Song of the Week: Strange Boat, by the Waterboys

I rediscovered the music of the Waterboys (i.e. Mike Scott and whomever Mike Scott wants to perform with) at a time when I needed their music. I had the Fisherman's Blues album, and in September, learned the chords and lyrics to some of the songs (the title track, And a Bang on the Ear, When Ye Go Away).

When I wondered, "What has Mike Scott been up to lately?" I found that Scott had released a whole album of W.B. Yeats' poems set to music, called An Appointment With Mr. Yeats. I bought the album, but took awhile to get through it, as I would stop a track to learn the chords of a song that gripped me at a particular time. I've spent quite a bit of time on the bluesy Lake Isle of Innisfree.

Last Friday, a friend of mine and I went to see the Waterboys in concert at the Neptune Theatre. (The Seattle Times review is here. I think I must have been standing quite near the photographer, as I was standing in the third row near fiddler Steve Wickham, a.k.a. "The Fellow Who Fiddles.") The band opened with Strange Boat off of the Fisherman's Blues album. It's a relatively simple song in terms of chord progression, with lyrics that touch upon the spiritual without being religious. When I decided that I wanted to learn the song, potentially to share at a music jam, I was surprised to find on the internet how painfully wrong the chords on different websites seemed to be.

 I write the following knowing that there is a chance someone better-versed in music theory will arrive to say, "Actually, you're dead wrong on this." And you know what? That's fine. I'd rather have corrected chords than keep erroneous information. I listened to live performances, as well as watched carefully Mike Scott's hand positions on the fretboard, but still... let me know if you find something different from what I'm posting.

I'm sharing these chords for whomever comes looking for them. Welcome, kind strangers! The song is originally played in the key of A, and the first two verses have a simple I,IV,V chord progression (in this case, A, D, E). The bridge ("We're riding in a strange car/We're following a strange star...") brings in a partially-barred F# minor in lieu of an A. Scott then plays a B6, which is in the same fret neighborhood as the F# minor. I've got a virtual guitar chord-book linked on the right side of my blog, but you can go directly to that site right here.

Click on the jpeg graphic to enlarge it.

Song Practice Update

I've started to learn to fingerpick melodies on the guitar using the Homespun Video DVD Easy Steps to Guitar Fingerpicking by Happy Traum. I already know how to play alternate bass notes and have the basics of Travis Picking, so it's handy to have those skills already, but my playing is still pretty methodical. My current goal is to "have the music flow with variations that sound pleasing to the ear. I'm working on the first song on the DVD, which is "Skip to My Lou." (You can hear Pete Seeger sing and play the song on the banjo here.) It's only two chords, and I'm reminded of how I felt when I first started out. I needed to take lots of breaks to let my brain and fingers absorb the new information. I got tired of the song. Every time I returned to the song, I found that I had remembered a little bit more than I had before.

I think I'll have "Skip to My Lou" underway by the end of next week. After that, "Spike Driver's Blues" is next (link is to a YouTube video with a Mississippi John Hurt recording).

Felt Elephants Upon a Spider's Web

I'm ready to emerge from my brief hiatus. I've been able to rest some, my thumb has healed to the point that it's no longer keeping me up at night, and I can sew again! Thank you for all of your kind, supportive comments. I look forward to catching up on your blogs over the next couple of days.

A little over a month ago, I posted a song I was preparing for French camp about five elephants balancing on a spiderweb. The week has arrived for me to present the song, and I have the felt-board figures for it:



I also completed my Royal Math Gnomes for the shop. I'll post photos on Crafty Thursday. I have singular Accounting Gnomes planned for future listings. As of this time, it appears that people searching for the kinds of dolls I make are more likely to find them if I post information about the dolls on this blog and on Flickr.

