Bessie Jones - Topic, Nov 7, 2014
Provided to YouTube by Rhino Atlantic
Sometimes · Bessie Jones
Sounds Of The South [album]
The Alan Lomax collection album Sounds of the South was first released on vinyl in 1960 by Atlantic Records (catalog number 1346).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7Y-6kmFtsg****
Edited by Azizi Powell
[This is a complete reprint of an updated version of a pancocojams post that was originally published in 2025.
That post is still found in this pancocojams blog with one comment from me in which I share that the ring game "Sometimes" as described by Bessie Jones reminds me a of the contemporary circle game "Little Sally Walker, Walking Down The Street".]
This pancocojams post is divided into two parts.
Part I presents the lyrics and movements for the song "Sometimes" as it is presented as a children's game song in the book Step It Down by Bessie Jones and Bess Lomax Hawes.
Part II also presents explanations for some of the lyrics in that song.
Part II presents information/examples about call & response songs/rhymes with one of three types of responses: fixed responses, echo responses, or changing responses. The song "Sometimes" is an example of a composition with a fixed response.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, cultural, and educational purposes.
Thanks to the unknown composer of this song and thanks to Bessie Jones and the other singers in this recording for their musical legacy. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this song file on YouTube.
****
PART I
LYRICS - "SOMETIMES"
(as sung by Bessie Jones)
Online source- https://genius.com/Bessie-jones-sometimes-lyrics
Below the log,
Bullfrog marry,
His mother-in-law,
Now let’s get on the board,
I’m going to ball that Jack,
Until my honey comes home,
I want to rear back jack,
And get a hump in my back,
I’m going over here,
Going get my pal,
(About this song from that same genius.com page)
The song was prominently sampled in “Honey” by Moby, the lead single from his 1999 album Play.
Moby’s “Honey” was also featured in the 2003 American film Holes soundtrack."
-snip-
The song "Sometimes" is presented as a children's ring play (a singing game) in the 1972 book of African American (Gullah) children's songs and ring plays entitled Step It Down.
Page 101 of that book includes a musical score and this statement:
"New words and new music adaptation by Bessie Jones, collected and edited with additional new material by Alan Lomax TRO @copyright 1972 Ludlow Music Inc, New York, N. Y used with permission."
****
LYRICS AND PERFORMANCE ACTIVITIES FOR THE SONG "SOMETIMES"
from the book Step It Down: Games, Plays, Songs & Stories from the Afro-American Heritage, edited by Bessie Jones and Bess Lomax Hawes (published 1972, page 100-101)*
"In this ring play, an account of the doings of magical animals and the courtship feats of human beings is continually punctured by the performers' sardonic remark "Sometimes". The tune, when sung and slapped with strong rhythm, will give you an idea of how interesting only four notes can be.
FORM: Ring [circle] of players, not holding hands, one center player.
Lead Voice Chorus Voice Action
Way down yonder Sometimes Center player walks (struts) around the ring
Below the log Sometimes
Wild geese are holl'ring. Sometimes
Ganders trot, Sometimes
Bullfrog marry, Sometimes
His mother-in-law, Sometimes.
Now let's get on board, Sometimes Center player stands in front of a chosen partner
I'm going to ball that jack, Sometimes Center player balls the jack **
Until my honey comes back, Sometimes
I want to rear back, Jack, Sometimes Center player (and partner) lean back
And get a hump in my back, Sometimes Center player (and partner) hunch shoulders
I'm going over here, Sometimes Center player takes partner's hand and turns her into center of the circle,
Goin' to get my pal. Sometimes taking her place in the ring. Play continues
with the new center person"
Source:
*Page 101 of the 1972 book "Step It Down" by Bessie Jones and Bess Lomax Hawes.
****
EXPLANATIONS FOR SOME OF THESE LYRICS
"Way down yonder" = This is a (Southern) African American originated Vernacular English phrase that means something like "a place that is far away from here".
**
Below the log = in the farmyard [below (or beyond) the house or the house's porch] [?]
**
Ganders trot = male goose walking around
**
"Bullfrog marrying his mother-in-law" is a reference to the 16th century English folk song "Frog Went A Courting".
**
"Now let's get on board" -These words indicates a new phase of this ring (circle) game in which the center person stands in front of a person who she or he dances in front of (and that person also performs the same dances.) That person eventually becomes the new center person
**
"ball the jack" is the name of an African American social dance that was first popularized in 1912 or 1913. Here's information about the term "balling the jack" from https://www.americanbluesscene.com/2012/08/the-language-blues-balling-the-jack/ "The Language of the Blues: Balling The Jack" by Debra DeviAugust 17, 2012
"Back when steam-driven locomotives criss-crossed the land, when a conductor got a train cranked up to top speed, he was said to be balling the jack. As in “they were balling the jack at the time of the wreck.”
