Traditional blues verses
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In the
Jimmie Rodgers, the "blue yodeler", and Big Joe Turner
, "the Boss of the Blues" compiled virtual encyclopedias of lyrics. Turner reputedly could sing the blues for hours without repeating himself.
Terminology
Traditional blues verses in folk-music tradition have also been called floating lyrics or maverick stanzas. Floating lyrics have been described as “lines that have circulated so long in folk communities that tradition-steeped singers call them instantly to mind and rearrange them constantly, and often unconsciously, to suit their personal and community aesthetics”.[1]
Examples
Although many blues songs, such as "Jelly Jelly" or "
T for Texas
" combine one or two new verses with a flock of traditional ones.
Traditional blues verses are most common in
twelve bar blues
, with the characteristic repeated first line (indicated here by x2).
Some Examples:
- See that spider crawlin' up that wall (x2)
- He's crawlin up there to get his ashes hauled.
- I'll be your little dog till your big dog comes (x2)
- And when the big dog gets here, don't tell him what the puppy done
- Rebecca, Rebecca, get your big legs off of me (x2)
- It may be sending you baby but it's worryin' the hell out of me.
- I'm gonna buy me a pistol with a great long shiny barr'l (x2)
- Gonna shoot that rounder who stole away my gal
- If you see me comin', heist your window high (x2)
- If you see me goin', baby, hang your head and cry.
- If your house catches fire and there ain't no water 'round (x2)
- Throw your rags out the window, let the doggone shack burn down.
"Traditional lyrics" of known origin
Some lyrics crop up in song after song, such as:
- I got a gal, lawd she big and fat (x2)
- Because it's tight, because it's tight like that
From "Yo-Yo Blues No. 2" by Barbecue Bob
- I got a girl, say she long and tall (x2)
- She sleeps in the kitchen with her feets in the hall
From "They're Red Hot" by Robert Johnson
- I got a gal who's ten feet tall, Little Liza Jane
- With her feet in the cellar and her head in the hall, Little Liza Jane
From "Little Liza Jane," American trad.
References
- ^ Carl Lindahl, ‘Thrills and Miracles: Legends of Lloyd Chandler’, Journal of Folklore Research, Bloomington: May-Dec 2004, Vol. 41, Issue 2/3, pp. 133-72.