"Cat Food Sandwiches" and "The Cat Came Back"

In all likelihood, you will not thank me for posting the song "Cat Food Sandwiches" by David Lindley. Some of you will snicker, but others of you will say, "How could you?" The music is quite good and Lindley's storytelling is compelling but the lyrics will make you writhe in your chair, and Lindley knows it. My uncle introduced me to this song, and told me after a few minutes, "It's okay if you've had enough."

I couldn't turn myself away from it, and after listening to all 18 minutes or so of the song, despite having images in my head that are stuck for all time, I had to pass it on to you. Just be warned: you will never think of poker-chips, gelatin or head-cheese in the same way again. (Actually, you'll probably think of head-cheese exactly as you did before.)

For those of you who don't even want to chance the possibility of being disgusted, avert your eyes, skip past parts 1-3 of "Cat Food Sandwiches" and rejoin me at the paragraph that begins with "This week...."

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

This week, I had a great time hanging out with my uncle. We strummed guitar together, which was a treat, and also got to listen to him to play his bluesy finger-picking songs. Lucia's favorite song was my uncle's rendition of Harry S. Miller's The Cat Came Back. You may listen to children's musician Fred Penner perform it here. Penner also covers the song Sandwiches, so now we've come full circle.

Song of the Week: Five elephants on one spiderweb

I'm learning French songs for my summer French camp gigs. In two weeks, I'll lead 2 storytime circles twice a week for 20 minutes apiece. Many of the songs have 2 or 3 chords, but a song like "Le Bon Roi Dagobert" for Bastille Day has a bouncy, boisterous rhythm with not much repetition, so I'm definitely stretching myself. My French is not spectacular (my college professor can attest to that), but I know enough to compose simple songs. If I can ever figure out my new video editing software, I'll share my new composition about colors and clothes.

In the meantime, thanks to the fabulous Mama Lisa's World, I rediscovered a variation of a circle game song I learned in Cote d'Ivoire called Un éléphant se balançait ("An Elephant Was Balancing on a Spider Web"). You may listen to the MP3 here. The midi is the more standard tune, but I really like the jazzy version as sung on the MP3, and that's what I've based my guitar chords upon:



Translation:

An elephant was balancing
On a web, web, web, a spider web,
It was a game that was so much fun
That he called.... a second elephant.

How many elephants can balance on a spider's web? I hope that the humor of the setup will be apparent with the felt-board figures I'm planning to make.

Some of you may be familiar with Sharon, Lois and Bram's recording "One Elephant, Deux Éléphants" which had a variation in both English and French to the tune of "Five Little Ducks Went Out to Play":

One elephant went out to play
Upon a spider's web one day
He had such enormous fun
That he called for another elephant to come.

Deux éléphants allaient jouer
Sur une toile d'araignée
Ils s'amusaient tellement bien
Qu'ils appelaient à un autre, viens!

Three elephants went out to play
Upon a spider's web one day
They had such enormous fun
That they called for another elephant to come.

Quatre éléphants allaient jouer
Sur une toile d'araignée
Ils s'amusaient tellement bien
Qu'ils appelaient à un autre, viens!

All the elephants were out at play
Upon a spider's web one day
They had such enormous fun
But, there were no more elephants left to come!

Song of the Week: Quelqu'un m'a dit

I heard the music of singer/song-writer Carla Bruni four weeks ago in a local shop. She was born in Italy, but became a French citizen. Two years ago, she married the French president Nicholas Sarkozy. Her music has been circling through my brain, and in particular, the song "Quelqu'un m'a dit" has taken up residence. Here is Bruni performing the song live:



I found an English translation of the song which you may read here. While the particulars are helpful to know, I don't think one needs the translation to understand that the song is about hope and longing.

Next week's postings will probably be sparse as the family is going on vacation to Santa Fe for a week. However, I plan to spend some time with my blogroll and catch up on your lives and books.

