Songbook/The Cockoo

=The Cuckoo=


 * Guitar


 * Ukulele (adf#h)

This song has been interpreted countless times in many text versions. It is usually sung about a fickle lover who is just as unreliable (literally fickle) as a cuckoo.

In the USA, a gambler is something of a prime example of an unreliable lover. It is therefore not surprising that the verses have been rearranged accordingly. In the version presented here, the story of a gambler whose luck has run out is retold. Joan Baez, Donovan, Bob Dylan, Peter Paul and Mary are just some of the many performers. The melody is always sung slightly differently from performer to performer. Some even vary the melody from verse to verse. Therefore, only a very simplified form is shown here.


 * Chorus
 * Oh the cuckoo she'a pretty bird,
 * She wobbles as she flies,
 * She don't never holler cuckoo,
 * 'Til the fourth day of July.

Gonna build me log cabin, on the  mountain so high, So that I can see Willie, As he goes on by.
 * 1st

Jack of Diamonds, Jack of Diamonds, I know you of old You done robbed my poor pockets, of my silver and gold.
 * 2nd

I've gambled in England, and I've gambled down in Spain. I bet you ten dollars, I'll beat you again
 * 3th

I gambled with five aces, now I've gambled my last game. Oh, it's gamblin' that's brought me prison, and the gamblin' brought me pain
 * 4th

In the cell I'm godforsaken, and I'm wasting all my time Here I'll never see a cuckoo or hear her song again
 * 5th

Weblinks

 * Y T   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2A14DVost2w Live performance in the Irish-Pup
 * Y T   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrDO3r0ZGlA Blue grass version with banjo
 * Y T   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAjc3KpTAxU Band version R'n'B
 * Adapted from the German Wikibooks: Liederbuch/ The Cockoo