[Rhodes22-list] Ode to growing old. and even a song

[Mary Lou Troy]

Pete Seeger set this to music back in the 60s. He's in his 80s now and 
while he can't sing much, I expect he's still singing this. It's on a 
couple of his re-released albums - one from Smithsonian/Folkways and one 
from Columbia. You can hear the tune here: 
http://media.mudcat.org/MIDI/GETUPGO.MID  (BTW Mudcat Cafe/Digital 
Tradition is a great source of old non-pop lyrics and tunes 
http://www.mudcat.org/)  The words Seeger used start with a chorus and have 
an additional verse up front:

GET UP AND GO

Chorus (and after each verse):
How do I know my youth is all spent?
My get up and go has got up and went
But in spite of it all I'm able to grin
And think of the places my get up has been.

Old age is golden so I've heard said
But sometimes I wonder as I crawl into bed
With my ears in a drawer, my teeth in a cup
My eyes on the table until I wake up.
As sleep dims my vision I say to myself:
Is there anything else I should lay on the shelf?
But though nations are warring and business is vexed
I'll stick around to see what happens next.

When I was young my slippers were red,
I could kick up my heels right over my head.
When I was older my slippers were blue,
But still I could dance the whole night thru.
Now I am older my slippers are black,
I huff to the store and I puff my way back.
But never you laugh; I don't mind at all,
I'd rather be huffing than not puff at all.

I get up each morning and dust off my wits
Open the paper and read the obits
If I'm not there I know I'm not dead
So I eat a good breakfast and go back to bed.

Words collected, adapted and set to original music by Pete Seeger (1960)
TRO (c) 1964 (renewed) Melody Trails Inc., New York, NY

Mary Lou

At 01:30 AM 12/10/2005 -0600, you wrote:
>Love it, Rummy!  Thanks.
>Slim
>
>On 12/9/05 7:51 PM, "R22RumRunner at aol.com" <R22RumRunner at aol.com> wrote:
>
> > When I was young and my slippers were red,
> > I could kick my feet over my head.
> > Then I grew older and my slippers were blue,
> > But still I could dance the whole night through.
> > Now I am old and my slippers are black,
> > I walk to the corner and puff my way back.
> > The reason I know that my youth has been spent,
> > My get up and go has got up and went.
> > But I really don't mind, when I think with a grin,
> > Of all the grand places my get-up has been.
> > Since I have retired from Life's competition,
> > I find every day an exact repetition.
> > I get up each morn and dust off my wits,
> > Grab for the paper and read the obits.
> > If my name is missing, I know I'm not dead,
> > So I eat a huge breakfast and go back to bed.
> >
> >
> > Author unknown
> > __________________________________________________
> > Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list
>
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