Love Song: Green is the Color of My Merman's Hair

Happy Valentine's Day! As I said in last year's post, I try to use this month to catch up on correspondence, as St. Valentine was a deliverer of letters. I've managed to do that once this month. I'd also meant to have a recorded version of my revised song "Green is the Color of My Merman's Hair" (to the tune of "Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair). I'll post the lyrics and chords now and the recorded version at a later time. Hold me to it!

This song is dedicated to Bede, of course.

Song of the Week: We Three Kings

In the New Testament, the Gospel of Matthew does not say how many Magi/Wise Men/Kings visited Jesus Christ after his birth. The gifts presented in Matthew's account are gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The Magi are anonymous in Matthew's account, but they became known as Gaspar (or Caspar), Melchior and Balthazar. Sometimes the Magi are depicted as coming from the Middle-East and riding on dromedary camels. Sometimes artists envision them as coming from the Far East, where they ride bactrian camels.

The felt Nativity set from Kyrgyzstan (pictured below, with additional visitors) has an interesting provenance. The person who originally bought these Nativity sets from local artisans noted that there weren't any Wise Men in the collection. The artisans didn't know about the Wise Men, so the person explained that they were traditionally three visitors from the East who brought gifts for the baby Jesus. The artisans made three Kings with turbans, and placed blankets in their hands as gifts to keep the baby Jesus warm.


Photo taken 2 years ago. The felt angel is my addition.

"We Three Kings" is a Christmas carol written by Reverend John Henry Hopkins, Jr. It appeared in Carols, Hymns, and Song in 1863. The song is in 3/4 time, with five verses, three of which lay out the purpose of the gifts. There is one rousing chorus, which may be familiar to you even if you're a bit vague on the individual verses:

O star of wonder, star of night,
Star with royal beauty bright,
Westward leading, still proceeding,
Guide us to thy perfect Light.

Some of you may be familiar with the parody:

We Three Kings of Orient are,
Tried to smoke a rubber cigar,
It was loaded, it exploded--
[Pause]
We two Kings of Orient are...

My favorite rendition of the parody was on A Prairie Home Companion. You can find the complete parody lyrics here and listen to it here (in Segment One, called "Wise"). You'll need Real Audio player.

I've got guitar chords for you! I've usually seen it written in E minor. If you'd like to play it in E minor, you can find the chords here. I've got chords for you in A minor. Yes, there is that pesky F, but the good news is that it sounds just fine in F7 major, and is good for the quick chord changes.


Click on the image in order to enlarge it.

Songs of the Week: Ocho Kandelikas and Ma'oz Tzur

The House of Glee attended the Dan Zanes Holiday House Party last Saturday. The show had songs in Arabic, English, Hebrew, Ladino (a Spanish-Hebrew creole developed by Sephardic Jews), Korean, Spanish, and Swahili performed by family bands that included children. We got a kick out of the "Grey Goose" shadow-puppet production and enjoyed the songs, but thought that the transitions needed to be smoother before the show would be ready for Broadway.

Even though I once attended a Yiddish-Hebrew Sunday school for 6 months, I had never before heard two of the Hanukkah songs performed. I've only ever known about "Dreydl, Dreydl" and "Hanukkah O Hanukkah" through my public school chorus class. At the concert, the first Hanukkah song was performed by Basya Schechter of Pharaoh's Daughter was a Ladino song called "Ocho Kandelikas" (Eight Little Candles), written by Flory Jagoda. Here is the chorus:

Una kandelika, dos kandelikas, tres kandelikas,
kuatro kandelikas, sintyu kandelikas, sej kandelikas, siete kandelikas,
ocho kandelas para mi.

English translation:

One candle, two candles, three candles,
four candles, five candles, six candles, seven candles,
eight candles for me.

You can hear Kenny Ellis sing it on YouTube here. Complete Ladino lyrics with the English translations are here.

