Edited by Azizi Powell
[Revised October 5, 2016]
This is Part II of a two part pancocojams series on the Hip-Hop/Pop dance the "Nae Nae".
Part II of this series provides information about the Nae Nae dances and showcases three videos that feature Silento's "Watch Me" (Whip Nae Nae). This post also features videos of the following dances that are mentioned in that song: "the Stanky Legs", "Superman" (Crank That Soulja Boy", and the "Bob". The Addendum to this post provides information about the "Whip".
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2015/07/how-nae-nae-dance-got-its-name.html for Part I of this series. Part I provides information and comments about and videos of the 2013 We Are Toonz' hit record "Drop That #NaeNae".
The Addendum of that post showcases a video of the 1991 Hip-Hop song "Doo Doo Brown". That dance is mentioned in the lyrics to WeAreToonz's "Drop That Nae Nae".
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Silento and all the other featured artists for their compositions. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post, all those who are featured in these videos, and all the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT SILENTO'S "WATCH ME" (WHIP/NAE NAE)
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watch_Me_(Whip/Nae_Nae)
""Watch Me", full title "Watch Me (Whip / Nae Nae)" is the debut single by American rapper Silentó. He initially uploaded it online on his YouTube channel on January 26, 2015. In five months, the song achieved over 50 million views.
The song involves various hip hop dances from various songs like "Crank That (Soulja Boy)", "Stanky Leg", ect.
In April 2015, he was signed to Capitol Records that released the track as a single with an accompanying music video. The single peaked at number 7 on the US Billboard Hot 100.[1] The song has also charted in Australia, France, Germany and New Zealand."
****
SOURCE FOR THE DANCE NAME "NAE NAE"
Silento's "Nae Nae" dance owes its name to the We Are Toonz' 2013 created dance which is loosely based on the Martin television character "Sheneneh". It appears to me that the Nae Nae that is performed in the videos that feature Silento's "Watch Me" is much less of a parody of Sheneneh or anyone else* than the We Are Toonz' version of that dance.
*In Part I of this series, I shared my belief that the Nae Nae is a parody of stereotypical ideas about how gay males dance.
****
SLANG MEANING FOR THE WORD "WHIP" (in the dance "Watch me (Whip/Nae Nae)
From http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Whip
"Whip
When the steering wheel was first put into use in automobiles, it was called the "whip". The whip is what you used to control the horses on a stagecoach, hence the analogy. Many years later, various hip hop artists noticed that the Mercedes-Benz logo resembled a steering wheel. They then proceeded to use the old term "whip" to describe any Mercedes-Benz vehicle. The term has now been generalized to classify any expensive automobile.
The new show "Unique Whips" on SpikeTV is obviously going to suck."
by dieselaj February 04, 2005
**
"whip
A whip has simply come to represent a car. It has been said that it was used a long time ago when a whip would be used to steer the horse-drawn carriages. It is used in hip-hop fashion, and it has come represent any car not neccesarily a really nice car.
"Yo, you want scoop me to scoop you up, I gotta whip"
#whip #whips #car #wip #wipe"
by kyle ramba October 20, 2006
****
From http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=the%20whip
"The Whip
the term "whip" is referred to as a dance. The motion consists of lifting the knee opposite which ever arm you are using, then dropping it and moving you arm straight like you are driving a car. this dance move is associated closely with the nae nae and the song "Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)
Can you do the whip
Yes! Watch me Whip *Ayyyee* Now watch me nae nae.
#dance #car #popular #nae nae #whipping"
by haysmith March 18, 2015
-snip-
The phrase "whip it" as used in The Dazz Band's 1982 Funk music hit "Let It Whip" means "Go all out. Put all your energy or enthusiasm into what you are doing"
Given that meaning, "Whip that NaeNae" is performed like you are holding the steering wheel while driving a car. But that phrase means, put all of your energy and dance the NaeNae the best that you can.
****
FEATURED VIDEOS THAT FEATURE SILENTO'S "WATCH ME"
Example #1: Silentó - Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) (Official)
SilentoVEVO Published on Jun 25, 2015
-snip-
Click http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/silento/watchmewhipnaenae.html for lyrics to Silento's "Watch Me" (Whip Nae Nae).
****
Example #2: Silento - "Watch Me" (Whip / Nae Nae) (TPE Dance Tutorial Music Video)(@PricelessDaROC)
PricelessDaROC, Published on Mar 29, 2015
****
Example #3: Watch Me Whip and Nae Nae Compilation - VINES Dubsmash Silento Dance Remix #WatchMeDanceOn
TopClips247, Published on Jun 24, 2015
****
DANCES THAT ARE INCLUDED IN SILENTO'S "WATCH ME"
Example #1: GS Boyz - Stanky Legg
GSBoyzVEVO Uploaded on Nov 23, 2009
Music video by GS Boyz performing Stanky Legg
-snip-
"Stanky" is an African American Vernacular English word that means stinky, smelly, funky.
****
Example #2: Soulja Boy Tell'em - Crank That (Soulja Boy)
SouljaBoyTellemVEVO, Uploaded on Nov 22, 2009
Music video by Soulja Boy Tell`em performing Crank That (Soulja Boy). (C) 2007 ColliPark Music/HHH/Interscope Records
-snip-
This dance is from from 2007.
In the context of Hip-Hop dancing, the terms "crank that" and "drop that" mean "do the [name of the dance].
Click http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/souljaboy/crankdatsouljaboy.html for the lyrics to this song. Warning: The mildly profanity words “sh_t” and “–itch” are found throughout this song.
"Crank That Soulja Boy" includes the elongated word "Yoooooou". We Are Toonz' ""Drop That #NaeNae" includes the similar elongated word "HUAHHHH!".
****
Example #3: CHICAGO BOP MUSIC-DLOW-THE DLOW SHUFFLE OFFICAL BOP DANCE TUTORIAL
allchicagotv, Published on Jan 7, 2014
-snip-
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2015/05/hip-hop-bop-information-comments-videos.html for a post about the Hip Hop dance called the Bop. A number of videos of the Chicago (Hip Hop) Bop began to be posted on YouTube in 2014. Chicago Steppin is an earlier form of dances with the name "Bop". A pancocojams post on Chicago Steppin (Bop) can be found by clicking the "bop" tag found below.
****
ADDENDUM: COMMENTS ABOUT DANCE MOVE "WHIP"
WHIP- acting like your driving in a car (holding the steering wheel with one hand and then with the other]
From http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop-shop/6398451/so-you-know-you-cant-dance-tinashe-the-whip
"So You Know You Can't Dance: Watch Tinashe Teach 'The Whip' in New Episode"
By Jason Lipshutz, New York | December 10, 2014 11:53 AM EST
"Tinashe describes The Whip dance as a move in which "you're simulating how awesome you look when you're riding in your whip." "
****
From http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Whip
"Whip
When the steering wheel was first put into use in automobiles, it was called the "whip". The whip is what you used to control the horses on a stagecoach, hence the analogy. Many years later, various hip hop artists noticed that the Mercedes-Benz logo resembled a steering wheel. They then proceeded to use the old term "whip" to describe any Mercedes-Benz vehicle. The term has now been generalized to classify any expensive automobile....
by dieselaj February 04, 2005"
****
EDITOR:
I'm seeking brief explanation about the dance moves "break your legs" and "duff". It appears that people do these dances different ways on the videos that use the Silento "Watch Me" song. Any information would be appreciated.
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Showing posts with label African American slang. Show all posts
Showing posts with label African American slang. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
How The "Nae Nae" Dance Got Its Name
Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part I of a two part pancocojams series on the Hip-Hop/Pop dance the "Nae Nae".
This post provides information and comments about and videos of the 2013 We Are Toonz' hit record "Drop That #NaeNae".
The Addendum of this post showcases a video of the 1991 Hip-Hop song "Doo Doo Brown". That dance is mentioned in the lyrics to We Are Toonz' Drop That #NaeNae".
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2015/07/silentos-watch-me-whip-nae-nae-other.html for Part II of this series. Part II showcases various dances that are mentioned in Silento's 2014 mega-hit record "Watch Me" (Whip/Nae Nae").
The content of this post is presented for cultural and entertainment purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to We Are Toonz for creating and performing the Nae Nae dance. Thanks also to all those quoted in this post, all those who are featured in these videos, and all the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
****
HOW THE NAE NAE GOT ITS NAME
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drop_That_NaeNae
"Drop That NaeNae" (stylized as "Drop That #NaeNae") is a song by American hip hop group We Are Toonz. Released on November 29, 2013, the song gained popularity in early 2014 thanks to its accompanying dance, created by the group and based on the Martin character Sheneneh Jenkins...
The NaeNae dance became a viral hit, gaining traction on social media sites such as YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and Vine.[3] Washington Wizards player John Wall broke into the dance after winning the NBA Slam Dunk Contest on February 15, 2014, leading to a 311% increase in Twitter mentions of the #NaeNae hashtag that day.[5]...
The popularity of the NaeNae dance led to radio and sales traction of "Drop That NaeNae",[9] and the song later debuted at numbers 20 and 38 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts, respectively.[5]"...
****
[Added July 14, 2015] "New Hip-Hop Dance Craze: 'Drop That #NaeNae'" By Rauly Ramirez, New York January 27, 2014 6:06 PM EST
From http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-juice/5885484/new-hip-hop-dance-craze-drop-that-naenae
"From Atlanta -- the city that taught you how to crank that Soulja Boy, shake that laffy taffy, lean with it, rock with it, and walk it out -- comes a new dance that’s spreading across the country: the Nae Nae...
Through the use of social media, the funny dance -- and its G-Cutz-produced anthem “Drop That #NaeNae” (VPP/Skunkfunk) -- has soared in popularity in high schools across America. The group has used Vine, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube to “reach out to the kids because that’s what the kids and the teens are actually on, they’re active on those websites,” says CalLamar. Consequently, there have been more than 1.1 million mentions of the #NaeNae hashtag in the past 90 days, according to Twitter...
If you think the Nae Nae is only for the kids, however, you’d be wrong. The dance has become so popular that collegiate and professional athletes have adopted it for their on- and off-field celebrations. Following their Jan. 1 Rose Bowl victory over Stanford, the Michigan State locker room became ground zero for joyous Nae Nae-ing. New Orleans Saints’ wide receiver Lance Moore also broke out in the dance on Jan. 4 after scoring a playoff touchdown against the Philadelphia Eagles.
One of the song’s biggest supporters, literally, is 6’11” Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard. The perennial NBA All-Star shot a Nae Nae-themed skit with We Are Toonz [the group that created that dance]."...
-snip-
That video is given as Example #1 below.
****
From http://www.buzzfeed.com/naomizeichner/nae-nae-dance-how-to#.afEjWbKLV
..."WeAreToonz invented the Nae Nae in their basement practice space, while preparing for a show. On Oct. 8, 2013, they released a YouTube video instructing people how do the Nae Nae dance. A couple days later, they released an official streaming video for the dance’s partner song, “Drop That #NaeNae.”
The dance is loosely inspired by Sheneneh Jenkins, the female character played by Martin Lawrence on his ‘90s sitcom, Martin. “It’s really just based on a ratchet girl in the club dancing kind of funny and the best girl to describe it is Sheneneh from Martin,” WeAreToonz member CalLamar explained in January....
The Nae Nae joins a short history of regional rap songs that have seeped into mainstream consciousness on the wings of an easy-to-learn dance move. When people shout “huuuahh” before raising their arm for a Nae Nae, it sounds a lot like when people yelled “yooouuu” before dancing to Soulja Boy’s 2007 song “Crank That (Soulja Boy),” an early YouTube hit.
-snip-
"Ratchet" means "ghetto", i.e. "trashy" and "slutty". As a female impersonator, Martin Lawrence portrayed Sheneneh as a woman with a protruding butt who was always ready for a fight. When confronting the middle class Black women Pam and Gina, Sheneneh was quick to put her hand in their face. Sheneneh was also portrayed as a Black woman with a noticeable protruding big butt. Given this exaggerated characterization by a male impersonator, when Sheneneh's movements are converted to a Hip-Hop dance that is performed by males, to a lot of people they appear to be "effeminate".
Besides the numerous racist comments that are found on YouTube discussion threads about the Nae Nae dance, the largest number of comments in all of those threads including those that feature WeAreToonz's record and Silento's 2014 "Watch Me" (Whip and Nae Nae) record -are that the Nae Nae "looks gay" or that men who perform this dance are gay. Undoubtedly, some of the male dancers in Nae Nae videos may be homosexual. But, notwithstanding We Are Toonz' public comment that the Nae Nae dance movements are based on "ratchet girls in the club dancing funny", it seems to me that it's important to recognize that the WeAreToonz's Nae Nae dance (more than Silento's version of this dance) is meant to be a parody. And that parody isn't really of "ratchet girls in the club"- the Nae Nae dance it is meant to be a parody of how gay males dance.
The Buzzfeed article which is quoted above includes two vines (six second videos that repeat on a loop0 of Sheneneh dancing. Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kF4H5vZ-Km4 "Martin - Seasons 1 & 2 - Intro". That brief shot of Sheneneh that is found in that introduction is the best one that I've come across of Sheneneh dancing with her hand in the air. Another clip of Sheneneh dancing (but not with her hand in the air, is found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahiGbGeRllg "Martin - Variety Show- Shanaynay Sings".
However, it should be noted that waving your hand in the air is a gesture that is a core part of Hip Hop culture - in response to something that is appreciated, as part of song lyrics, and as a movement performed while you dance. Click http://ask.metafilter.com/112061/Where-does-this-phrase-come-from for responses to the question "What is the first usage in a song of "wave your hands in the air, like you [just] don't care"?". (The commenters mention The Sugarhill Gang - "Rapper's Delight" (1979)'s use of the vers "then ya throw your hands high in the air/ ya rockin to the rhythm, shake your derriere/ya rockin to the beat without a care". However, commenters also noted that there were probably other Hip-Hop artists who used phrases like that before that group.
Notice the "wave your hand in the air gesture in the "Doo Doo Brown" video that is featured in the Addendum.
****
FEATURED VIDEOS
Example #1: Dwight Howard WeAreToonz "Drop That Nae Nae"
ToonzWeAre, Published on Jan 11, 2014
-snip-
Isaiah Canaan is the other professional basketball player who is featured in this video with Dwight Howard.
-snip-
Click http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/wearetoonz/dropthatnaenae.html for the lyrics for We Are Toonz's "Drop That #NaeNae".
Those lyrics contain a small amount of mild profanity.
