The Ballad of Billy and Lily

Joanna

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Description

This is really a children's song, but there's no category for that. Some of the sfx are from CDs, others I made myself. Play it for your kids and see if they like it!

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Lyrics

Once there was a little man
They called him River Rat Billy
He liked the docks
And gulls in flocks
People thought him very silly

Once there was a little gal
They called her loopy Lily Lou
She lived on a boat
That couldn't float
People thought her silly, too

River Rat Bill met Loopy Lil
And they were never apart
They both liked ships
And morning dips
Even though it left them with a chill

Doodley doodle de doo...

Billy said they should sail away
Out to the deep blue sea
Lil agreed
So they decreed
On the sea, on the sea they would be

They gathered twigs and some twine
Tied old clothes into a sail
And when the wind
Blew round the bend
They left never to be seen again.

Some folks say the wind that blew
Took them to a land of gold
Others think
Their raft did sink
But no one really knows, I'm told

[Chorus]

©Copyright Jan. 2005 Joanna Sandsmark

Song Stats

Hits: 5268
Comments: 31
Fans: 7
Plays: 690
Downloads: 174
Votes: 18
Uploaded: Jan 21, 2005 - 09:15:48 AM
Last Updated: Jun 09, 2005 - 11:18:09 AM Last Played: Apr 26, 2013 - 03:03:32 PM

Song License

Creative Commons License:
Attribution-NoDerivs-NonCommercial

Song Actions

Hardware:

eMac, Shure SM58

Software:

Comments

Stun Nutz

Stun Nutz said 3046 days ago (January 21st, 2005)

This was great!
Like a female Raffi, this one delivers the goods!
What a fun, innocent song. The lyrics were great. I
am definitely going to play this for my kids. Was the
guitar a loop? Because it fit perfectly with your
singing. Sound effects were great too... aw man!
You still have to do a children's song with me! (That
is, if you still want to...)

I love it, love it, love it!!!

Check out my latest song called slinky mewster

Joanna

Joanna said 3046 days ago (January 21st, 2005)

This was great!
Thank you, Stun! Actually, I had originally intended to play around with a
song for both of us, but you had asked for an up tempo ditty, and to me, this
just didn't sound like what you were looking for. So I figured I'd try again for
our song, and post this one as is.

As for the guitar, yes it's just two loops. I wish I could've used more to add to
the variety, but I didn't have any other loops that fit. I spent quite a long time
trying things out until I finally accepted the fact that I only had the the two to
work with. I wish I played guitar well enough to do it myself.

Check out my latest song called 20 Years

TobinMueller

TobinMueller said 3046 days ago (January 21st, 2005)

Whimsical love song for youth and elders alike
I love your low low resonant voice. This song has a
wonderful sense of whimsy. Such a cute love story,
simple, with interesting overtones (left them with a chill...)
There are moments when the song seems to cut and
pasted, at the end of some of the phrase and the start of
others, like the sound pops in or out at the end or
beginning of loop. Maybe using effects as reverb tails
and pick up notes would alleviate this. Very entertaining
folk-jazz kids song. Delightful.

Check out my latest song called Frozen Man (by James Taylor)

Joanna	Joanna said 3046 days ago (January 21st, 2005)
	Whimsical love song for youth and elders alike Thank you, Tobin. I'll give it another listen and see if I can find the cause of what you're hearing. I'm glad you enjoyed the story! Check out my latest song called 20 Years

_nderscore	_nderscore said 3046 days ago (January 21st, 2005)
	this is fun! the little effects in there just make the imagination go wild! i love how the song just, ummmm.. 'paddles' along. i think this will be a giggle-generator for sure! Check out my latest song called glyd

Joanna	Joanna said 3045 days ago (January 22nd, 2005)
	this is fun! Thank you, _nder! "Paddling" indeed! LOL! I love that you guys are accepting of this kid's song. I hesitated posting it, because I knew there was no genre for children's songs. This proves that Macjams is open to anything! Check out my latest song called 20 Years

