Lyr Req: Far, Far Away / a horse named Kidney Pie

Subject: Lyr Req: Far, Far Away
From: iancarterb
Date: 25 Feb 04 - 08:47 PM

I remember one verse and the tune of what I suspect was Caribbean in origin of a song I heard from my brother 50 years ago. The verse I remember is:

Went to the racetrack last July, Far, far away.
Bet on a horse named Kidney Pie, far, far away.
The horse he win, I danced for glee,
Went to draw my coin you see,
But the bookmaker Oh Where was he? Far, far, away.
Anybody know any more of it, or origin?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Far, Far Away- Horse named Kidney Pie
From: Sorcha
Date: 25 Feb 04 - 10:13 PM

Apparently, the title is When I Left School or perhaps Far Far Away....??

Found this,
FAR FAR AWAY - "I went to a race-course last July - backed a horse named "Kidney Pie" - won but the bookmaker disappeared - "My friend Jim is a fireman bold - plane set fire to some dynamite wherever he's gone he'll be all right" - charming girl "with eyes like diamonds - they'll sell - she's coming out tonight"- a girl of 17 sleepwalks into a chap's room, he bunked with fright so he's going to tsake his place - French waitress - boy at school wrote essay called "The Bitter end" - wife's sister wants everything -- Fred MORLEY rec by Neil Lanham, Haverhill, Suffolk 1970s: NLCD 8/9 2002
Here...
http://www.folktrax.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/menus/search%20for%20titles_fam_faz.htm

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Far, Far Away- Horse named Kidney Pie
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 27 Feb 04 - 07:55 AM

FAR, FAR AWAY, sung by Walter Jarvis of Saffron Walden, Suffolk, appears on the 2-CD album "Comic Songs of the Stour Valley. I don't know for certain this is the song you want, but I notice that Fred Morley of Haverhill, Suffolk, also sings on the same album.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Far, Far Away- Horse named Kidney Pie
From: GUEST,Louise Blyton
Date: 25 Oct 08 - 07:39 AM

Hello,

My Dad used to sing this song to me in the 50s and early 60s--I believe it is a parody, as he used to sing the serious version too, a hymn with the same call and response structure:

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/t/i/tishappy.htm

There's a midi on that page as well as lyrics so you can check whether it is indeed the basis of your tune. The parody version Dad sang has very similar words to yours:

I went to the racetrack last July, (Far, far away.)
And I backed a horse named Kidney Pie. (Far, far away.)
Oh the horse it won, I danced with glee
And I went to collect my L. s. d.,
But the bookmaker, oh where was he?
(Far, far away.)

We kids used to have fun singing the responses! You can tell it was all before we got decimal currency in 1966 in Australia. And of course there was no other kind of LSD back then to confuse the issue.

I believe Dad might have told us the hymn was sung by the Salvation Army with their brass bands. And I seem to remember a whacky version as the theme for Arsenic and Old Lace, the "Happy Land" being a euphemism for an institution which the nutty members of the Brewster family were destined to call home by the end of the movie.

I hope somehow you wander back after all this time to get this message :) All the best from Down Under!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Far, Far Away / a horse named Kidney Pie
From: GUEST,#
Date: 06 Apr 21 - 09:50 PM

Music Hall Performers        Sam Mayo

Morley, Fred 1964-65 England, Suffolk

Lyrics        Worton David/Sam Mayo        Music        Worton David

I went to a race-course last July, far, far away
I backed a horse called 'Kidney Pie' far, far away
My horse it won, I danced with glee, I went to draw my L.S.D.
But the bookmaker, where was he? Far, far away.

My friend Jim is a fireman bold, he puts out fires
He went to a fire, last week, I'm told, 'cos he puts out fires
The flames set fire to some dynamite, where Jim went we don't know quite
But wherever he's gone he'll be alright, 'cos he puts out fires.

When my wife's mother was taken ill I pulled her through
Although I've got no doctor's skill I pulled her through
They sent for me at half past four, I went and found poor ma-in-law
Was simply lying at death's door, so I pulled her through.

I'm engaged to a charming girl and she's coming out tonight
She's eyes like diamonds, teeth like pearls and she's coming out tonight
I'll take her down a rustic dell. I'm stoney broke, it's sad to tell
So if she's got eyes like diamonds, well, they're coming out tonight.

Everything my wife gets, her sister wants
Bearskin coats and sealskin sets, her sister wants
Although she's single I may say, she copies my wife in every way
My wife had a baby yesterday - Heaven bless Lloyd George.

My boy at school an essay wrote, called the 'Bitter End'
It was a splendid anecdote called the 'Bitter End'
When teacher read it she turned white, for these were the words my boy did write
'A dog chased our tom cat last night and he bit her end.'


That is from http://folksongandmusichall.com/index.php/far-far-away-1912/

Far, far away (1912)
        
First Published        1912

Lyrics        Worton David/Sam Mayo        Music        Worton David        Roud        RN21978

Music Hall Performers        Sam Mayo
Folk performances        Source Singers
Morley, Fred 1964-65 England, Suffolk

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Far, Far Away / a horse named Kidney Pie
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 07 Apr 21 - 09:44 AM

I think the original was the hymn 'The Better Land' but there are lots of parodies from the 19th century.

See Bodleian Broadside Ballads website Harding B11 (425) from about 1870.