The Minstrels of Mayhem - Johnny Jump Up (with Lyrics) - Now

This is one of the best "Johnny Jump Up's" that I have heard. I fell in love with The Minstrels of Mayhem a long time ago at a Renaissance Fair in Ohio. I still love their music. This is from their cd, "Now", released in 1999. Craig Broers made them a trio for this cd. Enjoy!

The Minstrels of Mayhem are:

Jerry Barry (Pompador) - vocals, guitar, bass
Ty Billings (Melodio) - vocals, guitar, flute
with
Thomas Nuendel (Thomas) - violin, vocals

The talented musicians listed below have at one time or another complimented the Minstrels of Mayhem.

Brad Collier - mandolin, guitar, bass
Craig Broers (Craig of Farrington) - vocals, bass
Jim Hancock - vocals, mandolin, guitar
James Torrey - percussion
Bob Bielefeld - flute, saxophone
Gus Correia - percussion
Martha Gaye - harp
Marsha Harvey - violin
Bill Sellers - keyboards

Check them out at www.minstrelsofmayhem.com/now.html

LYRICS FOR JOHNNY JUMP UP, as sung by The Minstrels of Mayhem. Thanks to www.lyricsaction.com/.../minstrels...mayhem/johnny+jump+up-lyrics:

I'll tell you a story that happened to me,
One day as I went down to Youghal by the sea,
The sun it was bright, and the day it was warm,
Says I, "A quiet pint wouldn't do me no harm."
I went in and I ordered a bottle of stout,
Says the barman, "I'm sorry, all the beer is sold out,
Try whiskey, young Paddy, ten years in the wood",
Says I, "I'll try cider, I've heard that it's good."

Chorus:

Oh never, oh never, oh never again,
If I live to a hundred or a hundred and ten,
I fell to the ground and I could not get up,
After drinking a quart of the Johnny-Jump-Up.

After an hour and a third, I went straight for the yard,
Where I bumped into Brophy, the big civic guard,
"Come 'ere to me boy, don't ya know I'm the law?"
I opened my fist and I shattered his jaw.
He fell to the ground with his knees doubled up,
It was not that I hit him, 'twas Johnny Jump Up.
The next thing saw down in Youghal by the sea,
Was a cripple on crutches, and says he to me,
"I'm afraid of me life I'll be hit by a car,
Won't you help me across to The Highwayman's Bar?"
But after drinkin' a quart of the cider so sweet,
he threw down his crutches and danced on his feet.

Chorus

I went down to Bedlam a friend for to see,
They call it the Madhouse in Cork by the Lee,
And when I got there, sure the truth I do tell,
They had the poor bugger locked up in his cell.
The guard said to him, "Say these words if you can,
"Around the rugged rock the ragged rascal ran",
"Tell them I'm not crazy, tell them I'm not mad,
It was only a sup of the cider I had".

Chorus

A man died in the Union by the name of McNabb,
They dressed him and laid him outside on a slab,
And after O'Connor his measurements did take,
Well wife took him home to a bloody fine wake.
The sun it was hot, the beer it was high,
When the corpse sits up and says with a sigh,
"I can't get to heaven, they won't let me up,
'Till I bring them a quart of the Johnny Jump-Up."

Chorus, repeat.