| The
Abalone song was
composed in Carmel around 1907
by writer George Sterling and his friends. Abalone requires that it be
thoroughly
pounded for it to be edible. To relieve the monotony of the work, they
sang
this song while they pounded, making up verses as they went along. The
rule
was that the song must be sung while pounding abalone, but never at any
other
time. The song gained some notoriety beyond Carmel as Carl
Sandburg included it in a music history book entitled The American
Songbag. |
The above verse is
attributed to George Sterling himself, as are these two:
Oh,
some think that the Lord is
fat,
And some think he is bony,
But as for me, I think that he,
Is like an abalone.
Oh,
some drink rain, and some
champagne,
And whisky by the pony,
But I will try a dash of rye,
And a hunk of abalone.
Jack
London wrote this verse:
The
more we take, the more they
make,
In deep-sea matrimony,
Race suicide will ne'er betide,
The fertile abalone.
And
here's a few more by authors undetermined:
Oh
some folks boast of quail on
toast,
Because they think it's tony,
But I'm content to owe my rent,
And live on abalone.
Oh
mission point's a friendly
joint,
Where every crab's a crony,
And true and kind you'll never find,
The clinging abalone.
He
wanders free beside the sea,
Where'er the coast is stony,
He flaps his wings and madly sings,
The plaintive abalone.
We
sit around and gaily pound,
And bear no acrimony,
Because our ob - ject is a gob,
Of sizzling abalone.
He
hides in caves beneath the waves,
His ancient patrimony,
And so 'tis shown that faith alone,
Reveals the abalone.
This verse is unusual for
making reference to the technology of the day:
I
telegraph my better half,
By Morse or by Marconi,
But if the need arise for speed,
I send an abalone.
And
here's a couple of variations on verses already presented:
Some
live on hope and some on
dope,
And some on alimony,
But our tom cat he lives on fat,
And tender abalone.
Oh
some like ham and some like
lamb,
And some like macaroni,
But bring me in a pail of gin,
And a tub of abalone.
Bill
Englander of Carmel submitted these verses to the Toy Box:
Oh
dream do I of pizza pie,
With extra pepperoni,
But it wouldn't be right to a Carmelite,
Unless it's topped with abalone!
Oh
some like Bach and some
like rock,
And some like saxophoney.
But just give me a symphony,
And a plate of abalone!
Of
course, Mr. Toy had to get into the act:
My
wife and me, to watch TV,
We just turn on the Sony,
And when we look, John Pisto's cook-
ing up some Abalone.
In
Carmel fog I like to jog,
On sand as white as bone-y,
Sometimes I'll pause for Sandy
Claws,
Or bark for abalone!
In
Monterey the squid they say,
Is tender as baloney,
But here I'll pound a little round,
Of tough old abalone.
Republicans,
they love their
guns,
Without them they feel lonely,
But when they try to tell me why,
I just say abalone.
The
otters play in Carmel Bay,
On waves tourquoise and foamy,
Upon a rock they'll knock knock knock,
To open abalone.
And
this verse by Sinclair Lewis has the final word:
Some
stick to biz, some flirt
with Liz,
Down on the sands of Coney,
But we by hell, stay in Carmel,
And whang the abalone!
Want to try?
Send your verses
to
Mr.
Toy.
If they are reasonably good and in reasonably
good
taste, he'll
publish them here.
Please give him your name so he can give
credit
where
it is due.
or the

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