In New Zealand when I was a kid perhaps ten, our next door neighbor, a old wood Turner (Mr Brough) with a dark big bushy beard broke into song and sang to me. "On the big rock candy mountain where you never change your socks and little streams of alcohol come trickling down the rocks. There's a lake of stew and whisky too, you can paddle round in a big canoe. On the big Rock candy mountain where you never change your socks." He sang it once and I never forgot those few lyrics. Now 39 years later Mr Brough (or the beard ape as we affectionately called him in Dutch) brought me here, to hear the rest of those lyrics. It's amazing what can impress a young man's mind. 😔
What a fun version! My Uncle and Grandma sang this & so did my Dad who was a yodeler but he never threw a yodel in when he sang it...too bad....lost him last year. I'm learning this on the autoharp and will certainly throw a yodel in there....many thanks, love this!
One evening as the sun went down And the jungle fire was burning, Down the track came a hobo hiking, And he said, "Boys, I'm not turning I'm headed for a land that's far away Besides the crystal fountains So come with me, we'll go and see The Big Rock Candy Mountains In the Big Rock Candy Mountains, There's a land that's fair and bright, Where the handouts grow on bushes And you sleep out every night Where the boxcars all are empty And the sun shines every day On the birds and the bees And the cigarette trees The lemonade springs Where the bluebird sings In the Big Rock Candy Mountains In the Big Rock Candy Mountains All the cops have wooden legs And the bulldogs all have rubber teeth And the hens lay soft-boiled eggs The farmers' trees are full of fruit And the barns are full of hay Oh I'm bound to go Where there ain't no snow Where the rain don't fall The wind don't blow In the Big Rock Candy Mountains In the Big Rock Candy Mountains You never change your socks And the little streams of alcohol Come trickling down the rocks The brakemen have to tip their hats And the railroad bulls are blind There's a lake of stew And of whiskey, too You can paddle all around 'em In a big canoe In the Big Rock Candy Mountains In the Big Rock Candy Mountains, The jails are made of tin And you can walk right out again, As soon as you are in There ain't no short-handled shovels, No axes, saws or picks, I'ma goin' to stay Where you sleep all day, Where they hung the Turk That invented work In the Big Rock Candy Mountains I'll see you all this coming Fall In the Big Rock Candy Mountains"
Sourdough Slim is a good performer. This is a colorful and sanitized version which I guess is "family friendly". The McClintock version is my favorite. I doubt kids will take up smoking and drinking after hearing the original lyrics. There's a lot more to worry about now that kids are using the internet.
I talked to Sourdough about this - he said because he plays to families sometimes and he thought he should "soften" the lyrics--I don't like the change either--be true to the original!
You're doing an injustice to this song by censoring it. You can't change "cigarette trees" to "peppermint trees" nor leave out the "alcohol stream." This is shameful.
