And the Green Grass Grew Around

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And the Green Grass Grew Around

Mad Teddy's interpretation, Copyright © 2000 by Mad Teddy

I'm not claiming authorship for this song. From what I've seen, it's "trad." or written by "anon"; so presumably nobody's going to complain if I present my interpretation here. My copyright claim simply covers my version of the music.

A bit of background:

A number of years ago, when my kids were young, this song was current in our household for a while. I decided to put together my own Noteworthy Composer version, complete with appropriate musical voices for each verse.

When something occurred recently which reminded me of the song, I decided to dig it out and include it in my "Wildlife" page. I also had a bit of a hunt on the internet to see what I could find out about it. (That's where I found that it's "author-unknown".)

The thing is, midi versions of the tune that I found here and there are nothing like the music I've known for aeons; and the lyrics are somewhat different also. Could it be that there are two quite distinct versions of the song - one, perhaps, popular in the US, and another (the one I know) better known to people with a more British background?

So, as a public service, here's my own take on the version I know.

UPDATE, Sunday, 8th August 2010

Just a word of warning: when I originally produced this on an older computer, I arranged for there to be an enthusiastic round of applause at the end; however, on my current machine - which has a different sound system - it just comes out as a horrible discord instead, as though someone were holding down all the keys on an electronic organ! So be prepared for a possible less-than-pleasant surprise. (I probably should have mentioned this before now, but better late than never... )

Here is the link to the music, atggga.mid. You can have this playing in the background while you follow the lyrics below. (To save this midi file to your hard disc, right-click here.)

If you'd like to see the musical notation in addition to the lyrics while listening to the song, you can right-click to download the Noteworthy Composer file, atggga.nwc . If you go to Noteworthy's website , you can download their freeware Noteworthy Player, which will play the file for you.

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Ready? Here it comes:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Inside a wood there grew a tree,
The finest tree you ever did see.
The tree was in the wood,
And the green grass grew around, around, around,
And the green grass grew around.

Now on this tree there was a branch,
The finest branch you ever did see.
The branch was on the tree,
The tree was in the wood,
And the green grass grew around, around, around,
And the green grass grew around.

Now on this branch there was a nest,
The finest nest you ever did see.
The nest was on the branch,
The branch was on the tree,
The tree was in the wood,
And the green grass grew around, around, around,
And the green grass grew around.

Now in this nest there was a bird,
The finest bird you ever did see.
The bird was in the nest,
The nest was on the branch,
The branch was on the tree,
The tree was in the wood,
And the green grass grew around, around, around,
And the green grass grew around.

Now under this bird there was an egg,
The finest egg you ever did see.
The egg was under the bird,
The bird was in the nest,
The nest was on the branch,
The branch was on the tree,
The tree was in the wood,
And the green grass grew around, around, around,
And the green grass grew around.

Now in this egg there was a chick,
The finest chick you ever did see.
The chick was in the egg,
The egg was under the bird,
The bird was in the nest,
The nest was on the branch,
The branch was on the tree,
The tree was in the wood,
And the green grass grew around, around, around,
And the green grass grew around.

Now on this chick there was a wing,
The finest wing you ever did see.
The wing was on the chick,
The chick was in the egg,
The egg was under the bird,
The bird was in the nest,
The nest was on the branch,
The branch was on the tree,
The tree was in the wood,
And the green grass grew around, around, around,
And the green grass grew around.

Now on this wing there was a feather,
The finest feather you ever did see.
The feather was on the wing,
The wing was on the chick,
The chick was in the egg,
The egg was under the bird,
The bird was in the nest,
The nest was on the branch,
The branch was on the tree,
The tree was in the wood,
And the green grass grew around, around, around,
And the green grass grew around.

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