Mystified	Mystified said 3045 days ago (January 22nd, 2005)
	How cool is it... ...that you are doing these wonderful little pieces of whimsy? Very, very cool! There is a delight to such playfulness and carefree connection to childhood. And you are so well suited to doing it--in voice and verse. (And yes, I'll be looking for the picture book on this one, too!) Check out my latest song called the snowflake dances

Joanna	Joanna said 3045 days ago (January 22nd, 2005)
	How cool is it... Thank you, Mystie! I've always liked children's songs, so it's a real treat to get to indulge that part of me. They're so much fun to sing! Check out my latest song called 20 Years

the dennex donor	the dennex donor said 3045 days ago (January 22nd, 2005)
	brilliant . . . loved the tune, the effects, the words . . . . . . everything ! nice one . . . Check out my latest song called flashback

Joanna	Joanna said 3045 days ago (January 22nd, 2005)
	brilliant . . . Thank you, Dennex! I'm so pleased to get such a positive reaction. I really appreciate it! Check out my latest song called 20 Years

	said 3045 days ago (January 22nd, 2005)
	Well, this kid... loves this little children's ballad. I hope to have Julia review it later in order to supply a more expert review. 8-8-8-8 Jack

Joanna	Joanna said 3045 days ago (January 22nd, 2005)
	Well, this kid... Thank you, Jack! And I'm really looking forward to Julia's review. With this song, the true experts are the kids. Check out my latest song called 20 Years

Tom Atwood	Tom Atwood said 3045 days ago (January 22nd, 2005)
	Makes me wish my kids were little again. Love the chorus, especially. And the fx. Check out my latest song called Vanishing Pezzicato

Joanna	Joanna said 3045 days ago (January 22nd, 2005)
	Makes me wish Thank you, atwood! I find myself doodley dooing all day long now. Thank you so much for listening. Check out my latest song called 20 Years

eleveneyes	eleveneyes said 3045 days ago (January 22nd, 2005)
	my kids loved it! of course i told them i'd beat them to a pulp if they didn't. like all good kids songs this has the mysterious creepy ending. FX were great. Mucho Enjoyo! Check out my latest song called God Whose Giving Knows No Ending

Joanna	Joanna said 3044 days ago (January 23rd, 2005)
	my kids loved it! Thank you, eleven! And please thank your traumatized children as well! You know, the creepy ending did worry me, but a friend reminded me that lots of kids' songs had them, so it sounded like a fine idea to hint at their possibly untimely demise. Check out my latest song called 20 Years

	said 3045 days ago (January 23rd, 2005)
	The Kid in Me Loved this. :)

Joanna	Joanna said 3044 days ago (January 23rd, 2005)
	The Kid in Me My thanks to the kid hanging out inside Mungo! Check out my latest song called 20 Years

Anonymous said 3044 days ago (January 23rd, 2005)

Billy and Lily both Drown, is this an appropriate childrens topic?
I like the song overall, I think that the overall
production quality was its stongest point. The
wind sounds were cool, and the vocal pickup that
you got with your Shure SM 58 (I have a Shure PG
58), is really impressive. Those are rugged mics
aren't they, and for a great price.

The aspect of the song I didn't like is that it has a dark
ending, and perhaps morbid feel. It left me feeling sad
inside. I was sad with the thought of not knowing what
happened to Billy and Lily, with one "l" (I also think that
Lily should have 2 "l" 's it just looks better). Maybe in the
end they could sail away happily instead of sinking to the
bottom of the ocean or finding gold.

The children that I had listen to this almost looked like
they were going to start crying when the song was over.
They were entertained however, so I credit you in that
area.

Keep up the Good Work.

Sincerely,
Johnathan J. Stegeman
MidiMacMan.

	Anonymous said 3043 days ago (January 24th, 2005)
	Quickie One more little thing, check the spelling in your description for the word "catergory". Sincerely, MidiMacMan

Cameron

Cameron said 3043 days ago (January 24th, 2005)

cute, child-like and entertaining!
Great little story, which you delivered with the perfect
amount of whimsy and enthusiasm. Your obvious love for
children comes through loud and clear on this track!

It would be cool if you could somehow edit the guitar
loops (were they green, or blue tracks?) to have slightly
different chords at the ends of verses. But this was ok "as
is".

