{"id":4269,"date":"2020-07-15T13:24:05","date_gmt":"2020-07-15T13:24:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=4269"},"modified":"2020-10-25T17:07:11","modified_gmt":"2020-10-25T17:07:11","slug":"preacher-and-the-bear-the","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/preacher-and-the-bear-the\/","title":{"rendered":"Preacher and the Bear, The"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
AKA<\/strong><\/td>I’m going to live the high life until I die<\/td><\/tr>
First Published<\/td>1903<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Lyrics<\/strong><\/td>Joe Arzonia<\/td>Music<\/strong><\/td>Joe Arzonia<\/td>Roud<\/strong><\/td>4967<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Music Hall Performers<\/strong><\/td>Albert Whelan<\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>Source Singers<\/strong>
The VWML<\/a> has over 30 different instances in the USA, 2 in Canada and in the UK:
David Gardner, 2002, Gloucestershire England
Modern performances<\/strong>
More than you could shake a stick at including the New Christy Minstrels, Rufus Thomas and The Jubalaires.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Original version (warning racist language)<\/strong>\nA preacher went out a hunting, 'twas on one Sunday morn\nOf course it was against his religion but he took his gun along\nHe shot himself some very fine quail, and one small measly hare\nAnd on his way returning home he met a great big grizzly bear\nThe bear marched out in the middle of the road\nAnd he waltzed to the coon, you see\nThe coon got so excited that he climbed a persimmon tree\nThe bear sat down upon the ground, and the coon climbed out on a limb\nHe turned his eyes to above the skies,\nAnd these words they came from him.\n\nOh Lord didn't you deliver Daniel from the lion's den\nAlso deliver Jonah from the tummy of a whale, and then\nThree Hebrew children from the fiery furnace\nSo the good books do declare\nNow Lord, if you can't help me\nFor goodness sake don't you help that bear!<\/em>\n\nThis coon stayed up in that tree, I think it was all night\nHe said, ' Oh Lord! If you don't help that bear\nThen you'll see one awful fight'\nBut just about then the limb let go, and the coon came tumbling down\nYou should have seen him get his razor out before he struck the ground\nHe hit the ground cutting left and right\n'Tis true he put up a very game fight\nJust then the bear hugged this coon and squeezed him a little too tight\nThe coon he lost his razor then and his chance seemed now mighty poor\nHe turned his eyes up above to the skies\nAnd these words he cried once more.\n\nAs its more often sung  today:<\/strong>\nA  Preacher went out huntin, t'was on one Sunday morn\nHe knew its against his religion, but he took his gun along\nHe shot himself three mighty fine quail\nand one little measly hare\nAnd on his way returning home,\nhe saw a great big Grizzly Bear\n\nNow the bear marched out in the middle of the road\nand waltzed to the Preacher you see\nThe Preacher got so excited, he climbed up a 'simmon tree\nThe bear sat down upon the ground,\nthe Preacher climbed out on a limb\nWell he cast his eyes to the Lord in the skies,\nand these words he said to Him\n\nOh Lord, didn't you deliver Daniel from the lion's den\nAlso, deliver Jonah, from the belly of a whale and then\nThree Hebrew children from the fiery furnace\nso the Good Book do declare\nNow Oh Lord, if you can't help me,\nwell then please don't-cha help that bear\n<\/em>\nNow the Preacher was up in that tree,\nI think it was all night\nHe said Mr Bear if you bother me,\nI'll give you an awful fight\nJust about that time the limb let go\nand the Preacher came tumblin' down\nYou could see him getting his razor out\nbefore he hit the ground\n\nHe hit the ground cuttin' right and left,\nhe put up a very game fight\nJust then the bear grabbed the Preacher,\nand he squeezed him a little too tight\nThe Preacher dropped his razor, the bear held on with a vim\nWell he cast his eyes to the Lord in the skies\nand these words he said to Him\n\nThey fought all the way to the river,\nit was a terrible fight\nThat bear just kept a-hanging on,\nbut the Preacher was a-doing all right\nHe dragged that beast right down in the water\nit was three times in and out\nThen the bear got up and he limped away\nand the Preacher began to shout\n\nOh, Lordy, didn't you deliver Daniel from the lion's den\nAlso, deliver Jonah, from the belly of a whale, Amen,\nAnd oh Lord, it may not seem like much from way up there,\nBut the hardest thing I ever done was baptize that (bleep bleep) bear.<\/em><\/pre>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
This one may be testing even my fuzzy boundaries … It’s  clearly an American popular song from early 20th-century vaudeville that has entered American traditional singing. However, it also (just about) fits into my category of a British Music Hall song that has entered the English language tradition, partly because it was collected from one source singer in England, though it’s very possible that they learnt it from an American recording…. It was a big hit in the British Music Hall, so it’s just about possible it came from there\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The song was written in America in the early 20th century for a white comedian who often performed in blackface, Arthur Collins (1864-1933). In America at that time these so-called “coon songs”, which used unpleasant racist stereotypes, were relatively popular. There is some dispute about its authorship, but it was published as being written by Joe Arzonia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Broadly speaking in the 19th century it was relatively commonplace for a hit song in the UK and\/or Ireland to travel over to the states and become a hit there. From the early 20th century on it became increasingly more likely that hit songs would travel in the other direction. This song was imported by the performer Albert Whelan (1875 \u2013 1951) who sang it in the Halls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Albert Whelan was a failed prospector from the goldfields of Australia who became a star of the British music halls. He was known as a snappy dresser, who  always  whistled the tune Die lustige Bride <\/em>as he wandered on or off the stage at the beginning or end of his set – it’s been argued that he invented the concept of the “signature tune”. Apparently for  his 1st major engagement on the London stage he was given only 8 minutes, rather than the 18 he felt was his due. He wandered on whistling his signature tune, slowly removed his top hat coat scarf and gloves, slowly put them back on again, and wandered off whistling the tune. Somehow he got away with it and became a huge hit. He was best known for this song, but also sang The butterfly and the Bee<\/em>, and The old top hat<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The song is a staple of the American traditional repertoire, usually sung in an updated form, without the racism and often with the additional “baptismal” ending provided by Randy Sparks of the New Christy Minstrels<\/em>. For those interested I have provided a version by Albert Whelan, mostly for the whistling at the end. If you plan to sing it I suggest listening to the New Christy’s<\/em> version …<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n