Much appreciated Steve. I think that the distance the subject provides in time and culture does make it a useful tool for discussing hot topics and how to express our feelings about them. I am doing work in elementary schools on figurative language writing through the blues but don't have an outlet for a more advanced course. It is a part of my theater show.
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "seventhray27" <steve.sundur@...> wrote: > > > Curtis, this is fascinating. Even just this bit I think would be a > valuable part of a college curricula on black studies. Or certainly any > study of the Blues. > > And especially how it must be adapted to current sensibilities. > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "curtisdeltablues" wrote: > > > > I appreciate that Emily as well as your response to Raunchy's post. > > > > Great art is provocative and this discussion has deepened my respect > for the lyrics. > > > > I also think that your mentioning the cultural context IS key to > understanding the intent of the author. > > > > I run into this decision often in singing songs from a different > historical and cultural context. Just last night I sang Robert Johnson's > Me and the Devil" > > > > ( I am going to point our a verse but the content is not being > directed toward you!) > > > > I love the song because it shows how bold Robert was about the concept > of the devil which had many of his contemporaries cowered down in fear. > Here it is and you will immediately see the problem for modern > audiences: > > > > > > > > Early this mornin' > > when you knocked upon my door > > Early this mornin', ooh > > when you knocked upon my door > > And I said, "Hello, Satan," > > I believe it's time to go." > > > > > > Me and the Devil > > was walkin' side by side > > Me and the Devil, ooh > > was walkin' side by side > > And I'm goin' to beat my woman > > until I get satisfied > > > > > > She say you don't see why > > that I will dog her 'round > > spoken: Now, babe, you know you ain't doin' me > > right, don'cha > > She say you don't see why, ooh > > that I will dog her 'round > > It must-a be that old evil spirit > > so deep down in the ground > > > > > > You may bury my body > > down by the highway side > > spoken: Baby, I don't care where you bury my > > body when I'm dead and gone > > You may bury my body, ooh > > down by the highway side > > So my old evil spirit > > can catch a Greyhound bus and ride > > > > For Robert this was a comedic song with the line "I'm gunna beat my > woman till I get satisfied" pulling the biggest laugh from an audience > that was more along the lines of Ralph Cramdon making a fist and saying > "one of these days Alice, straight to the moon". Today this is all over > the top creepy, we know too much. But in Robert's day women beating men > were also common. (It was a big problem for Charley Patton with Bertha > Lee who was considerably bigger and stronger and usually less drunk.) > > > > So of course I can't explain all this as the audience turns on me for > singing such a lyric so I change it to: > > > > "I'm gunna do my woman till we both get satisfied" to make sure that > there is not misunderstanding even adding "both". > > > > But here is the problem artistically. I wreck the song's comedic > intention about the battle of the sexes and turn it into some kind of > sexual bravado bragging. It wrecks the meaning of the next verses. > > > > "She say you don't see why > > that I will dog her 'round " > > > > Then he blames it on the devil: > > > > It must-a be that old evil spirit > > so deep down in the ground > > > > I can get a laugh out of a modern audience here by saying that he is > blaming his bad behavior on the devil but I don't think that worked any > better back then as it does today. This restores some of the original > snarky intention of the lyrics that I stepped on my making it more > politically correct. > > > > More trouble in bluesman city: "Big fat woman" lyrics and the even > worse, "black skinned woman who shouldn't put a hand on me, while a > brown skinned woman is something fit to eat." (Yes shade racism is still > common today in the black community.) So I drop all the fat woman > references (even though in the songs it is a compliment) and they become > a big legged woman, which is more clearly complimentary, and turn the > color discrimination into different cities. (A Leland woman, something > fit to eat, but you Memphis women,don't put your hands on me.) It still > retains some of the character of the original with the benefit of not > having Sam Adams bottles bounced off my head. (I play in yuppie joints.) > > > > It is all part of trying to be socially conscious while trying to > preserve this poetry. Most of these lines are a distraction to the > song's more general meanings, so I don't want the audience's focus by > reaction to keep them from appreciating the music. > > > > And then there is all the sex stuff where metaphors are not > metaphorical enough that I have to shift for the schools shows. "You can > squeeze my lemon till the juice runs down my leg" rarely makes it into > any show before midnight after the booze has flowed freely. It is too > much for even most adult audiences. It is a constant process of > decisions that makes playing this music today very challenging but > interesting. > > > > Thanks for the rap. > > > > Oh yeah, the master: > > > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7ZzfjRzZuk > > > > > > > > > > > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Emily Reyn emilymae.reyn@ wrote: > > > > > > Dear Curtis, thank you so much for this. Â Part of me was > thinking that given the time