Things are Never What They Seem

Bob Nolan
Original copyright: Undermined

Things are never what they seem.
A blackberry’s red when it is green.
The night owl says “who” when he doesn’t much care
If it’s me or you or the feller out there.
You see that things are never what they seem.
I’ll…. (yodel)

Things are never what they seem.
The bright moon won’t fall without his beam.
My pony says “neigh” but he doesn’t mean “no”,
He’s just sayin’ “hey”
And he don’t mean “hello”.
You see that things are never what they seem.

Things are never what they seem
And you’re not asleep, but what a dream.
A river can run but he hasn’t got legs,
A carpet can lay but tell me where are those eggs?
You see that things are never what they seem.
(yodel)

This simple little Bob Nolan song is the only one of his film songs that still eludes us. We did find the words but not the melody. Although it was always listed in the Bob Nolan Music of the West catalog, it is still virtually "lost". The footage containing the song sequence in the Republic Pictures Roy Rogers movie, Sons of the Pioneers (July 7, 1942), was left on the cutting room floor when the series was re-formatted for television.

However, with contacts supplied by Jon Tuska, I was able to find the cutting continuity at the University of Southern California Cinema Television Library in Los Angeles, CA. This gave us the words. Because no uncut video version of Sons of the Pioneers has surfaced and there is no sheet music extant, the melody of the song is still a mystery.

The song comes at the end of reel four of the 16-mm. print, but the cutting continuity does not state how many reels are in the film. The scene is of Roy and Louise Harper (the heroine) in the living room of her ranch home. Roy picks up his guitar and sings a bit about "The Lily of Hillbilly Valley", then he goes into this song. There is a lobby card recording this scene.

To view the uncut film: Database Control no: 04-AAL-6983, Call No. M33098.

"With the exception of our Hearst newsreels, which we own and license, Archive holdings are available for on-site research viewing only. We do not make or distribute copies due to copyright restrictions and agreements with our donors and depositors.”

"Our catalogue does not indicate the length of our print, or what songs are in it. The print is available to be viewed at our vaults in Hollywood for a fee of 25 dollars. Perhaps you can hire a local research assistant to view it for you and take notes. If so, have the individual contact us (arsc@ucla.edu) to make an appointment as far in advance as possible." (letter to EM in 2001 from Joshua Hirsch, Reference Coordinator, Archive Research and Study Center at UCLA)

We do not have any sheet music for this song.