I Like to Catch Brass Rings on the Merry-Go-Round

DESCRIPTION: "I like to catch brass rings on the merry-go-round, The merry-go-round, that's me. Some like to play croquet, embroider or crochet, But I like participating my own way!": riding the merry-go-round. Really, riding the merry-go-round. Repeat the last line
AUTHOR: C Conrad; Al Dubin; A Silver (source: Jim Dixon)
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (recording, The Happiness Boys) (source: Jim Dixon)
KEYWORDS: nonballad campsong technology
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs, pp. 314, 513, "Merry Go Round"/"I like to catch brass rings on the merry go round" (notes only)
RECORDINGS:
Billy Jones and Ernest Hare (The Happiness Boys), "I Love To Catch Brass Rings, On a Merry-Go-Round" (Columbia 1245-D, 1927)
NOTES [148 words]: There appear to be at least three camp songs that are, or might be, called "Merry-Go-Round":
1. "I Like to Catch Brass Rings on the Merry-Go-Round," which is clearly the song Averill refers to on p. 513.
2. Seemingly an imitation of merry-go-round music: "Unh-ss-shh, unh-ss-ss, unh-ss-ss, Oom-pah-pah, oom-pah-pah, oom-pah-pah, Uh-tww-dle-dee, uh-twee-dle-dee, Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na."
3. A singing game on p. 8 of Tobitt-SkipToMyLou, which is said to be Swedish in origin and translated by Mary Wood Hinman: "Young maid, young maid, young maid, young maid dear Go get your had and parasol, the circus is here... Hop, hop, hop, the day it is so clear, For Andersen and Petersen and Lundstrom, my dear."
So a reference to a song "Merry-Go-Round" in a camp context might be any of these, and it's not entirely clear which one Averill means on p. 314, although it's probably this one. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.3
File: ACSF513I

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