One bright day in the middle of the night two dead boys got up to fight

One bright day in the middle of the night,
Two dead boys got up to fight.

Back to back they faced each other,
Drew their swords and shot each other.

The deaf policeman heard the noise,
Came and shot the two dead boys.

If you don’t believe this lie is true,
Ask the blind man, he saw it too.

————–

When Paul and I were young we went around saying the little ditty above to each other. The words have a catchy rhythm when you say them aloud-but mostly we liked the silliness of the poem. Each line is a total impossibility-and as the poem moves along the impossibilities get larger and larger.

A few weeks ago I woke up with the poem on my mind. As a child I never gave the origins of the poem a second thought. A quick google search told me lots of people-from all parts of the country-remembers the poem from their childhood too.

The British Columbia Folklore Society has an entire page dedicated to the poem One Fine Day In The Middle Of The Night, and offers this information about the poem:

“As to the history of “One Fine Day…” it appears to have evolved from tangle-worded couplets that have been popular in Miracle Plays and the folklore and folksongs of the British Isles since the Middle Ages. Tiddy, in his book The Mummers’ Play [1923, Oxford, Oxford University Press], cites the earliest known example of this type of humour as appearing in the manuscript of Land of Cockaigne about 1305 [Tiddy 1923, p. 116] and a 15th century manuscript in the Bodleian Library [MS Engl. poet. e. 1: c.1480] includes four lines that are directly related to our rhyme.

In one form or another the modern version of Two Dead Boys, including many of the orphan pieces found below, has been collected from children in playgrounds since the middle of the 19th century. A detailed study with examples collected throughout the British Isles since the turn of the 20th century can be found in Iona and Peter Opie’s The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren [1959, Oxford. Oxford University Press, pp. 24-29].”

As with any poem or song that’s been around for a few generations, there are numerous variations to the poem One Fine Day In The Middle Of The Night. The version of the poem Paul and I remember obviously deviates from the beginning line-where we said “one bright day in the middle of the night” the original started the line with “one fine day.”

Have you ever heard the poem?

Tipper

Similar Posts

135 Comments

  1. Heres one boomers version.
    Early one morning, late at night

    everything after, exactly as you posted 10 years ago.

    where does the time go?

  2. The version I learned as a boy in the early 80s living in Eastern Washington state started as:

    One bright November mid-summer night
    Two dead boys got up to fight….

    The rest was the same as others previously posted.

  3. one dark night in the middle of the day, two dead boys came out to play. Back to back they faced each other, pulled out their knives and shot each other. The deaf policeman heard all the noise, he came running to shoot those two dead boys. Now if you dont believe this lie is true, ask the blind man, he saw it too.

  4. I know the EXACT version you posted. It was in my Phonics book in 2nd grade, in 1984. I came online just now bc I woke up randomly thinking about it and wanted to see where it came from. I had NO idea it was this widespread. Thanks for posting this!

  5. I heard it just a little bit different,
    It was the middle of the night and the sun was shining. bright 2 dead men got up to fight, back-to-back. They faced each other. They pulled their Swords and shot each other. And if you don’t believe me, ask the blind man, he saw it all….
    My neighbor told me that when I was about 7.
    it’s so amazing how much things are told differently in different states. Florida here

  6. one bright morning late at night.
    two dead soldiers got up to fight
    back to back they faced each other
    pulled out their swords and shot each other
    we sang it to the tune boom boom ain’t it great to be crazy. this was the verse and we sang the boom boom part as the chorus.
    I’d never heard the 2nd part.
    I tried to look up the song for my husband and was confused by what I was finding. I’m in my 30s and grew up in ky. I will have to learn the 2nd part now.

    1. I turned 84 last July, and this morning when I woke up I remembered the poem, which my two-year older brother, Brad, taught me sometime during WWII. It was close to most of the poems cited here, but we didn’t say the concluding lines about the blind man seeing it. Pity, they make a fine ending to a fine poem.
      Our version:
      One sunny morning in the middle of the night,
      Two dead boys got up to fight.
      Back to back, they faced each other,
      Pulled out their swords and shot each other.
      The old deaf cop heard the noise,
      Climbed down the stairs and killed the two dead boys.

      We didn’t say the last two lines about the blind man, but I will from now on.

    2. Mine reads like this:
      In a dark alley where the light was bright, two little dead boys began to fight. back to back they faced each other, pulled out their swords and shot each other. Along came a deaf policeman that heard the noise he came and killed the two dead boys. Now if you don’t believe my story’s true just ask the deaf blind man. he saw it too.

  7. I heard it 1970ish in Indianapolis In. The way I heard it was “Early in the morning, late at night, two dead boys got up to fight”

    1. One summer day, in the middle of the night
      2 dead men men jumped up to fight,
      Back to back , they faced each other,
      Pulled out their knives to shoot each other,
      A paralyzed donkey was passing by,
      Kicked one in his left, right eye,
      Threw him over a No inch wall,
      And drowned himself in a dry water fall! Another variation (West Indian Folklore) LOL

  8. The version I learned started…
    One dark and stormy night in the middle of the day.

    Now it’s stuck in my head.

  9. When I heard this poem in the 70’s it went as follows;
    Early one morning late at night
    Two dead boys got into a fight
    Back to back they faced each other
    Drew their knives and shot each other
    The deaf policeman heard the noise
    Came and arrested the two dead boys
    If you don’t believe this lie is true
    Ask the old blind man, he saw it too!

