Burke And Hare Song lyrics by Horrible Histories, 3 meanings. Burke And Hare Song explained, official 2024 song lyrics | LyricsMode.com
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Horrible Histories – Burke And Hare Song lyrics
I'm Knox a famous surgeon
And I earn my daily bread
By studying cadavers
Which are bodies not long dead
One day two suave young gentlemen
Appeared within my view
I'm Mr Burke, I'm Mr Hare
How do you do?
These gents explained that their
Acquaintance had just passed away
It seemed the body'd only been
A goner for a day
Excuse the curious offer
Said Hare or was it Burke?
But would you care to slice this up
To see how corpses work?
Well it's always a palaver
Getting hold of a cadaver
So I said yes I'll ahve her
Oh, it's a he!

This body taught me much about
What makes a person poorly
Why some men live to 99
And some die prematurely
How these thing function perfectly
And others won't repair
How everything is, interlinked
Oh what's that doing there?

'Til one day there was nothing left
And all my work was spent
Then Burke and Hare turned up again
My, how convenient!
Another slab of fresh
Human organs, bone and flesh
Another gory sesh, excellent news
(Laughs evilly)

As time went on these kind men
Brought me several guys and gals
My lab was choca-block
With all their freshly passed on pals
I paid them lots of money
Bodies came from everywhere
You really are a busy Mr Burke
And Mr Hare

They seemed such cultured gentlemen
I never did suspect
That Burke and Hare were not so nice
I really should have checked
Then one day a policeman came
Asked if I've seen a chap
I hadn't, but days later
His corpses turned up in my lap

It seemed that these acquaintances
Of Burke and Hare actually
Were not their friends and
Did not always die naturally
Burke and Hare had murdered them
It was plain to see
Then brought the corpses to my lab
And pocketed the fee

The two men were arrested
But one of them set free
Poor Burke was hanged
But happily his corpse was sent to me
Oh bit wiffy!
Still much to learn
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Submitted by mathewbaynton13

Burke And Hare Song meanings

  • f
    + 2
    forty-two
    This song tells the story of 2 famous killers Burke and hare. It describe show they got rid of the dead people they killed by giving the bodies to Dr Robert Knox who used the bodies to further his knowledge about human anatomy. Burke and his accomplice Hare set about murdering tramps and drunks on a regular basis. After 16 more transactions, in what became known as the West Port Murders, on 2 November 1828 Burke and Hare were caught, and the whole city convulsed with titillated horror, fed by ballads, broadsides and newspapers, at the terrible deeds of Burke & Hare. Hare turned King's evidence, and Burke was hanged, dissected and displayed.
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    And I earn my daily bread
    By studying cadavers
    Which are bodies not long dead

    Before modern technology was available, people interested in learned in learning about anatomy relied much exclusively on dissection to get accurate information.

    But would you care to slice this up
    To see how corpses work?

    Donation of bodies wasn't unheard of, but it was unusal. The church believed somehow that a dissected person couldn't go to Heaven.

    Well it's always a palaver
    Getting hold of a cadaver
    So I said yes I'll ahve her
    Oh, it's a he!

    Other than donation, the only legal source of bodies were executed criminals so the need was greater than the supply.

    Then Burke and Hare turned up again
    My, how convenient!
    Another slab of fresh
    Human organs, bone and flesh

    Obviously the better condition the body was in the more it was worth. Body snatching was rampant, but bodies dug out of graves weren't usually in the best shape.

    I paid them lots of money
    Bodies came from everywhere

    He paid them the equivalent of a month's wages for each body, no questions asked.

    They seemed such cultured gentlemen
    I never did suspect
    That Burke and Hare were not so nice
    I really should have checked

    Probably not true. If Knox was as skilled an anatomist as he was considered to be, he must have suspected something. Then again, he had a strong incentive to ignore the evidence he saw.

    Then one day a policeman came
    Asked if I've seen a chap
    I hadn't, but days later
    His corpses turned up in my lap

    Forensic science of course, was almost non-existent in the early nineteenth century. Still, a large number of disappearances in relative small area certainly raised suspicion.

    It seemed that these acquaintances
    Of Burke and Hare actually
    Were not their friends and
    Did not always die naturally

    Burke and Hare were murderers. They were never grave robbers as some people think.

    The two men were arrested
    But one of them set free

    The prosecution didn't think there was enough evidence to convict both men, so Hare confessed and testified against Burke in exchange for immunity.

    Poor Burke was hanged
    But happily his corpse was sent to me

    Burke's corpse was actually given to Knox's chief competitor Professor Monro. A bit of artistic license was taken there.

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    Inspired by this song, I just watched the 2010 film "burke and hare. " it was. Okay. Silly. Definitely not very accurat. Lots of the "silly" signs, there would have been, and not a lot of the "true! " ones. But I think maybe they knew about this song, because farnaby got a cameo, and there was a shot with a giant magnifying glass a lot like the one in this video. So that was cool.
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    • f
      + 2
      forty-two
      This song tells the story of 2 famous killers Burke and hare. It describe show they got rid of the... Read more →
    • U
      + 2
      Unregistered
      And I earn my daily bread
      By studying cadavers
      Which are bodies not long dead

      Before modern... Read more →

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