Found a Peanut
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"Found a Peanut" is a folk
Basic lyrics
A basic version of the variable lyrics is:
- Found a peanut, found a peanut, found a peanut just now.
- Just now I found a peanut, found a peanut just now.
- Cracked it open, cracked it open, cracked it open just now
- Just now I cracked it open, cracked it open just now.
- It was rotten, it was rotten, it was rotten just now,
- Just now it was rotten, it was rotten just now .
Then it continues with the same rhythm:
- Ate it anyway
- Got a stomachache
- Called the doctor
- Said I wouldn't Die
- Died anyway
- Went to Heaven
- Found the gates locked
- Got hotter
- Woke up
- Found it was a dream
The Israeli/Hebrew Version
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Many variations
The simple repetitive structure of the song lends itself to near infinite variations. Sometimes "Just now" or "yesterday" is substituted for "last night". Sometimes the verse will not reference the preceding verse as in the first example above.
Versions current in Baltimore in 1955 weren't quite as heavenly focused, and ended in: "Shoveling coal, shoveling coal, shoveling coal just now ..."
Another common variation on "last night" is "yesterday". This is used by "
Other substitutions include:
- Other foods can also be used, such as an apple, for which the second line can be "it was wormy".
- "It was rotten" by "Found it rotten", "It was mouldy", or "Green and mouldy".
- "Ate it anyway" by "Still I ate it" or "Ate it anyhow".
- "Got a stomachache" by "Got sick" or "Appendicitis".
- "Wouldn't take me" by "Kicked an angel", "Punched St. Peter", or "Said a naughty word".
- "Penicillin" by "Didn't Work".
- "Operation" by "Cut me open", "Took the peanut out", "Sewed me up again", "Left the scissors in", "Cut me open again", "Took some medicine" or "Had surgery"
- "Wouldn't take me" by "Wouldn't take me", "Went the other way", "Didn't want me".
- "It was a dream" by "Shoveling coal".
- "Couldn't save me" by "Died anyway"
- Sometimes, after "Woke up" it's "Found a peanut" again.
The Hebrew version sometimes introduces the verse: "Now I'm dead" (Akhshav ani met, עכשיו אני מת) before "I ascended to heaven". Sometimes "God" (Elohim, אלוהים), rather than "Gabriel" is used. Finally, sometimes before the recap either the verse: "So I answered him" (Az aniti lo, אז עניתי לו) or a single line: "So I answered him thus:" (Az aniti lo she-, -אז עניתי לו ש) is added.
Origins
Some attribute the song to Jack Schafer of
Other evidence, however, suggests that the song was widely known in the United States as early as the 1940s. A 1945 issue of the
Appearance in popular culture
"Found a Peanut" is mentioned as a "famous
The song appears in the 1949 film A Letter to Three Wives.
The song appears in the film Tromeo and Juliet in a scene in which a family in a car sings a song before getting into an accident. In the following scene, the character Detective Scalus says, "They found a peanut, all right, a peanut of death!"
The song also appears at the opening of the
The song is the title of the play "Found a Peanut" by Donald Margulies. The character Jeffery Smolowitz sings the song.
The song appeared on This Morning with Richard Not Judy with Stewart Lee and Richard Herring.
In the 1994 American satirical comedy Serial Mom, Beverly Sutphin (played by Kathleen Turner) sings the song with her fellow prisoners as they ride on a bus en route to court.
A version appears on the 2009 album
A version with somewhat different lyrics was released by Thee Midniters in 1966.
The Kidsongs Kids and their camp counselors Eddie and Monica sing this song on A Day at Camp (1989) during their campfire medley.
Mentioned in Marc Maron's 2015 comedy special More Later.
References
- ^ http://www.abenba.com/?p=29096[permanent dead link]
- ^ "טיול חנוכה> אם אפשר לקרוא לזה ככה... - כולנו עשויים אבק של אהבה". Israblog.nana10.co.il. 2006-01-14. Retrieved 2015-07-17.
- ^ "בלעתי בוטן". Forum.travian.co.il. Retrieved 2015-07-17.
- ^ "FOUND A PEANUT, Campfire Songs, YMCA Camp Loowit". Backyardgardener.com. Retrieved 2015-07-17.
- ^ Florida Flambeau. "Campus Sings Favorite Parodies in Jam Sessions or on Busses". November 30, 1945, p. 2. Retrieved on August 1, 2013.
- Norwalk Hour. "PT Talent Night Is Big Success". June 6, 1942, p. 9. Retrieved on August 1, 2013.