****
Example #2: Bam vs. Kodak Killa | NaeNae Dance Battle
BamTheCamera Published on Jan 28, 2014
Best NaeNae Dance Battle (Official)
Dancer: Bam (Orange shoes) vs. Kodak Killa (Dreads)
****
Example #3: Disney Characters | #NaeNae Dance | Super Sega Dragons
Dragon House Bam, Published on Dec 17, 2013
****
Example #4: Nae Nae Dance (JOJ vs LEE)
Rising Stars, Published on Feb 8, 2014
This video is about Nae Nae Dance (JOJ vs LEE)
-snip-
This is a dance off [dance battle] between representatives of Johnson high school and Lee High School.
****
ADDENDUM: DOO DOO BROWN
[Note: This 1991 dance is mentioned in WeAreToonz' "Drop That Nae Nae"].
WARNING - This is not the same video or song as Uncle Luke's "Doo Doo Brown". That song is x rated and that video contains very raunchy ["dirty"/"nasty"] scenes.
2 Hype Brothers And A Dog - Doo Doo Brown
Nina Brown, Uploaded on May 9, 2007
This is the 1st Doo Doo Brown video ever shot! Directed by a then unknown guy named Chris Robinson and starring the one and only Frank Ski!
Music” "Doo Doo Brown" by [1991]
-snip-
Information about this record:
From http://doodoobrown.8m.com/
"2 Hype Brothers And A Dog was formed in Baltimore, Maryland in 1991.
Their masterpiece was an album entitled Ya Rollin' Doo Doo. It was a big hit in the early 1990s because of the monster hit, "Doo Doo Brown." This song combined hip-hop lyricism, a great beat, and comedy.
The song sampled from 2 Live Crew's raunchy song "C'mon Babe."
The song featured the catch phrase "Yeah boy!!!" which later became a hip-hop standard phrase."...
-snip-
At the time that this record was released, Frank Ski was a popular radio dj in Baltimore. Shortly thereafter, he moved to Atlanta and hosted a radio show in that city.
The lyrics for that song are included in that article.
The nickname "Doo Doo Brown" refers to a Black man who knows that he is the sh-t" (He's the man./He's the coolest man around.)
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
This is Part I of a two part pancocojams series on the Hip-Hop/Pop dance the "Nae Nae".
This post provides information and comments about and videos of the 2013 We Are Toonz' hit record "Drop That #NaeNae".
The Addendum of this post showcases a video of the 1991 Hip-Hop song "Doo Doo Brown". That dance is mentioned in the lyrics to We Are Toonz' Drop That #NaeNae".
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2015/07/silentos-watch-me-whip-nae-nae-other.html for Part II of this series. Part II showcases various dances that are mentioned in Silento's 2014 mega-hit record "Watch Me" (Whip/Nae Nae").
The content of this post is presented for cultural and entertainment purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to We Are Toonz for creating and performing the Nae Nae dance. Thanks also to all those quoted in this post, all those who are featured in these videos, and all the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
****
HOW THE NAE NAE GOT ITS NAME
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drop_That_NaeNae
"Drop That NaeNae" (stylized as "Drop That #NaeNae") is a song by American hip hop group We Are Toonz. Released on November 29, 2013, the song gained popularity in early 2014 thanks to its accompanying dance, created by the group and based on the Martin character Sheneneh Jenkins...
The NaeNae dance became a viral hit, gaining traction on social media sites such as YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and Vine.[3] Washington Wizards player John Wall broke into the dance after winning the NBA Slam Dunk Contest on February 15, 2014, leading to a 311% increase in Twitter mentions of the #NaeNae hashtag that day.[5]...
The popularity of the NaeNae dance led to radio and sales traction of "Drop That NaeNae",[9] and the song later debuted at numbers 20 and 38 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts, respectively.[5]"...
****
[Added July 14, 2015] "New Hip-Hop Dance Craze: 'Drop That #NaeNae'" By Rauly Ramirez, New York January 27, 2014 6:06 PM EST
From http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-juice/5885484/new-hip-hop-dance-craze-drop-that-naenae
"From Atlanta -- the city that taught you how to crank that Soulja Boy, shake that laffy taffy, lean with it, rock with it, and walk it out -- comes a new dance that’s spreading across the country: the Nae Nae...
Through the use of social media, the funny dance -- and its G-Cutz-produced anthem “Drop That #NaeNae” (VPP/Skunkfunk) -- has soared in popularity in high schools across America. The group has used Vine, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube to “reach out to the kids because that’s what the kids and the teens are actually on, they’re active on those websites,” says CalLamar. Consequently, there have been more than 1.1 million mentions of the #NaeNae hashtag in the past 90 days, according to Twitter...
If you think the Nae Nae is only for the kids, however, you’d be wrong. The dance has become so popular that collegiate and professional athletes have adopted it for their on- and off-field celebrations. Following their Jan. 1 Rose Bowl victory over Stanford, the Michigan State locker room became ground zero for joyous Nae Nae-ing. New Orleans Saints’ wide receiver Lance Moore also broke out in the dance on Jan. 4 after scoring a playoff touchdown against the Philadelphia Eagles.
One of the song’s biggest supporters, literally, is 6’11” Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard. The perennial NBA All-Star shot a Nae Nae-themed skit with We Are Toonz [the group that created that dance]."...
-snip-
That video is given as Example #1 below.
****
From http://www.buzzfeed.com/naomizeichner/nae-nae-dance-how-to#.afEjWbKLV
..."WeAreToonz invented the Nae Nae in their basement practice space, while preparing for a show. On Oct. 8, 2013, they released a YouTube video instructing people how do the Nae Nae dance. A couple days later, they released an official streaming video for the dance’s partner song, “Drop That #NaeNae.”
The dance is loosely inspired by Sheneneh Jenkins, the female character played by Martin Lawrence on his ‘90s sitcom, Martin. “It’s really just based on a ratchet girl in the club dancing kind of funny and the best girl to describe it is Sheneneh from Martin,” WeAreToonz member CalLamar explained in January....
The Nae Nae joins a short history of regional rap songs that have seeped into mainstream consciousness on the wings of an easy-to-learn dance move. When people shout “huuuahh” before raising their arm for a Nae Nae, it sounds a lot like when people yelled “yooouuu” before dancing to Soulja Boy’s 2007 song “Crank That (Soulja Boy),” an early YouTube hit.
-snip-
"Ratchet" means "ghetto", i.e. "trashy" and "slutty". As a female impersonator, Martin Lawrence portrayed Sheneneh as a woman with a protruding butt who was always ready for a fight. When confronting the middle class Black women Pam and Gina, Sheneneh was quick to put her hand in their face. Sheneneh was also portrayed as a Black woman with a noticeable protruding big butt. Given this exaggerated characterization by a male impersonator, when Sheneneh's movements are converted to a Hip-Hop dance that is performed by males, to a lot of people they appear to be "effeminate".
Besides the numerous racist comments that are found on YouTube discussion threads about the Nae Nae dance, the largest number of comments in all of those threads including those that feature WeAreToonz's record and Silento's 2014 "Watch Me" (Whip and Nae Nae) record -are that the Nae Nae "looks gay" or that men who perform this dance are gay. Undoubtedly, some of the male dancers in Nae Nae videos may be homosexual. But, notwithstanding We Are Toonz' public comment that the Nae Nae dance movements are based on "ratchet girls in the club dancing funny", it seems to me that it's important to recognize that the WeAreToonz's Nae Nae dance (more than Silento's version of this dance) is meant to be a parody. And that parody isn't really of "ratchet girls in the club"- the Nae Nae dance it is meant to be a parody of how gay males dance.
The Buzzfeed article which is quoted above includes two vines (six second videos that repeat on a loop0 of Sheneneh dancing. Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kF4H5vZ-Km4 "Martin - Seasons 1 & 2 - Intro". That brief shot of Sheneneh that is found in that introduction is the best one that I've come across of Sheneneh dancing with her hand in the air. Another clip of Sheneneh dancing (but not with her hand in the air, is found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahiGbGeRllg "Martin - Variety Show- Shanaynay Sings".
However, it should be noted that waving your hand in the air is a gesture that is a core part of Hip Hop culture - in response to something that is appreciated, as part of song lyrics, and as a movement performed while you dance. Click http://ask.metafilter.com/112061/Where-does-this-phrase-come-from for responses to the question "What is the first usage in a song of "wave your hands in the air, like you [just] don't care"?". (The commenters mention The Sugarhill Gang - "Rapper's Delight" (1979)'s use of the vers "then ya throw your hands high in the air/ ya rockin to the rhythm, shake your derriere/ya rockin to the beat without a care". However, commenters also noted that there were probably other Hip-Hop artists who used phrases like that before that group.
Notice the "wave your hand in the air gesture in the "Doo Doo Brown" video that is featured in the Addendum.
****
FEATURED VIDEOS
Example #1: Dwight Howard WeAreToonz "Drop That Nae Nae"
ToonzWeAre, Published on Jan 11, 2014
-snip-
Isaiah Canaan is the other professional basketball player who is featured in this video with Dwight Howard.
-snip-
Click http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/wearetoonz/dropthatnaenae.html for the lyrics for We Are Toonz's "Drop That #NaeNae".
Those lyrics contain a small amount of mild profanity.
****
Example #2: Bam vs. Kodak Killa | NaeNae Dance Battle
BamTheCamera Published on Jan 28, 2014
Best NaeNae Dance Battle (Official)
Dancer: Bam (Orange shoes) vs. Kodak Killa (Dreads)
****
Example #3: Disney Characters | #NaeNae Dance | Super Sega Dragons
Dragon House Bam, Published on Dec 17, 2013
****
Example #4: Nae Nae Dance (JOJ vs LEE)
Rising Stars, Published on Feb 8, 2014
This video is about Nae Nae Dance (JOJ vs LEE)
-snip-
This is a dance off [dance battle] between representatives of Johnson high school and Lee High School.
****
ADDENDUM: DOO DOO BROWN
[Note: This 1991 dance is mentioned in WeAreToonz' "Drop That Nae Nae"].
WARNING - This is not the same video or song as Uncle Luke's "Doo Doo Brown". That song is x rated and that video contains very raunchy ["dirty"/"nasty"] scenes.
2 Hype Brothers And A Dog - Doo Doo Brown
Nina Brown, Uploaded on May 9, 2007
This is the 1st Doo Doo Brown video ever shot! Directed by a then unknown guy named Chris Robinson and starring the one and only Frank Ski!
Music” "Doo Doo Brown" by [1991]
-snip-
Information about this record:
From http://doodoobrown.8m.com/
"2 Hype Brothers And A Dog was formed in Baltimore, Maryland in 1991.
Their masterpiece was an album entitled Ya Rollin' Doo Doo. It was a big hit in the early 1990s because of the monster hit, "Doo Doo Brown." This song combined hip-hop lyricism, a great beat, and comedy.
The song sampled from 2 Live Crew's raunchy song "C'mon Babe."
The song featured the catch phrase "Yeah boy!!!" which later became a hip-hop standard phrase."...
-snip-
At the time that this record was released, Frank Ski was a popular radio dj in Baltimore. Shortly thereafter, he moved to Atlanta and hosted a radio show in that city.
The lyrics for that song are included in that article.
The nickname "Doo Doo Brown" refers to a Black man who knows that he is the sh-t" (He's the man./He's the coolest man around.)
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Saturday, August 23, 2014
Elephant Man - "Get On Up And Dance" (example, partial lyrics, & comments)
Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part V of a six part series of posts on a sampling of African American and Caribbean songs whose titles include the words "Get Up" or "Get On Up".
This post showcases Elephant Man's 2004 Dancehall record "Get On Up and Dance".
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/07/various-sound-files-videos-of-get-up.html for Part I of that series.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-esquires-get-on-up-example-lyrics.html for Part II of that series.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/08/james-brown-get-up-sex-machine-get-up.html for Part III of this series.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/08/jodeci-get-on-up-example-lyrics-comments.html for Part IV of this series.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/08/public-enemy-get-up-stand-up-example.html for Part VI off this series.
The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, entertainment, motivational, and aesthetic purpose.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Elephant Man for this record. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post, and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
****
EDITORIAL COMMENT
The "Get Up" songs that are showcased in this series encourage people to get up and dance. while the "Get Up Stand Up" songs encourage people to address the wrongs that they experience in oppressive societies.
I find it interesting that James Brown's “Get Up Offa That Thing" includes lyrics that encourage people to "dance 'til you feel better" and "dance to try to relieve that pressure". And I content that Black dance songs and play songs-along with Black work songs and religious songs- helped Black people survive the horrors of slavery. And dance songs along with other non-religious songs and religious songs continue to help Black people survive the oppression we've faced post slavery up to and including today, even if it's only to take our minds off of that oppression for a little while.
Part III of this series includes more comments about this subject.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT ELEPHANT MAN
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_Man_(musician)
"O'Neil Bryan (born 11 September 1975), better known by his stage name Elephant Man, is a Jamaican dancehall musician.
Born in Kingston, Jamaica, he started out his musical career as a member of the Scare Dem Crew, later continuing as a solo artist. He was later characterised for several trademarks, such as his dyed yellow-orange hair, his unique low-key voice, and his stage performance, which included jumping and running, or even climbing on stage props and monitors. His acoustic trademark is marked by a light lisp...
Many of his songs are found on various Riddim Driven albums by VP Records and Greensleeves Records's Rhythm Album series. He performs on popular riddims such as "Diwali", "Coolie", "Stepz", and "Bubble Up"...
Years active: 1997–present"...
****
SHOWCASE VIDEO: Elephant Man - Get On Up and Dance(Thrilla Riddim)
Doing Numbers Like SuDoku Uploaded on Mar 11, 2009
Thrilla Riddim
Get On Up And Dance (Original Mix) by Elephant Man from the album Biggest Ragga Dancehall Anthems 2004
-snip-
The chorus of that song is:
Get on up and dance (Alright)
tunda clap and dance (alright)
Keepin it jiggy then yuh waan come wid it
Everybody ready ready and dance
Get on up and dance (Give dem di dance now)
tunda clap and dance
(A ready ready ready ready)
Keepin it jiggy then yuh waan come wid it
Everybody ready ready and dance
-snip-
Click http://www.lyricsmania.com/get_on_up_lyrics_elephant_man.htmlfor the complete lyrics to this song. Those lyrics include one curse word.
-snip-
TUNDA CLAP (THUNDER CLAP)
A "tunda clap" ("thunder clap"; "thunderclap") is a type of hand gesture that is performed in a rhythmical, repetitive manner while dancing to dancehall music. This type of clapping is usually done in response to lyrical commands in the song. The thunder clap is supposed to (loosely) imitate the sound of thunder (i.e. The sound made by this clap isn't a sharp crack, although perhaps it was originally meant to be performed that way.)
