Bought the Farm
Posted by TheUnlurker on January 15, 2002
In Reply to: Bought the Farm posted by Jim on January 15, 2002
: : : : : I don't much like Phrase Finder's explanation about going to a better place. Several years ago I read an explanation that also involved WW2. However, the gist was that the British government used to pay farmers for damages whenever a military plane crashed in their fields. Thus, when a plane went down, the unfortunate pilot "bought the farm."
: : : : Forgive my sudden and off-topic unlurking, but I once spontaneously
wrote a line (in a song) to describe someone driven to the edge of sanity by their
abject loneliness:
: : : : "If I don't get me some lovin' done,
: : :
: I'm gonna buy me the funny farm".
: : : : Can't help but wonder if I stole it...
: : : Possibly you heard the following while slumbering. The nightmare you cannot recall, but motivates your every waking moment:
: : :
: : : They're
Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa
: : : from: Dr. Demento's Delights
: :
: Warner Bros. 1975 BS 2855 0698
: : : Verse 1:
: : : Remember when you
ran away and I got on my knees and begged you not to leave because I'd go berserk??
: : : Well...You left me anyhow and then the days got worse and worse and now
you see
: : : I've gone completely out of my mind.. And..
: : : Chorus:
:
: : They're coming to take me away, ha-haaa!!
: : : They're coming to take
me away, ho-ho, hee-hee, ha-haaa
: : : To the funny farm. Where life is beautiful
all the time and I'll be happy to see those nice young men in their clean white
coats and they're
: : : coming to take me away, ha-haaa!!!!!
: : : Verse
2:
: : : You thought it was a joke and so you laughed, you laughed when I had
said
: : : that loosing you would make me flip my lid.. RIGHT???
: : : I
know you laughed, I heard you laugh, you laughed you laughed and
: : : laughed
and then you left, but now you know I'm utterly mad... And..
: : : Chorus:
:
: : They're coming to take me away, ha-haaa,
: : : They're coming to take me
away, ho-ho, hee-hee, ha-haaa.
: : : To the happy home. With trees and flowers
and chirping birds and basket
: : : weavers who sit and smile and twiddle their
thumbs and toes and they're
: : : coming to take me away, ha-haaa!!!
: : : .... There is more, but I'm feeling merciful
: : Fortunately you didn't type out the lyrics from the B side of the original 7" vinyl single, which in strangely fitting manner features the exact same song as the A side... except played in reverse.
: : This ground-breaking single was originally released by Napoleon XIV back in 1966. I am heartened by this.
: The B side was produced for the Russian market.
Hum. Of course "funny farm" for "mental institution" is an idiom that I was already aware of, and "bought the farm" for "dead" another. My question is when I combined these two idioms to form "bought the funny farm" to mean "lost it" was I unconsciously stealing from somewhere?
Late on a Friday afternoon it seemed to matter -- not sure that I care anymore ;)
- "...you
mangy mutt..." Bruce Kahl 01/15/02
- Retry Bruce Kahl 01/15/02