It lives in my Memory.....

There was an old Apple Tree in the orchard,
It lives in my mem-o-ry
If my Pappy had of knowed it, he never would have growed it
‘cause he died in the old apple tree.

Does anyone out side of my immediate family know this song? I recall my parents teaching it to us when I was quite young. It was one of those things we did while traveling across the country in the back of a car. (In my memory it actually goes “There’s an old apple…” “There was…” makes a bit more logical sense considering how things work out.)

Chorus
Say good-bye, say good bye, say good-bye to the old apple tree. If my pappy had of knowed it, he never would have growed it cause he died in the old apple tree.

There are probably verses that I don’t know or don’t remember but it starts off with the narrator telling how his or her father takes the wife or daughter of a local big wig out to a dance/party. He keeps her out way too late.

One night Pappy took Sister Jordan, out to the jamboree,
When he brought her back at sunup,
Brother Jordan* got his gun up,
and chased Pappy up in the tree

Repeat chorus

Now I think it was my mother who once told me that when she was a child they originally said “Bishop Jordan” instead of “Brother Jordan”, and in a Mormon community that has some significant connotations. At any rate, the local stalwart has run the father up the tree and then summons the lynch mob……

When the neighbors came out after Pappy
Up in the tree was he.
So they took a rope and strung ‘im
By the neck and then they hung ‘im
From a branch of the old apple tree

Chorus

The final verse is short and concise

Put the apples in a basket
Cut the tree down for a casket
And now Pappy’s gone with his tree.

Chorus.

I wonder about the origins and history of the song periodically. What happened to Pappy's wife? What happened to the children after the neighbors killed him? did the narrator ever feel the urge to hunt "Brother Jordan" down and take revenge? I know I could probably take the first line and Google it and get all sorts of info but I really don’t want to do that yet. It would take away from the feeling of ownership I guess.

Not quite a cheerful little song although it has a quite bouncy little tune. If I was really, really cruel, I would sing it and make an audio file that plays when you read the post and force you to listen. But they discourage torture in the civilian world as much as they did in my old job.