I Went to the Woods

DESCRIPTION: "Shure I went to the woods where I heard a big drum. 'By the holy Saint Patrick,' says I, 'that's a drum.'" The Irishman complains about the land where he lives: Cold weather, girls always chewing gum, the dreadful smell of fermented cabbage
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1958 (Fowke)
KEYWORDS: food hardtimes
FOUND IN: Canada(West)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fowke-LumberingSongsFromTheNorthernWoods #51, "I Went to the Woods" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4563
NOTES [73 words]: Fowke describes this song as "somewhat indelicate." This refers primarily to the first verse, which on its face is about a woodpecker drilling for food, but which Fowke considers to have a secondary meaning.
Personally, I suspect the song is composite; the first verse is, well, either about a bird or about something that is describes as one but isn't -- but the rest is a straightforward gripe about a the place the Irishman lives. - RBW
File: FowL51

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