How to perform "thunder clap" (thunderclap)
The following instructions are from my observations of my daughter doing this clap which she learned from some Jamaicans during a summer vacation in 2004 or 2005:
In response to the song's instructional command to thunder clap,
hold your right hand palm up away from your head and then slide the palm of your left hand over the palm of the right hand starting at the back of the palm.
This thunder clap is repeated in a moderately slow pace to the beat (or on the off beat?) of the dancehall song while continuing to dance to that song.
-snip-
Here's another explanation of "thunder clap" from http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=thunderclap
"Thunder Clap
Clapping in the air with a sliding motion. With one hand raised first, with the second to meet it half way, clapping, with the second hand left extended. Repeat back and forth.
Look at that guy, he knows how to thunder clap!!"
by Setrock, October 29, 2004
Note: That page includes sexually explicit definitions for thunderclap.
****
KEEPIN IT JIGGY [Revised 2/6/2015]
"Keepin it jiggy" means to "keeping the energy and enthusiasm up (so that people can dance and otherwise have a good time).
The phrase "keepin it jiggy" is an expansion of the phrase "gettin[g] jiggy with (wit) it" which is the title of African American rapper Will Smith's 1997 hit song.
"Gettin jiggy wit (with) it" means to "have a good time", "to get hyped (excited)", "to move and dance in an excited way". "Gettin jiggy" often also has connotations of moving (dancing) in a provocative, sexualized way.
Here's one definition for the word "jiggy" from
http://forum.dancehallreggae.com/archive/index.php/t-59720.html, jamdowntnt, 08-20-2005
"jiggy= adjective to describe having a good time..."
-snip-
In the phrase "it's a jiggy time", the word "jiggy" acts as an adjective. However, in the phrase "keepin it jiggy" and "gettin jiggy wit it", the word "jiggy" is a noun.
here's a second quote from that same blog, posted by Don Malvo, 08-20-2005
"Jiggy - originally black American urban slang, made popular in mainstream American culture by actor/rapper Will Smith and co-opted by Elephant Man, has since become passe in the African-American community in which it originated; used varyingly to refer to 'having a good time' (as jamdowntnt put it) or a blanket descriptive term for the colourful, dance-oriented style of dancehall reggae currently in vogue, epitomized by artists Elephant Man and Voise Mail (and a few tracks by Beenie [m]an."
-snip-
"Gettin jiggy with it" was also used among African Americans as a positive commentary on a person's non-standard, funky fashion style. In that usage, a person who was "gettin jiggy with it" was keeping up with the energy and creativity of contemporary street fashions.
A pancocojams post on the word "jiggy" will be published ASAP and its link will be added to this post.
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
This is Part V of a six part series of posts on a sampling of African American and Caribbean songs whose titles include the words "Get Up" or "Get On Up".
This post showcases Elephant Man's 2004 Dancehall record "Get On Up and Dance".
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/07/various-sound-files-videos-of-get-up.html for Part I of that series.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-esquires-get-on-up-example-lyrics.html for Part II of that series.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/08/james-brown-get-up-sex-machine-get-up.html for Part III of this series.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/08/jodeci-get-on-up-example-lyrics-comments.html for Part IV of this series.
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/08/public-enemy-get-up-stand-up-example.html for Part VI off this series.
The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, entertainment, motivational, and aesthetic purpose.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Elephant Man for this record. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post, and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
****
EDITORIAL COMMENT
The "Get Up" songs that are showcased in this series encourage people to get up and dance. while the "Get Up Stand Up" songs encourage people to address the wrongs that they experience in oppressive societies.
I find it interesting that James Brown's “Get Up Offa That Thing" includes lyrics that encourage people to "dance 'til you feel better" and "dance to try to relieve that pressure". And I content that Black dance songs and play songs-along with Black work songs and religious songs- helped Black people survive the horrors of slavery. And dance songs along with other non-religious songs and religious songs continue to help Black people survive the oppression we've faced post slavery up to and including today, even if it's only to take our minds off of that oppression for a little while.
Part III of this series includes more comments about this subject.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT ELEPHANT MAN
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_Man_(musician)
"O'Neil Bryan (born 11 September 1975), better known by his stage name Elephant Man, is a Jamaican dancehall musician.
Born in Kingston, Jamaica, he started out his musical career as a member of the Scare Dem Crew, later continuing as a solo artist. He was later characterised for several trademarks, such as his dyed yellow-orange hair, his unique low-key voice, and his stage performance, which included jumping and running, or even climbing on stage props and monitors. His acoustic trademark is marked by a light lisp...
Many of his songs are found on various Riddim Driven albums by VP Records and Greensleeves Records's Rhythm Album series. He performs on popular riddims such as "Diwali", "Coolie", "Stepz", and "Bubble Up"...
Years active: 1997–present"...
****
SHOWCASE VIDEO: Elephant Man - Get On Up and Dance(Thrilla Riddim)
Doing Numbers Like SuDoku Uploaded on Mar 11, 2009
Thrilla Riddim
Get On Up And Dance (Original Mix) by Elephant Man from the album Biggest Ragga Dancehall Anthems 2004
-snip-
The chorus of that song is:
Get on up and dance (Alright)
tunda clap and dance (alright)
Keepin it jiggy then yuh waan come wid it
Everybody ready ready and dance
Get on up and dance (Give dem di dance now)
tunda clap and dance
(A ready ready ready ready)
Keepin it jiggy then yuh waan come wid it
Everybody ready ready and dance
-snip-
Click http://www.lyricsmania.com/get_on_up_lyrics_elephant_man.htmlfor the complete lyrics to this song. Those lyrics include one curse word.
-snip-
TUNDA CLAP (THUNDER CLAP)
A "tunda clap" ("thunder clap"; "thunderclap") is a type of hand gesture that is performed in a rhythmical, repetitive manner while dancing to dancehall music. This type of clapping is usually done in response to lyrical commands in the song. The thunder clap is supposed to (loosely) imitate the sound of thunder (i.e. The sound made by this clap isn't a sharp crack, although perhaps it was originally meant to be performed that way.)
How to perform "thunder clap" (thunderclap)
The following instructions are from my observations of my daughter doing this clap which she learned from some Jamaicans during a summer vacation in 2004 or 2005:
In response to the song's instructional command to thunder clap,
hold your right hand palm up away from your head and then slide the palm of your left hand over the palm of the right hand starting at the back of the palm.
This thunder clap is repeated in a moderately slow pace to the beat (or on the off beat?) of the dancehall song while continuing to dance to that song.
-snip-
Here's another explanation of "thunder clap" from http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=thunderclap
"Thunder Clap
Clapping in the air with a sliding motion. With one hand raised first, with the second to meet it half way, clapping, with the second hand left extended. Repeat back and forth.
Look at that guy, he knows how to thunder clap!!"
by Setrock, October 29, 2004
Note: That page includes sexually explicit definitions for thunderclap.
****
KEEPIN IT JIGGY [Revised 2/6/2015]
"Keepin it jiggy" means to "keeping the energy and enthusiasm up (so that people can dance and otherwise have a good time).
The phrase "keepin it jiggy" is an expansion of the phrase "gettin[g] jiggy with (wit) it" which is the title of African American rapper Will Smith's 1997 hit song.
"Gettin jiggy wit (with) it" means to "have a good time", "to get hyped (excited)", "to move and dance in an excited way". "Gettin jiggy" often also has connotations of moving (dancing) in a provocative, sexualized way.
Here's one definition for the word "jiggy" from
http://forum.dancehallreggae.com/archive/index.php/t-59720.html, jamdowntnt, 08-20-2005
"jiggy= adjective to describe having a good time..."
-snip-
In the phrase "it's a jiggy time", the word "jiggy" acts as an adjective. However, in the phrase "keepin it jiggy" and "gettin jiggy wit it", the word "jiggy" is a noun.
here's a second quote from that same blog, posted by Don Malvo, 08-20-2005
"Jiggy - originally black American urban slang, made popular in mainstream American culture by actor/rapper Will Smith and co-opted by Elephant Man, has since become passe in the African-American community in which it originated; used varyingly to refer to 'having a good time' (as jamdowntnt put it) or a blanket descriptive term for the colourful, dance-oriented style of dancehall reggae currently in vogue, epitomized by artists Elephant Man and Voise Mail (and a few tracks by Beenie [m]an."
-snip-
"Gettin jiggy with it" was also used among African Americans as a positive commentary on a person's non-standard, funky fashion style. In that usage, a person who was "gettin jiggy with it" was keeping up with the energy and creativity of contemporary street fashions.
A pancocojams post on the word "jiggy" will be published ASAP and its link will be added to this post.
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Saturday, September 21, 2013
What "Walk That Walk And Talk That Talk" Means
Edited by Azizi Powell
This post provides definitions for and commentary about the American phrase "Walk that walk & talk that talk". A video of John Lee Hooker's Blues song "Boom Boom" which includes that phrase is also included in this post. An excerpt of Juelz Santana's 2013 Hip Hop song "Sho Nuff" that contains the phrase "walk that walk and talk that talk at phrase is also included in this post.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
****
DEFINITION & HISTORY OF "WALK THAT WALK AND TALK THAT TALK"
Fromhttp://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/walk-the-walk.htmlhttp://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/walk-the-walk.html
Origin
'Walk the walk' is almost always said in combination with 'talk the talk', for example, "if you’re going to talk the talk, you’ve got to walk the walk", or "walk it like you talk it". This is a 20th century American alternative to various old sayings which epitomise the notion that 'talk is cheap', for example 'actions speak louder than words' and 'practice what you preach'. The context for the use of any of these expressions is in response to what is seen as empty boasting. People who are accused of such are said (in the USA) to 'talk a good game' or (in the UK) to be 'all mouth and no trousers'…
The earliest usage that I can actually verify is a citation from the Ohio newspaper The Mansfield News, June 1921:
"Although he has no gilded medals upon his bosom, Howard Herring of the North American Watch company, walks the walk, and talks the talk, of a hero today."
More recently, and especially in the UK, where 'walk the walk' has never caught on, the phrase is sometimes condensed to 'walk the talk'. This appears to have derived in the UK as a simple mishearing of the American original. The earliest example of it that I've found in print is in an article in The Times (London), from May 1993. This came in an interview with Gordon Roddick, co-founder of The Body Shop cosmetics chain:
"Some of the less friendly observers have determined that we will abandon our principles and reveal ourselves as shallow cynical exploiters. We must disappoint them... quite simply put, we walk our talk."..."
****
From http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070921212100AAvheMy "What is the meaning of walk the walk or talk the talk,?"
"Basically, it means being able to do what you say you can do, instead of just idle boasting."
-The Dragon, 2007
****
FEATURED MUSICAL EXAMPLES
The phrase "walk that walk and talk that talk" can be found in numerous American songs, including Blues, Pop, Rock, and Hip Hop.
Here are two examples of those songs:
Example #1: John Lee Hooker - Boom Boom w/ Lyrics
RevolverLover101 Uploaded on Jul 23, 2010
!I DONT OWN NOR CLAIM TO OWN THE MUSIC OR LYRICS TO THIS SONG OR CLAIM TO BE THE ARTIST. THIS SONG IS FOR PEOPLE TO LISTEN TO AND ENJOY ONLY CREDIT GOES TO THE ARTIST LISTED IN TITLE OF VIDEO!
feel free to ask for requests.
{Lyrics}
Boom boom boom boom
I'm gonna shoot you right down,
right offa your feet
Take you home with me,
put you in my house
Boom boom boom boom
A-haw haw haw haw
Hmmm hmmm hmmm hmmm
Hmmm hmmm hmmm hmmm
I love to see you strut,
up and down the floor
When you talking to me,
that baby talk
I like it like that
Whoa, yeah!
Talk that talk, walk that walk
When she walk that walk,
and talk that talk,
and whisper in my ear,
tell me that you love me
I love that talk
When you talk like that,
you knocks me out,
right off of my feet
Hoo hoo hoo
Talk that talk, and walk that walk
-snip-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boom_Boom_(John_Lee_Hooker_song)
" "Boom Boom" is a blues song written by John Lee Hooker and recorded in 1961. The song was a hit in the US in 1962 and 1992 in the UK. It is one of Hooker's most identifiable songs[2] and has been recorded by numerous blues and other artists, including a 1965 Pop hit by The Animals"...
****
Example #2:
Juelz Santana's "Sho Nuff" is a 2013 Hip Hop song that includes the phrase "walk that walk and talk that talk". Here's the lyrics from that song's hook:*
"Am I gettin' money? (Sho nuff)
Am I the meanest? (Sho nuff)
Am I the baddest? (Sho nuff)
Am I the flyest? (Sho nuff)
Who got the illest mojo fo sho 'round this town, me
Yeah I walk that walk, yeah I talk that talk
I'm from grimy ass New York"
*WARNING: This song contains profanity, sexually explicit references, and also includes "the n word". Because of that content I'm not linking to a video or the full lyrics of that song. However, here's explanations of selected words from that hook:
"Sho nuff" = sure enough (meaning "Definitely!"; "You're absolutely right about that".)
"baddest" & "illest" = the best [Another equivalent slang term is "sickest".]
"flyest" - hippest [Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/01/fly-fly-girl-slang-definition-examples.html for a pancocojams post on "fly girl", fly guy", fly]
"mojo" - a power that may seem magical and that allows someone to be very effective, successful, etc. from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mojo
"I'm from grimy ass New York" = equivalent to saying "I'm from the 'hood [so you know I'm bad"] "Ass" in "grimy ass" means something like "ole" as in "dirty ole New York [New York City]
****
Thanks to all those who I quoted in this post. Thanks also to those vocalists who are featured in this post & thanks to the publisher of the showcased video.
Thank you for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
This post provides definitions for and commentary about the American phrase "Walk that walk & talk that talk". A video of John Lee Hooker's Blues song "Boom Boom" which includes that phrase is also included in this post. An excerpt of Juelz Santana's 2013 Hip Hop song "Sho Nuff" that contains the phrase "walk that walk and talk that talk at phrase is also included in this post.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
****
DEFINITION & HISTORY OF "WALK THAT WALK AND TALK THAT TALK"
Fromhttp://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/walk-the-walk.htmlhttp://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/walk-the-walk.html
Origin
'Walk the walk' is almost always said in combination with 'talk the talk', for example, "if you’re going to talk the talk, you’ve got to walk the walk", or "walk it like you talk it". This is a 20th century American alternative to various old sayings which epitomise the notion that 'talk is cheap', for example 'actions speak louder than words' and 'practice what you preach'. The context for the use of any of these expressions is in response to what is seen as empty boasting. People who are accused of such are said (in the USA) to 'talk a good game' or (in the UK) to be 'all mouth and no trousers'…
The earliest usage that I can actually verify is a citation from the Ohio newspaper The Mansfield News, June 1921:
"Although he has no gilded medals upon his bosom, Howard Herring of the North American Watch company, walks the walk, and talks the talk, of a hero today."
