The Cuckoo Bird
Oh the Cuckoo,
she’s a pretty bird.
And she wobbles
as she flies.
She don't ever holler "Coo Coo"
Till the fourth day of July.
This is the old American song about the Cuckoo bird. It's actually an old English song.
Very old.
We don't much have Cuckoo birds here in America. And even where we've got them, they don't start singing on our Independence Day. That's about when they stop.
The American mixup about the ornithological detail probably comes from ...
Old Stewball
And I see, and I see
On the fourth day of July
His bridle, made of silver
His saddle made of gold
And the value of his harness
It has never yet been told.
This is the old American song about the horse race.
It, too, is actually an old English song. Or maybe an Irish one.
The horserace song and the Cuckoo song go to the same tune. At least sometimes. Bits of lyrics get intermixed. This is probably how the American Cuckoo started singing on the fourth of July. The racehorses had left their eggs in the Cuckoobird nests.
In the horserace song, the horse names, and their colors, and their sizes, and the details of the race, and such, change around a lot. But it's often the story of the defeat of a well-loved underdog.
The defeat of the American horse, by an English, on the fourth of July. Or the defeat of a common horse, by a nobleman's. Or of a younger horse, by an older. Or of an upstart California-bred by an old Kentucky. Or of a female horse by a male.
Whoever wins, the song sometimes has a hint of treachery and poison in how the race was won.
It's all occasion to ponder the state of the world.
They Often Have Wondered
Young woman
Young lady
Walk by
Read your mind
You've a mind to marry
and to leave this town.
Rufus Kasey - Coo Coo Bird.
Good morning young lady.
Good morning young man.
I often have wondered
What makes women love men.
Then looked back and wondered
What makes men love them.
And I see and I see,
on the fourth day of July.
They'll cause you hard labor.
They'll cause you downfall.
They'll cause you hard labor
Behind the old jail wall.
Texas Gladden - Old Kimball.
The old folks, they hollered.
The young folks, they bawled.
The children said Look Lord,
at that noble Stewball.
Bet on Stewball,
and you might win.
Leadbelly - Stewball.
I'll build me a cabin
On the mountain so high.
I'll think on my true love
As she passes me by.
Elizabeth LaPrelle - The CooCoo.
I'm going, upon the mountain.
Build a steeple, so high.
So I can see old Tenbrook.
When he passes along by.
Old Mollie, she's a cutter (?).
Old Tenbrook, that horse can run.
I could see him a-coming.
Like power from a gun.
John Calloway - Cuckoo.
Old Timbrook was a black horse
Like as in a crow.
Old Timbrook was a black horse
Like as in a crow.
Had a white ring around his forepaw
White as any snow.
Yes old Timbrook started running Like a bullet from a gun.
And old Molly started creeping
Like a criminal to be hung.
John Byrd - Old Timbrook Blues.
Jack of Diamonds,
Jack of Diamonds,
I know you of old.
You robbed me out of my silver,
And out of all my gold.
See the cuckoo,
she's a cruel bird
and she wobbles when she flies
And every time that she prances
My true love says goodbye.
Janis Joplin - Coo Coo.
Come all you young women,
Take warning by me.
Never place your affections on the love of a man.
Oh the roots they will wither.
The branches decay.
He'll turn his back on you
and walk square away.
Jean Richie - The Cuckoo.
As I walked down by the side of a bush.
I heard two birds whistling,
the blackbird and the thrush.
I asked them the reason so merry they be.
And the answer they gave me:
We are single and we are free.
Anne Briggs - The Cuckoo.
Sumer is icumen in,
Lhude sing, cuccu!
Groweth sed and bloweth med
And springth the wude nu.
Sing, cuccu!
Richard Thompson - Sumer is Icumen In.
It is often, that I wonder
why women love men.
Then I look back, and I wonder
why men are men.
The Everly Brothers - Cuckoo Bird.
Oh I've played cards in Texas
Oh I've played cards in Maine
I'll bet you five dollars
I'll beat you next game.
Be Good Tonyas - Coocoo Bird.
There’s a big race down in Dallas
Don’t you wish that you were there?
You could bet your bottom dollar
On that iron gray mare.
Robert Earl Keane - Stewball.
I'm going out on Ten Killer Mountain
I'm going to build me a still.
But I'll sell you five gallons
for a two dollar bill.
Townes van Zandt - The Cuckoo.
I have often sit and wondered.
What makes women love men.
I look back, and I study
What makes men love them.
It ain't nothing but emotion
That'll fly on the wind.
Hobart Smith - The Cuckoo Bird.
Further Information
Molly and Tenbrooks, Skewball, and The Cuckoo (song) at Wikipedia. "The Coo Coo Bird", a general discussion of the song at Old, Weird America. Some of the music links in this diary come from there.