Four-balls

[Tom Kysilko]

At 03:00 PM 5/30/2001 +0800, Laurence Horn wrote:
>At 7:31 PM +0100 5/30/01, Jonathon Green wrote:
>>I recall the 'one-ball' song at a British preparatory (i.e. age 8-13) school
>>in 1959 (I was 10/11). We always used the present tense in all lines,
>>despite the 14 years that had passed since the Fuhrer's demise. I don't, on
>>the other hand, recall any reference to the testicle in question being
>>'left' (or indeed 'right'); the song began (to the tune of 'Colonel Bogey'):
>>'Hitler / Has only got one ball...'.
. . .
>Your recollection confirms my hypothesis:  using the present tense
>and/or British English, you wouldn't have heard the "one left ball",
>since "has only got one ball" is good U.S. OR Brit. English, while
>"had only got one ball" is good British but not U.S. English, whence
>the somewhat illogical or forced"had only one left ball" or the
>scansion-challenged "had one one...ball" versions.

Well, then, how about a version from northern MN in the late 50s or early
'60s:

Hitler (rest, rest)
Has only one big ball. (rest)
Goering (rest, rest)
He has two, but they're small. (rest)
Himmler (rest, rest, rest)
Is sim'lar. (rest, rest, rest)
But Goebbels (rest)
Has no balls (rest)
At all.

The Himmler and Goebbels lines substitute rests for notes that occur in the
Col. Bogey March.

  Tom Kysilko        Practical Data Services
  pds at visi.com       Saint Paul MN USA