Get Me a Switch From the Willow Tree - A Backstreet Song

Get Me a Switch from the Willow Tree

I was playing too hard and strayed from our yard

To the shade of the old willow tree

When a neighbor called out and let out a shout

He’s over here, Esther, with me.

My mother walked over, through the yard laced with clover

And pulled on my arm as she said,

“You’re not s’posed to go, from our yard to and fro

Or your bottom will have to be red.”

Chorus:

“Go get me a switch from the willow tree

And it better not be too thin

Lest I’ll go get another, bigger switch- angry mother

And whip you ‘til you lose that grin.”

Henrietta and Gladys, Mary and Norma

And mothers who lived on our street

Shared from the tree to keep order and peace

And control where we went with our feet

When cold winds would blow with the road deep in snow

Our moms would keep us from the slush

And bypass the willow, still we’d sit on a pillow

Cause then they would spank with a brush.

Chorus.

Jimmy and Danny, Donna and Peggy,

Many others and Mike and Pat

Knew the willow and sometimes the pillow

Our mothers would all see to that.

The switches were blessed with the willow tree’s zest

And the kids knew it stung with each whack

But try as we may, if we cheated at play

We found our moms sending us back.

Chorus

As we became parents directing our kids

Who begged us for safety and rules

We tried discipline, but they’d do it again

Treating their parents like fools.

Then…We’d look for a tree, an old willow tree

 And tell them to get us a switch

Or stay in “Time Out” and don’t give a shout

And don’t even act like you itch.

Chorus