When Sick Is It Tea That You Want?

jig

Key signature: Dmajor

Submitted on December 8th 2001 by Will CPT.

This tune has been added to 115 tunebooks.

Also known as Go To The Devil And Shake Yourself, When Sick Is It Tae You Want?, When Sick Is It Tea You Want?, When Sick, Is It Tea You Want?.

Recordings of a tune by this name:

• A Piper's Dream by Brian McNamara
• Bridgetown by Johnny B. Connolly
• Dance Music Of Ireland: Volume 6 by Matt Cunningham
• Dancing Through Ireland by Various Artists
• Foinn Seisiun 2 by Ceoltóirí Cultúrlainne
• Irish Jigs by Paul Hutchinson, John Hymas And Tony Harris
• New Irish Harmonica by Brendan Power
• Pay The Piper: Music For The Sets Volume 3 by Various Artists
• River Reel by Begley,Glackin And O'Brien
• Temple House 2 by Temple House Ceili Band
• The Cook In The Kitchen by John Brosnan
• The Donegal Fiddle by Various Artists
• The Little Country by Charles De Lint
• To Welcome Paddy Home by Boys Of The Lough
• Toss The Fiddles by Various Artists
• Traditional Irish Music Played On The Uilleann Pipes by Robbie Hannan
• Tri by Far From Home
• Velvet Arm Golden Hand by Joseph Cormier And J.P Cormier

X: 1
T: When Sick Is It Tea That You Want?
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
K: Dmaj
|:A2 d dcB|ABA AFA|ABd ede|fdB ~B3|
|Add dcB|ABA AFA|ABd ede|1 fdc d2 B:|2 fdc dfg||
|:afd dcd|BGF G2 g|bge efd|cAA ABG|
|FAd fdB|ABA AFA|ABd ede|1fdc dfg:|2 fdc d2 B||

When Sick is it Tea That You Want?

Anyone whose Grandma gave them whiskey to douse a fever or sooth a sore throat knows that this is a rhetorical question, and on the cd Bridgetown Burke and Connolly give this simple jig enough swing to get the point across. I transcribed this directly from the cd, and came out with a much more playable, lively version of the tune than any of the written forms I've seen. Burke freely slurs across the bars to keep the tune swinging, but otherwise there's nothing particularly tricky about his approach.

# Posted on December 8th 2001 by Will CPT

Composed by Abraham Mackintosh

This appears in his early 19th century manuscript (published on Tyneside) under the title "Go To The D**** And Shake Yourself". Maybe in those days it would have been considered a bad omen to read the word "devil" on the page! The abc for that C major setting is below:

K:C
|:G|Gcc cBA|G>AG GEG|Ecc dcd|ecA A2G|
Gcc cBA|G>AG GEG|cec dgf|ecc c2:|
|:e/f/|gec cBc|AFF F2f/g/|afd ded|BGG G2G|
Gcc cBA|G>AG GEG|cec dgf|ecc c2:|

# Posted on August 17th 2004 by Dow

Another variant

I learned this version from the Boys of the Lough's recording of it:

|:A|Add dcB|AdB AFG|Add cde|fdB BAF|
Add dcB|AdB AFG|Add cde|fdc d2:|
|:f/g/|add d2 =c|BGG G2 g/a/|bee e2 d|cAA A2 B|
Add dcB|AdB AFG|Add cde|fdc d2:|

# Posted on September 7th 2004 by rfdarsie

I must have first heard this from Packie Byrne many years ago, with a long intro concerning a piper at a party offered a cup of tea by the lady of the house first thing in the morning. When he plays this tune she asks its name, whereupon he says "When you're drunk, is it tea that you want ?" she gets the message and a whiskey for him..

# Posted on January 28th 2005 by Guernsey Pete

Go to the Devil

I learned an almost identical tune to this by the name of Go To the Devil and Shake yourself, and had forgotten most of it, and found this...either way an interestingly titled tune...

# Posted on August 3rd 2006 by possumawesome