I was first introduced to these two traditional songs via the Nields, who were featured in our last Food Songs post. Notice how food in these songs is taken out of the purely human context and interwoven with the surrounding environment. So much of our food is removed from the natural world around us, these songs are good reminders of the nature of our meals.
Oh, John the Rabbit
Traditional American Folk Song
Oh, John the rabbit, Yes, Ma’am
Got a mighty habit, Yes, Ma’am
Jumping in my garden, Yes Ma’am
Cutting down my cabbage, Yes Ma’am
My sweet potatoes, Yes Ma’am
My fresh tomatoes, Yes Ma’am
An if I live, Yes Ma’am
To see next fall, Yes, Ma’am
I ain’t gonna have, Yes Ma’am
No garden at all, Yes Ma’am
And here is one charming rendition of this song:
Aikendrum
Traditional
There was a man come from the moon,
from the moon,
from the moon
There was a man come from the moon,
and his name was
Akin Drum His head was made of pizza, pizza, pizza
His head was made of pizza,
and his name was Akin DrumHis neck were made of
string beans, string beans,
string beans
His neck were made of string beans,
and his name was Akin DrumHis belly was made of jello, jello, jello
His belly was made of jello,
and his name was Akin DrumHis legs were made of
french fries, french fries, french fries
His legs were made of french fries,
and his name was Akin Drum
His feet were made of
broccoli, broccoli, broccoli
His feet were made of broccoli,
and his name was Akin Drum
Oh what a crazy creature, creature, creature
Oh what a crazy creature, that dear old Akin Drum
Listen to a version of Akin Drum here: http://songsforteaching.com/s/daria/AkinDrum.mp3
cool – keep em coming! i’ll try to find some possible ethnic flavored food songs (irish/italian) since i’m becoming interested in my family’s background and traditional music.
it’d be great if we could get links to the music too – similar to the youtube idea.
good stuff!