Storysongs

Here's a great songtale, lots of fun for the children to act out and to even add their own verses later. The lyrics are by Lewis F. Muir and Maurice Abrahams. The music was written by Grant Clarke. The copyrights for the song are unknown.

Ragtime Cowboy Joe

(I use a kind of rhythmic chant for this first verse)

Out in Arizona
Where the bad men are,
And the only friend to guide you
Is an evening star,
The roughest, toughest man by far
Is Ragtime Cowboy Joe.

How he sings,
Raggy music to his cattle
As he swings
Back and forward in his saddle
On his horse
(A pretty good horse),
Who is syncopated gaited,
And with such a funny meter
To the roar of his repeater.

How they run,
When they hear the feller's gun,
Because the western folks all know:
He's a hifalootin', scootin', shootin'
Son-of-a-gun from Arizona,
Ragtime Cowboy
(Talk about your cowboy),
Ragtime Cowboy Joe.

There is a second verse but I rarely use it.
You can find many versions of the tune for this song.
I tend to sing it slower than some I've heard, so that the kids can get it.

Here's one place to hear the tune:http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/lyrics/ragtime.htm

I"m Proud to be Me

I'm proud to be me but I also see
You're just as proud to be you.
We might look at things a bit differently
But lots of good people do.

That's just human nature
So why should I hate you
For being as human as I?

We get what we give.
If we live and let live
We'll both get along if we try.

I'm proud to be me, and I also see
You're just as proud to be you.
It's true!
You're just as proud to be you!

Unknown author