    1. my mom told my sisters and I this story as we were growing up. not sure why I started thinking about it. but I was taught;
      one bright morning, in the middle of the night. 2 dead boys got up to fight. back to back they faced each other, drew their knives, & shot each other. a deaf police officer heard the noise, & came to rescue our 2 dead boys. if you don’t believe my story’s true, ask that blind man. he saw it too. I didn’t know of the rest.

  10. I first heard this during my early childhood in Cawood (Harlan County) Kentucky in the 60’s.

    Just a couple of differences.

    One dark night when it was light
    2 dead boys come out to fight
    Back to back they faced each other
    Drew their knives and shot each other.

    2 deaf and dumb policemen heard the noise and came and arrested the 2 dead boys.
    And if you don’t believe this story is true
    ask the blind man… he saw it too.

  11. So very interesting seeing this poem all around the modern world, and from so far back in time.
    I was a child when I first heard it (1980’s Southern San Joaquin Valley, California, USA).
    While reading its many iterations here, I was suddenly surprised by the version I learned as a child and the current version, I say all the time, are not the same.
    I have a different start: “Ladies and jellybeans”
    Then, the lines “free admission is paid at the door, so grab a seat and sit on the floor,” I omitted entirely from my past version.
    Not sure why I didn’t remember that.
    Thank you all for bringing it back to mind.

    Mostly the same after that … the bit with the boys and the police man and the blind man

    I would usually add a little extra at the end of the story:
    “The blind man said he saw his deaf and dumb daughter and she heard and understood”.
    not part of the story, but the same feel… Ive said this for years also, not sure where it’s from.

    1. One more variation I knew while growing up in Reedley, CA (also southern SJ Valley) is slightly different variation below (although I love the line in Brittany’s below “Cock-eyes mosquitos, and bow legged rats”!

      I stand before you to stand behind you
      To tell you something I know nothing about,

      One bright day in the middle of the night
      Two dead boys decided to fight
      They stood back to back nose to nose
      Drew their swords and shot each other

      The deaf policeman heard the noise
      And ran and shot the 2 dead boys
      But if you don’t believe my story
      Ask the blind man on the corner he saw everything.

      There was another one about a Mother’s meeting for Father’s only next Monday which is Good Friday, I can’t recall the rest of it though.

    2. I also heard this as a child (1985 or so…) in south Florida, from an uncle who was probably around 40 at the time. it started “dancing ants and bow-legged tramps- this Thursday is good Friday. there’s a men’s meeting only for women. admission is free, so pay at the door – and pull up a chair and sit on the floor. I’m here to tell you something I know nothing about…. one dark, dark morning on a bright bright night 2 dead men got up to fight. standing back to back, they faced each other and pulled out their swords and shot each other. a deaf policeman heard the noise and went to kill the 2 dead boys. if you don’t believe me, my lie is true. ask the blind man – he saw it too.” so interesting how the little rhymes evolve, but obviously stay somewhat true to the original nonsense impossibilities of the original text

    3. Love to see this poem. My very eccentric Irish 84 year old Grandad will often recite this poem (amongst many others) with great delight. He left school at a young age to work on the family farm but never forgot many of the poems he read at school back in Cavan. He’s a character, a gentleman and an absolute legend. Up the Cavan!

  12. I grew up in 90s and my familial rendition is:

    Ladies and gentlemen, dogs and cats,
    Cock-eyes mosquitos, and bow legged rats,
    Pull up a chair, sit in the floor,
    I’ll tell you a story never heard before.

    One fine day, in the middle of the night,
    Two dead boys got up to fight,
    Back to back they faced each other,
    Drew their swords and shot each other.
    A dead policeman heard the noise,
    And came to kill the two dead boys.
    If you don’t believe this lie is true,
    Ask the blind man, he saw it too.

    1. Brittany: I grew up in England and learned a similar intro. to this ditty . It went: Ladies and gentlemen, I come before you to stand behind you to tell you something I know nothing about. Tomorrow afternoon in the middle of the night- and then the regular words. However , I recently recited it to my son, who, through the power of the internet, gave me the last four lines of the ditty. Guess I’ll have to practise the new verse to make it complete.

  13. I’ve heard this poem my whole life. But it was told to me a little different. Here is the one I grew up hearing.

    One dark night the sun shown bright
    Two dead boys rose up to fight
    Back to back they faced each other
    Drew two swords and shot each other

    An old deaf man heard the noise
    And rushed to save those two dead boys
    Don’t believe this story’s true?
    Go ask the blind man
    He saw it too.

  14. my family loved this poem when I was a child. but we started it slightly different.
    One dark night when the sun was shining bright,
    Two dead boys got up to fight.
    Back to back they faced each other,
    Drew their swords and shot each other.
    The deaf policeman heard the noise,
    and he arrested those two dead boys.
    If you don’t think this lie is true,
    just ask the blind man, he saw it too.

  15. I actually learned this in my textbook in 2nd grade in Arizona in the mid-1980s. Loved it so much I memorized it, and just taught it to my 6 year old. The version I learned is really similar to yours:

    One bright day in the middle of the night
    Two dead boys got up to fight
    Back to back they faced each other
    Drew their swords and shot each other
    A deaf policeman heard the noise
    And came and shot the two dead boys
    If you don’t believe my story’s true
    Ask the blind man, he saw it too

  16. Here’s my familial rendition:

    One bright morning in the middle of the night
    Two dead boys got up to fight
    Back to back they faced each other
    Drew their swords and shot each other
    The deaf policeman heard the noise
    Came and killed those two dead boys
    If you don’t believe my lie is true
    Ask the blind man, he saw it too!

