DESCRIPTION:
This is my entry to the 17th season of the Uke , hosted by Ukulele Underground. Animal theme (original) song, one take, (hence the missing head) This is a true story:-) I have always had snapshot memory, and the day my mom picked up a 2X4 and chased the Rooster round the big coop yard is a day I shall never ever forget. We had told her we were afraid to collect eggs, and she came to see for herself..He DID get a certain look in his eye, and you KNEW, what was coming! ..LOL...the Rooster pulled his foul fowl attack on HER and the rest is history as they say;-) We kids were never mean to the chickens, just happened to get caught in the poultry zone forboden,..and Whitey was likely just protecting his harem. I had written the song when I had faint recall the Rooster was named Casey, oh well...and I took liberties with the year,,,woulda been more like 67/68 or so. Hayfork, CA, Trinity County=childhood paradise. make sense of the lyrics, here:

The Ballad of Whitey

V
Whitey was a rooster
the king of the flock
a mighty white rooster
had the hens in a squawk
but we remember him for
his evil side, for when he got
the squinty look we kids would
run and hide!

V
you knew what was coming
it was a fearful sight
15 pounds of feathers and
the spurs shining bright
a territorial rooster is a thing
to see,...
maybe at the movies
not in real life for me!

V
with his red comb glowing,
and those scaly yellow legs .....
talons aimed in battle mode
we kids were laying eggs
as we tried to dodge the
fury of our feathered foe
sad was a fact sometimes
we had no where to go

B
Well Whitey met his match
in the summer of 65
we kids could not believe it
tho we saw it with our eyes
that rooster picked on one
who wore tight stretch denim jeans
and who was high on life and
coca cola , oh she got plenty mean

B
47 years have passed
but not the memory,
it is burned into my
eyeballs, in the dusty coop I see
Ma she chased that rooster
with a two by four raised high
I knew that if she caught him that
old rooster he would die!

V
Whitey got a reprieve, a short
amount of time,
come Fall he
met the butcher,.. in the stew
pot he was flyin'
We had a laugh for try as we
might, we could not eat him
he was too tough to bite!

V
Well the moral of this story
for all you Rooster Kings
be kind to all your hens AND
to your human kin
so you don't meet this fate
when the sharp ax swings
Tolerance, Tolerance, Tolerance
will get you far......

copyright mid june, 2012
LaurieLeeC