Barefoot Days Medley
Vocals John Howarth, Gerry Kearns and Larry Kearns; Guitar Gerry Kearns; Banjo John Howarth; Mandolin Larry Kearns.
Tommy Broadbent is no good, chop him up for firewood,
When he’s dead, stand him on his head,
Then we’ll have some currant bread.
Dip for gold, and dip for silver, dip for the one that you love best.
Down in the valley where the green grass grows
There little Mary she washes all her clothes,
She sings, she sings, she sings so sweet,
She see’s her sweetheart walking down the street
Michael Paterson, he says that he loves her,
All the boys are fighting for her. Let the boys do as they will,
It’s Michael Paterson that she loves still.
He knocks at the door and he picks up the pin,
Saying hey Mrs Cook is your daughter in,
She’s nether in, she’s nether out,
She’s in the back parlour walking about.
Sweetheart, sweetheart, will you marry me,
Yes sir, yes sir at half-past-three,
Half-past-three will be to late,
We can’t have the party till , half-past-eight.
Dip for gold and dip for silver, dip for the one that you love best.
BAREFOOT DAYS MEDLEY
I can remember how glad I used to be,
When Dad or Mother would buy new shoes for me
That’s the feeling we all had, how new shoes would make you glad
But the best times if you recall, was when we had no shoes at all,
In barefoot days, when we were just a couple of kids,
In barefoot days, o’ boy the things we did.
We’d go down to Daisy Nook with a bent pin for a hook,
And we’d fish all day and we’d fish all night
But the bloody old fish refused to bite
And then off we’d go, down some old cellar door
We’d slide and slide, till our pants got tore, a little more
Then we’d have to go home and lay in bed ,
‘Till mother got busy with the needle and thread,
Oh boy , what joy we had in barefoot days. ….Zim
Tommy Broadbent is no good, chop him up for firewood,
When he’s dead, stand him on his head,
Then we’ll have some currant bread.
Dip for gold, and dip for silver, dip for the one that you love best.
Down in the valley where the green grass grows
There little Mary she washes all her clothes,
She sings, she sings, she sings so sweet,
She see’s her sweetheart walking down the street
Michael Paterson, he says that he loves her,
All the boys are fighting for her. Let the boys do as they will,
It’s Michael Paterson that she loves still.
He knocks at the door and he picks up the pin,
Saying hey Mrs Cook is your daughter in,
She’s nether in, she’s nether out,
She’s in the back parlour walking about.
Sweetheart, sweetheart, will you marry me,
Yes sir, yes sir at half-past-three,
Half-past-three will be to late,
We can’t have the party till , half-past-eight.
Dip for gold and dip for silver, dip for the one that you love best.
BAREFOOT DAYS MEDLEY
I can remember how glad I used to be,
When Dad or Mother would buy new shoes for me
That’s the feeling we all had, how new shoes would make you glad
But the best times if you recall, was when we had no shoes at all,
In barefoot days, when we were just a couple of kids,
In barefoot days, o’ boy the things we did.
We’d go down to Daisy Nook with a bent pin for a hook,
And we’d fish all day and we’d fish all night
But the bloody old fish refused to bite
And then off we’d go, down some old cellar door
We’d slide and slide, till our pants got tore, a little more
Then we’d have to go home and lay in bed ,
‘Till mother got busy with the needle and thread,
Oh boy , what joy we had in barefoot days. ….Zim
Vocals John Howarth, Gerry Kearns and Larry Kearns; Guitar Gerry
Kearns; Banjo John Howarth; Mandolin Larry Kearns.