  17. we always started it “one bright night when the sun was high” which I havent seen in the comments, otherwise it was the same, learned it from my dad and uncle as a small child
    Missouri/arkansas ozarks

  18. My mother started the poem with, “One dark bright stormy moonlight night”. I have passed it to my daughters. What wonderful memories. Thank you for posting.

    1. My cousin forced me to memorize this at the age of 5. His version is slightly different.
      Lady’s and gents, bumms and tramps, cross eyes misquitos and flying nets. Pull up a chair , set in the floor ,
      One dark night middle of the day two dead boys went out to play. Back to back they faced each other aimed their swords and shot each other. Two deaf police heard this noise, came and shot the two dead boys.
      If you don’t believe this lie is true ask the blind man he saw too.

  19. The schoolyard version I learned in 1980s southern California:

    One bright day in the middle of the night
    Two dead boys got up to fight.
    Back to back they faced each other
    Drew their swords and shot each other.
    The deaf policeman heard the noise
    And shot the two dead boys.
    If you don’t believe what I just said
    ask the blind man, he saw it too.

  20. Middle of the night, middle of the day. Two dead boys went out to play, back to back they faced each other. Got out there swords and shot each other. A deaf policeman across the street heard the noise and shot the two dead boys. A donkey in its coral kicked the two dead boys in a dry well where they drowned. If you don’t believe the story ask the blind man, he saw it too.

    I have head it this way sense I was little but I was born in 2000 so maybe sometime it got changed??

    1. I’m from Canada (Nova Scotia & British Columbia). I can’t remember where I heard this is the version first but here’s how I remember it and taught it to my sons and my grandchildren.

      I stand before you to stand behind you
      To tell you something I know nothing about,

      One bright day in the middle of the night
      Two dead boys got up to fight
      Back to back they faced each other
      Drew their swords and shot each other

      The deaf policeman heard the noise
      And came to arrest those 2 dead boys
      But if you don’t believe me
      Ask the blind man, he saw it all!

      1. I grew up in Miami in the 1970s and heard it this way:

        Two dead boys got up to fight
        One bright day in the middle of the night
        Back to back they faced each other
        Drew their swords and shot each other
        The deaf policeman heard the noise
        And came and shot the 2 dead boys
        If you don’t believe this lie is true
        Ask the blind man, he saw it too!

        1. I first heard this rhyme in the summer of 1967.I haven’t heard it since then. Even so it’s been spinning around in my head for nearly 56 years now. It’s nice to see that I’m not the only one hooked on those lines.

    2. The version I remember (from the 1960s) went something like this –

      Early one morning in the middle of the night
      Two dead boys got up to fight
      Back to back they faced each other
      Drew their swords and shot each other
      Two deaf policemen heard the noise
      Ran upstairs and killed the two dead boys
      On the way to the hospital
      They saw Abraham Washington
      Floating down the Mississloppy River
      Carrying….. (I don’t remember the next couple of lines)
      And if you don’t believe me
      Go asked the blind man on the corner
      He saw everything

  21. I remember reading this on a piece of paper, written in my father’s hand, I can also remember him telling a version of this “lie” or story when I was young, he always loved the silly little stories and things, my dad passed away in 2009, I’m now 58, my father was born in Barnsdall, Oklahoma and I was born in Cleveland, Oklahoma. It has been great getting to read all the different versions of the 2 dead boys story, brings back lots of precious memories.
    Remember if you’ve borrowed a chain from a neighbor and while you’re dragging it home if someone wants to know what’s the idea you dragging that chain, just look him straight in the eye and ask him, mister you ever tried PUSHING one of these?

  22. My father taught me this rhyme as a child. He was from western KY. I never met anyone else who knew it until I was sent for training at the IBM site in Boulder CO. The last day, while the class was mingling, I overheard the instructor saying it to another student. She was also from western KY. I assumed it was just from that region.

    One dark night in the middle of the day
    Two dead boys got up to play.
    Back to back they faced each other
    Raised their swords and shot one another.
    A deaf policeman heard the noise
    and came and killed those two dead boys.
    You don’t believe my story is true?
    Ask the blind man, he saw it too.

    My teacher added these lines:

    He lived on the corner, in the middle of the block.
    It’s the big two-story, on the empty lot.

  23. One bright day, late at night, two dead boys got up to fight back to back They faced each other drew their swords and shot their mother. A deaf policeman heard the noise and came and killed the two dead boys.

    1. Here is how I heard it back in the 70’s

      On Friday which it Thursday there will be a Fathers meeting for Mothers only, no admission pay at the door take a seat and sit on the floor, now I have a story, One bright morning in the middle of the night two dead boys got up to fight back to back they face each other drew their swords and shot each other deaf police man heard the noise and came to see about the boys, if you do not believe my story ask the blind man he saw it to

  24. Here’s the version I know. A previous student wrote it in one of my assigned textbooks in high school (Carthage, NY) and I’ve remembered it ever since.

    The Oxymoronic Poem

    One dark and sunny night,
    Two dead boys got up to fight.
    Back to back they faced each other,
    Drew their swords and shot one another.
    A deaf policeman heard the noise,
    And came and arrested the two dead boys.
    If you don’t believe me ask the blind man,
    He saw the whole thing.

  25. I’m from the UK, born in Norfolk but raised in Aberdeen from the age of six.
    The version I learnt was

    One fine day in the middle of the night.Two dead men got up to fight,
    back to back they faced each other,
    drew, their swords and shot each other.

    Fascinating to know that there are so many versions and more verses. Also intrigued that I completely forgot about it until I saw the first line in a book I’m reading and suddenly recited the whole poem and the raft of memories from my childhood that came with it.

    1. My Grandfather from New Mexico taught it to me in Texas the same way as the person from from the UK:
      “Two dead men…”
      instead of
      “Two dead boys…”
      My Grandfather is of Scotch-Irish origin with the family being in the US since at least the Revolutionary War.

  26. I’m from the UK, born in Norfolk but raised in Aberdeen from the age of six.
    The version I learnt was

    One fine day in the middle of the night,
    Two dead men got up to fight
    Back to back they faced each other
    Drew their swords and shot each other.

    Fascinating to know that their are so many versions and more verses. Also intrigued that I completely forgot about it until I saw the first line in a book I’m reading and suddenly recited the whole poem and the raft of memories from my childhood that came with it.

  27. I always knew a much longer one:
    Ladies and gentleman skinny and scout
    I’ll tell you a tale I know nothing about
    The admission is free so pay at the door
    Now pull out a chair and sit on the floor

    On one bright day in the middle of the night
    Two dead boys got up to fight
    Back to back they faced each other
    Drew their swords and shot each other

    The blind man came to see fair play
    The mute man came to shout hooray
    The deaf policeman heard the noise
    And came to stop those two dead boys

    He lived on the corner in the middle of the block
    In a two story house on a vacant lot
    A man with no legs came walking by
    And kicked the lawman in his thigh

    He crashed through a wall without making a sound
    Into a dry creek bed and suddenly drowned
    A long black hearse came to cart him away
    But he ran for his life and is still gone today

    I watched from the corner of the table
    The only eyewitness to facts of my fable
    If you doubt my lies are true
    Just ask the blind man, he saw it too

    1. I am from Gastonia, NC and this this what my Cherokee grandmother always said except for the second paragraph. She said “ In the middle of the night as the sun shown bright”. Thanks for sharing this it’s been a long time since I’ve heard it.

  28. Early one morning in the middle of the night, two dead boys got up to fight,
    back to back they faced each other,
    drew their swords and shot another,
    when the deaf policeman heard the noise,
    he came to see the two dead boys ,
    if you don’t believe this rhyme it’s true,
    ask the blind man he saw it too

    1. I recall a fairly long version from when I was young, though I have no idea where I learned it. feels like I’ve just always known it. it goes:
      Ladies of the men’s club, I come before you to stand behind you to tell you a story I know nothing about. Admission is free so pay at the door, pull up a seat and sit on the floor.
      One fine day in the middle of the night, two dead boys got up to fight. They stood back to back and faced each other, drew their swords and shot each other. A deaf policeman heard the noise and came and killed those two dead boys. If you don’t believe my tale’s true, ask the blind man, he saw it too.

  29. I remember my dad and uncle reciting this. I thought they made it up themselves, so I was surprised others have heard it. It’s interesting how many variations there are of this. My dad and uncle were New York Irish born in the 40s and 50s, and this is how I remember them telling it.

    Early one morning, so late at night
    Two dead boys got up to fight.

    One was blind and the other couldn’t see
    So they picked a dummy to be the referee.

    Back to back they faced each other
    Pulled out their swords and shot one another.

    A deaf policeman heard the noise
    Drew his gun and stabbed the two boys.

    If you don’t believe my lie is true
    Ask the blind man, he saw it too.

    The “One was blind and the other couldn’t see” is the only thing I haven’t found recited by any other accounts.

    1. I remember it as:

      Early one morning in the middle of the night two dead boys got up to fight.

      Back to back they faced each other and with their swords they shot each other.

      The deaf policeman heard the noise and came to kill the two dead boys.

  30. I just went looking for the origin of this… never knew it.
    Our was slightly different…
    Early one morning in the middle of the night
    Two Dea boys got up to fight
    Back to back they faced each other
    Drew their swords and shot one another
    The deaf policeman hear their cries
    Ran to save the dead boys lives
    If you don’t believe me ask the blind man he saw them too

  31. I love reading all the variations shared <3. It's amazing how we can all recall this poem! My late father taught me his version and we'd always recite it together. His went:

    One bright day in the middle of the night
    Two blind boys set out to fight.
    Back to back they faced each other
    Took out their knives and shot each other.
    A dead/deaf policeman heard the noise
    And set out to find the two blind boys.

  32. One of the early bands Jimi Hendrix was in, Curtis Knight & the Squires, did a version called “Strange Things.” Great song for a Halloween party

    One dark morning in the middle of the night
    Two dead boys got up to fight
    Strange things, strange things

    Back to back they faced each other
    Drew their swords and shot one another
    Strange things, strange things

    A sleeping policeman heard the noise
    Came and shot the two dead boys
    Strange things, strange things

    Witch on a broom
    Noise in a room
    Frankenstein … said the vampire’s coming
    (Maniacal laughter)
    (Partial reprise)

  33. I learned:
    “Early in the morning in the middle of the night
    Two dead men got up to fight.
    Back to back they faced each other
    Drew their swords and shot each other.”

    For some reason it popped into my head this morning. I never about the next lines. Why did I think of it this morning?I have no idea. I am 76.

  34. I learned:
    “Early in the morning late at night
    Two dead men got up to fight.
    Back to back they faced each other
    Drew their swords and shot each other.”

    For some reason it popped into my head this morning. I never about the next lines. Why did I think of it this morning?I have no idea. I am 76.

  35. Thanks from me too. We grew up in the woodlands outside Boston, where English arrived in the early 17th Century. My mother still quotes it to her grandchildren at ninety-one.

  36. I have heard many upon many versions of this poem. And, it’s not just from the early 1900’s, you can find it in journals, and logs going way back in time, slowly evolving. I think it was nailed above that the original variation is probably from the 1300’s. I have always like the starting lines as: “As I watched the sun rise, early in the night. …”

    1. I rather enjoy this one. My Mom taught me also when I was younger and I remember it beginning one bright morning in the middle of the night two dead boys got up to fight

    2. How cool I love reading all these.
      Arizona in the 80’s my mom taught me:

      Early in the morning in the middle of the night two dead boys got up to fight back to back they faced each other, drew their swords and shot each other, if you don’t believe this story so tall to ask the blind man he saw it all.

      This end is the only I’ve seen like this.

  37. My Father told me and my siblings this story as kids: “One bright day in the middle of the night two dead boys got up to fight, back to back they faced each other drew their swords and shot each other, a deaf policeman heard the noise, ran up to save the two dead boys, you don’t believe me this stories true? Ask the blind man he saw it to.”

    1. the only difference in your version and the one my dad taught me is at the end and it went “if you don’t believe this lie is true, go ask the blind man, he saw it too” it references a lie rather than story. ahh happy memories.

      1. Strange…it’s 3am and I just woke up with this poem in my head and decided to Google it. I also found a much longer version, about five or six stanzas. Strange…and interesting! Thanks for sharing.

        1. Weird, really weird. I had this on my mind this morning. I had to look it up when I got to work because I couldn’t remember how it ended.

  38. Our version was- One dark day, in the middle of the night, two dead boys came out to fight. Back to back they faced each other, drew their swords and shot each other. One deaf cop heard the noise, came out and shot the two dead boys. Now if you don’t believe this story is true, just ask the blind man, he saw it too!

    1. Our version: One bright day in the middle of the night, two dead men got up to fight, back to back they face each other with swords drawn to kill each other, a paralyzed donkey was passing by, kicked on in his left right eye, threw him over a high low wall and drowned him in a dry waterfall.

    2. This version came from my mother who grew up in Missouri.

      One bright day in the middle of the night,
      Two dead soldiers began to fight.

      Back to back they faced each other,
      Drew their swords and shot one another.

      Down on the corner in the middle of the block,
      Two blind boys fought.

      The deaf policeman heard the noise,
      Came and shot the two blind boys.

  39. My dad is from Jamaica and learned a version as a child. He told it to us whenever we asked him to read us a bed time story. We would give home a book to read, which he would open and recite this poem anyway.

    Here is the version he taught us:
    One fine day in the middle of the night, 2 dead men got up to fight, 10 blind men to see fair play, 40 mutes to shout hooray, back to back they faced each other, drew their swords and shot each other

    1. A version I remember began. One bright morning late at night. Two dead bullies began to fight. Back to back they faced each other, drew their swords and shot one another. Two deaf policeman heard the noise, beat the life out of the two dead boys. If you don’t believe this aw is true ask the blind man he sought to.

  40. ‘Admission’s free. Pay at the door.
    Pull up a chair and sit on the floor.

    ~ Sign attached to door post for a House Party 1980’s

  41. Fascinating. I decided to search this for no particular reason, and was surprised to find it wasn’t strictly local. From Manhattan (NY, NY), 1990s (our version has a woman in it):
    “Early in the morning in the middle of the night,
    Two dead boys got up to fight.
    Back to back they faced each other,
    Drew their swords and shot each other.
    The deaf policeman heard the noise
    And ran out to kill the two dead boys.
    If you don’t believe this lie is true,
    Ask the blind lady—she saw it too.

  42. I thought I was the only one who remembered this , nice to know I’m not alone
    My version
    One fine day in the middle of the night
    2 dead boys got up to fight
    Back to back they faced each other
    Drew their swords and shot each other
    A dead policeman heard the noise
    And come and killed the 2 dead boys

    This version was taught to me in school in Wales

    1. I was watching a rerun of Family Feud when during the fast money round the host asked the contestant to finish this saying: “Back to back.” And just like that it came flooding back to me. “Back to back they faced each other. Drew thier swords and shot each other.” Amazing how somethings remain dormant in your mind until you get that small push.

  43. I googled to see if I remembered it correctly. I remember it as “T’was the middle of they..” and “came and killed those two dead boys.” but the rest was the same. I remember from the 1950s.
    Also: Little Willie in the best of sashes, fell in the fire and was burned to ashes. Later on the room grew chilly, but no one cared to stir up Willie.

