Folderol

Question

Folderol derives from a nonsense refrain in some old songs. Does anyone know an example?

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]Folderol derives from a nonsense refrain in some old songs. Does anyone know an example?[/nq]
I can't think of an example, and don't really doubt your conclusion, but I wonder what source you get your derivation from?
(scratch that I see it in M-W Online)
Wordsmyth has this:
1. foolish speech or notions; nonsense.Crossref. Syn. rubbish , rot , poppycock , bilge Definition 2. a small, showy, but useless thing; trifle; gimcrack.
http://www.kididdles.com/mouseum/j003.html
No, I won't wear white for the color's too bright
I'll buy me a fol-de-rol-dy, til-de-tol-dy
http://www.moonlightsys.com/themoon/lyrics2.html
Cold mountain water, the jade merchant's daughter, Mountains of the moon, electra bow and bend to me. Hi ho the carrion crow fol de rol de riddle
Hi ho the carrion crow bow and bend to me.
I suppose you asked without giving a google, huh?
As for lyrics, they can really vary with the several versions of any given song.
Take Deck the Halls, for example:
Do you sing "Tra la la la la" or "Fa la la la la"?

What song is it that goes
"Lolly too dum too dum lolly too dum day"?
And the song or two about rolling around on the ocean wave could just as easily have versions of "fol de rol". Come to think of it, some yodeling sequences may begin with such a starter. (Odle laydee whooo, fol dee roll ee whoo.)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Folderol derives from a nonsense refrain in some old songs. Does anyone know an example?[/nq]
No. (As in "Hey nonny no")
Jitze

Usenet · Answer

Pat Durkin filted:
[nq:2]Folderol derives from a nonsense refrain in some old songs. Does anyone know an example?[/nq]
[nq:1]I can't think of an example, and don't really doubt your conclusion, but I wonder what source you get your derivation from? What song is it that goes "Lolly too dum too dum lolly too dum day"?[/nq]
"Chocolate"...as in "I fell in a vat of"..
I wonder if someone misapprehended solfege..r

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Folderol derives from a nonsense refrain in some old songs. Does anyone know an example?[/nq]
The Lancashire Peace (Pace) Egging Song, collected by Lucy Broadwood, which includes in its refrain "Ri-fol-lay, ri-fol-de-rol-de-ray"

http://www.folkinfo.org/topic.asp?topic id=426
Matti

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]What song is it that goes "Lolly too dum too dum lolly too dum day"?[/nq]
I read this post just as I was shutting down for the night. I turned off the computer and took the dog for a walk. Nonsense lyrics (1) kept buzzing around in my head, and the above "lolly too dum..." morphed into "ah de doo dah de doo da day" with the certain knowledge that these sounds are in some familiar song.
The "da de dahs" rose from a buzzing to a roar and drove out all other thought. Words began to come to my mind: "whistled and sang" were the first, but they were not enough to identify the song. Looking for a rhyme to "sang", "rang" finally popped in and grew to "'til the green woods rang". Still no title.
Finally, as I rounded the corner of the last leg of the dog walk, "Gypsy Rover" (2) emerged. The computer was off, it was too late to go to Mudcat for verification, but I was at peace.

This morning, seeing that the wanted nonsense lyrics are "lolly too dum..", I'm back at square one. They're in a Burl Ives performed song that is current in the mental buzzing status.

(1) "Nonsense lyrics" is a term often applied to this. They are frequently found in folk music. "Whack Fol The Diddle" is a good example of their use in an Irish song. Surprisingly, the same nonsense lyrics seem to be used by different performers over time and over water even though you'd think they'd fill in their own. I never get them straight, though.
(2)
GYPSY ROVER
The gypsy rover came over the hill
Down through the valley so shady,
He whistled and he sang 'til the greenwoods rang,
And he won the heart of a lady.
Chorus:
Ah-de-do, ah-de-do-da-day,
Ah-de-do, ah-de-da-ay
He whistled and he sang 'til the greenwoods rang,
And he won the heart of a lady.
Here are all the lyrics of "Whack Fol The Diddle". Seldom do you see lyrics so bitingly sarcastic as in this.
WHACK FOL THE DIDDLE (*** BLESS ENGLAND)
(Peadar Carney)
I'll sing you a song of peace and love,
Whack fol the diddle all the di do day.
To the land that reigns all lands above.
Whack fol the diddle all the di do day.
May peace and plenty be her share
Who kept our homes from want and care,
*** bless Mother England is our prayer.
Whack fol the diddle all the di do day.
cho:
Whack fol the diddle all the di do day.
So we say, Hip Hooray!
Come and listen while we pray.
Whack fol the diddle all the di do day.
When we were savage, fierce and wild
She came like a mother to her child.
She gently raised us from the slime
Kept our hands from hellish crime,
And sent us to Heaven in her own good time.
Now our fathers oft were very bad boys.
Guns and pikes are dangerous toys.
From Bearna Baol to Bunker Hill
They made poor England weep her fill,
But ould Brittania loves us still!
Now Irishmen, forget the past!
And think of the time that's coming fast.
When we shall all be civilized,
Neat and clean and well-advised.
And won't Mother England be surprised?

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Pat Durkin filted:[/nq]
[nq:2]What song is it that goes "Lolly too dum too dum lolly too dum day"?[/nq]
[nq:1]"Chocolate"...as in "I fell in a vat of"..[/nq]
Too many syllables. It's "lolly doo dum, lolly doo dum day".

"I yelled 'Fire!' becausenobodywouldsavemeifIyelled 'Chocolate!'

Evan Kirshenbaum + HP Laboratories >The whole idea of our government is
1501 Page Mill Road, 1U, MS 1141 >this: if enough people get togetherPalo Alto, CA 94304 >and act in concert, they can take

http://www.kirshenbaum.net/

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]What song is it that goes "Lolly too dum too dum lolly too dum day"?[/nq]
[nq:1]I read this post just as I was shutting down for the night. I turned off the computer and took ... "ah de doo dah de doo da day" with the certain knowledge that these sounds are in some familiar song.[/nq]
About this point I was sure you were homing in on "Camptown Races", but then you went off at a tangent.

Don Aitken
Mail to the addresses given in the headers is no longer being read. To mail me, substitute "clara.co.uk" for "freeuk.com".

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