More recently, and especially in the UK, where 'walk the walk' has never caught on, the phrase is sometimes condensed to 'walk the talk'. This appears to have derived in the UK as a simple mishearing of the American original. The earliest example of it that I've found in print is in an article in The Times (London), from May 1993. This came in an interview with Gordon Roddick, co-founder of The Body Shop cosmetics chain:
"Some of the less friendly observers have determined that we will abandon our principles and reveal ourselves as shallow cynical exploiters. We must disappoint them... quite simply put, we walk our talk."..."
****
From http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070921212100AAvheMy "What is the meaning of walk the walk or talk the talk,?"
"Basically, it means being able to do what you say you can do, instead of just idle boasting."
-The Dragon, 2007
****
FEATURED MUSICAL EXAMPLES
The phrase "walk that walk and talk that talk" can be found in numerous American songs, including Blues, Pop, Rock, and Hip Hop.
Here are two examples of those songs:
Example #1: John Lee Hooker - Boom Boom w/ Lyrics
RevolverLover101 Uploaded on Jul 23, 2010
!I DONT OWN NOR CLAIM TO OWN THE MUSIC OR LYRICS TO THIS SONG OR CLAIM TO BE THE ARTIST. THIS SONG IS FOR PEOPLE TO LISTEN TO AND ENJOY ONLY CREDIT GOES TO THE ARTIST LISTED IN TITLE OF VIDEO!
feel free to ask for requests.
{Lyrics}
Boom boom boom boom
I'm gonna shoot you right down,
right offa your feet
Take you home with me,
put you in my house
Boom boom boom boom
A-haw haw haw haw
Hmmm hmmm hmmm hmmm
Hmmm hmmm hmmm hmmm
I love to see you strut,
up and down the floor
When you talking to me,
that baby talk
I like it like that
Whoa, yeah!
Talk that talk, walk that walk
When she walk that walk,
and talk that talk,
and whisper in my ear,
tell me that you love me
I love that talk
When you talk like that,
you knocks me out,
right off of my feet
Hoo hoo hoo
Talk that talk, and walk that walk
-snip-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boom_Boom_(John_Lee_Hooker_song)
" "Boom Boom" is a blues song written by John Lee Hooker and recorded in 1961. The song was a hit in the US in 1962 and 1992 in the UK. It is one of Hooker's most identifiable songs[2] and has been recorded by numerous blues and other artists, including a 1965 Pop hit by The Animals"...
****
Example #2:
Juelz Santana's "Sho Nuff" is a 2013 Hip Hop song that includes the phrase "walk that walk and talk that talk". Here's the lyrics from that song's hook:*
"Am I gettin' money? (Sho nuff)
Am I the meanest? (Sho nuff)
Am I the baddest? (Sho nuff)
Am I the flyest? (Sho nuff)
Who got the illest mojo fo sho 'round this town, me
Yeah I walk that walk, yeah I talk that talk
I'm from grimy ass New York"
*WARNING: This song contains profanity, sexually explicit references, and also includes "the n word". Because of that content I'm not linking to a video or the full lyrics of that song. However, here's explanations of selected words from that hook:
"Sho nuff" = sure enough (meaning "Definitely!"; "You're absolutely right about that".)
"baddest" & "illest" = the best [Another equivalent slang term is "sickest".]
"flyest" - hippest [Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/01/fly-fly-girl-slang-definition-examples.html for a pancocojams post on "fly girl", fly guy", fly]
"mojo" - a power that may seem magical and that allows someone to be very effective, successful, etc. from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mojo
"I'm from grimy ass New York" = equivalent to saying "I'm from the 'hood [so you know I'm bad"] "Ass" in "grimy ass" means something like "ole" as in "dirty ole New York [New York City]
****
Thanks to all those who I quoted in this post. Thanks also to those vocalists who are featured in this post & thanks to the publisher of the showcased video.
Thank you for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
A Video Of "Regina" by Angolan Singer Socorro & The Differences Between Traditional Angolan Dancing & Twerking
Edited by Azizi Powell
This post showcases the Angolan singer Soccoro's song "Regina" and includes my comments about the dancing done by women in that video. This post also includes some information about Socorro.
The content of this post is provided for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT SOCCORO
From http://allafrica.com/stories/201201230199.html
"22 January 2012 Luanda — Angolan musician Kalayandi José Kabeya "Socorro" will this Sunday present, at the Independence Square, in Luanda, his third album entitled "Nzimbu (meaning money)" in the Kikongo vernacular language.
The album has 10 tracks sang in Kikongo and in the Kilapanga, Sungura and Semba music genres, as well as a mixture of Congolese rhythms.
The CD was recorded in Luanda and received its finishing touches in Germany, where 10,000 copies of the CD were edited.
The singer's music repertoire includes CDs such as "Meu Dever" (2007) and "Kuvata Dieto" (2009).
Born in the northern province of Uige, Socorro started singing gospel music in the late 80s with instruments like the traditional marimba and wood guitars."
-snip-
The same biographical information about Socorro is found in other allAfrica.com articles. Among those articles is one in which Socorro calls for more support of blind artists in Angola.
****
SHOWCASE VIDEO
Example #1: socorro (regina) original
Paca Davis, Uploaded on Oct 29, 2009
Traditional Music of Angola; Ritimo quente do Quimbele
-snip-
I believe that Socorro's music is an example of Soukous music.
I'd love to know what this song means & what language/s it is sung in.
****
RELATED LINK
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/05/cote-divoires-mapouka-dance-roots-of.html Cote D’Ivoire's Mapouka Dance - The Roots Of Twerking (information & videos)
****
THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TRADITIONAL AFRICAN DANCING IN SOCCORO'S REGINA VIDEO & TWERKING DANCING
One of the dance movements that the women in Socorro's video "Regina" do* is similar to the contemporary -2013- dance that Americans call "twerking". However, in that 2009 video that twerking movement -when the women face backward, lean slightly forward & shake their butt - is combined with other dance movements. That face backward, lean forward. butt shaking movement doesn't last very long & thus isn't emphasized in that dance. As a result, it seems to me that that traditional butt shaking movement isn't as "raunchy"** as it would be if it were done by itself. Notice also that the women dancers' clothing isn't the short, form fitting butt emphasizing shorts or "tights" that are worn by American "twerker" dancers. Because their clothing is much less form fitting, the dance these women in Socorro's video do is much less sexually provocative than twerking is.
* For example, at 1:39/1:40 of this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FFDotPs77M
**"Raunchy" is an African American slang word which can mean the same thing as "nasty". The contemporary African American adjective "rachet" can mean the same as raunchy & nasty.
****
Thanks to Soccoro for his music. Thanks also to the other singers, musicians, and dancers in these videos & the publishers of this exampls on YouTube.
Thank you for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
This post showcases the Angolan singer Soccoro's song "Regina" and includes my comments about the dancing done by women in that video. This post also includes some information about Socorro.
The content of this post is provided for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT SOCCORO
From http://allafrica.com/stories/201201230199.html
"22 January 2012 Luanda — Angolan musician Kalayandi José Kabeya "Socorro" will this Sunday present, at the Independence Square, in Luanda, his third album entitled "Nzimbu (meaning money)" in the Kikongo vernacular language.
The album has 10 tracks sang in Kikongo and in the Kilapanga, Sungura and Semba music genres, as well as a mixture of Congolese rhythms.
The CD was recorded in Luanda and received its finishing touches in Germany, where 10,000 copies of the CD were edited.
The singer's music repertoire includes CDs such as "Meu Dever" (2007) and "Kuvata Dieto" (2009).
Born in the northern province of Uige, Socorro started singing gospel music in the late 80s with instruments like the traditional marimba and wood guitars."
-snip-
The same biographical information about Socorro is found in other allAfrica.com articles. Among those articles is one in which Socorro calls for more support of blind artists in Angola.
****
SHOWCASE VIDEO
Example #1: socorro (regina) original
Paca Davis, Uploaded on Oct 29, 2009
Traditional Music of Angola; Ritimo quente do Quimbele
-snip-
I believe that Socorro's music is an example of Soukous music.
I'd love to know what this song means & what language/s it is sung in.
****
RELATED LINK
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/05/cote-divoires-mapouka-dance-roots-of.html Cote D’Ivoire's Mapouka Dance - The Roots Of Twerking (information & videos)
****
THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TRADITIONAL AFRICAN DANCING IN SOCCORO'S REGINA VIDEO & TWERKING DANCING
One of the dance movements that the women in Socorro's video "Regina" do* is similar to the contemporary -2013- dance that Americans call "twerking". However, in that 2009 video that twerking movement -when the women face backward, lean slightly forward & shake their butt - is combined with other dance movements. That face backward, lean forward. butt shaking movement doesn't last very long & thus isn't emphasized in that dance. As a result, it seems to me that that traditional butt shaking movement isn't as "raunchy"** as it would be if it were done by itself. Notice also that the women dancers' clothing isn't the short, form fitting butt emphasizing shorts or "tights" that are worn by American "twerker" dancers. Because their clothing is much less form fitting, the dance these women in Socorro's video do is much less sexually provocative than twerking is.
* For example, at 1:39/1:40 of this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FFDotPs77M
**"Raunchy" is an African American slang word which can mean the same thing as "nasty". The contemporary African American adjective "rachet" can mean the same as raunchy & nasty.
****
Thanks to Soccoro for his music. Thanks also to the other singers, musicians, and dancers in these videos & the publishers of this exampls on YouTube.
Thank you for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Friday, January 25, 2013
Why “Brick House” Didn’t Become A Widely Accepted Slang Term
Written by Azizi Powell
“Brick house” is a complimentary descriptive referent for certain females which was coined by Shirley Hanna-King, the wife of a member of the R&B group “The Commodores”. According to that usage, "brick house" (also found as "brickhouse") [noun] is a curvaceous, "stacked", attractive female.
There are anecdotal statements on the Commodore's "Brick House" YouTube video viewer comment threads from women who remember being called a “brickhouse” after that record was released. There are also comments on those discussion threads from women who having heard that record, claim that they are a “brickhouse”. However, even in those discussion threads, it appears that a lot of viewers of the Commodores’ “Brick House” video, and/or listeners of the “Brick House” sound file aren’t sure what “brick house” (“brick house”) means in relation to females.
Clearly, “brick house” (or “brickhouse”) didn’t make into the A level of slang terms, that is - words or phrases that have been coined by African Americans relatively recently which have been quickly accepted by that population: words such as “old school”, “shout out”, and “bling” (or “bling bling”). Another A level slang category that “brick house”, “brickhouse” failed to achieve is words or phrases that were well known and have been used for a period of time by African Americans but have since largely been retired by that population: words such as “Yo!”, “Word up!”, and “out of sight”.
Of course, since “brick house” (or “brickhouse”) didn’t make it into the A level of slang terms, it certainly didn’t make it into the A+ level - slang terms that are well known by African Americans and are still used after a considerable amount of time; words and phrases like “jive”, “jam”, and “funky".
Many words from both of those A levels have been adopted by non-African Americans who may not use them correctly and may continue to use them long after African Americans have moved on to other slang terms – words like “dig”, “cool”, and “hip”. But “brick house” (“brickhouse”) doesn’t have anywhere near the status of any of those African American slang terms.
In this post, I attempt to delineate my thoughts on why “brick house”/”brickhouse” as a referent for curvaceous women has such a low score in the world of African American slang terms.
Point #1: “Brick house” already has a well known, firmly established meaning - a building for human habitation that is made out of - “bricks”.
Axiom #1: It’s not easy to supplant a well known, firmly established definition with a newly coined word, phrase, or idiom.
**
Point #2: Both “brick” and “house” have negative colloquial connotations.
Brick - an unintelligent person. Derived from "dumb as a brick."
http://onlineslangdictionary.com/meaning-definition-of/brick
Also , “If you talk to someone and they do not listen to you, it is like talking to a brick wall”.
http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/talking+to+a+brick+wall.html
-snip-
House – as in “big as a house”:
“now and days if you call a girl a brick howse lol she going think you calling her brickhouse lol aka look big or fat lol “
-Change- bostonguy, 2011, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrBx6mAWYPU Commodore’s – Brick House
Also, click http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/hello-house-too-big-nfl-200948099--nfl.htm for an article about a male football player whose nickname is “House” who has been determined to be too big to play in the NFL.
[And yes, I recognize the built in societal assumption that females don’t want to be considered described as being big or fat. But just because that assumption isn’t right, it still exists.]
Axiom #2: It’s not easy to give a positive connotation or connotations to words, phrases, or idioms that already have a negative connotation.
**
Point #3: “The term “brick house” and “bricks” are associated with excrement:
“solid as a sh&t brick house”, and “sh&&ting bricks”.
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2458/how-did-the-phrase-built-like-a-brick-shithouse-get-to-be-a-compliment
Axiom #3 [which is related to Axiom #2] Unless they are pre-teens and teenagers, or acting as though they are pre-teens or teenagers, people don’t like to be described in terms that are associated with excrement.
**
Point #4: There’s already a positive colloquial definition for “brick”, and that definition has nothing whatsoever to do with a curvaceous, attractive woman:
...“'you're a real brick' is you're really dependable, i can rely on you. “ http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=87069
See Axiom #1.
**
Point #5: If there are already standard & colloquial terms whose meanings fit what you are trying to say, why would anyone use a term that has so much associated baggage?
See Axiom #1, #2, and #3
**
Point #6: There are numerous slang meanings for the word “house”, many of which are associated with the music genre “House” (which supposedly got its name because it first developed in the early 1980s- a few years after the Commodore’s “Brick House record - in a Chicago, Illinois (night)club named “The Warehouse”, and then in New York City, and elsewhere. For example, the saying “I’ll house you” comes from the title and lyrics of the now classic 1989 Jungle Brothers record. I gather that “I’ll house you” has both a sexual meaning and a meaning that threatens violence, and can also mean other things. But I’m not sure about that since I’m not well versed in House music vernacular. Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_music for information about House music.
If the term “brick house” was moving toward acceptance outside of that Commodore’s song, the arrival of stronger, more widely accepted colloquial usages of the word “house” sapped what was already a weakened acceptance (because of points I already made).
Axiom #4: When it comes to newly coined words or new meanings of already established words, it’s usually a matter of the survival of the fittest.
-snip-
So, there you have it. That’s my take on why “Brick house” is a pretty good dance song, but a rather lousy slang term.
