How I miss Shel Silverstein!
"The Slitheree-Dee" is actually a chanted, rather unmusical song,
rather than a poem. The hilarious (and very short!) lyrics to "The
Slitheree-Dee" can be found on page 78 of this book:
Amazon.com: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0064401707/
As far as I am aware, the only Silverstein collection in which "The
Slitheree-Dee" has appeared is "Dirty Feet," which is now out of
print, and has become rather expensive:
ABEbooks: Dirty Feet, a Collection of Songs by Shel Silverstein
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=263811164
Here you can read Silverstein's "The Slitheree-Dee" in its entirety:
Banned Width: THE SLITHEREE-DEE
http://www.banned-width.com/shel/works/slither.html
Silverstein recorded "The Slitheree-Dee" himself, in his usual raspy,
wonderful voice. It appeared on this album:
"Inside Folk Songs, Atlantic Records, Atlantic 8072, 1962
(Reissued as "Inside Shel Silverstein", Atlantic 8257, 1970)
Shel Silverstein Discography
http://mypage.iu.edu/~jbmorris/FAQ/shel.disco.html
The album is long out of press, but it is currently offered on eBay:
eBay: Shel Silverstein, Inside Folk Songs
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=306&item=4053044782&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW
I hope this is helpful! If anything is unclear or incomplete, please
request clarification; I'll gladly offer further assistance before you
rate my answer.
Best regards,
pinkfreud |
Request for Answer Clarification by
bobbie260162-ga
on
23 Nov 2004 02:25 PST
Thanks very much for that. I am told that it allows appears in the
wonderfully titled "A great big ugyly man came up and tied his horse
to me" by Wallace Tripp, but one review suggests that it is spelled
something like Slithergadee in the book. My husband wants it, and he
would die if it were not the original version as penned by Shel. Can
you confirm or deny? I feel like this is asking too much, so I will
up to your fee to a princely $5 if you can help!
Breda
|
Clarification of Answer by
pinkfreud-ga
on
23 Nov 2004 11:51 PST
Oh, my, this is quite a can of worms (or a can of slitheree-dees!)
There are numerous versions of Shel Silverstein's little verse, and
there are many variant spellings including "slithergadee" and
"slithery-dee."
I have learned that the ditty appears in "The Norton Book of Light
Verse" (page 314) as "Slithergadee." That's quite an authoritative
source.
However, the plot thickens. Silverstein's own recording, on the LP
"Inside Folk Songs" (AKA "Inside Shel Silverstein") uses
"Slitheree-dee" as the spelling, and when you listen to the recording
(which I have), he's very plainly pronouncing it as "slitheree" or
"slithery."
The song was also recorded by The Serendipity Singers, on an LP called
"The Serendipity Singers Sing of: Love, Lies and Flying Festoons." The
spelling "Slitheree-dee" appears on the album cover.
Shel Silverstein Discography
http://mypage.iu.edu/~jbmorris/FAQ/shel.disco.html
The book "Dirty Feet," which is an authorized collection of
Silverstein's lyrics, gives the title as "The Slitheree Dee" (without
a hyphen).
Banned-Width: Dirty Feet
http://www.banned-width.com/shel/works/books/dirtyfeet.html
The proof is inconclusive, and Shel Silverstein is, unfortunately, no
longer with us. I think you're safe going with "slitheree-dee," in
view of the preponderance of evidence connected directly to
Silverstein. It is entirely possible that this master of wordplay
fiddled with his "dees" and wrote the verse more than one way, of
course. But he definitely pronounced it as "slithery" or "slitheree"
on the audio recording.
I hope this helps. Sometimes, the more I try to "clarify," the more
obscure things get! I suggest that you consider purchasing the "Inside
Folk Songs" LP, which should serve as sufficient authority, and which
will probably tickle your husband immensely. It's a great album.
Silverstein's voice is magical: throaty and warm and wry. What a
talent.
Best wishes,
pinkfreud
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
bobbie260162-ga
on
23 Nov 2004 12:23 PST
No, that is helpful. I haven't used this service very much, so I
presume I just bump it up to five dollars when I am invoiced? Or is
there a way to close it now? I will just check google answers for
that answer! Thanks for all your help. You have clarified things
very much for me.
Breda
|
Clarification of Answer by
pinkfreud-ga
on
23 Nov 2004 12:43 PST
Breda,
To close out your question, all you need to do is assign the answer a
rating and leave a tip (if you so desire). The rating is an indication
of how satisfied you are with the Researcher's work; one star means
that you're very dissatisfied, five stars means that you're very
satisfied, and the in-between stars are gradations in proportion. If
you're not fully satisfied, most Researchers will be glad to work with
you in an effort to find exactly what you need, so it's good to use
the Clarification process fully before assigning a lower rating.
One of my colleagues, skermit-ga, has put together an excellent guide
to using Google Answers.
Here's some info on the rating process from skermit's guide:
http://www.christopherwu.net/google_answers/answer_guide.html#answered
Best always,
Pink
|