Nice little FX's, added a lot to the story.

Check out my latest song called Trio for Horn, Violin & Piano

Joanna

Joanna said 3042 days ago (January 25th, 2005)

cute, child-like and entertaining!
Thank you, Cameron! The guitar loops were both blue, so I couldn't do a lot
with them. For such a simple song, I spent hours looking for another loop or
something else (i.e. my own bad keyboard playing) but in the end, all I really
had were these two loops. So I did the best I could with them. I could hear
what I wanted in my head, but there was nothing available to me that
matched what I was hearing internally. One of the many disadvantages of not
being a gifted musician.

Check out my latest song called 20 Years

Suzanne	Suzanne said 3039 days ago (January 28th, 2005)
	do a whole album of this! delightful! as someone who never had kids, i think i have been missing a whole lot! you should do a whole album, i hear it is a big market. generous and clever. great fun to hear. Check out my latest song called Rock The Baby With Voodoo (w/Tobin)

Joanna	Joanna said 3039 days ago (January 28th, 2005)
	do a whole album of this! Thank you, Suzanne! An album of children's songs would be a deilghtful undertaking. Maybe some day in the future. Check out my latest song called 20 Years

JimmyMac

JimmyMac said 3030 days ago (February 6th, 2005)

Two thumbs up
One from me and one from my three-year-old (Oh, sorry,
"free-and-a-half"). She did dance to it, But further
comment was lost when she had to be sent to her room
for pulling the cat's tail.
From my perspective, excellent vocals and production.
Nice story - I'll choose to think they found gold. You do a
great job integrating your vocals to loops. But loops are
limiting. I like it best when you collaborate. There are
some really good guitarists on this sight that could add to
those 2 loops you're confined to (Thetiler and
atwood1956 come to mind).

JG

Check out my latest song called Take Me There

Joanna

Joanna said 3030 days ago (February 6th, 2005)

Two thumbs up
Thank you, JG, and much gratitude to the cat puller! I would love it one of the
site's wonderful guitarists would collaborate with me. I always feel a bit shy
asking, though. I'd hate to rope someone in on a project they have no interest
in. As for loops, they have their advantages in that I can write a song
whenever I feel like it, instead of having to ask for the charity of others. Or
perhaps I should just learn to play the guitar, huh? I've got one; it's just been
years since I played it. Anyway, give your daughter my best!

Check out my latest song called 20 Years

thetiler	thetiler said 3017 days ago (February 19th, 2005)
	Totally cute This is a very cute tune. A beautiful kids story song that delivers the goods. The music, the effects, just very complete sounding. Thanks for sharing! Check out my latest song called An Affair To Remember

Joanna	Joanna said 3017 days ago (February 19th, 2005)
	Totally cute Thank you, Tiler! I could've used your expertise with the guitar because those two loops I used (the only ones I could find that fit) leave it a tad spare. But I'm so happy you enjoyed the result anyway! Check out my latest song called 20 Years

diamondvalley	diamondvalley said 2775 days ago (October 19th, 2005)
	Fun song Thanks for sharing this. It was a delight. Nice effects and well sung. As Inigo might say "You have a great gift for rhyme." Check out my latest song called When You Taught Me to Dance

Einarus	Einarus said 2545 days ago (June 6th, 2006)
	One has to like... ...children's music - it's so innocent and happy that one can't help but smile! This had exactly that effect on me! Very fun and very well delivered! -E Check out my latest song called Preparation

composerclark	composerclark said 2540 days ago (June 11th, 2006)
	Curious i was curious to hear this after reading your post in the "Best Comments" thread, and I really enjoyed the light-hearted feel of the music (especially the chorus) juxtaposed against the sense of (possibly) impending doom that you have in the lyrics. Dark and light at the same time. Check out my latest song called Momma's Song

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Artist Info

Location: USA

Hi, I'm Joanna (not Jo, that's someone else). Garageband has allowed me to indulge my love for singing beyond concerts in the shower. My favorite part of songwriting is writing the lyrics. This makes sense, of course, because writing is what I d... [see more]

Check out some of my other songs:

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