Monkey and the Elephant, The

DESCRIPTION: "The monkey and the elephant were riding on a rail, The elephant said, 'Oh, monkey, you look so doggone frail.'" Other animals also fight. So do the singer's Mom and Dad. The singer discusses his history of courting. Many verses float
AUTHOR: probably adapted by John Daniel Vass
EARLIEST DATE: 1960 (recorded by Shellans-FolkSongsOfTheBlueRidgeMountains from John Daniel Vass)
KEYWORDS: courting animal humorous mother father rejection humorous nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Shellans-FolkSongsOfTheBlueRidgeMountains, pp. 48-49, "The Monkey and the Elephant" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7330
NOTES [86 words]: The number of floating lines in this song is high: "If I had a scolding wife," "I went to see Miss Annie, I'll never go no more, Her shoes and stockin's in her hand," and references to courting Cindy. Other portions feel adapted from traditional song. My suspicion is that this is a rewrite by John Daniel Vass of an assortment of traditional songs. Vass gave his treatment to several other songs, producing items which are long, invertebrate -- and, to my mind, not really very good when considered as a whole. - RBW
File: Shel048

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