Barefoot Days Medley
The two songs which comprise this medley may seem poles apart, but the Oldham Tinkers feel justified in connecting them. John and Larry were born at the end of the war, Gerry was born four years later. All three had untroubled, happy childhoods reaping the benefits of the relief and calm which were manifest in the late forties. The first half of the medley is indicative of a genuine , carefree childhood, incidentally, the people mentioned in the first half of the medley are real people, as they were in the first part of the medley when they were first sung and skipped to in the street by the little girls. Larry recognised the song only a few years ago when he heard it in a school yard. The generations of the parents of the Oldham Tinkers did not have life so cushy as the lads themselves, It had known the rigours of two wold wars, the hardship of the depressions during the twenties and the thirties and in fact has a lot to bemoan. However, the people of this older generation would rather look for sparks of happiness amidst fires of unhappiness than dwell on past hardships. It is to do with this attitude to life that Barefoot Days became the favourite of all tap-room songs in Oldham. Never a family gathering or a Christmas party goes by without renderings of Barefoot Days. Like the children’s songs which begin the medley, Barefoot Days portrays an ecstatically happy childhood. But the happy childhood is so transparent . It’s a
made- up one. It’s the kind of childhood which our parents generation would have loved to have spent, but didn’t. However their generation is a proud one and would never admit to having missed out on anything. The contrast lies between the two childhoods : one one really happy , the other, happy but not true.
Kearns; Banjo John Howarth; Mandolin Larry Kearns.
Barefoot Days Medley
The two songs which comprise this medley may seem poles apart, but the Oldham Tinkers feel justified in connecting them. John and Larry were born at the end of the war, Gerry was born four years later. All three had untroubled, happy childhoods reaping the benefits of the relief and calm which were manifest in the late forties. The first half of the medley is indicative of a genuine , carefree childhood, incidentally, the people mentioned in the first half of the medley are real people, as they were in the first part of the medley when they were first sung and skipped to in the street by the little girls. Larry recognised the song only a few years ago when he heard it in a school yard. The generations of the parents of the Oldham Tinkers did not have life so cushy as the lads themselves, It had known the rigours of two wold wars, the hardship of the depressions during the twenties and the thirties and in fact has a lot to bemoan. However, the people of this older generation would rather look for sparks of happiness amidst fires of unhappiness than dwell on past hardships. It is to do with this attitude to life that Barefoot Days became the favourite of all tap-room songs in Oldham. Never a family gathering or a Christmas party goes by without renderings of Barefoot Days. Like the children’s songs which begin the medley, Barefoot Days portrays an ecstatically happy childhood. But the happy childhood is so transparent . It’s a
made- up one. It’s the kind of childhood which our parents generation would have loved to have spent, but didn’t. However their generation is a proud one and would never admit to having missed out on anything. The contrast lies between the two childhoods : one one really happy , the other, happy but not true.
FOR OLD TIME’S SAKE L.P. 12TS276
First published by TOPIC 1975
Produced by Tony Engle
Recorded by Tony Engle, London, July 1975
Side 2 track 6, ‘For Old Time’s Sake’ recorded by Pete Johnson at Piccadilly Radio Studios, July 1975
Notes by The Oldham Tinkers and A.L. Lloyd
Sleeve désigne by Tony Engle
Sleeve picture ‘Children’s Games by Tom Dodson, courtesy of Bell Galleries Publications.
Released as a CD 2006
FOR OLD TIMES’S SAKE PIERCD 507
Pier Records is a Wooden Hill Recordings Ltd label
Released under license from Topic Records Ltd, England.
First published by TOPIC 1975
Produced by Tony Engle
Recorded by Tony Engle, London, July 1975
Side 2 track 6, ‘For Old Time’s Sake’ recorded by Pete Johnson at Piccadilly Radio Studios, July 1975
Notes by The Oldham Tinkers and A.L. Lloyd
Sleeve désigne by Tony Engle
Sleeve picture ‘Children’s Games by Tom Dodson, courtesy of Bell Galleries Publications.
Released as a CD 2006
FOR OLD TIMES’S SAKE PIERCD 507
Pier Records is a Wooden Hill Recordings Ltd label
Released under license from Topic Records Ltd, England.