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Friday, December 7, 2012

Riding In A Buggy Miss Mary Jane (video & lyrics)


amynicho1, Uploaded on Mar 25, 2010

Maria singing Riding in a buggy Miss Mary Jane

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Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest revision: Feb.21, 2022

This post showcases a video of & lyrics for the African American folk song "Riding In A Buggy Miss Mary Jane".

The content of this post is presented for folkloric, recreational, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the anonymous composers of this song and thanks to Dorothy Scarborough & other collectors of 19th century/early 20th century African American folk songs. Thanks also to Maria who was videotaped singing this song, and thanks to the publisher of this video on YouTube..

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LYRICS: RIDING IN A BUGGY MISS MARY JANE
These are some standard lyrics for this song from
http://www.folklorist.org/song/Miss_Mary_Jane_(Riding_in_the_Buggy,_Who_Moan_for_Me)

From Dorothy Scarborough, On the Trail of Negro Folk-Songs (oublished in 1925),
p. 117. "As recalled from the singing of South Carolina slaves by Dr. W. F. More when he was a boy."

Ridin' in the buggy,
Miss Mary Jane,
Miss Mary Jane,
Miss Mary Jane,
Ridin' in de buggy,
Miss Mary Jane,
I'm a long ways from home.

Chorus
Who moan for me?
Who moan for me?
Who moan for me, my darlin'?
Who moan for me?

(2 additional stanzas)
-snip-
The two additional verses (stanzas) that are usually given are the floating verses

Sally got a house in Baltimo',
Baltimo', Baltimo'
Sally got a house in Baltimo'
And it's full of chicken pie.

I got a gal in Baltimo',
Baltimo', Baltimo'
I got a gal in Baltimo',
And she's sixteen stories high.

*Floating (or traveling) verses are those that are found in a number of other rhymes/songs.

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RELATED INFORMATION
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_and_buggy
"A horse and buggy (in American English) or horse and carriage (in British English and American English) refers to a light, simple, two-person carriage of the late 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, drawn usually by one or sometimes by two horses. Also called a roadster, it was made with two wheels in England and the United States, and with four wheels in the United States as well. It had a folding or falling top."

RELATED LINKS
Click http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=146581&messages=10 for information about play party performances that teachers have devised to be performed while singing "Riding In A Buggy Miss Mary Jane".

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1 comment:

  1. I wonder if "Riding In A Buggy Miss Mary Jane" is a source for children's vocalist Raffi based his song "Bumping Up And Down In My Little Red Wagon".

    Here's a link to a video of Raffi singing that song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3F4m3idaa8.

    From what I can surmise from the video featured in this post & from recordings & videos of Raffi and others singing that song, their tunes are very similar and their textual patterns are the same. Here's the first verse of "Bumping Up And Down In My Little Red Wagon":

    Bumping up and down in my little red wagon
    Bumping up and down in my little red wagon
    Bumping up and down in my little red wagon
    Won't you be my darling

    -snip-
    I'm curious if anyone has asked Raffi if "Riding In A Buggy Miss Mary Jane" was the model for his creative children's song.

    ReplyDelete