Mills Brothers performed the song live a handful of times, and then decided not to record it)
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
Mebbe it goes like this: >DEBRA KADABRA Debra Kadabra, say she's a witch, shit-ass Charlotte, aint that a bitch? Debra Kadabra, haw that's rich. June, a rancho granny, Shook her wrinkled fanny Shoes are too tight and pointedAnkles sorta puffin' out Cause me to shout: Oh Debra Algebra Ebneezra Kadabra Witch goddess, witch goddess of Lankershim Boulevard. Cover my entire bodice, with Avon Cologna. And drive me to some relative's house, in East L.A. (foogadah! ?) (Just till my skin clears up) Turn it to channel thirteen, and maybe watch the rubber tongue, when it comes out from the puffed, and flanulent Mexican rubbergoods mask. Next time they show the Brnokka Make me buy The Flosser. Make me grow brainiac fingers. But with more hair! (But with more hair) Make me kiss your turquoise jewelry. Emboss me. Rub the hot front part of my head, with rented unguents Give me bas relief! Cast your dancing spell my way I promise to go under it. If she casts a spell my way, I promise to go under it. If she casts a spell my way, I promise to go under it. Oh, hear this! Learn the pachuco hop, and let me twirl you! Learn the pachuco hop, and let me twirl you! Oh Debra Fauntleroy Magnesium Kadabra! Take me with you! Don't you want any a these? --Frank Zappa ©1969< Naaaaaaaa...mebbe not....
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Posts: 1,526
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526 |
I bragged that his lifelong interest of singing and collecting and playing and reading about the music of the thirties and forties had been rendered null and void by a simple google on our sleek computers.
Ever see the original Star Trek episode where Kirk is accused of screwing up and killing his lifelong buddy and his lawyer is the quirky guy with the stacks of paper books?
We have tons of data on the web, but precious little to tie it together. It's barely information - with only a smattering of knowledge - and a maybe an equal amount of anti-knowledge.
David Brin has two series of books, the first of which starts with a volume called "Sundiver." In some ways it's kinda typical SF. But there's some intriguing stuff in there. The gist is this: There are innumerable species in the galaxy. No species becomes intelligent through natural processes. Rather, every starfaring species became so through a process callled 'uplift' whereby they were created by Patrons as simpler forms and nurtured and groomed into intelligence and eventual ascendence to the heavens. The oldest known Patrons were the long disappeared Progenitors. However, the community of starfarers eventually find this species called humanity on a remote place called Earth that is a wolfling race. They cause considerable debate because some believe that they just evolved on their own - that they uplifted themselves by their own bootstraps as it were (clearly absurd), while others are pretty sure that earthlings were created, partially uplifted, and abandoned by a criminal Patron race (there are many, many galactic laws and traditions regarding uplift).
Ah, but to the point ... once a race becomes star-faring and perhaps a Patron themselves, they get a copy of The Great Library - an electronic collection of everything ever known by any of the thousands and thousands of races that ever existed. Against strong resistence a copy is given to the wolflings (some believe that our world needs to be exterminated as an abomination). After some time it becomes pretty clear to us that our version of the library seems to have been dumbed down in some way - that the search capabilities are entirely insufficient.
So much for metaphor.
No matter how much data or even information is on the web, for the forseeable future we're always going to need people with experience and understanding to tie it together. In "The Matrix," you just jack-in and become a kung-fu expert or a veteran helicopter pilot in minutes. Until that day, we're going to need lifetimes to piece the jigsaw together - that or resort to pleading with that quirky librarian to help us lay out the big picture.
k
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636 |
Mr. Milum,
You find me a copy of the lyrics and I'll post them on my website, just for you. Not exactly what your Uncle Kenny had in mind, perhaps, but it would be taking one baby step towards rectifying the omission.
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Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 77
journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 77 |
Milum,
Did you ever get this? I'm pretty sure my mother has all their albums, so I could piece it together. I truly thought you would prevail on this one.
maria
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 872
old hand
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OP
old hand
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 872 |
Woe is me and me is woe. Like the great "Howlin' Wolf" said, "I'd ruther drink muddy water and sleep in a hollow log" than tell Uncle Kenny that he's the stud and I'm the dog.
Life ain't fair. But like B.B. King sang...
They say that time
Brings 'bout a change
And you know darling
That is no lie.
Well there's a time for everything
And now it's time to say good-bye.
But before I say good-bye I'd like to thank all you Awaders who tried to find the song "The Boy With the Little Two Shoes" by the Mills Brothers on the internet. With special thanks to Consuelo and Magimaria who offered to cheat in this search. Also thanks with cherry nut toppings to Musick who did cheat by searching his father's Mill Brother Collection but alas, in vain.
Now it's time to say good-bye, so here goes...
Dear Uncle Kenny,
You win. My internet pals (and their numbers are legion) and I searched and googled over 3,000 sites that cited either the "Mill Brothers" or "Little Shoes". I would probably still be looking but I came across a reference that said that the Mill Brothers recorded over 2,000 songs in their career. This thought made me tired so I quit.
I was wrong. Before there were computer nerds there were nerds like you running the show, nerds wearing pegged pants who walked around whistling "Heartache" by Elmo Tanner with yellow Ticonderoga #5 pencils stashed behind their ears in case they wanted to jot down some obscure song by the Mill Brothers.
Life is not fair. You- handsome, bright witted, married to the lovely fair Colleen- are probably whistling "Little Shoes" at this very moment, while I, dejected, stare blankly at the dehumanizing, cold, indifferent, face of my IBM.
Say Hi to the kids for me,
Richard.
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