Listen to Vinegar Man.

Vinegar Man from Silver Pennies
Poem by Ruth Comfort Mitchell; Music by Tom Amandes
Jamie O’Reilly, Lead Vocals
Paul Amandes, Background Vocals, Guitar
Peter Swenson, Guitar
Stuart Rosenberg, Mandolin; John Floeter, Bass
With Meg Broz, Beth Ann O’Reilly Amandes,
And Bridget O’Reilly, Background Vocals

Lyrics 
The crazy old vinegar man is dead
He never has missed a day before
Somebody went to the tumble down shed
By the haunted house and forced the door
And there in the middle of his pungent pans
The murky mess of his mixing place
Deep sticky spiders and empty cans
And the same old frown on his sour old face

Chorus 1
Vinegar, vinegar, vinegar man
Face us and chase us and catch if you can
Pepper for a tongue Pickle for a nose
Stick a pin in him and vinegar flows
Glare at us. Swear at us. Catch if you can.
Ketchup and chow-chow and vinegar man

Vs 2
Nothin but recipes and worthless junk
Greasy old ledgers of paid and due
And down in the depths of his battered old trunk
A queer, quaint valentine torn in two
Red hearts and arrows and silver lace
And a prim, dim ladylike script that read:
To Vinegar Man with the sour old face
With dearest love, from Ellen to Ned

Chorus 2
Steal us and peel us and drown us in brine
He pickled his heart in a Valentine
Vinegar for blood Pepper for a tongue
Stick a pin in him and once he was young
Glare at us. Swear at us. Catch if you can
With dearest love, to the Vinegar man.

Vs 3
Dingy little books of profit and loss
Died about Saturday, so they say
And a queer, quaint valentine
Torn across. Torn but it never was thrown away
With dearest love, from Ellen to Ned
Old Pepper tongue pickled his heart in brine
The Vinegar man is a long time dead
He died when he tore up his valentine

Chorus 3
Vinegar, vinegar, vinegar man
Face us and chase us and catch if you can
Pepper for a tongue Pickle for a nose
Stick a pin in him and vinegar flows
Glare at us. Swear at us. Catch if you can.
Ketchup and chow-chow and vinegar man
Ketchup and chow-chow and vinegar man

Cover Artwork by Meg Broz
CD design Grace Amandes-Gaceta
Recorded February, 2009
League of Creative Musicians, Evanston, IL