The second Hanukkah song that was new to me was the Hebrew "Ma'oz Tzur" (The Strength of the Rock, one of the many names for God). The lyrics are thought to have been written in the 13th century, and the tune used most is an adaptation of a German folk song. I've heard two different versions, so I'm not sure which one is the folk song. "Ma'oz Tzur" is traditionally sung after the reciting of the blessings and lighting of the menorah candles. The first verse in phonetic Hebrew with the English translation is here. You can listen to Schechter perform it here.

This year, Hanukkah begins at sundown on Sunday, December 21.

For those searching for Hanukkah songs on the internet, here are alternate phonetic spellings to bring you to this specific post: Chanuka, Chanukah, Chanukkah, Channukah, Hanukah, Hannukah, Hanukkah, Hanuka, Hanukka, Hanaka, Haneka, Hanika, Khanukkah.

Song of the Week: Octopus aka "Slippery Fish"

I've had Charlotte Diamond's "Octopus" song (aka "Slippery Fish") going through my head the past few days. You can find the lyrics here. The song itslf is on Charlotte Diamond's album 10 Carrot Diamond.

Here is a YouTube video of the song with flip-board visuals:
Slippery Fish

And here it is in Spanish:
Una Sardina

I've got family in town, so posting will be light this week. However, I'll have a chance to catch up on your blog posts!

Song of the Week: MyHope by sweetafton23

The gathering at the Downtown Seattle Public Library branch for John Green's Paper Towns book tour was huge! They had to open up the doors in the back to bring in extra seats. John Green read, Hank Green played some songs on the guitar (and forgot the words), and Molly a.k.a. sweetafton23 played "MyHope" and "Road Trip" on the ukulele. I'll have more to post about the Vlog Brothers Seattle event soon, but for now, here's "MyHope" as the Song of the Week:



You can sing along with the chorus:

How I hope that you forget your MySpace
I hope it slips completely from your mind
And I hope it stays up long enough for the next generation to find
And I hope that it embarrasses your children
I hope their bratty friends all forward it around
And I hope that you forget your password
So you cannot take it down

Song of the Week: I Wish You Love

Thanks to Kids' Music that Rocks (formerly known as Children's Music that Rocks), I now have I Wish You Love by Sunflow in my head:

All the sun for you
All I can wish for you
Is wish you the best of everything.

All the sky for you
Forever I fly for you
And the good life this will bring.

So while you lay sleeping
I just sit and stare
And pray that you're dreaming
A lifetime of happiness
A joy from up above
Until then I wish you love.

I ended up downloading the album Under the Stars. The album is going to press in November, but the MP3s are available now. Since I have a hard time waiting for music, I went for instant gratification.

Poetry Friday: Someone, by Walter de la Mare

In 1997, for my first library Halloween storytime ever, I used the poem "Someone," by Walter de la Mare and had the audience tap on the floor with their knuckles while I said the words. I tried to use poetry in later storytimes, but I never felt as if I had the knack for sharing it properly. When I started to learn guitar, I realized that I wanted to set poems to music so that sharing them would come more naturally to me. I've already done that with Robert Louis Stevenson's "The Swing," and Lewis Carroll's "The Lobster Quadrille." I enjoy singing Eugene Field's "Wynken, Blynken and Nod," too.

I've wanted to set "Someone" to music for some time now, and finally have a simple melody to play. Now, the question is, "Will this song be appealing to children?" I like to bring new stories and songs to Third Place Books, as I've been performing there almost every month, and sometimes get the same crowds of people. One of the things I miss about having a library job is working with groups who come in on a regular basis.

Here is my video for Walter de la Mare's "Someone":



And here is the poem itself, published in Peacock Pie in 1913:

“Someone” by Walter de La Mare

Someone came knocking
At my wee, small door;
Someone came knocking;
I'm sure-sure-sure;
I listened, I opened,
I looked to left and right,
But nought there was a stirring
In the still dark night;
Only the busy beetle
Tap-tapping in the wall,
Only from the forest
The screech-owl's call,
Only the cricket whistling
While the dewdrops fall,
So I know not who came knocking,
At all, at all, at all.

