For months and months and months

When I came out this afternoon I didn't know what to do
When suddenly it dawned on me that I would call on you
And when I went behind the stage, before I'd been there long
It also dawned upon me I would sing this little song.

And I don't suppose I shall sing it again
For months and months and months
And I don't suppose I shall sing it again
For months and months and months
In over a year and a half I've only sung it once
And I don't suppose I shall sing it again
For months and months and months.

I used to know a painter once who had no sense of pain
If he tumbled off a roof, he'd climb upon that roof again
He got a job the other day just close to his abode
Where he tumbled off the dome of St Paul’s, and landed in the road.

And I don't suppose he'll do it again
For months and months and months
And I don't suppose he'll do it again
For months and months and months
In over a year and a half he's only tumbled once
And I don't suppose he'll tumble again
For months and months and months.

A person by the name of Jones who lived next door to me
Made up his mind last summer time he'd swim across the sea
He said he only meant to try and do it for a lark
And, strange to say, when he dived in he came across a shark.

And I don't suppose he'll swim it again
For months and months and months
And I don't suppose he'll swim it again
For months and months and months
In over a year and a half it only bit him once
And I don't suppose it'll bite him again
For months and months and months.

Another chap I used to know told me one afternoon
He meant to try his luck in going up in a balloon
The funny part about it was, that made the people stare
Though he came down himself, the balloon remained up in the air.

And I don't suppose he'll go up again
For months and months and months
And I don't suppose he'll go up again
For months and months and months
In all his life before he's bought a balloon but once
And I don't suppose he'll buy one again
For months and months and months.

The agent who got me this 'shop' was Mr Henry Lord
The day the contract came, he took a ship and went abroad
He said he'd like to see me on, but he hadn't got the cheek
The fact is, I'm engaged here at a hundred pounds a week.

And I don't suppose you'll see me again
For months and months and months
And I don't suppose you'll see me again
For months and months and months
In all my life before I've never been here once
And the manager says if he had his way
He'd give me eighteen months.

A song which travelled from the early 20th century British Music Hall to the American deep South to become an old-time classic..

For months and months and months was written for the British Halls by the prolific professional songwriter Joseph Tabrar. It was a hit on the UK stage for Jack Smiles in 1909 and according to Willson Disher, the success of the song was such that the title became a bit of a popular catchphrase. That same year, Tabrar sold the American rights to the song to Norah Bayes and Jack Norworth, who rewrote it for an American audience, for their show “Little Miss Fix-it”. Jack Norwood continued to sing the song several years, and recorded in 1910 for Victor.

So the song was a big hit in America around 1910…

Our knowledge of American old-time music is to a great extent informed by a wave of recording that happened in the late 1920s and early 1930s, when record companies scoured the American South for talent. Bill Chitwood, Bud Landress and other musicians associated with the Georgia Yellow Hammers of Gordon County, Georgia, recorded over hundred “old-time” tunes and songs at this time. Like so many traditional musicians, it’s likely that Bill Chitwood and the others selected their repertoire on the basis of songs that they and their audience enjoyed, rather than their age. It’s likely that they picked this one up directly or indirectly from Jack Norworth’s performance. It does appear to have been a popular song amongst other southern musicians, it was recorded under various titles by: Uncle Dave Macon & His Fruit Jar Drinkers, Fiddlin’ John Carson, Binkley Brothers’ Dixie Clodhoppers, and probably others..