The Bath Bugaloo
This song is about a strange gentleman who went by several names – his real name as far as I could tell was Henry Cope. He was commonly known as the ‘Green Man of Brighton’ and later the ‘Green Man of Bath’.
He was notorious for, as his name suggested, being obsessed with Green. He wore green clothes, boots, hat – dyed his hair green and even wore green face powder – all of his furniture was green, only ate green foods and so on...
He reportedly spent his days stalking the street, ogling women and generally behaving in very odd ways – I’m sure now he would a diagnosis for some possible mental health issues but in the 1800s, he was labelled ‘eccentric’ people were really wary, even scared of him hence why he later became known as ‘The Bath Bugabo’ or the ‘Bath Bugaloo’ (as in ‘the boogy man’)
No one ever knew where the green obsession came from so I wanted to write a song where Henry himself may reveal his reason for all the green…
Lyrics:
You look at me like I’m an animal
You look at me like I’m a freak
You point and you stare at the clothes that I wear
And the powder of green on my cheeks
Why does my passion obsess you?
Why does it cause you alarm?
Why does the green always cause such a scene?
Do you worry that I’ll do you harm?
Bug-a-looooo, bug-oh-bug-a-loo…
I know that you think my behaviour
Is a little bizarre and it’s true
But why do you cry just because I pass by
With my hair of an emerald hue
Bug-a-looooo, bug-oh-bug-a-loo…
You think I wear green as a camouflage
You think I wear green to impress
You think I wear green just to be seen
Oh, why must it cause you distress?
You think I wear green ‘cause I’m crazy
You think there’s a devil inside
You think I’m the monster under your bed
I assure you that’s not where I’d hide
Bug-a-looooo, bug-oh-bug-a-loo…
But I’ll tell you why green if you wonder
I’ll tell you if you give me time
The reason I wear it from head to my toes
Is that my eyes to colour are blind
(I’ve always thought I was wearing purple)
Bug-a-looooo, bug-oh-bug-a-loo…
He was notorious for, as his name suggested, being obsessed with Green. He wore green clothes, boots, hat – dyed his hair green and even wore green face powder – all of his furniture was green, only ate green foods and so on...
He reportedly spent his days stalking the street, ogling women and generally behaving in very odd ways – I’m sure now he would a diagnosis for some possible mental health issues but in the 1800s, he was labelled ‘eccentric’ people were really wary, even scared of him hence why he later became known as ‘The Bath Bugabo’ or the ‘Bath Bugaloo’ (as in ‘the boogy man’)
No one ever knew where the green obsession came from so I wanted to write a song where Henry himself may reveal his reason for all the green…
Lyrics:
You look at me like I’m an animal
You look at me like I’m a freak
You point and you stare at the clothes that I wear
And the powder of green on my cheeks
Why does my passion obsess you?
Why does it cause you alarm?
Why does the green always cause such a scene?
Do you worry that I’ll do you harm?
Bug-a-looooo, bug-oh-bug-a-loo…
I know that you think my behaviour
Is a little bizarre and it’s true
But why do you cry just because I pass by
With my hair of an emerald hue
Bug-a-looooo, bug-oh-bug-a-loo…
You think I wear green as a camouflage
You think I wear green to impress
You think I wear green just to be seen
Oh, why must it cause you distress?
You think I wear green ‘cause I’m crazy
You think there’s a devil inside
You think I’m the monster under your bed
I assure you that’s not where I’d hide
Bug-a-looooo, bug-oh-bug-a-loo…
But I’ll tell you why green if you wonder
I’ll tell you if you give me time
The reason I wear it from head to my toes
Is that my eyes to colour are blind
(I’ve always thought I was wearing purple)
Bug-a-looooo, bug-oh-bug-a-loo…