"My Bonny Lies Over the Ocean" has inspired a whole slew of parodies over the years - the most common seem to involve tuberculosis:
My bonnie has tuberculosis
my bonnie has only one lung
she coughs up some bloody corruption
and rolls it around on her tongue
Variations of this sometimes change the last line to She dries it and chews it for gum.". This goes back to at least the 1940s.
Another from at least the mid 50s:
last night as I lay on my pillow
last night as I lay on my bed
I stuck my feet out of the window
when I woke up, the neighbors were dead
Other versions, naturally, focus on sex, like this one recorded by Bronner:
My mommy lies over the ocean
my daddy lies over the sea
my daddy lies over my mommy
and that's how they got little me
I've also heard:
My mommy makes counterfeit whiskey
my daddy makes counterfeit gin
my sister makes love for ten dollars
my god how the money rolls in!
Sherman records the following from a source who learned it at Baptist camp in Idaho, 1978:
My Bonny lies over the gas tank
the contents she wanted to see
I lighted a match to assist her
oh bring back my bonny to me!
See also: Did You Ever See Sally Make Water, which isn't listed as a parody in the books, but I think it may have been.
A slight variation on one of the above which was heard in the 50s in PA
ReplyDeleteMy Bonnie leaned over the gas tank,
The height of it's contents to see
She lit a small match to assist her,
Oh bring back my Bonnie to me
I heard the Bronner version on Long Island in the mid 1970's
ReplyDeleteAustralia, mid-'70s, but from an American kid:
ReplyDeleteMy waiter went into the kitchen,
my waiter went into the kitch
my waiter went into the kitchen
oh where is that son of a
bring back, bring back,
bring back my waiter to me, to me
bring back, bring back,
bring back my waiter to me, to me.
Oscar Brand recorded a number of verses under the title "My God How The Money Rolls In," which includes the verse above, and my favorite:
ReplyDelete"My brother's a poor missionary
He saves fallen from sin
He'll save you a blonde for five dollars
My God " etc.
My father makes cheap prophylactics,
ReplyDeleteHe pierces the head with a pin,
My mother does backstreet abortions,
My God, how the money rolls in.
My father's a lavatory cleaner,
ReplyDeleteHe cleans them all day and all night,
And when he comes home in the evening,
His shoes are all covered with
----shine your brass buckles with Brasso!
It sells for just pennies a tin,
You can buy at the shop on the corner,
But I don't think they've got any in!
Mid-1990s, Ennis, Ireland.