[net.music.folk] Hang on the Bell, Nelly

segs@mhuxn.UUCP (slusky) (06/05/85)

I'm looking for the words to the verses of Hang on the Bell, Nelly.
I already know the chorus and the first (I think) verse.

Chorus:
Hang on the bell, Nelly
Hang on the bell
Your poor father's locked in a 
Cold prison cell.

As you swing to the left
And you swing to the right
Remember the curfew
Must never ring tonight.

1st verse:
It all began when Nelly said
No! No! to Handsome Jack
And struggled as he tried to kiss her
By the railroad track

Her Daddy came a runnin'
As the train came rumblin' by
And Jack fell back across the track
And paid the price of crime.

Can anyone help with the rest?

Susan Slusky
mhuxn!segs
-- 

neal@druny.UUCP (Neal D. McBurnett) (06/24/85)

Straight from a tape:
	Hang on the Bell, Nellie
		Chad Mitchel Trio

The scene was in the jailhouse, and if curfew rang that night,
Nell's dad, in number 13 cell, would go out like a light.
She knew her dad was innocent, so plucky little Nell
She tied her tender torso to the clapper of the bell!

	Hang on the bell, Nellie, hang on the bell...
	Your poor daddie's locked in a cold prison cell.
	As you swing to the left, Nellie, swing to the right,
	Remember, that curfew bell must never ring tonight.

It had started when sweet Nellie said "No, No!" to handsome Jack
And struggled for her virtue there down by the railroad track.
Nell's dad come to her rescue: as the train roared down the line,
Jack ... fell back ... across the track, and paid the price of crime.

	Chorus

Nell's daddie got arrested, and brought up before the law.
The sheriff said "Old handsome Jack ain't handsome anymore."
Poor Nell, she cried and pleaded, but the jury didn't care.
They didn't have a sofa, so they offered him ... the chair.

	Chorus

They pulled upon the bell rope, but there was no ding'a'ling.
They could not get their foul deed done, for curfew would not ring!
To and fro, aloft swung Nell, while below they pulled and heaved,
When suddenly, a voice cried "Stop!  Your daddie's been reprieved!"

The let her fair young body down while she made protests weak,
And as they laid her out upon the ground, she said, in girlish* pique
"Look, I tried to save my daddie, which was true and noble thing,
But still, while I was up there, man, I learned it's FUN to swing!"

	Hang on the bell, Nellie, hang on the bell...
	Your poor daddie's FLUNG from his cold prison cell.
	As you swing to the left, Nellie, swing to the right,
	No matter when that curfew rings we're gonna swing tonight!

* or "gurnish", or "burnished"?

-Neal McBurnett, ihnp4!druny!neal