****
SHOWCASE VIDEO: Brick House - The Commodores
merlotje, Uploaded on Jan 21, 2008
The Commodores-Brick House 1977
-snip-
Here's information about this song - added June 11, 2016
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brick_House_(song)
" "Brick House" is a song from the Commodores' 1977 self-titled album (released as Zoom in the UK).[1] The single peaked at #5 in the U.S. and #32 in the UK pop charts.
Creation and recording
In 1977, the Commodores were in the studio recording when there was a problem with the equipment. While the tapes were being repaired and replaced, the group took a break. Ronald LaPread, the group's bass player, began jamming. Bit by bit the rest of the band joined in until they came up with a track and bass line. Upon returning, James Carmichael, the Commodores' producer, heard and recognized that this could be a song worth recording. He asked everyone to see if they could use the riff to come up with a song. Taking the tapes home, William King played them for his wife, Shirley Hanna-King. While he slept she was inspired to write lyrics for the riff, modifying the expression "built like a brick sh&thouse"* for the song.[2]
The following day King sang the lyrics to "Brick House" to the band, allowing them to think he had written it. They loved it and decided that drummer Walter "Clyde" Orange had the funky voice to sing lead vocals,(as opposed to Lionel Richie, who usually sang lead), and the song went on the new album.
It took several years before the other members of the group discovered that it was actually Shirley Hanna-King who had written the lyrics, and although she was not originally credited, the band has publicly acknowledged her as the song's writer."
-snip-
*That word is fully spelled out in that article.
-snip-
LYRICS - BRICK HOUSE [Added June 11, 2016]
(William King- publicly credited as writer; actual writer his wife Shirley Hanna-King)
[Chorus:]
She's a brick house
Mighty might just lettin' it all hang out
She's a brick house
The lady's stacked and that's a fact,
ain't holding nothing back.
She's a brick house
She's the one, the only one,
who's built like a amazon*
We're together everybody knows,
and here's how the story goes.
She knows she got everything
a woman needs to get a man, yeah.
How can she lose with what she use
36-24-36, what a winning hand!
[Chorus]
The clothes she wears, the sexy ways,
make an old man wish for younger days
She knows she's built and knows how to please
Sure enough to knock a man to his knees
[Chorus]
Shake it down, shake it down now (repeat)
-snip-
*pronounced am-a-ka-zawn
Source: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/commodores/brickhouse.html
****
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND THANKS
The content of this post is presented for etymological and entertainment reasons.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the composer of "Brick House" and thanks to the Commodores for their musical legacy. My thanks also to the authors & commenters who are quoted in this post, and to the uploader of this video.
Also, thank you for visiting pancocojams.
Viewer comments are welcome
“Brick house” is a complimentary descriptive referent for certain females which was coined by Shirley Hanna-King, the wife of a member of the R&B group “The Commodores”. According to that usage, "brick house" (also found as "brickhouse") [noun] is a curvaceous, "stacked", attractive female.
There are anecdotal statements on the Commodore's "Brick House" YouTube video viewer comment threads from women who remember being called a “brickhouse” after that record was released. There are also comments on those discussion threads from women who having heard that record, claim that they are a “brickhouse”. However, even in those discussion threads, it appears that a lot of viewers of the Commodores’ “Brick House” video, and/or listeners of the “Brick House” sound file aren’t sure what “brick house” (“brick house”) means in relation to females.
Clearly, “brick house” (or “brickhouse”) didn’t make into the A level of slang terms, that is - words or phrases that have been coined by African Americans relatively recently which have been quickly accepted by that population: words such as “old school”, “shout out”, and “bling” (or “bling bling”). Another A level slang category that “brick house”, “brickhouse” failed to achieve is words or phrases that were well known and have been used for a period of time by African Americans but have since largely been retired by that population: words such as “Yo!”, “Word up!”, and “out of sight”.
Of course, since “brick house” (or “brickhouse”) didn’t make it into the A level of slang terms, it certainly didn’t make it into the A+ level - slang terms that are well known by African Americans and are still used after a considerable amount of time; words and phrases like “jive”, “jam”, and “funky".
Many words from both of those A levels have been adopted by non-African Americans who may not use them correctly and may continue to use them long after African Americans have moved on to other slang terms – words like “dig”, “cool”, and “hip”. But “brick house” (“brickhouse”) doesn’t have anywhere near the status of any of those African American slang terms.
In this post, I attempt to delineate my thoughts on why “brick house”/”brickhouse” as a referent for curvaceous women has such a low score in the world of African American slang terms.
Point #1: “Brick house” already has a well known, firmly established meaning - a building for human habitation that is made out of - “bricks”.
Axiom #1: It’s not easy to supplant a well known, firmly established definition with a newly coined word, phrase, or idiom.
**
Point #2: Both “brick” and “house” have negative colloquial connotations.
Brick - an unintelligent person. Derived from "dumb as a brick."
http://onlineslangdictionary.com/meaning-definition-of/brick
Also , “If you talk to someone and they do not listen to you, it is like talking to a brick wall”.
http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/talking+to+a+brick+wall.html
-snip-
House – as in “big as a house”:
“now and days if you call a girl a brick howse lol she going think you calling her brickhouse lol aka look big or fat lol “
-Change- bostonguy, 2011, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrBx6mAWYPU Commodore’s – Brick House
Also, click http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/hello-house-too-big-nfl-200948099--nfl.htm for an article about a male football player whose nickname is “House” who has been determined to be too big to play in the NFL.
[And yes, I recognize the built in societal assumption that females don’t want to be considered described as being big or fat. But just because that assumption isn’t right, it still exists.]
Axiom #2: It’s not easy to give a positive connotation or connotations to words, phrases, or idioms that already have a negative connotation.
**
Point #3: “The term “brick house” and “bricks” are associated with excrement:
“solid as a sh&t brick house”, and “sh&&ting bricks”.
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2458/how-did-the-phrase-built-like-a-brick-shithouse-get-to-be-a-compliment
Axiom #3 [which is related to Axiom #2] Unless they are pre-teens and teenagers, or acting as though they are pre-teens or teenagers, people don’t like to be described in terms that are associated with excrement.
**
Point #4: There’s already a positive colloquial definition for “brick”, and that definition has nothing whatsoever to do with a curvaceous, attractive woman:
...“'you're a real brick' is you're really dependable, i can rely on you. “ http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=87069
See Axiom #1.
**
Point #5: If there are already standard & colloquial terms whose meanings fit what you are trying to say, why would anyone use a term that has so much associated baggage?
See Axiom #1, #2, and #3
**
Point #6: There are numerous slang meanings for the word “house”, many of which are associated with the music genre “House” (which supposedly got its name because it first developed in the early 1980s- a few years after the Commodore’s “Brick House record - in a Chicago, Illinois (night)club named “The Warehouse”, and then in New York City, and elsewhere. For example, the saying “I’ll house you” comes from the title and lyrics of the now classic 1989 Jungle Brothers record. I gather that “I’ll house you” has both a sexual meaning and a meaning that threatens violence, and can also mean other things. But I’m not sure about that since I’m not well versed in House music vernacular. Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_music for information about House music.
If the term “brick house” was moving toward acceptance outside of that Commodore’s song, the arrival of stronger, more widely accepted colloquial usages of the word “house” sapped what was already a weakened acceptance (because of points I already made).
Axiom #4: When it comes to newly coined words or new meanings of already established words, it’s usually a matter of the survival of the fittest.
-snip-
So, there you have it. That’s my take on why “Brick house” is a pretty good dance song, but a rather lousy slang term.
****
SHOWCASE VIDEO: Brick House - The Commodores
merlotje, Uploaded on Jan 21, 2008
The Commodores-Brick House 1977
-snip-
Here's information about this song - added June 11, 2016
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brick_House_(song)
" "Brick House" is a song from the Commodores' 1977 self-titled album (released as Zoom in the UK).[1] The single peaked at #5 in the U.S. and #32 in the UK pop charts.
Creation and recording
In 1977, the Commodores were in the studio recording when there was a problem with the equipment. While the tapes were being repaired and replaced, the group took a break. Ronald LaPread, the group's bass player, began jamming. Bit by bit the rest of the band joined in until they came up with a track and bass line. Upon returning, James Carmichael, the Commodores' producer, heard and recognized that this could be a song worth recording. He asked everyone to see if they could use the riff to come up with a song. Taking the tapes home, William King played them for his wife, Shirley Hanna-King. While he slept she was inspired to write lyrics for the riff, modifying the expression "built like a brick sh&thouse"* for the song.[2]
The following day King sang the lyrics to "Brick House" to the band, allowing them to think he had written it. They loved it and decided that drummer Walter "Clyde" Orange had the funky voice to sing lead vocals,(as opposed to Lionel Richie, who usually sang lead), and the song went on the new album.
It took several years before the other members of the group discovered that it was actually Shirley Hanna-King who had written the lyrics, and although she was not originally credited, the band has publicly acknowledged her as the song's writer."
-snip-
*That word is fully spelled out in that article.
-snip-
LYRICS - BRICK HOUSE [Added June 11, 2016]
(William King- publicly credited as writer; actual writer his wife Shirley Hanna-King)
[Chorus:]
She's a brick house
Mighty might just lettin' it all hang out
She's a brick house
The lady's stacked and that's a fact,
ain't holding nothing back.
She's a brick house
She's the one, the only one,
who's built like a amazon*
We're together everybody knows,
and here's how the story goes.
She knows she got everything
a woman needs to get a man, yeah.
How can she lose with what she use
36-24-36, what a winning hand!
[Chorus]
The clothes she wears, the sexy ways,
make an old man wish for younger days
She knows she's built and knows how to please
Sure enough to knock a man to his knees
[Chorus]
Shake it down, shake it down now (repeat)
-snip-
*pronounced am-a-ka-zawn
Source: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/commodores/brickhouse.html
****
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND THANKS
The content of this post is presented for etymological and entertainment reasons.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the composer of "Brick House" and thanks to the Commodores for their musical legacy. My thanks also to the authors & commenters who are quoted in this post, and to the uploader of this video.
Also, thank you for visiting pancocojams.
Viewer comments are welcome
Monday, January 14, 2013
Various Old School R&B/Hip Hop Dances
Edited by Azizi Powell
This post showcases seven videos of old school Rhythm & Blues/Hip-Hop dances.
For the purpose of this post, by "old school" I mean dances that were first performed in the 1980s and 1990s, although "old school" certainly can refer to dances much older than the 1980s. "Old school" can also refer to clothing, hair styles, slang as well as other cultural artifacts & customs from the past. Depending on its context, "old school" could be perceived as negative. However, with regards to these dance videos, "old school" has postitive, nostalgic connotations.
All of the dances featured in this post are of African American origin. By showcasing these selected dances, I'm also showcasing the records with which these dances are most closely associated.
The content of this post is presented for historical, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
FEATURED VIDEOS
(With the exception of the first video, these videos are presented in alphabetical order.)
Video #1: Teisha & Kia Do Old School Dances
NewKiTV, Uploaded on Jul 21, 2009
...Teisha & Kia Pay Tribute To Old School Dances-salt n pepa, mary j. blige, hammer etc.
PLS DON'T DISABLE THE AUDIO.WE DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE OLD SCHOOL AUDIO CONTENT © WMG. CREDITS GO TO WMG.
Old School audio owned or licensed by WMG.
-snip-
Unfortunately, the names of these dances aren't given with their performances, and I won't even try to give those names.
From viewers' comments at least some of the dances that Teisha & Kia performed in this video were Roger Rabbit, Tootsie Roll, Cabbage Patch, and Da Butt. And one commenter mentioned that the ladies did "the Rudy" to the song "Poison".
My daughter watched this video & identified the names of these dances (in order, but with some gaps): "Roger Rabbit", "Snake", "Running Man", "Kid" & Play", "The Humpty Dance", "Cabbage Patch", "Da Butt", "Pepper Seed", "Bo Go", "Butterfly", and other dances that she remembers doing but doesn't remember the names of".
****
Video #2: New York Subway Break Dance
Uploaded by gnsec on Jul 25, 2008
Getting off the NYC subway I ran into this breakdancing performance at the station. The song is "We gonna rock it" by Flying Steps, except 1st 10 seconds Sandstorm by Darude.
****
Video #3: Chicago Footwork
Uploaded by ghettotekz on Apr 24, 2010
no real battle, just some amazin footworkin. This was with MOB, TS, Wolf Pac, Litebulb, Deryon, Stepz, Manny, just a whole bunch of dope cats. ..
****
Video #4: Chicken Noodle Soup
Uploaded by WebstarVEVO on Nov 22, 2009
Music video by Webstar, Young B performing Chicken Noodle Soup. (C) 2006 Universal Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
****
Video #5: Soulja Boy Tell'em - Crank That (Soulja Boy)
Uploaded by SouljaBoyTellemVEVO on Nov 22, 2009
Music video by Soulja Boy Tell`em performing Crank That (Soulja Boy). (C) 2007 ColliPark Music/HHH/Interscope Records
****
Video #6: The Dougie
Uploaded by LADYTIFFANY22 on Feb 12, 2008
THIS IS NOT ME!!!!!
****
Video #7: GS Boyz - Stanky Legg
Uploaded by GSBoyzVEVO on Nov 23, 2009
Music video by GS Boyz performing Stanky Legg. YouTube view counts pre-VEVO: 778,181 (C) 2009 Zomba Recording LLC
RELATED LINKS
Visit these two pages on my Jambalayah website to find these compilations of old school dance videos:
http://www.jambalayah.com/node/1142 ROCK & ROLL DANCE VIDEOS
http://www.jambalayah.com/node/1147 R&B AND HIP-HOP DANCES [up to 2011]
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND THANKS
Thanks to all those who are featured in those videos, and thanks to the producers, song composers, and uploaders of those videos.
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
This post showcases seven videos of old school Rhythm & Blues/Hip-Hop dances.
For the purpose of this post, by "old school" I mean dances that were first performed in the 1980s and 1990s, although "old school" certainly can refer to dances much older than the 1980s. "Old school" can also refer to clothing, hair styles, slang as well as other cultural artifacts & customs from the past. Depending on its context, "old school" could be perceived as negative. However, with regards to these dance videos, "old school" has postitive, nostalgic connotations.
All of the dances featured in this post are of African American origin. By showcasing these selected dances, I'm also showcasing the records with which these dances are most closely associated.
The content of this post is presented for historical, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
FEATURED VIDEOS
(With the exception of the first video, these videos are presented in alphabetical order.)
Video #1: Teisha & Kia Do Old School Dances
NewKiTV, Uploaded on Jul 21, 2009
...Teisha & Kia Pay Tribute To Old School Dances-salt n pepa, mary j. blige, hammer etc.
