Folk Songs We Grew Up With

There is a folk song dating back to 1898 called, "Johnny Todd." Most Brits will say that they have never heard of it, but they would be wrong. The first verse goes like this:

"Johnny Todd he took a notion
For to sail the ocean wide,
And he left his true love behind him,
Weeping by the Liverpool tide."

The rest is here: http://www.joe-offer.com/folkinfo/songs/566.html

The reason why so many Brits of a certain age will know the tune is because it was used as the theme music for the popular BBC police drama, Z Cars. (Note, that's Zed Cars, not Zee Cars.) The series ran from 1962 until 1978, well over 800 episodes in total.

Just going back to Johnny Todd, at college there was a rather talented fellow who could come up with amusing ditties just like that:

"Johnny Todd he stole a Z Car
For to take his girl a ride,
But another copper caught him,
Now he's doing six months inside."
(Inside, euphemism for prison.)

 

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