Since I have the chutzpah to make this poem a Song of the Week, here are the chords I used:


Click on the image in order to enlarge it

The Poetry Friday roundup is at Becky's Book Reviews today.

Song of the Week: Lily Pond

The name of my daughter's kindergarten class is called Lily Pond, which is one reason why this song by Vashti Bunyan to the tune of "Twinkle Twinkle" is a favorite:

In a lily pond I lay
All upon a summer’s day

Then I chased a dragonfly
All across an ancient sky

Falling with a thousand stars
Down the Milky Way to Mars

Back again in time for day
In a lily pond I lay.

And the only thing he said to me
Was- ‘Young lady I love thee.’

Elizabeth Mitchell sings this song on "You Are My Little Bird" without the last two lines. The song actually seems more complete without them. (I suppose the dragonfly is the "he" in the song, but it's a little vague.)

You may find Bunyan's rendition of the song here. If you can't access the song, just know that when you sing "Then I chased a dragonfly..." it's as if you're singing "Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are" twice before the "Up above the world so high" line.

Oh yes, and here are guitar chords:

Song of the Week: Freight Train

Somewhere in the early 1980's, family friends took me to hear Elizabeth "Libba" Cotten in concert. She was in her nineties, and at the end of the concert, four generations of her family stood on stage with her. What I remember most about the concert was Cotten explaining why she played the guitar upside-down. She was left-handed, and completely self-taught. As a result, her finger-picking style was unlike anyone else's, as you can see in this video for "Freight Train," a song she wrote when she was twelve years old. You can read more about Cotten's life story, including how she was discovered by Pete and Peggy Seeger, the copyright issues involving "Freight Train" (I still don't get it how anyone can get away with copyrighting a song s/he didn't compose) and more in this article by L.L. Demerle called Remembering Elizabeth Cotten. You can listen to Cotten play "Freight Train" and watch her finger-picking style here:



Here are the chords:



For those of you who struggle with holding down two or more strings with one finger, remember these F chord alternatives.

I'll admit that I appreciate Cotten's creaky, sometimes off-key voice in small quantities. As with Bob Dylan's music, it's the song-writing and guitar-playing for which I keep coming back. Cotten's first album for Smithsonian Folkways, Freight Train and Other Carolina Folk Songs and Tunes, is a good album with which to to start. The production values are pretty good, and I enjoy hearing the squeaks of the guitar-strings. There's also Shake Sugaree which has the title track sung by Brenda Evans, Cotten's great-granddaughter (12 years old at the time of recording), and the Grammy award-winning Live!

At the Elizabeth Mitchell concert last Saturday, Mitchell and her band (including her young daughter Storey) lead "Freight Train" and had us call out different places to travel to by train. We went from Pittsburgh to Mars. You may listen to a sample by following the Mitchell link, then clicking on "Flower" followed by "Listen."

Song of the Week: Let's Play in the Forest

This morning at the local library preschool storytime, the librarian read Let's Play In the Forest, While the Wolf is Not Around, by Claudia Rueda. The story is based on a French and Columbian play song, known either as "Jugemos en el Bosque" or "Promenons-nous dans les bois." After everyone says or sings, "Let's play in the forest while the wolf is not around," they call out, "Wolf, are you there?" and the Wolf responds, "I'm putting on my underpants... undershirt... pants..." and so on. When the Wolf is finished getting dressed, he announces that he's hungry, with a humorous surprise ending.

The librarian said, "I am going to have to ask someone who knows how to read music to teach me the tune." I offered to take a copy of the song home (included with source notes at the end of the book) so that I could figure it out on guitar. Then, I decided to film it so that the librarian would have a sound file to which to refer. Here is the video, with help from Lucia, my "Gloria."



I also found this video.

Song of the Week: The Motorcycle Song

At lunch today, Bede brought out the jar of kosher dill pickles, and asked, "Who wants a pickle?"

