GENEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF THE SONG
                                         "I'M MY OWN GRANDPA"

Family members:

Allen (me)
Bob (my father)
Ann (my wife)
Betty (Ann's daughter, and my adopted daughter)
Charlie (Ann's son, and my son)
Dave (Betty's son, and my father Bob's son)



           LYRICS                                                 COMMENTS

Now, many many years ago
When I was twenty three                          My name is Allen.
I was married to a widow                         The widow (my wife) we'll call Ann.
Who was pretty as could be

This widow had a grown-up daughter               Ann's daughter we'll call Betty.
Had hair of red
My father fell in love with her
And soon the two were wed                        Bob (my father) marries Betty (my wife's daughter).  Now:
                                                 Bob is my father, Ann's father-in-law, and Betty's husband.
                                                 Ann is my wife, Bob's daughter-in-law, and Betty's mother.
                                                 Betty is Ann's daughter, my step-daughter, and Bob's husband.
                                                 The rest of the song makes a little more sense if I
                                                 legally adopt Betty, so she is my actual daughter rather than
                                                 my step-daughter.

This made my dad my son-in-law                   My son-in-law is my daughter's husband, which would be Betty's
                                                 husband -- Bob, my father.  So this is correct.
And changed my very life
My daughter was my mother                        My daughter Betty is married to Bob (my father), so Betty is
'Cause she was my father's wife                  my step-mother.

To complicate the matters
Even though it brought me joy
I soon became the father
Of a bouncing baby boy                           We'll call the baby boy Charlie.  Charlie is my son and Ann's son.
                                                 Charlie is also Bob's and Betty's grandson.  Betty and Charlie are
                                                 brother and sister.

My little baby then became
A brother-in-law to dad                          Dad's brother-in-law would be his wife's (Betty's) brother, Charlie,
                                                 so this is correct.
And so became my uncle                           My uncle is my father's or mother's brother (by blood), OR
                                                 my father's or mother's sister's husband (by marriage).
                                                 In this case, my father has no brother; my step-mother Betty's brother
                                                 is my son Charlie, who is indeed my (step-)uncle by blood.
Though it made me very sad

For if he was my uncle                           Charlie is my uncle by blood.
That also made him the brother                   Charlie is Betty's brother.
Of the widow's grown-up daughter                 The widow's grown-up daughter is Betty, whose brother is indeed Charlie.
Who, of course, was my step-mother               Betty, being my father's wife, is indeed my step-mother.

I'm my own grandpa                               Not yet determined.
I'm my own grandpa
It sounds funny I know
But it really is so
I'm my own grandpa

My father's wife then had a son                  My father's wife Betty had a son, whom we'll call Dave.
That kept them on the run
And he became my grandchild
For he was my daughter's son                     Dave is the son of Betty, who is my daughter.
                                                 So Dave is my grandson.

My wife is now my mother's mother                My wife Ann.  My step-mother Betty's mother is Ann, so this is correct.
And it makes me blue
Because, she is my wife
She's my grandmother too                         My wife Ann is also my step-mother Betty's mother, so Ann is both my wife
                                                 and my (step-)grandmother.

I'm my own grandpa                               Since my wife Ann is also my (step-)grandmother, that means that I, as
                                                 my grandmother's husband, am indeed my own grandpa.  So this is correct.
I'm my own grandpa
It sounds funny I know
But it really is so
I'm my own grandpa

Now, if my wife is my grandmother                My wife Ann is my (step-)grandmother.
Then, I am her grandchild                        So I am Ann's husband and grandson.
And every time I think of it
It nearly drives me wild

For now I have become
The strangest case you ever saw
As husband of my grandmother                     Ann is my (step-)grandmother, and I am her husband.
I am my own grandpa                              This is correct.

I'm my own grandpa                               This is correct.
I'm my own grandpa
It sounds funny I know
But it really is so
I'm my own grandpa

I'm my own grandpa                               This is correct.
I'm my own grandpa
It sounds funny I know
But it really is so
I'm my own grandpa