PLS DON'T DISABLE THE AUDIO.WE DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE OLD SCHOOL AUDIO CONTENT © WMG. CREDITS GO TO WMG.
Old School audio owned or licensed by WMG.
-snip-
Unfortunately, the names of these dances aren't given with their performances, and I won't even try to give those names.
From viewers' comments at least some of the dances that Teisha & Kia performed in this video were Roger Rabbit, Tootsie Roll, Cabbage Patch, and Da Butt. And one commenter mentioned that the ladies did "the Rudy" to the song "Poison".
My daughter watched this video & identified the names of these dances (in order, but with some gaps): "Roger Rabbit", "Snake", "Running Man", "Kid" & Play", "The Humpty Dance", "Cabbage Patch", "Da Butt", "Pepper Seed", "Bo Go", "Butterfly", and other dances that she remembers doing but doesn't remember the names of".
****
Video #2: New York Subway Break Dance
Uploaded by gnsec on Jul 25, 2008
Getting off the NYC subway I ran into this breakdancing performance at the station. The song is "We gonna rock it" by Flying Steps, except 1st 10 seconds Sandstorm by Darude.
****
Video #3: Chicago Footwork
Uploaded by ghettotekz on Apr 24, 2010
no real battle, just some amazin footworkin. This was with MOB, TS, Wolf Pac, Litebulb, Deryon, Stepz, Manny, just a whole bunch of dope cats. ..
****
Video #4: Chicken Noodle Soup
Uploaded by WebstarVEVO on Nov 22, 2009
Music video by Webstar, Young B performing Chicken Noodle Soup. (C) 2006 Universal Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
****
Video #5: Soulja Boy Tell'em - Crank That (Soulja Boy)
Uploaded by SouljaBoyTellemVEVO on Nov 22, 2009
Music video by Soulja Boy Tell`em performing Crank That (Soulja Boy). (C) 2007 ColliPark Music/HHH/Interscope Records
****
Video #6: The Dougie
Uploaded by LADYTIFFANY22 on Feb 12, 2008
THIS IS NOT ME!!!!!
****
Video #7: GS Boyz - Stanky Legg
Uploaded by GSBoyzVEVO on Nov 23, 2009
Music video by GS Boyz performing Stanky Legg. YouTube view counts pre-VEVO: 778,181 (C) 2009 Zomba Recording LLC
RELATED LINKS
Visit these two pages on my Jambalayah website to find these compilations of old school dance videos:
http://www.jambalayah.com/node/1142 ROCK & ROLL DANCE VIDEOS
http://www.jambalayah.com/node/1147 R&B AND HIP-HOP DANCES [up to 2011]
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND THANKS
Thanks to all those who are featured in those videos, and thanks to the producers, song composers, and uploaders of those videos.
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Sunday, January 13, 2013
"Be Aggressive" Cheerleading Cheer (Videos)
Edited by Azizi Powell
[revised 3/18/2013]
This pancocojams post showcases the children's & teenagers' cheerleader chant "Be Aggressive".
These video examples were selected to demonstrate the differences between the performance of three different styles of cheerleading - mainsteam sports style cheerleading, stomp & shake cheerleading, and modified mainstream sports/stomp and shake cheerleading.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
[This post was formerly titled "Different Performance Styles For The "Be Aggressive".]
****
INFORMATION ABOUT THE "BE AGRESSIVE" CHANT
Technically, "Be Agressive" is a cheerleader cheer
*A cheerleader chant is shorter and more repetitive than a cheerleader cheer. However, cheerleader "chants" are commonly referred to as "cheers".
I don't know when the "Be Aggressive" cheer was first created. However, that cheer appears to be a standard part of the cheer repertoire of many children's & teens' cheerleading squads. One reason that "Be Aggressive" is well known is its inclusion in two American cheerleader movies: the first movie of the Bring It On series [2000] and the 2009 movie Fired Up. In that later movie, attendees of a cheer camp watch scenes from that 2000 Bring It On movie, recite the words from those scenes, and then chant adaptations of the "Be Aggressive" cheer.
Click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWV_zMaQFEw "be aggressive - cheerleaders - bring it on - fired" up to find the video of those scenes from that 2009 movie.
****
TEXT EXAMPLE OF "BE AGGRESSIVE"
Be Aggressive
Be Be Aggressive.
B-E-A-G-G-R-E-S-S-I-V-E.
Be Aggressive.
Be Be Aggressive.
[repeat several times]
****
FEATURED VIDEO EXAMPLES OF "BE AGGRESSIVE"
(These examples represent some of the ways that "Be Aggressive" has been performed.
Brief explanation for the terms that I use to categorize the different styles of children's & teenagers' cheerleading:
"Mainstream cheerleading" is the type of cheerleading that is most known in the United States & elsewhere. That style of cheerleading includes to a greater or lesser degree cheers (chanting), tumbling, dance, jumps, and stunting.
Cheer Dance emphasizes incorporates more contemporary dance routines than mainstream cheerleading usually does.
Modified Mainstream Cheerleading/Cheer Dance - incorporates some aspects of Stomp and Shake cheerleading
"Smiling" is the core part of the image of the cheerleader in the three categories mentioned thus far. Also, the cheers (and chants) that are performed focus on the sports team with which the cheerleading squad is affiliated, and not the squad itself.
Stomp and Shake Cheerleading - includes cheers (chanting) and incorporates more hip shaking and foot stomping in their dance routines. The cheerleaders' image is more confrontational than any other form of cheerleading and the cheerleading squad itself may be the focus of some of its cheers/chants. Stomp & Shake cheerleading squads may also include stunting.
Visit my Cocojams.com website for more information on Stomp and Shake cheerleading. Also, click this page of my cultural website http://cocojams.com/content/childrens-cheerleader-cheers information about these categories of children's cheerleading. That website page also features additional text examples (words only) and videos of children's and teenagers' cheerleading cheers.
MAINSTREAM CHEERLEADER AND/OR DANCE STYLE CHEERLEADING
Example #1: 2008-09 Varsity Galway cheerleaders
Uploaded by greendayanni on Feb 14, 2010
****
Example #2: Be Aggressive
Uploaded by dancechick1008 on Sep 4, 2010
Be Aggressive vs. Ames
Uploaded by dancechick1008 on Sep 4, 2010
****
MODIFIED MAINSTREAM CHEERLEADING AND/OR DANCE STYLE CHEERLEADING
Example #1: 5th Orange Cheer "Be Aggressive"
Uploaded by ChrissyCLP70 on Aug 24, 2010
-snip-
Notice the beginning words "Hit it" in this cheer performance. Those words are lifted from African American music jargon where they meant to perfectly hit a note. In the context of cheerleader cheers "hit it" serves the same purpose as "Ready" or "Read, set go" or "1,2,3 go!". However, those words really mean to be very good at what you are going to do".
****
Example #2: Be Aggressive
Uploaded by andilyn7272 on Sep 11, 2010
****
STOMP AND SHAKE CHEERLEADING
Example #1: JVC Diamonds
Uploaded by bhskingofva2007 on Feb 3, 2008
the jvc diamonds doin "be aggressive"
****
Example #2: Be Aggressive! GMS Cheer
GMS Cheer, Published on Jan 8, 2013
Githens Middle School Cheerleaders cheering at a basketball game vs. DSA on 1/8/13. This is their original take on a traditional cheer, "be aggressive".
****
RELATED LINK
Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bring_It_On_(film) for information about the Bring It On series of cheerleading movies.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND THANKS
Thanks to all those cheerleading squads who are featured in this post and thanks to the uploaders of these videos.
Thank you for visiting pancocojams.
Viewer comments are welcome.
[revised 3/18/2013]
This pancocojams post showcases the children's & teenagers' cheerleader chant "Be Aggressive".
These video examples were selected to demonstrate the differences between the performance of three different styles of cheerleading - mainsteam sports style cheerleading, stomp & shake cheerleading, and modified mainstream sports/stomp and shake cheerleading.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
[This post was formerly titled "Different Performance Styles For The "Be Aggressive".]
****
INFORMATION ABOUT THE "BE AGRESSIVE" CHANT
Technically, "Be Agressive" is a cheerleader cheer
*A cheerleader chant is shorter and more repetitive than a cheerleader cheer. However, cheerleader "chants" are commonly referred to as "cheers".
I don't know when the "Be Aggressive" cheer was first created. However, that cheer appears to be a standard part of the cheer repertoire of many children's & teens' cheerleading squads. One reason that "Be Aggressive" is well known is its inclusion in two American cheerleader movies: the first movie of the Bring It On series [2000] and the 2009 movie Fired Up. In that later movie, attendees of a cheer camp watch scenes from that 2000 Bring It On movie, recite the words from those scenes, and then chant adaptations of the "Be Aggressive" cheer.
Click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWV_zMaQFEw "be aggressive - cheerleaders - bring it on - fired" up to find the video of those scenes from that 2009 movie.
****
TEXT EXAMPLE OF "BE AGGRESSIVE"
Be Aggressive
Be Be Aggressive.
B-E-A-G-G-R-E-S-S-I-V-E.
Be Aggressive.
Be Be Aggressive.
[repeat several times]
****
FEATURED VIDEO EXAMPLES OF "BE AGGRESSIVE"
(These examples represent some of the ways that "Be Aggressive" has been performed.
Brief explanation for the terms that I use to categorize the different styles of children's & teenagers' cheerleading:
"Mainstream cheerleading" is the type of cheerleading that is most known in the United States & elsewhere. That style of cheerleading includes to a greater or lesser degree cheers (chanting), tumbling, dance, jumps, and stunting.
Cheer Dance emphasizes incorporates more contemporary dance routines than mainstream cheerleading usually does.
Modified Mainstream Cheerleading/Cheer Dance - incorporates some aspects of Stomp and Shake cheerleading
"Smiling" is the core part of the image of the cheerleader in the three categories mentioned thus far. Also, the cheers (and chants) that are performed focus on the sports team with which the cheerleading squad is affiliated, and not the squad itself.
Stomp and Shake Cheerleading - includes cheers (chanting) and incorporates more hip shaking and foot stomping in their dance routines. The cheerleaders' image is more confrontational than any other form of cheerleading and the cheerleading squad itself may be the focus of some of its cheers/chants. Stomp & Shake cheerleading squads may also include stunting.
Visit my Cocojams.com website for more information on Stomp and Shake cheerleading. Also, click this page of my cultural website http://cocojams.com/content/childrens-cheerleader-cheers information about these categories of children's cheerleading. That website page also features additional text examples (words only) and videos of children's and teenagers' cheerleading cheers.
MAINSTREAM CHEERLEADER AND/OR DANCE STYLE CHEERLEADING
Example #1: 2008-09 Varsity Galway cheerleaders
Uploaded by greendayanni on Feb 14, 2010
****
Example #2: Be Aggressive
Uploaded by dancechick1008 on Sep 4, 2010
Be Aggressive vs. Ames
Uploaded by dancechick1008 on Sep 4, 2010
****
MODIFIED MAINSTREAM CHEERLEADING AND/OR DANCE STYLE CHEERLEADING
Example #1: 5th Orange Cheer "Be Aggressive"
Uploaded by ChrissyCLP70 on Aug 24, 2010
-snip-
Notice the beginning words "Hit it" in this cheer performance. Those words are lifted from African American music jargon where they meant to perfectly hit a note. In the context of cheerleader cheers "hit it" serves the same purpose as "Ready" or "Read, set go" or "1,2,3 go!". However, those words really mean to be very good at what you are going to do".
****
Example #2: Be Aggressive
Uploaded by andilyn7272 on Sep 11, 2010
****
STOMP AND SHAKE CHEERLEADING
Example #1: JVC Diamonds
Uploaded by bhskingofva2007 on Feb 3, 2008
the jvc diamonds doin "be aggressive"
****
Example #2: Be Aggressive! GMS Cheer
GMS Cheer, Published on Jan 8, 2013
Githens Middle School Cheerleaders cheering at a basketball game vs. DSA on 1/8/13. This is their original take on a traditional cheer, "be aggressive".
****
RELATED LINK
Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bring_It_On_(film) for information about the Bring It On series of cheerleading movies.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND THANKS
Thanks to all those cheerleading squads who are featured in this post and thanks to the uploaders of these videos.
Thank you for visiting pancocojams.
Viewer comments are welcome.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Nikki Giovanni - Ego Tripping (sound file & words)
Edited by Azizi Powell
This post showcases a sound file of and the words for Nikki Giovanni's 1972 poem "Ego Tripping (There May Be A Reason Why).
The content of this post is presented for inspirational and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remains with their owners.
****
FEATURED SOUND FILE
08. Blackalicious - Ego Trip by Nikki Giovanni (featuring Nikki Giovanni & Erinn Anova)
Neku Rau, Published on Sep 2, 2014
Nia
Track 8
1999/2000
-snip-
Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEyozH0EQqw for another uptempo version of this poem from the "Truth Is On The Way" album. Nikki Giovanni's poems in that album are spoken along with Gospel music. [embedding disabled].
****
LYRICS: EGO TRIPPING (THERE MAY BE A REASON WHY)
(Nikki Giovanni)
I was born in the congo
I walked to the fertile crescent and built
the sphinx
I designed a pyramid so tough that a star
that only glows every one hundred years falls
into the center giving divine perfect light
I am bad
I sat on the throne
drinking nectar with allah
I got hot and sent an ice age to europe
to cool my thirst
My oldest daughter is nefertiti
the tears from my birth pains
created the nile
I am a beautiful woman
I gazed on the forest and burned
out the sahara desert
with a packet of goat's meat
and a change of clothes
I crossed it in two hours
I am a gazelle so swift
so swift you can't catch me
For a birthday present when he was three
I gave my son hannibal an elephant
He gave me rome for mother's day
My strength flows ever on
My son noah built new/ark and
I stood proudly at the helm
as we sailed on a soft summer day
I turned myself into myself and was
jesus
men intone my loving name
All praises All praises
I am the one who would save
I sowed diamonds in my back yard
My bowels deliver uranium
the filings from my fingernails are
semi-precious jewels
On a trip north
I caught a cold and blew
My nose giving oil to the arab world
I am so hip even my errors are correct
I sailed west to reach east and had to round off
the earth as I went
The hair from my head thinned and gold was laid
across three continents
I am so perfect so divine so ethereal so surreal
I cannot be comprehended except by my permission
I mean...I...can fly
like a bird in the sky...
From http://nikki-giovanni.com/page_51.shtml
EDITORIAL COMMENT:
In African American slang, a person who is "trippin" is moving away from (taking a trip away from) the real world. "Ego Trippin[g]" usually means to brag about yourself without any basis in reality. It's usually an insult to say that someone is "ego trippin[g]". However, in "Ego Tripping", Giovanni probably wants her readers/listerners to positively view the self-boasting that is voiced in this poem.