The train was the jack–short for “the jackass carrying the load.” To “ball” meant to go flat out, and came from the railman’s balled-up fist – his signal to the crew to pour on the coal and speed up.
By the 1920s, the expression “balling the jack” had leapt from the rail yards into the popular lexicon as an expression for any wild, all-out effort–from dancing to sex to, for gamblers, risking everything on a single toss of the dice. Shortened to “balling,” it came to mean having a wild time in and out of bed.
The phrase was given a push by the Balling the Jack fad, which reportedly began as a sexy juke joint dance involving plenty of bumping and grinding. It evolved into a group dance “involving vigorous hand clapping and chanting or singing,” according to From Juba to Jive, by Clarence Major.
A variation was performed in 1913 at the Lafayette Theater in Harlem in a play called “The Darktown Follies”. Theatrical producer Florence Ziegfeld caught the play and liked the dance so much that he bought the rights to it for his Follies of 1913. Chris Smith (music) and James Henry Burris (lyrics) wrote “Balling the Jack” for the Follies based on the African American ragtime tune.
The Balling the Jack craze swept white America, eventually getting mixed in with the Lindy Hop to become a popular swing step. Judy Garland and Gene Kelly performed the Smith/Burris version of “Balling the Jack” in the 1942 film, Me and My Gal."...
**
Here's a description of "Ball the Jack" (from Step It Down, pages 44-45)
[The dancer] "Hold[s] the legs together from foot to hip, rotate the knees in a circle, this obviously rotates the hips also; Mrs. Jones seemed to feel this was mildly improper for small children-the sort of thing that you should tell them not to do, but you know they are going to do it anyway."
-snip-
end of quotes
[return to explanation of lyrics]
rear back, Jack" - refers to how the person dances: "rear back" moves back [The name "Jack" is used as a general referent for a male or a female in the context of that line.]
"get a humb in my back' - refers to how the person dances: dancer bends his or her back which means their butt protrudes [This was/is considered "dancing nasty".]
**
The rest of these lyrics are explained in the directions quote from that Step it Down book.
****
PART II.
WHAT DOES "CALL & RESPONSE" MEAN IN SONGS & CHANTS?
From https://www.twinkl.com/teaching-wiki/call-and-response-music "What Is Call & Response Music?"
"In music, a call and response is a series of two parts usually played or sung by different musicians. The second part is heard as a comment about or an answer to what the first has sung."
INFORMATION ABOUT THREE TYPES OF CALL & RESPONSE SONGS & CHANTS
Here's information about three types of call & response patterns based on the nature of the responses:
1. "Echo" responses (usually referred to as "Echo songs")
In echo songs, the leader (caller) sings or says a passage (a word, phrase, or a short line and the group responds by exactly repeating (echoing) what the leader sang or said (with the same tune , tempo, and inflections i.e. They sing or say the same way the leader sang or said it.)
A familiar example of an echo children's song is "Row Row Row Your Boat".
An example of a R&B song that includes an echo portion is is James Brown's R&B hit song "Say It Loud-I'm Black And I'm Proud". In some portions of that song James Brown (the lead/the caller) commands the group to "Say It Loud" and the group always sings (responds with) the words "I'm Black And I'm Proud".
**
2. Fixed (unchanged) responses
In fixed (unchanged) responses, the leader (call) changes, but the group (response) remains the same throughout the entire song or throughout a portion of the song (In another portion of the song, the group (response) may sing or chant another passage (word or phrase) that then remains fixed (unchanged) for a time or for the rest of the song.
The song "Sometimes". is an example of a song in which the leader changes what she or he sings or says, but the group's response remains fixed (unchanged).
**
3. Changed responses
In some songs and chants that include call & response or entirely consist of call & response, the responses change and the call may also change.
Here's an example of an American military cadence in which the calls change and their responses change :
from https://www.bbcmaestro.com/blog/what-is-call-and-response-in-music
" The traditional army chant “My Granny” uses a call-and-response structure:
Call: “When my granny was 91”
Response: “She did PT just for fun.”
Call: “When my granny was 92”
Response: “She did PT better than you.”
Call: “When my granny was 93”
Response: “She did PT better than me"
****
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