Nonsense Songs

Song Cycle by Lori F. Ardovino (b. 1960)

Score: Potenza Music Publishing (external link)

1. There was an Old Man in a Tree  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
There was an Old Man in a tree,
Who was horribly bored by a Bee;
When they said, "Does it buzz?"
He replied, "Yes, it does!"
"It's a regular brute of a Bee!"

Text Authorship:

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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

3. There was an Old Man with a Beard  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
There was an Old Man with a Beard,
Who said, "It is just as I feared! -
Two Owls and a Hen,
Four Larks and a Wren,
Have all built their nests in my beard.

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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

4. There was an Old Man on a Hill  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
There was an Old Man on a hill,
Who seldom, if ever, stood still;
He ran up and down
In his grandmother's gown,
Which adorned that Old Man on a hill.

Text Authorship:

Go to the general single-text view

Confirmed with Edward Lear, The Book of Nonsense, London, New York : F. Warne Co., c1887, p.4


Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]

5. There was a Young Lady of Russia  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
There was a Young Lady of Russia,
Who screamed so that no one could hush her;
Her screams were extreme,
No one heard such a scream,
As was screamed by that lady of Russia.

Text Authorship:

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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
Total word count: 132