The sub-title "There May Be A Reason Why" alludes to the poet's position that there's probably a legitimate reason or reasons for the ego trippin that is done in this poem. Incidentally, the sub-title "There May Be A Reason Why" is quite similar to the funk group War's 1971 song "There Must Be A Reason Why" which was included on their album "All Day Music". But the similarities in these titles might just be a coincidence.
In the seventh line of that poem, "I am bad" means "I'm very good".
The word "new/ ark" in the line ""My son noah built new/ark/..." is a form of the place name "Newark". Newark, New Jersey is a large metropolitan community that is near New York City. In the late 1960s and 1970s Newark was the site of a Black cultural nationalist organization, the Committee For Unified Newark" [CFUN], that was headed by the well known poet/playright/activist Amiri Baraka (Le Roi Jones). As such, and in no small part because of the positive connotations that could easily be made from that city's name, Newark, New Jersey was considered by Nikki Giovanni and some other persons in the Black cultural nationalists movement as a prototype for a city where [some] Black people had knowledge of and pride in their African heritage, and strived to adhere to the values of unity, self-determination, collective work & responsibility and other principles that are incapsulated in Maulana Karenga's Nguza Saba.*
I also believe that the phrase "new creation" in the last line of Nikki Giovanni's "Poem for a Lady of Leisure Now Retired" is an oblique reference to Newark, New Jersey. Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/01/nikki-giovanni-poem-for-lady-of-leisure.html for a post about that poem.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND THANKS
Thanks to Nikki Giovanni for composing this poem and other poems. My thanks also for the producer & uploader of this video.
Thank you for visiting pancocojams.
Viewer comments are welcome.
This post showcases a sound file of and the words for Nikki Giovanni's 1972 poem "Ego Tripping (There May Be A Reason Why).
The content of this post is presented for inspirational and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remains with their owners.
****
FEATURED SOUND FILE
08. Blackalicious - Ego Trip by Nikki Giovanni (featuring Nikki Giovanni & Erinn Anova)
Neku Rau, Published on Sep 2, 2014
Nia
Track 8
1999/2000
-snip-
Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEyozH0EQqw for another uptempo version of this poem from the "Truth Is On The Way" album. Nikki Giovanni's poems in that album are spoken along with Gospel music. [embedding disabled].
****
LYRICS: EGO TRIPPING (THERE MAY BE A REASON WHY)
(Nikki Giovanni)
I was born in the congo
I walked to the fertile crescent and built
the sphinx
I designed a pyramid so tough that a star
that only glows every one hundred years falls
into the center giving divine perfect light
I am bad
I sat on the throne
drinking nectar with allah
I got hot and sent an ice age to europe
to cool my thirst
My oldest daughter is nefertiti
the tears from my birth pains
created the nile
I am a beautiful woman
I gazed on the forest and burned
out the sahara desert
with a packet of goat's meat
and a change of clothes
I crossed it in two hours
I am a gazelle so swift
so swift you can't catch me
For a birthday present when he was three
I gave my son hannibal an elephant
He gave me rome for mother's day
My strength flows ever on
My son noah built new/ark and
I stood proudly at the helm
as we sailed on a soft summer day
I turned myself into myself and was
jesus
men intone my loving name
All praises All praises
I am the one who would save
I sowed diamonds in my back yard
My bowels deliver uranium
the filings from my fingernails are
semi-precious jewels
On a trip north
I caught a cold and blew
My nose giving oil to the arab world
I am so hip even my errors are correct
I sailed west to reach east and had to round off
the earth as I went
The hair from my head thinned and gold was laid
across three continents
I am so perfect so divine so ethereal so surreal
I cannot be comprehended except by my permission
I mean...I...can fly
like a bird in the sky...
From http://nikki-giovanni.com/page_51.shtml
EDITORIAL COMMENT:
In African American slang, a person who is "trippin" is moving away from (taking a trip away from) the real world. "Ego Trippin[g]" usually means to brag about yourself without any basis in reality. It's usually an insult to say that someone is "ego trippin[g]". However, in "Ego Tripping", Giovanni probably wants her readers/listerners to positively view the self-boasting that is voiced in this poem.
The sub-title "There May Be A Reason Why" alludes to the poet's position that there's probably a legitimate reason or reasons for the ego trippin that is done in this poem. Incidentally, the sub-title "There May Be A Reason Why" is quite similar to the funk group War's 1971 song "There Must Be A Reason Why" which was included on their album "All Day Music". But the similarities in these titles might just be a coincidence.
In the seventh line of that poem, "I am bad" means "I'm very good".
The word "new/ ark" in the line ""My son noah built new/ark/..." is a form of the place name "Newark". Newark, New Jersey is a large metropolitan community that is near New York City. In the late 1960s and 1970s Newark was the site of a Black cultural nationalist organization, the Committee For Unified Newark" [CFUN], that was headed by the well known poet/playright/activist Amiri Baraka (Le Roi Jones). As such, and in no small part because of the positive connotations that could easily be made from that city's name, Newark, New Jersey was considered by Nikki Giovanni and some other persons in the Black cultural nationalists movement as a prototype for a city where [some] Black people had knowledge of and pride in their African heritage, and strived to adhere to the values of unity, self-determination, collective work & responsibility and other principles that are incapsulated in Maulana Karenga's Nguza Saba.*
I also believe that the phrase "new creation" in the last line of Nikki Giovanni's "Poem for a Lady of Leisure Now Retired" is an oblique reference to Newark, New Jersey. Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/01/nikki-giovanni-poem-for-lady-of-leisure.html for a post about that poem.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND THANKS
Thanks to Nikki Giovanni for composing this poem and other poems. My thanks also for the producer & uploader of this video.
Thank you for visiting pancocojams.
Viewer comments are welcome.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Wang Dang Doodle (YouTube Examples & Lyrics)
Edited by Azizi Powell
Latest update- March 8, 2020
This pancocojams post showcases four videos of the Blues song "Wang Dang Doodle". "Wang Dang Doodle's lyrics and comments about this song are also included in this post.
The content of this post is presented for inspirational and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owner.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT THE SONG "WANG DANG DOODLE"
"Pitch a wang dang doodle" means "to throw [hold] a wild party."
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Dang_Doodle:
From http://www.willie-dixon.com/music/discography/wang-dang-doodle/ Comment written by Willie Dixon:
****
LYRICS: WANG DAND DOODLE
(Willie Dixon)
Tell automatic slim to tell Razor Toting Jim
To tell Butcher Knife Toting Annie
To tell Fast Talking Fanny
We gonna pitch a ball, down to that Union Hall
We gonna romp and trump till midnight
We gonna fuss and fight till daylight
We gonna pitch a Wang Dang Doodle all night long
All night long, all night long
All night long, all night long
We gonna pitch a Wang Dang Doodle all night long
Tell Cedar Crawling Red to tell Abersena Ned
To tell Old Pistol Pete to tell everybody he meet
Tonight we need no rest
We gonna really throw a mess
We gonna break down all the windows
We gonna kick down all the doors
We gonna pitch a Wang Dang Doodle all night long
All night long, all night long
All night long, all night long
We gonna pitch a Wang Dang Doodle all night long
Tell Fats and Washboard Sam, that everybody's gonna jam
Tell Shakey and Boxcar Joe
We got sawdust on the floor
Tell Peg and Caroline Dine
We gonna have a hell of a time
And when the fish scent fill the air
There'll be snuff juice everywhere
We gonna pitch a Wang Dang Doodle all night long
All night long, all night long
All night long, all night long
We gonna pitch a Wang Dang Doodle all night long
Reposted from http://www.willie-dixon.com/music/discography/wang-dang-doodle/
****
SHOWCASE EXAMPLES
[Updae: March 8, 2020- Some YouTube examples replacing those that are no longer available]
Video #1: Wang Dang Doodle - Howlin Wolf (London Session)
CharlesDavidPollock, Apr 19, 2012
Howlin Wolf performs in london with special guests
****
Video #2:Wang Dang Doodle-Koko Taylor (THE BEST VERSION)
nenadblues, Dec 7, 2010
-snip-
From http://www.kokotaylor.com/blueswaxtribute.html
"Howlin' Wolf first recorded "Wang Dang Doodle," but it was Koko Taylor who made it a hit in 1966. With her upper body extending forward at a thirty-degree angle, her fist clutching the microphone, and her jaw opened wide, she turned writer Willie Dixon's vision of a Saturday-night union hall Blues jam on its ear"....
****
Video #3: Koko Taylor ft;Little Walter,Willie Dixon;- Wang Dang Doodle,Studio Live-67
Jan Ahlberg, Nov 30, 2010
Wang Dang Doodle (1967)
- Koko Taylor; Ft,Little Walter,willie Dixon,Victoria Spivey Matt Guitar Murphy
- studio live
- Old VHS kopio
- Video;Jan
****
Video #4: The Pointer Sisters: Wang Dang Doodle
http://ThePointers.DazMan.com Willie Dixon's Blues stomper "Wang Dang Doodle" became the second hit for the Pointers Sister in 1974. On the original 1973 recording they are backed by the Hoodoo Rhythm Devils.
-snip-
"Wang Dang Doodle" song begins at 1:32. At the beginning of their performance The Pointer Sisters chant a version of the children's playground rhyme "Ladies And Gentlemen, Children Too".
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/05/ladies-and-gentlemen-children-too.html for information about and examples of that playground rhyme.
Also, click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/05/examples-of-ive-never-been-to-college.html for a pancocojams post on children's rhymes (including the one The Pointer Sisters chanted) with the "I never been to college" verse.
****
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND THANKS
Thanks to Willie Dixon for composing and performing "Wang Dang Doodle". Thanks also to the other performers of this song. Thanks also to those whose transcriptions and comments are reposted in this post and thanks to the uploaders of these videos.
Finally, thank you for visiting pancocojams.
Viewer comments are welcome.
Latest update- March 8, 2020
This pancocojams post showcases four videos of the Blues song "Wang Dang Doodle". "Wang Dang Doodle's lyrics and comments about this song are also included in this post.
The content of this post is presented for inspirational and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owner.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT THE SONG "WANG DANG DOODLE"
"Pitch a wang dang doodle" means "to throw [hold] a wild party."
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Dang_Doodle:
Wang Dang Doodle" is a blues song written by Willie Dixon for Howlin' Wolf at Chess Records in Chicago. It has been covered by many artists...-snip-
Dixon had written hundreds of songs for many different artists in the basic blues format at Chess. "Wang Dang Doodle" was written relatively late in his career and by this time Dixon's songwriting had evolved from standard rural blues to a much more sophisticated format. "Wang Dang Doodle", a party song, is an example of his later, much more urban, style with its massive, rolling, exciting beat.
(Song recorded in Chicago, Illinois June 1960 and released in January 1961)
From http://www.willie-dixon.com/music/discography/wang-dang-doodle/ Comment written by Willie Dixon:
A "Wang Dang Doodle" is one hell of a party. It starts off with somebody spreading the word about what's happening. In Spanish, it would be a fiesta, in English, it would be a party. Either way it's a wang dang doodle. Just about everybody in the South had a nickname. You were given a nickname for doing something silly as a kid, or you got a nickname for doing something as you got older or something connected with your parents. Tell Automatic Slim, tell Razor-Toting Jim, tell Butcher Knife Toting Annie, tell Fast Talking Fannie. We're gonna have a ball down to the union hall. We're gonna romp and stomp till midnight. Fuss and fight till daylight. And pitch a wang dang doodle all night long. That means anything and everything could happen. It's a word of mouth thing. You tell Fats and Washboard Sam everybody gonna jam. Tell Shakey and Boxcar Joe there'll be sawdust on the floor. Tell Peg and Caroline Dine we're gonna have one hell of a time
****
LYRICS: WANG DAND DOODLE
(Willie Dixon)
Tell automatic slim to tell Razor Toting Jim
To tell Butcher Knife Toting Annie
To tell Fast Talking Fanny
We gonna pitch a ball, down to that Union Hall
We gonna romp and trump till midnight
We gonna fuss and fight till daylight
We gonna pitch a Wang Dang Doodle all night long
All night long, all night long
All night long, all night long
We gonna pitch a Wang Dang Doodle all night long
Tell Cedar Crawling Red to tell Abersena Ned
To tell Old Pistol Pete to tell everybody he meet
Tonight we need no rest
We gonna really throw a mess
We gonna break down all the windows
We gonna kick down all the doors
We gonna pitch a Wang Dang Doodle all night long
All night long, all night long
All night long, all night long
We gonna pitch a Wang Dang Doodle all night long
Tell Fats and Washboard Sam, that everybody's gonna jam
Tell Shakey and Boxcar Joe
We got sawdust on the floor
Tell Peg and Caroline Dine
We gonna have a hell of a time
And when the fish scent fill the air
There'll be snuff juice everywhere
We gonna pitch a Wang Dang Doodle all night long
All night long, all night long
All night long, all night long
We gonna pitch a Wang Dang Doodle all night long
Reposted from http://www.willie-dixon.com/music/discography/wang-dang-doodle/
****
SHOWCASE EXAMPLES
[Updae: March 8, 2020- Some YouTube examples replacing those that are no longer available]
Video #1: Wang Dang Doodle - Howlin Wolf (London Session)
CharlesDavidPollock, Apr 19, 2012
Howlin Wolf performs in london with special guests
****
Video #2:Wang Dang Doodle-Koko Taylor (THE BEST VERSION)
nenadblues, Dec 7, 2010
-snip-
From http://www.kokotaylor.com/blueswaxtribute.html
"Howlin' Wolf first recorded "Wang Dang Doodle," but it was Koko Taylor who made it a hit in 1966. With her upper body extending forward at a thirty-degree angle, her fist clutching the microphone, and her jaw opened wide, she turned writer Willie Dixon's vision of a Saturday-night union hall Blues jam on its ear"....
****
Video #3: Koko Taylor ft;Little Walter,Willie Dixon;- Wang Dang Doodle,Studio Live-67
Jan Ahlberg, Nov 30, 2010
Wang Dang Doodle (1967)
- Koko Taylor; Ft,Little Walter,willie Dixon,Victoria Spivey Matt Guitar Murphy
- studio live
- Old VHS kopio
- Video;Jan
****
Video #4: The Pointer Sisters: Wang Dang Doodle
http://ThePointers.DazMan.com Willie Dixon's Blues stomper "Wang Dang Doodle" became the second hit for the Pointers Sister in 1974. On the original 1973 recording they are backed by the Hoodoo Rhythm Devils.
