Lyrics to an old spooky song

[Jerjer514]

Greetings, everyone! I have a question about an old song that my grandma used to sing to me during Halloween and I am hoping one of you kind folks will know the complete lyrics. The only lyrics I can remember are "Room 13 is haunted" and "I sleep with one eye open and one foot upon the floor." Please respond if you know the rest of the lyrics. Thanks much. P.S.: I am over 40 years old, and I would enjoy learning more about this song and where it came from. I am trying to do research on a chapter of a story that I'm writing on FanFiction.net, and I think more info about this little ditty would be helpful in my research.

 

[Shangas]

Just to kinda clarify things.

How old a song are we talking about here? 1920s? 1930s? 1950s? 1960s?

 

[Jerjer514]

I really don't know, but I think it might be from the twenties or thirties. If my grandma knew it, it must be pretty old. I was a child in the sixties when she used to sing it to me. She died in 1987, so I can't ask her. That's why I joined this site. I was hoping that someone might know the complete lyrics to this tune. I tried to Google it, with no results. My grandparents had rather inventive minds, however. They could have made it up, but it sounded like a real song. Thanks for replying.

 

[ScionPI2005]

Well, I tried Googling the lyrics and came up with "I sleep with one eye open and one foot on the floor" as part of the lyrics to Shamey Shamey Shamey by Billy Gilman. The second part of your lyrics about room thirteen aren't in that song though. I've had no luck finding a song with references to room thirteen being haunted.

Welcome to the Lounge though! I hope someone recognizes the lyrics.

 

[Shangas]

Shamey, Shamey, Shame. Sounds a bit like "Minnie the Moocher' in parts, which was very 1930s.

[video=youtube;0192DiK-AdY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0192DiK-AdY[/video]

 

[Jerjer514]

Thank you for trying. It's a cute little song, but not the one I heard. I don't think any modern artist has done a rendition of this one that I am wondering about. I think I recall something about a dead man under the bed, and "That's the room they gave me, to rest my weary head".

 

[bunnyb.gal]

Wow - that sounds like one heck of a macabre lullaby! Hope someone here can help you out with this one, very intriguing!

 

[Shangas]

Keep trying to remember as much as you can. I'm still getting bupkiss on my search-results. But I'm worrying about your grandma, man. What kind of sweet old lady sings this kind of lullaby to her grandson at night!?

It's not "Jesus Make up my Dying Bed" is it? Recorded in 1927 by Blind Willie Johnson.

Is it one of these? Halloween Jazz Songs

 

[LizzieMaine]

The words sound like they could be sung to the tune of "Old Man Mose," but those aren't the actual lyrics to that song.

 

[Shangas]

I remember that song!

Old Man Mose, performed by Louis Armstrong:

[video=youtube;nyZtPGZRWpc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyZtPGZRWpc[/video]

 

[Jerjer514]

I really don't know. I enjoyed hearing that Louis Armstrong tune, which I have never heard before, by the way. By the way, I'm a woman. My uncle was a jazz fan, and Louis Armstrong was a favorite of his. Thank you for trying. I really appreciate your efforts.

 

[Jerjer514]

Thanks, Lizzie. That's a really cool song that I have never heard before. I have heard a lot of Louis Armstrong, being that my uncle, also deceased, was a big Dixieland jazz fan. Thanks for trying, but that was not the song I heard during Halloween in my childhood.