    And the riddle: Marble walls as white as milk, with a lining as soft as silk, within a fountain crystal clear a golden apple doth appear. There are no doors to this stronghold, but thieves break in to steal the gold. What is it. (answer: an egg)

  44. My mom said that she heard this version from her Grandpa: Two barefoot boys with shoes on still sitting in the grass standing up they stood back to back facing each other drew swords and shot each other a deaf policeman heard the noise and he killed the two dead boys

  45. One bright day in the middle of the night
    Two dead boys got up to fight
    Back to back they faced each other
    Pulled out swords and shot each other
    A deaf policeman heard this noise
    And went to arrest the two dead boys
    If you don’t believe this lie is true
    Ask the blind man, he saw it too.

    I wonder where my dad heard it…

  46. Learned a variant of this – something my father repeated – growing up in Sioux CIty IA. We trace most of our history to English and Irish imagrants from the late 1890’s.

  47. I learned it this way:

    One dark night, the moon was shining bright,
    Two dead boys went out to fight.
    They stood back to back and faced each other,
    They drew their knives and shot each other.
    The deaf policeman heard the noise ,
    And came and arrested the two dead boys.
    If you dont believe my story’s true,
    Ask the blind man, he saw it too !

  48. i live in northern Indiana and my uncle taught the following version to me:

    one bright day in the middle of the night
    two dead soldiers stood up to fight
    back to back they faced each other
    drew their swords and shot each other.
    one was blind and the other couldn’t see
    so they called a dummy for a referee
    a blind man came to see fair play
    a dumb man came to shout “hooray!”
    a paralyzed donkey passing by
    kick the blind man in the eye
    knocked him through a nine inch wall
    into a dry ditch and drowned them all
    a deaf policeman heard the noise
    and cam to arrest the two dead boys
    if you don’t believe this story’s true
    ask the blind man he saw it too

    1. I was born in Oxford in 1976 and my mum would sing this to me and my brother with slight variations
      “Just last night when the sun shone bright,
      Two dead boys got up to fight,
      Back to back they faced each other,
      Drew their swords and shot one another,
      The deaf policeman heard the noise,
      Came and killed the two dead boys,
      If you don’t believe the story’s true,
      Ask the blind man he saw it too. “
      She had a few other silly ones that she heard on the school yard as a kid too.
      “I eat my peas with honey,
      I’ve done it all me life,
      It makes the peas taste funny,
      But it keeps them on me knife”
      She had one about farting cows too. Lol.

        1. I don’t know about farting cows, but you might like this one my mom used to tell:

          A gum-chewing kid, and a cud-chewing cow
          Look somewhat alike, but different, somehow.
          What is the difference? Oh, I see it now:
          The intelligent look on the face of the cow.

  49. That’s funny, I’m from New York and my mother (also from NY) taught this to my sister and I in the following way:

    Late one night, when the sun was shining bright
    Two barefoot boys with shoes on went out in the street to fight.
    Back to back, they faced each other,
    Drew out their swords, and shot each other.
    A deaf policeman heard the noise, and beat the heck out of two dead boys.

  50. I cant recall where exactly i learned this poem but I remember it from early childhood as the following….One fine day in the middle of the night two dead boys got up to fight. Back to bsck, they faced each other. Sword in hand they shot each other. A deaf policeman heard the noise and came and killed those two dead boys. Im almost 47 and lived in Kentucky as a very young child. I know my mum wouldnt have taught me this. Wish I could recall where I learned it.

  51. The Barefoot Boy With Shoes On [b.Asa Martin]

    It was midnight on the ocean
    Not a streetcar was in sight
    The sun was shining brightly
    And it rained all day that night
    It was a summer’s day in winter
    And the rain was snowing fast
    And a barefoot boy with shoes on
    Stood sitting in the grass

    And the cows were making cowslips (A yellow flower)
    And the bells were ringing wet
    The bumble bees were making bums
    And smoking cigarettes
    A man went in a stable
    And came out a little hoarse
    He jumped upon his golfstick
    And rode all around the course

    While the organ peeled potatoes
    Lard was rendered by the choir
    The sexton rang a dish-rag (official who maintains a church)
    Someone set the church on fire
    Holy smokes the preacher shouted
    In the rain he lost his hair
    Now his head resembles heaven
    Cause there sin’t no partin’ there.

    it was midnight on the ocean
    Not a horsecart was in sight
    I went into a drugstore
    To get myself a light
    The man behind the counter
    Was a lady old and gray
    Who used to peddle shoestrings
    On the road to Mandalay

    My husband’s dead the lady said
    Her eyes were dry with tears
    She put her head between her feet
    And stood that way for years
    Her children six were orphans
    Except one tiny tot
    Who lived in a house across the street
    Above a vacant lot

    It was evening and the sunrise
    was just setting in the west;
    And the fishes in the treetops
    were all cuddled in their nests.
    As the wind was blowing bubbles,
    lightning shot from left to right;
    Everything that you could see
    had been hidden out of sight

    As I gazed through the oaken door
    A whale went drifting by
    It’s six legs hanging in the air
    So I kissed her goodbye.
    This story has a moral
    As you can plainly see
    Don’t mix your gin with whiskey
    On the deep and dark blue sea.

  52. My Dad taught me this poem in the 70’s and I recited it goofing around with my wife. She was raised in California and had never heard it before. Must be that fine education out there in the land of milk and honey. Thanks to everyone for sharing their memories of how they learned it and where they’re from. Very interesting to see the different variations.

    1. My grandmother was a second grade school teacher in the 1950s. I have one of her old textbooks and on one of the pages is a poem called the “backwards rhyme” by anonymous.