frame and aesthetics and lyrics and subject > of the whole song - i.e. ...."gang rape" (such a callous and violent > act) couldn't have been what was intended by the writer of those lyrics. > Â Yes, it is a beautiful song - poetry in motion. Â It goes > straight to the heart. Â You have done justice to the song and > interpretation and corrected any mistaken perceptions on my part that I > was having in the moment. Â Again, thank you. Â My bad. Smile. > Â > > > > > > Have a great day. Â Sincerely, Emily > > > > > > > > > > > > >________________________________ > > > > From: curtisdeltablues curtisdeltablues@ > > > >To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com > > > >Sent: Saturday, April 27, 2013 8:04 AM > > > >Subject: [FairfieldLife] Analysis of Routabout song > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >Â > > > >This song is too beautiful to be subject to the FFL grinder. > > > >I looked up the original discussion and I mentioned the last verse > when I sent the song originally with Mike Seager singing it, not when > Emily posted the lyrics. I considered them interesting no matter what > analysis you take, although now on closer examination, the whole context > of the song makes the intention of the songwriter more clear. I was not > sending Emily some dark message by pointing out the last verse for her > comment. Mike mumbles his words a bit and I wanted to make sure I got > her take on the verse to see if it matched my GFs. At the time it did. > > > > > > > >Emily: > > > > > > > >"Interesting take from your girlfriend - I was curious as I wasn't > sure how to interpret what I was reading and my first take was a more > sinister nature. I prefer your girlfriend's thought and the last line = > "try to tear my kingdom down" leaves room for exactly what she's talking > about. Ha. > > > > > > > >Here is my take on the meaning of the lyrics: > > > > > > > >> > > > > >> > Roustabout > > > > > > > >Technical name of a job loading at docks. > > > > > > > >> > > > > >> > Oh you banjo roustabout > > > >> > When you goin to the shore > > > >> > I got a good gal on that other shore > > > >> > Baby don't you want to go > > > >> > > > > >> > If I had an old pairs of wings > > > >> > Like Noah's dove > > > >> > I'd sail from pine to pine > > > >> > Looking for my own true love > > > > > > > >Idealism and romantic/naive hope expressed in those two lines. > > > > > > > >> > > > > >> > I'd a listened to what my momma said > > > >I wouldn't be here today > > > >> > But me being young and foolish too > > > >> > women lead me astray > > > > > > > >This is the key to understanding why my GF's take was more > reasonable than my initial take on the song. (In my defense I was a > little caught up in mastering an old time banjo style, and that sucked > up most of my neurons.) > > > > > > > >In this verse we see that he had gotten played by the woman, not > that she was a victim. He is painting himself as a victim. > > > > > > > >> > > > > >> > Who's gonna shoe your pretty little feet > > > >> > And who's gonna glove your hand > > > >> > And who's gonna do your rockabye > > > >> > When your man's in a distant land > > > > > > > >Poor me, but when I leave you THEN you'll be sorry! > > > > > > > >> > > > > >> > My wife left home last night > > > >> > I'll tell you where I found her > > > > > > > >She left voluntarily. Think of how different it would be to say : I > threw my wife out last night... > > > > > > > >She had an appointment. > > > > > > > >> > Lying down in the pines> > > > > > > > >"Lying down" lacks any sinister overtones. > > > > > > > >> > A gang of boys around her> > > > > > > > >This is probably what set me off in the wrong direction originally. > I suspect that "gang" was equivalent to "group" and had none of the > modern overtones back then. > > > > > > > >> > Some was higgin it > > > >> > Some was kissin it > > > >> > Some was huggin it > > > > > > > >I never heard any sexual assault start by describing the initial > contact this way. News alert: The suspect proceeded to hug and kiss the > victim... > > > > > > > >> > Some was kneeling down> > > > > > > > >I've seen some porn. (Always accidentally when I was a victim of a > pop up ad, I promise.) This created an image and may have been more of > why I misunderstood it initially. > > > > > > > >> > There more rascal hangin round > > > >> > Try to tear my kingdom down > > > >> > > > > >> > Oh my lord. > > > > > > > >He is the victim, not her. He is expressing his own angst at how > she just served his ass with a big old bucket of a man's worst nightmare > for a woman he loves. The songwriter brilliantly took a cuckolded spouse > story and turned it into a Tarantino thrill-o rama. > > > > > > > >Here is another version Mike used to do that is more lighthearted: > > > > > > > >https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwEdMRCP3sc > > > > > > > >I love the line: My old misses had a dog blind as he could be, but > every night round supper time, I'd swear that dog could see! > > > > > > > >He downplays the ending and I think now I know why. I usually drop > it out for my shows, unless I have an audience who is really engaged in > the meaning of the lyrics, like the group I played for last night. I > don't quiz them on their take at the end, but it definitely has their > attention and they respond enthusiastically whatever their > interpretation. It is very emotional to perform, this is trouble with a > capital T anyway you cut it. I step away from the mike and stand in the > middle of the room and let them hear it in the natural way it would have > been performed decades ago. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
