“Somebody's Tall and Handsome”

Description

"Somebody's tall and handsome, Somebody's fond and true, Somebody's hair is very black, And somebody's eyes are blue." Said somebody comes to ask the singer to marry, "And of course I said all right."

Supplemental text

Somebody's Tall and Handsome
  Complete text(s)

          *** A ***

[Somebody]

From Jean Ritche, Singing Family of the Cumberlands, pp. 55-56.

Somebody's tall and handsome,
  Somebody's fond and true,
Somebody's hair is very black and
  Somebody's eyes are too.

I love somebody fondly,
  I love somebody true,
I love somebody with all my heart,
  And somebody loves me too.

Somebody came to see me,
  Somebody came last night;
Somebody asked me to be his bride
  Of course I said all right.

I am somebody's darling,
  I am somebody's pride,
An the day is not far distance (sic.)
  When I'll be somebody's bride.


Somebody's tall and handsome,
  Somebody's fond and true,
Somebody's hair is very black,
  Somebody's eyes are too.

          *** B ***

Somebody

From Carl Sandburg, The American Songbag, pp. 464-465. "[H]eard
by Edwin Ford Piper from the singing of his pioneer mother in the
1880's on a farm near Auburn, Nebraska."

1 Somebody's tall and handsome,
  Somebody's brave and true.
  Somebody's hair is very fair,
  Somebody's eyes are blue.

2 Somebody came to see me,
  Somebody came last night.
  Somebody asked me to marry him,
  'Course I said, "All right."


          *** C ***

Tommy

From Anne Warner, Traditional American Folk Songs from the Anne &
Frank Warner Collection, #163, pp, 370-371. From the singing of
Martha Ann Midgette of North Carolina. Collected 1941. A heavily
localized version.

Tommy came to see me,
Tommy came last night,
Tommy asked me to marry him,
Of course I said all right.

Tommy went asked mama,
Mama came out to see.
Mama went back with a tear in her eye,
Said Tommy had asked for me.

Tommy went asked my papa,
Papa came out to see.
Papa went back with a smile on his face,
Said he was glad to get rid of me.

Tommy owns a speed boat,
Tommy owns a store.
Tommy's going to carry me away,
And we'll live forevermore.

Recordings

• Carolina Tar Heels, "Somebody's Tall and Handsome" (Victor V-40128, 1929; on CrowTold02)
• Martha Ann Midgette, "Tommy" (on USWarnerColl01)
• Abigail Hall Ritchie, "Somebody's Tall and Handsome" (on Ritchie03)

References

1. Randolph 380, "Somebody's Tall and Handsome" (2 texts plus a fragment, 1 tune)
2. Randolph/Cohen, pp. 310-311, "Somebody's Tall and Handsome" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 380A)
3. BrownIII 275, "Somebody" (2 text plus mention of 2 more)
4. Warner 163, "Tommy" (1 text, 1 tune, heavily localized, in which Tommy owns a speedboat and father is happy to be rid of his daughter)
5. Fuson, pp. 101, "Someone" (1 text, which has degenerated into a repeating song with this first verse as chorus: "Someone called for (mother/brother/sister/father), And mother went out to see, Mother came back with a tear in her eye, Someone has asked for me")
6. Sandburg, pp. 464-465, "Somebody" (1 short text, 1 tune)
7. Ritchie-SingFam, pp. 55-56, "[Somebody]" (1 text, 1 tune)
8. Ritchie-Southern, p. 82, "Somebody" (1 text, 1 tune)
9. DT, SOMBODY
10. ST R380 (Full)
11. Roud #761
12. BI, R380