Clementine

Coal mine excavation where you could get a splinter

Clementine is one of those songs with a mixed history, mixed in the sense it is cited by different sources with unique information about its origin.  The folk ballad is usually credited as having been written by Percy Montrose in 1884.  Others believe it was written by a man named Barker Bradford.  Still others, many years ago, believed the song came from Mexican workers during the time of the gold rush.

At the outset the song appears to be a sad one, a ballad where someone is grieving the loss of a lover or grown daughter.  Yet the song turns to speak of size 9 shoes and herring boxes without top-ses that are parodies that take away from the possible romantic ballad one presumes at the outset.

And it is performed here with that tongue-in-cheek, upbeat style: