Johnny Horton's song "The Same Old Tale The Crow Told Me" is a playful and humorous song with nonsensical lyrics. The lyrics consist of several short stories or anecdotes that don't have a literal meaning but are meant to entertain listeners. Each verse presents a different silly situation or scenario. In the first verse, a tomcat and a bulldog start playfully chasing each other after the tomcat pulls the bulldog's tail. They go "around and around," indicating a playful and fun interaction. The second verse talks about a crow telling a tale to the singer. The location is specified as "way down yonder by the sycamore tree." However, the actual content of the tale is not revealed, keeping up with the song's theme of playful ambiguity. The third verse introduces an old cow that slobbers excessively. The singer seeks advice from a doctor, who playfully suggests teaching the cow how to spit. This verse showcases the song's humorous and absurd nature. The fourth verse tells the story of a humpback man attending a football game that gets canceled due to rain. As the humpback tries to retrieve his quarter back (probably a bet or refund), the fullback (a position in American football) kicks him off the hump on his back. This verse uses wordplay to create a humorous image. The fifth verse provides another absurd scenario where the singer discovers that his ham (a cut of meat) is so high that it only has two hind legs on a flying hog. The solution proposed is to cross the hog with an octopus so that the ham comes down, with the hog in the middle and ham all around. This verse is again playful and nonsensical. Overall, the song emphasizes light-heartedness, silliness, and imaginative storytelling. It doesn't have a deeper meaning or a specific story to follow, but rather serves to entertain the listeners with its humorous and eccentric lyrics.
