SECOND VERSE – SAME AS THE FIRST
“Second verse – same as the first,” he said as he stared at his computer screen. He didn’t look up.
I smiled at the young man. He had a round head and beard that would have made Grizzly Adams proud. I could sense the lady in line behind me.
“You know who sang that song?” I asked the Fed Ex clerk. He didn’t know he’d just encountered a music trivia buff.
I was sending two Fed Ex envelopes to two different addresses and the kid asked me to confirm all the shipping info, the shipper’s address and the shippe’s address. (My contribution to the English language there). After he asked me to confirm is when he said that line trying to be clever. I thought he was, but obviously not clever enough to know the origin of it.
“No,” the kid didn’t hesitate.
“Herman’s Hermits,” I enlightened the youngster.
“Never heard of ’em,” the kid gave me an unimpressed glance and went back to punching the keyboard with his pudgy fingers.
I pressed the green “Ship” button. “It’s the Henry The V111th song,” I told the kid to see if that might ring a bell for him.
I turned slightly to make sure the lady behind me was still there. She was. The kid shot me an annoyed look as my receipt and tracking number was being printed. For just a fraction of a millisecond I thought about singing the chorus to the kid. I was certain that he’d have to have heard that song, even in his short life.
“Here’s your tracking number,” the kid circled it at the top of the receipt. He had no interest in knowing the who, what, where, when, and why of that saying that he spouted with pride just a couple of minutes earlier.
“Thanks,” I told him and walked out.
That’s one sure way of getting a song stuck in your head. I thought about the old movies of the Herman’s Hermits with girls chasing them around like they were the Beatles, the group they were imitating. I remembered Peter Noonan, the lead singer of the Herman’s Hermits, in cartoon form, on Scooby Doo when I was a kid.
I hopped in my truck, fired it up, and started singing out loud, with the heavy English brogue accent for authenticity,
“I’m Inery the eighth I am
Inery the eighth I am, I am
I got married to the widows next daw
She’s been married seven time befaw
And every one was an Inery, (Inery!)
She didn’t wanna Willy or a Sam (Not a Sam!)
I’m the eight old man I’m Inery
Inery the eighth I am
Second verse – same as the first.”
I sang it a few more times. I sang it enough times to get it out of my system. It’s kinda like scratching an itch.
When a person hears something that resonates or makes sense to them they keep it. They think enough of it to repeat it, even if they don’t know the origin.
I hear people quote “The Golden Rule” loud and often. It just makes sense to them, but the majority don’t know it’s the common sense God designed into them that speaks to their heart from Matthew 7:12.
I don’t do it to rain on their parade, but I don’t mind telling them that it was a quote from Jesus. True wisdom and enlightenment comes from God.
The origin of some words don’t mean a lot. Some do. Some words can lead to an eternity with the Author…
Sunday, June 9, 2019 @ 5:41 pm
“Second verse, same as the first . . .” We can’t repeat the wisdom of God, that Golden Rule, often enough. It’s the first, the second, the third, and the ultimate last. It will last forever, Floyd, of that we can be assured. And on a lighter note, I loved Herman’s Hermits as a kid, and have many fond memories of listening to their fun songs. Actually saw Peter at an Oldies Concert in Atlanta in the ’90s, and boy, did he still have the magic and the energy!
Blessings, my friend!
Monday, June 10, 2019 @ 3:11 am
Can I tell you i didn’t care for Herman’s Hermits and I thought that song was….well…not very good. 🙂 but I do concur with Martha. We can’t repeat God’s wisdom often enough. there is so much in God’s Word that repetition makes even better like “Be kind to one another.” Thanks for the whimsical trip back in time. Now if I can just get that song out of my head.
Monday, June 10, 2019 @ 4:33 pm
I loved singing that song in my head as I read it down your page…and the second verse was same as the first. I thought that repeat (and the statement) was funny back then and almost 60 years later think it’s funny now. Not AS funny perhaps, but worth a moment of warm memory. Thanks, pal.
Tuesday, June 11, 2019 @ 9:52 am
Love the second verse.
Wednesday, June 12, 2019 @ 10:23 am
I get songs stuck in my head all the time. Love this: “I sang it a few more times. I sang it enough times to get it out of my system. It’s kinda like scratching an itch.” You’ve still got that way with words, Floyd!
Friday, June 14, 2019 @ 7:46 pm
Totally feel that way about good verses of songs, and quotes. The girls in our youth, now got teens of their own always remind me how I use to say this one line over and over to them. No matter what they were going through I would say, this too shall pass. repetition must work, they now tell their kids that all the time. I get the chorus of songs stuck in my head a lot. I sang last week at my daughters church and knew if did not write the verses down I would only remember the chorus.
I am a poor Wayfaring stranger, traveling through this land of woe. There’s no sickness, toil, no danger in that bright land to which I go
I’ m going there to see my mother, she said she meet me when I come
I’m just going over Jordan, I’m just going over home.
Don’t have the rest of words in front of me but I can remember those lines. I was not a fan of
Herman Hermits, too silly for me. In fact, they are more funny today to listen to then back then. Go figure. Hope you can comment on my latest post, I tried a few thing that might help.