{"id":4375,"date":"2013-08-15T15:33:09","date_gmt":"2013-08-15T15:33:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=4375"},"modified":"2021-04-21T13:35:49","modified_gmt":"2021-04-21T17:35:49","slug":"genealogy-song-i-think-i-hear-a-woodpecker-knocking-at-my-family-tree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/genealogy-song-i-think-i-hear-a-woodpecker-knocking-at-my-family-tree.html","title":{"rendered":"Genealogy Song: \u2018I Think I Hear a Woodpecker Knocking at My Family Tree\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI Think I Hear a Woodpecker Knocking at My Family Tree\u201d is probably the funniest genealogy song you will ever hear.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Credit: University of Oregon, Sheet Music Collection<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Written by composer Joseph Edgar Howard (1878-1961), this genealogy song has been popular since it was written back in 1909. A copy of the original sheet music for this piece was put online by the University of Oregon. You can see a copy of the song\u2019s lyrics on the original sheet music<\/a>; the lyrics are also reproduced below for your reference:<\/p>\n

My family tree is an awful sight to see<\/p>\n

For the bark is all worn bare;<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a busted stump which is mostly punk<\/p>\n

And the worms are nesting there.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d point with pride to the ones who died<\/p>\n

In my genealogy,<\/p>\n

But the fact is this, almost all my kin and kith,<\/p>\n

Have been hanged up on that tree.<\/p>\n

I think I hear a woodpecker knocking on my family tree,<\/p>\n

While I hear his knock, knock, knock,<\/p>\n

I think he\u2019s on to me.<\/p>\n

My family did a whole lot of things that ain\u2019t in history<\/p>\n

But when he gets free with my ancestry<\/p>\n

He\u2019s knocking me. I me.<\/p>\n

My father Dan was a literary man<\/p>\n

He lived by and in the pen,<\/p>\n

When he got away it was safe to say<\/p>\n

He would soon be back again;<\/p>\n

My uncle Frank for his work in a bank<\/p>\n

By the police was in demand,<\/p>\n

While my cousin Roy was an awful handy boy<\/p>\n

With a stocking full of sand.<\/p>\n

I think I hear a woodpecker knocking on my family tree,<\/p>\n

While I hear his knock, knock, knock,<\/p>\n

I think he\u2019s on to me.<\/p>\n

My family did a whole lot of things that ain\u2019t in history<\/p>\n

But when he gets free with my ancestry<\/p>\n

He\u2019s knocking me. I me.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Listen to a recording of this funny genealogy song here<\/span>:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.abmp3.info\/mp3\/i-think-hear-a-woodpecker-knocking-at-my-family-tree.html<\/span><\/p>\n

Joseph Howard<\/a> was a well-known vaudevillian. His most famous song was Hello, Ma Baby<\/a> written in 1899.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI Think I Hear a Woodpecker Knocking at My Family Tree\u201d is probably the funniest genealogy song you will ever hear. Written by composer Joseph Edgar Howard (1878-1961), this genealogy song has been popular since it was written back in 1909. A copy of the original sheet music for this piece was put online by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12713],"tags":[1129,1656,4739,4738,4741,4740,4736,4744,4743,4742],"class_list":["post-4375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-genealogy-research-tips","tag-family","tag-family-tree","tag-genealogy-humor","tag-genealogy-songs","tag-howard","tag-i-think-i-hear-a-woodpecker-knocking-at-my-family-tree","tag-joseph-edgar-howard","tag-lyrics","tag-sheet-music","tag-university-of-oregon"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4375"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4375\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72991,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4375\/revisions\/72991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}