Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Happy Ground Hog's Day!

Happy Ground Hog's Day!  Have you ever wondered why we don't seem to have a song specifically about ground hogs for celebrating the day?  Sure, there's the "Pennsylvania Polka," played over and over in the movie, "Groundhog Day," but where is the cute song about the furry little critter? 

The cute little critter does have one old folk song to "celebrate" with, but it doesn't end well for him.  Take a look at the folk song below, which came from the hills of Eastern Kentucky.  The song was "collected" in the hey-day of ethnographic research to preserve America's heritage of folk music.  Researchers travelled from town to town with tape recorders and notepads, documenting the songs they heard the townspeople sing.

This version comes from a songbook that is so old it is now in the public domain (i.e., the copyright has expired).  Check out the lyrics and you might underestand why this song hasn't come down to us for celebrating Ground Hog Day:





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