variations on a theme

by horace p sternwall

illustrations by roy dismas

the first stanza is from an ozark folk song, "the hound dog song".

it was used as the campaign song of vice-presidential candidate champ clark in 1912.

for one set of complete lyrics, see here

every time i go to town the boys keep kicking my dog around even though he's just a hound they got to stop kicking my dog around every time i go to school the teacher beats me with her rule even though i'm just a fool she's got to stop beating me with her rule every time i go to sadie's i get disrespected by the ladies even though i may have rabies i shouldn't get dumped on by those ladies when i go down to the general store pappy greets me with a snore even though i'm just a bore he ought to be too polite to snore every time my birthday comes i get myself a big steel drum even though i'm just a bum they got to listen when i beat my drum every time i fall down drunk i hit the sidewalk with a clunk even though i'm not a monk it feels much better when i'm drunk