      One bright day in the middle of the night two dead boys got up to fight.
      Back to back they faced each other drew their swords and shot each other.
      A deaf policeman heard this noise, came out and shot the two dead boys.
      If you do not believe this lie is true ask the blind man he saw it too.

      It’s a Nonsense Poem and maybe goes back as far as the 13th century. There are many variations to it.

      My favorite part of that old textbook is that poem and that it says “one day we will land on the moon”.

    2. California raised here, too. I heard it somewhere around grades 4-6 and it’s stayed with me since. I think geography has very little to do with it.

  53. My dad recited this to my brother and me when we were growing up. Dad grew up in Florida, North Carolina and Texas, but we lived in Mississippi. His version was a little different, and also left out the third stanza.

    One dark night when the sun was shining bright,
    Two dead men got up to fight.
    They faced each other back to back,
    Drew their swords and shot each other.
    If you don’t believe my story’s true,
    Ask the blind man, he saw it too.

    1. just remembered there were two lines before the “one dark night.” It went as follows:

      Ladies and gentlemen, hobos and tramps,
      I come before you to stand behind you
      to tell you something I know nothing about.
      One dark night when the sun….

      1. Good job Gwen.
        But don’t leave out, immediately after “tramps”,
        “Cross-eyed mosquitos and bow-legged ants.”.
        I know I’m years late, but just found these posts. I learned this growing up in California in the late 1950’s.
        Of all these variations, there are a few parts that stay consistent. I love that.
        Good job everyone. Stay safe and Virus-Free.

  54. @Susi pentico

    The Borough picture house in Wallsend

    I went to The Borough tomorrow
    I got a front seat at the back
    I fell up from the stalls to the circle
    And broke a front bone in my back

  55. I remember it as One dark night when the sun was shining bright, then the rest was the same. I have been trying to remember it all, so, thanks for posting.

  56. Have you ever stopped to think when a hearse goes by,that you may be the next to die?You will be wrapped in a bloody sheet, and buried about six feet.you will be alright for a week or so,then your casket gets a hole.maggots Will crawl in and out, playing pitter patter on your scalp.they will eat your eyes,and your nose,and the jelly between your toes,and your left without a spoon,so use a straw.

    1. As an ignorant little boy growing up in California, I actually started singing this AT MY OWN GRANDMOTHER’S FUNERAL!!
      I got severely smacked up aside of the head, and rightfully so.
      “Never laugh when a hearse goes by
      For you may be-e the next to die.
      They wrap you up in a bloody sheet
      And lower you down about 6 feet deep.
      The worms crawl in.
      The worms crawl out.
      The worms play Pinochle in your snout.
      Your stomach turns a grassy green.
      And puss comes out like sweet whipped cream.
      You wipe it up with a piece of bread.
      And that’s what you eat when you’re dead.”

      Kids are really getting cheated today, not learning these great little rhymes.

      1. The kids today find all of our childhood poems and word play rhymes to be very prejudice, politically in correct and biased.
        No joke!
        But this is also is what wrong with the youth these days!

        Just sayin!

  57. I remember my dad telling us this poem when I was real little. That was in the 60’s. He told us he learned it as a kid. Every great once in a while I think of it but didn’t know how it went. Now I can tell it to my grandchildren and later hopefully they will tell their grandchildren too. Wonderful childhood memory.

    1. I heard this poem from my dad in the 50’s In Oregon. He and his parents were born there
      His version started with:
      One bright day in the middle of night

  58. I was just thinking about this today. I remember the one that you mention in your blog. My sister taught it to me, but I don’t know where she learned it.

  59. My mother told me this poem ever since I was little and I have always enjoyed its backwardsness. This is how I remember it;
    In the middle of the night
    The sun was shining bright
    Two dead boys got up to fight
    Back to back they faced each other
    Drew their swords and shot one another
    The deaf policeman heard the noise
    And came to kill the two dead boys
    If you believe this lie so true
    Ask the blind woman, he saw it too
    My mother told me she read it in an English text book back in grade school and I have always wondered what the original version was like. But so far I like hers the best!

  60. Oh my gosh, my husband introduced me to this years ago and sings it every now and then. In his version it goes like this:
    One bright day in the middle of the night,
    two dead boys got up to fight.
    Back to back they faced each other,
    drew their swords and shot each other.
    A deaf policeman heard the noise,
    came and killed the two dead boys.
    If you don’t believe this story is true,
    ask the blind woman, she saw it too.
    This one differs only in the last line – a blind women – which I didn’t see at the folklore page. My husband was born in Brooklyn, grew up on Long Island, and learned this at camp in Connecticut during the 1950s.
    Another very interesting tidbit!

  61. I have never seen nor heard this poem before reading it today. It does take many twists and turns; keeps the reader/listener guessing. I liked it!

  62. I recall that from when I was a kid, but I haven’t thought of it in decades. I probably wondered where it came from, but never tried to learn more. I can’t recall how long it’s been since I heard or recited it, but it was common “back in the day”!

  63. Tipper,
    That’s cute! But I don’t think I’ve
    ever heard it before. This kind of
    stuff is perfect since we’re nearing
    all them Spooks and Goblins.
    I’m going to repeat this one to all
    my granddaughters, bet they ain’t
    heard it either…Ken

    1. l couldn’t believe this short peom stood so tall. Don’t recall if l heard it as a child or young adult. l never knew the author at the time. So l confess I sell it as mine. l remember some words and some l found. The truth of it all l began to doubt. In the back of my brain l can see fake mount. It’s not fair. l can smell the gain. l share your thoughts as cake l didn’t bake. My home doesn’t have a stove so to a hot plate l go. It hit me. A.I. knows everything l told it, and with 15 seconds of intense research my name unfolded. Then l changed the name and reintroduce it to the fray.
      Look for my book soon to the market.
      DOUBLE DUTCH. I intro with three dead boys.