Lucia and I started singing, "I don't want a pickle-- I just want to ride on my motor-sickle."

"Fine," Bede said. "I'll eat them all myself."

Lucia and I hastily reconsidered and decided we did want pickles after all.

You will find lyrics and chords to Arlo Guthrie's "The Motorcycle Song" (a.ka. The Pickle Song) here.

You may watch and listen to Arlo Guthrie singing the song and explaining the origins of the song with his distinctive storytelling style:



Also, don't miss Randy Kaplan's interpretation of the song on his album Five Cent Piece. In Kaplan's version, he's just trying to comfort his sister on a rainy day, but guess what-- she doesn't want a pickle, or a tickle, for that matter.

Those of you who check in regularly (and I appreciate you very much!) have noticed a bit of a lull lately on the blog. That's just the way it goes sometimes. I had a good gig today, and plan to do some research for more stories and songs in the upcoming months. October and November will be busy with the Pierce County Library gigs. Lucia starts school the week after Labor Day. On September 13, we're going to see Elizabeth Mitchell in concert (Finally! Hurrah!), and the weekend of September 27 is the Second Annual Kidlitosphere Conference in Portland, Oregon.

Song of the Week: Paquet d’Épingles (i.e. "Packet of Pins" or "Paper of Pins")

I know two basic versions of the folksong "Paper of Pins": the one with the happy ending where the person to whom the singer repeatedly proposes says in essence, "Don't offer me material possessions, offer me your love and affection," and the sad version where the singer laments, "And now I see money is all, and woman's love is nothing at all," when the object of the singer's affection says, "Oh, yes, I'll accept the key to your chest, That I may have gold at my request." Of course, the woman may have planned all along to cool the singer's ardor, for she sings at the end, "I'm determined to be an old maid, take my stool and live in the shade, and marry no one at all, and marry no one at all."

Fair enough.

However, I'm a fan of the happier version, and even more so of the version in Cajun French called "Paquet d'Épingles," sung by Michael Doucet with family and friends on the album Le Hoogie Boogie: Louisiana French Music For Children. The tune is different too. You can listen to a a music sample of Paquet d'Épingles vis the link. But don't stop there! I like most of the songs on the album, including the title track which is a French version of "The Hokey Pokey"-- and for me, that's saying something. (I revised my opinion of the song after a colleague of mine let me off the hook for, "You put your back side in." I simply refuse to do it. I acknowledge that I am a stick in the mud. I don't wiggle my waggles away either!)

For those of you who want to try playing and singing "Paquet d'Épingles" on the guitar, the good news is that you only have two chords to manage, thereby freeing up your brain to remember all of the lyrics in French. Bon chance! I'm sharing the French lyrics with chords plus the English translation. I've added little pictures next to the verses to help you keep your place:


Click on the graphic in order to enlarge it

Here is the English translation:

If you will marry me, I’ll give you a packet of pins,
I’ll give you a packet of pins if you will marry me
No, I will not marry you, no I will not marry you.

If you will marry me, I’ll give you a little white cat,
I’ll give you a little white cat to go walking with you.
No, I will not etc.

If you will marry me, I’ll give you a beautiful house,
I’ll give you beautiful house all lined in white satin.
No, I will not etc.

If you will marry me, I’ll give you a wedding dress,
I’ll give you a wedding dress all sewn with silver thread.
No, I will not etc.

If you will marry me, I’ll give you the keys to my coffers,
I’ll give you the keys to my coffers and all my gold and all my silver.
No, I will not etc.

If you will marry me, I’ll give you the keys to my heart,
I’ll give you the keys to my heart, and all my soul and all my love,
I’ll gladly marry you, I’ll gladly marry you.

If that’s the way your love begins, I accept your packet of pins,
I accept your packet of pins, if that’s the way your love begins,
I’ll gladly marry you, etc.

