And The Green Grass Grows All Around, also known as The Green Grass Grew All Around is a song that was first published in 1912[1][2], with words by William Jerome[2] and melody by Harry Von Tilzer[1]. Today it is a popular children's song, and a good example of a cumulative song.
There are many variations of phrasing in the lyrics. Most versions tell a similar story of a “pretty” hole in the middle of ground, and of all the surroundings. It need not be a hole in the ground. One such version by The Singing Kettle sings this song "There was a tree, a beautiful tree, The beautiful-est tree you ever did see". This version is included on their CD Singalong Songs from Scotland, produced in 2003 for Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. However, there is a version sung by the American Quartet (and a few other groups of the time) which tells the story of Little Johnny Green and Little Sally Brown. In this version, Johnny and Sally plan to get married, but not before Johnny takes his "Ford machine" on a ride which ends with an accident with a butcher cart, killing the butcher inside. In the final verse, Johnny is fatally poisoned from biscuit he ate and a "fried piece of steak with grass all around".
References
- ^ a b Egan, Bill (2004). Florence Mills: Harlem Jazz Queen at Google Book Search. Scarecrow Press. page 16. ISBN 0810850079
- ^ a b Axford, Elizabeth C. (2004). Song Sheets to Software: A Guide to Print Music, Software, and Web Sites for Musicians at Google Book Search. Scarecrow Press. page 20. ISBN 0810850273
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