Leeches in the Mornin' Sun by Áine


The Mudcat Forum	The Mudcat Resource Pages	The Mudcat Midi Page	The Digital Tradition Folk Song Server
Back to The Mudcat Songbook		Back to The Song Challenge Winners!
Anyone is welcome to perform these songs in public without royalties; however, if any of them are recorded or published for profit, the writers/composers expect the usual royalties.

The Song Challenge: Don't Ya Crawl Too Slow, Move Along Lil' Suckahs . . . – DULUTH, Minnesota (AP) -- Phil DeVore thinks of himself as a rancher. But he doesn't ride the range tending his herd, he just drops meat scraps into the pond. DeVore raises leeches on his farm south of Superior, Wisconsin. He says the little suckers are like black gold. The leeches are prized by fisherman as bait. DeVore tells the Duluth, Minnesota, News Tribune he's working 20 hours a day this time of year to keep up with demand. DeVore's jumbo leeches sell for about 16 dollars a pound -- more expensive than steak. He says even if he wanted to eat leeches, he couldn't afford it.

Leeches in the Mornin' Sun by Áine

Áine's Comments: And now, here's my offering for y'all's consideration. The tune is a cross between two songs; the verse is from The Beverly Hillbillies TV theme song, and the chorus is from the theme song for the old, old TV show, Davy Crockett. Blame the strangeness on watching too many Hitchcock films in my youth . . .

Well, I woke up in the mornin' and I jumped onto the floor,
'Jaysus, what's them slimey thangs?,' I yelled to Miz DeVore,
'Them's the leeches from the crick,' she said, 'a slitherin' in the door,'
'An if'n you don't catch 'em, we'll be feelin' mighty poor!'

Chorus:
Leeches, crawlin' 'round us,
Shinin' in the mornin' sun

Miz DeVore picked up her fryin' pan, them leeches for to whack,
I stepped and slid across the room and got hit with a THWACK!,
The effect was just like poitín that my daddy made so bold,
And I saw them slimey critters turn into a pot of gold!

Chorus:
Leeches, suckin' on me,
Turnin' into dollar bills!

Well I grabbed the mizzus' skillet and I started to collect,
All them bloated little buggers and I made myself a bet,
That I could fin'lly turn my farm into an 'enterprise',
With cash I'd go to town and hit that banker in the eye,!

Chorus:
No more mortgage payments,
That leech'll be kissin' my bum!

Well, I took my tiny saviours and I threw 'em in the pond,
And after that, my hat and coat I went inside and donned,
Miz DeVore an' me jumped in the truck and drove to Kankakee,
An' bought up all the sirloin in town that we could see!

Chorus:
Hunker down on that, boys,
Suck us out of bankruptcy!

I never thought the bloody thangs would make me work so hard,
A fella from the paper came and thought he was a card,
His cracks about my 'ranchin'' made me see nothin' but red,
And when I came back to myself, that fella, he was dead!

Chorus:
Sinkin' into hist'ry,
Never laughin' at my friends again!

Well, that reporter he was never missed, 'cuz no one ever asked,
And in the fame his paper brought, I was content to bask,
At 16 bucks a pound that I charge for my little friends,
It's me that bleeds that banker dry, and now my story ends.

Chorus:
Leeches, crawlin' round him,
And I'm laughin' in the mornin' sun!