{"id":24555,"date":"2024-07-05T15:31:24","date_gmt":"2024-07-05T15:31:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=24555"},"modified":"2024-07-09T14:45:03","modified_gmt":"2024-07-09T14:45:03","slug":"i-wish-theyd-do-it-now-gray-1892","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/i-wish-theyd-do-it-now-gray-1892\/","title":{"rendered":"I wish they’d do it now (Gray, 1892)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
AKA<\/strong><\/td><\/td><\/tr>
First Published<\/td>1892<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Writer\/composer<\/td>Barry Gray<\/td>Roud<\/strong><\/td>RN1401<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Music Hall Performers<\/strong><\/td>WM Goldie<\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>None that I am aware of<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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I wish they\u2019d do it now<\/strong>
Comic song and chorus
Written and composed by Barry Gray

My mother in law and I went out
One night to take a stroll
She wore her diamond earrings and
A purse well filled with gold
We were followed by assassins
Who hundred for our gore
And if it hadn\u2019t been for me
They\u2019d have killed my mother-in-law

I wish they\u2019d do it now
I wish they\u2019d do it now
I\u2019d manage to get out of the way
And not turn up till next day
I wish they\u2019d do it now
I\u2019d try to show them how
Oh, wouldn\u2019t it be a snap for me
I wish they\u2019d do it now<\/em> [twice]

I\u2019m married now about five years 
And settled down in life
I shan\u2019t forget the first time I
Had trouble with my wife
She threw the licence in my face 
And smashed our wedding ring 
And said I\u2019ll go back to ma-ma 
You nasty horrid thing

I wish she\u2019d do it now
I wish she\u2019d do it now
Although in fighting I\u2019m not drilled 
I\u2019d run the risk of being killed
I wish she\u2019d do it now
I\u2019d try to show her how
Oh, wouldn\u2019t it be a snap for me
I wish she\u2019d do it now<\/em> [twice]

I remember when a little boy
Though many years ago
I had golden hair and hazel eyes
No sorrow did I know
I was the cutest little lad 
You\u2019d see for many a day 
The girls would come from miles around
And borrow me to play

I wish they\u2019d do it now
I wish they\u2019d do it now
Those saucy girls with bangs and curls
Would smooth my childish brow
I wish they\u2019d do it now
I\u2019d try to show them how
Oh, wouldn\u2019t it be a snap for me
I wish they\u2019d do it now<\/em> [twice]<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
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A re-write of one of the earlier variants of I wish they’d do it now <\/em>or possibly of EW Mackney’s I\u2019d choose to be a baby<\/a>, with its own  melody  …<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Barry Gray was the pen name of American humourist and author, Robert Barry Coffin (1826-1866) – its possible that the music publishers were posthumously crediting Coffin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This version was also published in W.M. Goldie’s Musical Songster <\/em>(c1892)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
https:\/\/www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk\/viewer\/bl\/0002237\/18921223\/032\/0008<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n