If that’s the way your love begins, I accept your little white cat,
I accept your little white cat to go walking with me.
I’ll gladly marry you, etc.

If that’s the way your love begins, I accept your beautiful house,
I accept your beautiful house all lined in white satin.
I’ll gladly marry you, etc.

If that’s the way your love begins, I accept your wedding dress,
I accept your wedding dress all hemmed in silver thread.
I’ll gladly marry you, etc.
If that’s the way your love begins, I accept the keys to your coffers,
I accept the keys to your coffers and all your gold and all your silver.
I’ll gladly marry you, etc.

If that’s the way your love begins, I accept the keys to your heart,
I accept the keys to your heart and all your soul and all your love.
I’ll gladly marry you, etc.

Song of the Week: Subterranean Homesick Blues

I didn't care much for Bob Dylan until relatively recently, thanks to Bede. I liked his songs well enough, but I preferred it when they were covered by other musicians. The song that's been getting a lot of play lately is Subterranean Homesick Blues. Follow the link for the Wikipedia article that explains the references within the song. Here is the iconic video:



As you may have guessed, there have been a number of homages to the video, including INXS' Mediate and the Wall Street Rap from the film "Bob Roberts". My favorite one is Weird Al Yankovic's Bob, which is comprised of palindromes that rhyme with each other within the verses. My favorite: "May a moody baby doom a yam?" (If you've ever tried to feed a reluctant toddler mashed sweet potatoes, then you understand that the answer is sometimes "Yes! Yes! What am I going to do with this moody baby?!")

I suppose you want guitar chords for this song. Here they are, though that last "B" should really be a D chord.

The visit to Santa Fe has been going well. We brought rain with us from Seattle, and my mom just said, "There's a flower in bloom! Quick, look at it before it dies." (My mom is still bemoaning the death of her trumpet vine.) My mom gave up her opera ticket Friday night so that my mom's partner could take me to see "Falstaff" at the Santa Fe Opera house. He also introduced Lucia to some Bob Dylan videos, and now she's calling him, "Mr. Tambourine Man."

Song of the Week: Yes Indeedy

When Yellow Submarine was the Song of the Week, the Goddess of Clarity wrote in that the song was one that a nun taught her to play on the guitar. She added, "Another favorite was 'Yes Indeedy Pumpkin Seedy,' which I sadly can't find a reference to online."

Six weeks later, a commenter named Ldyvic posted that Joe Wise sings a children's song called "Yes Indeedy," and pointed me to iTunes. (I found it on Amazon, too, as a MP3 file.) Giamusic distributes Joe Wise's music, and you can find this song and others on The Best of Joe Wise Music for Kids Vol. II. I wrote to Joe Wise to ask him if he was the author of the song (since he covered other people's songs on his albums), and he replied, "Yes indeedy, pumpkin seedy Yes I am the author, though if any kid sings it all across the country in the car on the family vacation I'll deny authorship in any court."

Here are the lyrics to the song as I've transcribed them:

Yes Indeedy
By Joe Wise

Yes indeedy, pumpkin seedy
No siree bob, hey diddle corn cob
Yeah but no but wait a minute, could be so
Maybe baby, chicken and gravy
Don’t be silly saspirilly
Hardly yardly, bailing up barley, pick a little, I don’t know!

My Uncle Fred had a problem in his head
So I hear tell from my old Auntie Kay
He could make up his bed but not up his mind
In answer to most any question, this is what he said:

Chorus

My Uncle Zeke had some funny thinking streaks
He would sit for days just wandering in his head
After weeks of sitting a’whittling and a’spitting
You asked him if he wanted supper, this is what he said:

Chorus

Uncle Fred and Zeke were driving on a peak
When the car went to the edge, Zeke yelled out, “Brakes!
Should we put them on, old Fred?” was the last thing that they said
And you could hear them singing standing at the Pearly Gates:

Chorus