  64. There’s a great version of this recited by, I think, Hattie Stoneman, on one of the early Ernest and Hattie Stoneman/Eck Dunford records. I think it’s “An Exhibition at Possum Trot School.” Not sure of the date, late ’20s or early ’30s…

  65. Tipper,
    I sure did enjoy the memory of this poem and your research! I forgot to tell you that. Was it the season that got you to thinking of the poem?
    I have anothe epitaph for you!
    In heavy traffic he would never postpone
    A single call on his cell phone.
    So listen carefully and I vow
    He’s still asking, “Can you hear me now?”
    This one ain’t mine, I got it off the All About Halloween website!LOL
    Thanks Tipper,
    It is double “mite airish” here this morning. Yesterday we had a frost and hard freeze with another one last night even colder. Usually we start the season with a few scattered frosts in the area before a hard freese…A skiff of snow was seen at Mount La Counte…Oh how I would have loved to been in that cabin overlooking that! Oh well, I susupect we will have ours soon enough!

  66. Tipper,
    I remember the poem! It has been many years! I remember a teacher telling us to figure out the poem in truth…
    For instance…”One bright day in the middle of the night!”
    That could mean the story took place in the great North Alaskan continent and the boys were Eskimos and for months the sun shines at night just like a bright day!
    “Two dead boys got up to fight!”
    Their last name could have been,
    Dead! Thus Billy Dead and Joe Dead!
    “Back to back they faced each other!”
    They were playing this scenario looking in a mirrow!
    “The deaf policeman heard the noise came and shot the two dead boys!”
    The policeman was “daft” not deaf..meaning a little off his rocker..using his night stick to give the boys a shot to the head!
    “If you don’t believe me this lie is true!” Meaning the story is a lie but the word meaning is true!
    “Ask the blind man he saw it too.”
    The blind man, walks the streets in England selling window blinds!
    And that’s the end of the story!
    There are always different tales as it is passed down from generation to generation or eye witness to eye witness! LOL
    Thanks Tipper….and my 6th grade teacher…

  67. Your post today reminds me of a little ditty my father used to sing. I can’t remember the whole thing, just the tune and one phrase from it, “gonna buy me a five dollar diller dollar secondary roller binder, to wear with my old Jew Jenkins.”
    I am hoping that one of the litterateurs who frequent this site will recognize it and relate the rest of the song to me.
    PS: Google yielded me exactly nothing.

  68. Now I am wondering if anyone can remember it’s mate.
    The one about going to the theatre and falling up to b reak his back. Funny both have been wandering around my brain lately. I was told they came out of the readers that my parents and siblings read in school in the 1920s and my Uncle had the early readers his parents had and there was many like this in them. 1880’s or so.

    1. It concerned ‘The Borough’, a picture house in Wallsend:

      I went to The Borough tomorrow
      I got a front seat at the back
      I fell from the stalls to the circle
      And broke a front bone in my back

      6 years later lol sorry. Just ramndomly been reciting “one bright day in the…” poem for the past few month and stumbled upon this x

    2. Hi Ed,
      The tune lyrics you mentioned sound very much like “Jenny Jenkins.” Here’s a verse followed by the chorus which is repeated following each verse:
      Will you wear white Oh my dear, oh my dear
      Will you wear white, Jenny Jenkins?

      No I won’t wear white For the color’s too bright
      I’ll buy me a foldy-roldy, tildy-toldy
      Seek-a-double, use-a-cozy roll to find me
      Roll, Jenny Jenkins, roll.

      Go to YouTube and use the search term “Jenny Jenkins Jerry Garcia” (without the quotes).

  69. My grandmother, who grew up in a rural area outside Birmingham, AL, recited this (the ‘bright day’ version) to us with relish!I told it to my kids, but this reminds me to quote it to my grandson.

  70. I can’t remember the first time I heard this ditty but I always heard the variation; Early one morning, Late one night, Two dead soldiers got in a fight

  71. I live in Arkansas. My father taught me this poem when I was a kid about 65 years ago and I’ve never forgotten it. It’s been many years since I heard anyone say it. We need to keep it going.

  72. I remember that little poem from childhood. The one I remembered started “One fine day”. I have no recollection where I heard it not even what state we lived in when I heard it but since most of my childhood was not in North Carolina I am assuming it must have been in Texas, Georgia, or Tennessee.
    It’s funny that I recognized it right away and I haven’t thought of it in more years that I care to count.
    I recall that it was the absurdity of it that appealed to me!

  73. My Dad used to recite that to my sister and I with a few changes. His first line was “Twas on a dark and stormy night.” And he didn’t include the last two lines.

  74. Nope, never heard it,, but know some folks that would try to make you believe it… Ever heard the phrase “If you don’t believe the truth there’s only one thing left to believe”?

  75. Golly, hadn’t thought of that in “forever”. We said Bright, also. Haven’t a clue where we learned it.

  76. Oh gosh that brings back memories, my mother used to recite it to us when we were little. Are there more verses than those you wrote down?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *