"I've Got a Pain in My Sawdust (The Plaint of the Little Bisque Doll)" was a popular

Popular music

Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...

 song

Song

In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...

. The music was composed

Musical composition

Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...

 by Herman Avery Wade, and the lyrics

Lyrics

Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...

 were written by Henry Edward Warner. The song was originally copyrighted in 1909

1909 in music

-Events:*November 28 - Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 is premièred in New York City-Albums Released:*Tchailkovsky's Nutcracker Suite - Mark Hamburg And The Royal Albert Hall Orchestra-Published popular music:...

 by Joseph W. Stern & Co. with these rights bought for publication in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 by Edward B. Marks Music Co. of New York in 1920

1920 in music

-Events:*January 19 - The Salzburg Festival is revived.*December 4 - Première of the opera Die tote Stadt by 23-year-old Erich Wolfgang Korngold...

. The sheet music

Sheet music

Sheet music is a hand-written or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols; like its analogs—books, pamphlets, etc.—the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens...

 lists the performance medium as piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

, voice

Singing

Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...

, and chord

Chord (music)

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s.

The song is dedicated to Kitty Cheatham

Kitty Cheatham

Katherine "Kitty" Cheatham was an American singer, diseuse and actress. She was born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee...

, who first recorded it on February 15, 1910. It was recorded again by Mae Questel

Mae Questel

Mae Questel was an American actress and vocal artist best known for providing the voices for the animated characters, Betty Boop and Olive Oyl. She began in vaudeville, and played occasional small roles in films and television later in her career, most notably the role of Aunt Bethany in 1989's...

 on January 16, 1935, as a b-side

A-side and B-side

A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...

 to "On the Good Ship Lollipop

On the Good Ship Lollipop

"On the Good Ship Lollipop" was the trademark song of child actress Shirley Temple. Temple first sang it in the 1934 movie Bright Eyes. The "ship" in the song is an aircraft; the scene in Bright Eyes where the song appears takes place on an American Airlines Douglas DC-2 which is taxiing. In the...

". Tiny Tim

Tiny Tim (musician)

Tiny Tim , , born in Manhattan, was an American singer and ukulele player. He was most famous for his rendition of "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" sung in a distinctive high falsetto/vibrato voice.-Rise to fame:Born to Lebanese parents in 1932, Khaury displayed musical talent at a very young age...

 recorded the song in 1968 under the title "I Got a Pain in My Sawdust".

In 2007, the song, primarily the third verse, was used in a seventh season

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (season 7)

The seventh season of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation premiered on CBS on September 21, 2006 and ended May 17, 2007.-Notable cast members:-Episodes:-References:...

 episode of the U.S. television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series, which premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...

("Living Doll").

Lyrics

(A 'motive of pain' is exclaimed before the singing of the chorus, which is sung from point of view of the character of the little bisque doll

Bisque doll

A bisque doll or porcelain doll is a doll made partially or wholly out of bisque porcelain. Bisque dolls are characterized by their realistic, skin-like matte finish. They had their peak of popularity between 1860 and 1900 with French and German dolls. Bisque dolls are collectible, and antique...

.)

Verse 1:

A little bisque doll and a little rag doll /

And a dolly imported from France /

Were sitting one day on the shelf of the store /

With a doll that could wind up and dance /

When all of a sudden, the shopkeeper heard /

A scream that rang out thro' the store /

And this was the plaint of the little bisque doll /

That made such an awful uproar

Chorus:

I've got a pain in my sawdust /

That's what's the matter with me /

Something is wrong with my little inside/

I'm just as sick as can be /

Don't let me faint, someone get me a fan /

Someone else run for the medicine man /

Ev'ryone hurry as fast as you can /

I've got a pain in my sawdust

Verse 2:

They took her away in a hospital van /

And the whole town was filled with the blues /

For ev'ryone thought it was quite an odd thing /

And the papers all printed the news /

The surgeons looked wise and they all shook their heads /

And asked her just where she was sick /

"I think it's 'appendi-sawdust'!", she exclaimed /

"And won't you please do something quick?"

Chorus Repeat

Verse 3:

Oh, sad was the day for the little bisque doll /

For they cut all her stitches away /

and found the seat of the terrible ache /

"'Twas a delicate task," they all say /

For none of the surgeons had ever before /

Performed on a dolly's inside /

They tried to re-stuff her but didn't know how /

And this was her wail as she died

Chorus Repeat (spoken, expressively)

"Funeral March" bridge

Sung:

She had a pain in her sawdust.

External links

• Full sheet music from the Indiana University Sheet Music archive