COD LIVER OIL (SONG)

'Cod Liver Oil' was a traditional medicinal drink for a lot of Newfoundlanders that was also made into a song. Cod liver oil in the traditional way of manufacture was sun cured and served in bottles in its raw form. The song was written by Johnny Burke (1851-1930), a balladeer from St. John's, Newfoundland. It has been recorded by the Irish band The Dubliners and by Newfoundland folk rock Band Great Big Sea on their album ''The Hard and the Easy''.

Contents

Lyrics

See also

External links

Lyrics

:I'm a young married man that is tired of life

:Ten years I've been wed to a miserable wife

:She does nothing all day but sit down and cry

:And prays up to Heaven that soon she will die

:''Chorus:''

:Doctor, o doctor, o dear Doctor John

:Your cod liver oil is so pure and so strong

:I'm afraid of me life, I'll go down in the soil

:If me wife keeps on drinking your cod liver oil

:Well a friend of my own came to see me one day

:He told my darlin' was pining away

:He afterwards told me that she would get strong

:If only I'd get a bottle from dear Doctor John

:''Chorus''
:It was then that I purchased a bottle to try

:The way that she drank it you'd think she would die

:I bought her another it vanished the same

:O me wife she's got cod liver oil on the brain

:''Chorus''
:That me wife loves cod liver there isn't a doubt

:And a few thousand gallons has made her quite stout

:And now that she's stout it's made her quite strong

:And now I'm jealous of dear Doctor John

:''Chorus''
:My house it resembles a medicine shop

:It's covered with bottles from bottom to top

:But then in the mornin' the kettle do boil

:O you're sure it's singin' of cod liver oil

:''Chorus''

See also

★ List of Newfoundland songs

External links

★ Newfoundland Heritage, Traditional Songs

★ Dictionary of Newfoundland English