-snip-
"Wang Dang Doodle" song begins at 1:32. At the beginning of their performance The Pointer Sisters chant a version of the children's playground rhyme "Ladies And Gentlemen, Children Too".
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/05/ladies-and-gentlemen-children-too.html for information about and examples of that playground rhyme.
Also, click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/05/examples-of-ive-never-been-to-college.html for a pancocojams post on children's rhymes (including the one The Pointer Sisters chanted) with the "I never been to college" verse.
****
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND THANKS
Thanks to Willie Dixon for composing and performing "Wang Dang Doodle". Thanks also to the other performers of this song. Thanks also to those whose transcriptions and comments are reposted in this post and thanks to the uploaders of these videos.
Finally, thank you for visiting pancocojams.
Viewer comments are welcome.
Jill Scott - Ain't A Ceiling (Videos, Lyrics, & Comments)
Edited by Azizi Powell
This post showcases videos of a partial & the full version of Jill Scott's song/poem "Ain't A Ceiling". This post also provides the full English language lyrics to this song/poem and a French translation of a partial version (as found on a YouTube viewer comment thread.)
The content of this post is presented for inspirational and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owner.
****
Def Poetry: Jill Scott- "Aint a Ceiling"
Uploaded by im00your00density on Feb 22, 2007
Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry returns to HBO for a sixth season, now airing every Friday at midnight.
-snip-
Another version of this same video describes it as the "official version" of this poem. However, several commenters indicated that the end of the poem is missing, the audience applause at the end being added to that last portion. A video of the full version of this performance is found below.
-snip-
Selected comments from this video's viewer comment thread are excerpted in this post. WARNING: A number of comments in that thread contain profanity, racist, and/or sexist references.
****
Jill Scott - Ain't A Ceiling (Full version}
Jill Scott Ain't A Ceiling (Full Version) by Abstractionz
By Abstractionz
Reposted from
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x788fd_jill-scott-ain-t-a-ceiling-full-ver_creation
****
LYRICS - Ain't A Ceiling
(Jill Scott)
You say life's been hard on you.
Well brother I got news; it's hard on me too.
We seem to face the same old issues.
Some are just surface, some are deep some deep down in the tissue.
And I know slavery has played its part, word.
Being separated and subjugated and that passes to the brain of a child
So I want to step off what was, and start with the right now
You say "the world just don't understand"
But I ain't the world my love, I'm your woman.
And I know how deep it really goes
Trying to tread on a dream when the water feels low.
Ohh, if our ancestors could walk, barefoot, afraid in the dark, for miles and miles...
I know we can do this, come on let's start.
I wanna be real with you
I wanna get healed by you
I wanna grow up with you
I wanna be more with you
Be what’s in store for you
Open the doors for you
to a truer healing
Can you imagine the feeling
The sky ain’t a ceiling
At all
Part of this transcription is reposted from http://www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=h4Xu0LW7ilo; transcription by lisejoan, 2010
-snip-
Editor: lisejoan gave the French translation in parenthesis following each line. I separated them to enhance the reading experience.
NomadicSoulSahel also posted the English language words to this poem on that same viewer comment thread.
End transcription by Azizi Powell
****
LYRICS - Ain't A Ceiling (French Language, Partial Version)
(Jill Scott)
****
LYRICS (French Language Partial Version)
Tu dis que la vie est dure pour toi
Ben, mon frere, J'ai une nouvelle: C'est dur pour moi aussi.
Apparemment on traverse les meme vieux problemes
Certains superficiels, d'autres profonds, d'autres profondement incrustres dans la chair
Et je sais que l'esclavage a joue son role, oui
etre separe et subjugue et c'est transmis au cerveau d'un enfant
Alors je veux sortir du passe, et commencer avec le "maintenant"
TU dis "Le monde ne me comprend pas"
Mais je ne suis pas le monde, mon amour, je suis ta femme
Et je comprends a quel point on peut etre affecte
En essayer de realiser un reve quand les eaux se font rares
Oh si nos ancetres pouvaient marcher pieds nus, malgre leur peur dans le noir, pour des kilometres et des kms et des kms....
Je sais qu'on peut le faire. Allons y... commencons
Reposted from http://www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=h4Xu0LW7ilo; transcription by lisejoan, 2010
-snip-
Editor: lisejoan gave the French translation in parenthesis following each line. I separated them to enhance the reading experience.
Notice that the African American originated slang interjection "Word" is translated above as "oui" [yes]. "Word" does mean "yes" but it's an intensification of "yes" and means "I definitely agree with what you are saying".
****
SELECTED COMMENTS
What "Ain't A Ceiling" Means
Editor:
The following comment was written in response to a French viewer's request for an explanation of what this poem/song means:
Jill is basically speaking from the perspective of black women to black men who fret over the prejudice black people face in America. She's saying that: 1) black women too have an understanding of the struggles of the black race; 2) the history of American slavery does still hold black people back and; 3) if our ancestors can overcome through sincere effort, so can we.
Its VERY powerful and wonderfully sung too!
Hope this helped!
-keepthefaith27; 2010; http://www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=h4Xu0LW7ilo
-snip-
I have also seen this poem's title given as "The Sky Ain't A Ceiling". Those words are near the end of this poem.
I've read and often recited the saying "Reach for the sky and you'll hit the ceiling". I interpret that saying to mean that if you set your goals high you'll succeed more than if you set limited goals. My sense is that this saying probably inspired the title & the ending words of this Jill Scott poem.
-snip-
The "Sing it, girl" comment in this video
Here are several comments from http://www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=h4Xu0LW7ilo about the woman in the audience who shouted "Sing it girl" near the beginning of Jill Scott's performance (Note these comments don't all follow each other.)
"sing it girl! LMAO
why does someone always do that?
-martitz548; 2010
-snip-
[Editor: LMAO=Laugh My Ass Off]
**
lol as an artist its great when someone does that. sends you good energy! ;-)
-venus3003 in reply to martitz548; 2010
[Editor: lol=laugh out loud]
**
"SING IT GUUURL!!"
aside from the poem itself, thats my favourite part hahaha
-ourouc; 2010
**
That women who screemed out "sing it girl" runied a moment of perfect bliss!
yusuf1608; 2012
**
I disagree. This is part of black culture, call and response. Black culture is interactive.
-PatsBooks in reply to yusuf1608; 2010
****
Why that program was called "Def Poetry
It's called Def Poetry because it was created by Russell Simmons who is one of the founders of Def Jam Records. He also created Def Comedy Jam.
-sazz419; 2011
-snip-
"Def" is a 198os African American originated slang word that is a clip (shortened form) of the word "definitely". Something that is "def" is definitely the real thing, something that is excellent, great, cool.
"Most definitely" is a African American originated vernacular saying that predates & almost certainly inspired the slang term "def". Perhaps not coincidentally, the host of "Def Poetry" was the Hip Hop artist whose stage name is "Mos Def".
****
RELATED LINKS
Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Scott for information about vocalist, song writer, spoken word artist, actress Jill Scott.
Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Def_Poetry for information about the television show Def Poetry (Def Poetry Jam)
****
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND THANKS
Thanks to Jill Scott for composing and performing "Ain't A Ceiling". Thanks also to those whose transcriptions and comments are reposted in this post. Thanks to the uploaders of these videos.
Finally, thank you for visiting pancocojams.
Viewer comments are welcome.
This post showcases videos of a partial & the full version of Jill Scott's song/poem "Ain't A Ceiling". This post also provides the full English language lyrics to this song/poem and a French translation of a partial version (as found on a YouTube viewer comment thread.)
The content of this post is presented for inspirational and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owner.
****
Def Poetry: Jill Scott- "Aint a Ceiling"
Uploaded by im00your00density on Feb 22, 2007
Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry returns to HBO for a sixth season, now airing every Friday at midnight.
-snip-
Another version of this same video describes it as the "official version" of this poem. However, several commenters indicated that the end of the poem is missing, the audience applause at the end being added to that last portion. A video of the full version of this performance is found below.
-snip-
Selected comments from this video's viewer comment thread are excerpted in this post. WARNING: A number of comments in that thread contain profanity, racist, and/or sexist references.
****
Jill Scott - Ain't A Ceiling (Full version}
Jill Scott Ain't A Ceiling (Full Version) by Abstractionz
By Abstractionz
Reposted from
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x788fd_jill-scott-ain-t-a-ceiling-full-ver_creation
****
LYRICS - Ain't A Ceiling
(Jill Scott)
You say life's been hard on you.
Well brother I got news; it's hard on me too.
We seem to face the same old issues.
Some are just surface, some are deep some deep down in the tissue.
And I know slavery has played its part, word.
Being separated and subjugated and that passes to the brain of a child
So I want to step off what was, and start with the right now
You say "the world just don't understand"
But I ain't the world my love, I'm your woman.
And I know how deep it really goes
Trying to tread on a dream when the water feels low.
Ohh, if our ancestors could walk, barefoot, afraid in the dark, for miles and miles...
I know we can do this, come on let's start.
I wanna be real with you
I wanna get healed by you
I wanna grow up with you
I wanna be more with you
Be what’s in store for you
Open the doors for you
to a truer healing
Can you imagine the feeling
The sky ain’t a ceiling
At all
Part of this transcription is reposted from http://www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=h4Xu0LW7ilo; transcription by lisejoan, 2010
-snip-
Editor: lisejoan gave the French translation in parenthesis following each line. I separated them to enhance the reading experience.
NomadicSoulSahel also posted the English language words to this poem on that same viewer comment thread.
End transcription by Azizi Powell
****
LYRICS - Ain't A Ceiling (French Language, Partial Version)
(Jill Scott)
****
LYRICS (French Language Partial Version)
Tu dis que la vie est dure pour toi
Ben, mon frere, J'ai une nouvelle: C'est dur pour moi aussi.
Apparemment on traverse les meme vieux problemes
Certains superficiels, d'autres profonds, d'autres profondement incrustres dans la chair
Et je sais que l'esclavage a joue son role, oui
etre separe et subjugue et c'est transmis au cerveau d'un enfant
Alors je veux sortir du passe, et commencer avec le "maintenant"
TU dis "Le monde ne me comprend pas"
Mais je ne suis pas le monde, mon amour, je suis ta femme
Et je comprends a quel point on peut etre affecte
En essayer de realiser un reve quand les eaux se font rares
Oh si nos ancetres pouvaient marcher pieds nus, malgre leur peur dans le noir, pour des kilometres et des kms et des kms....
Je sais qu'on peut le faire. Allons y... commencons
Reposted from http://www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=h4Xu0LW7ilo; transcription by lisejoan, 2010
-snip-
Editor: lisejoan gave the French translation in parenthesis following each line. I separated them to enhance the reading experience.
Notice that the African American originated slang interjection "Word" is translated above as "oui" [yes]. "Word" does mean "yes" but it's an intensification of "yes" and means "I definitely agree with what you are saying".
****
SELECTED COMMENTS
What "Ain't A Ceiling" Means
Editor:
The following comment was written in response to a French viewer's request for an explanation of what this poem/song means:
Jill is basically speaking from the perspective of black women to black men who fret over the prejudice black people face in America. She's saying that: 1) black women too have an understanding of the struggles of the black race; 2) the history of American slavery does still hold black people back and; 3) if our ancestors can overcome through sincere effort, so can we.
Its VERY powerful and wonderfully sung too!
Hope this helped!
-keepthefaith27; 2010; http://www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=h4Xu0LW7ilo
-snip-
I have also seen this poem's title given as "The Sky Ain't A Ceiling". Those words are near the end of this poem.
I've read and often recited the saying "Reach for the sky and you'll hit the ceiling". I interpret that saying to mean that if you set your goals high you'll succeed more than if you set limited goals. My sense is that this saying probably inspired the title & the ending words of this Jill Scott poem.
-snip-
The "Sing it, girl" comment in this video
Here are several comments from http://www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=h4Xu0LW7ilo about the woman in the audience who shouted "Sing it girl" near the beginning of Jill Scott's performance (Note these comments don't all follow each other.)
"sing it girl! LMAO
why does someone always do that?
-martitz548; 2010
-snip-
[Editor: LMAO=Laugh My Ass Off]
**
lol as an artist its great when someone does that. sends you good energy! ;-)
-venus3003 in reply to martitz548; 2010
[Editor: lol=laugh out loud]
**
"SING IT GUUURL!!"
aside from the poem itself, thats my favourite part hahaha
-ourouc; 2010
**
That women who screemed out "sing it girl" runied a moment of perfect bliss!
yusuf1608; 2012
**
I disagree. This is part of black culture, call and response. Black culture is interactive.
-PatsBooks in reply to yusuf1608; 2010
****
Why that program was called "Def Poetry
It's called Def Poetry because it was created by Russell Simmons who is one of the founders of Def Jam Records. He also created Def Comedy Jam.
-sazz419; 2011
-snip-
"Def" is a 198os African American originated slang word that is a clip (shortened form) of the word "definitely". Something that is "def" is definitely the real thing, something that is excellent, great, cool.
"Most definitely" is a African American originated vernacular saying that predates & almost certainly inspired the slang term "def". Perhaps not coincidentally, the host of "Def Poetry" was the Hip Hop artist whose stage name is "Mos Def".
****
RELATED LINKS
Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Scott for information about vocalist, song writer, spoken word artist, actress Jill Scott.
Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Def_Poetry for information about the television show Def Poetry (Def Poetry Jam)
****
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND THANKS
Thanks to Jill Scott for composing and performing "Ain't A Ceiling". Thanks also to those whose transcriptions and comments are reposted in this post. Thanks to the uploaders of these videos.
Finally, thank you for visiting pancocojams.
Viewer comments are welcome.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Examples Of The Game Song "Sissy In The Barn"
Edited by Azizi Powell
[Update March 15, 2015]
This post presents lyrics, performance instructions, and comments about the singing game "Sissy In The Barn" ("Sissy In De Barn").
Brief sound files of "Sissy In The Barn" ("Sissy In De Barn" are included in this post. Unfortunately, to date, I've not been able to locate an online video of this singing game.
The content of this post is presented for recreational, folkloric, educational, and aesthetic purposes.
All rights to this material remain with their owners.
****
GENERAL OVERVIEW
Bessie Jones, African American performer, folklorist, and co-author of Step It Down, a collection & study of African American children's singing games in the Georgia Sea Islands, described singing games as forms of dramatized play. During that dramatized play, children take on the role of certain characters and sing & act out the words of those characters. "Sissy In The Barn" is a good example of African American children's game song as a theatrical play. Read the performance instructions for Example #2 for a great example of this singing game as theatrical play.
The earliest date that I've found thus far for the game song "Sissy In The Barn" (under the name "Little Sister Won't You Marry Me") is 1922. That example is included in Thomas W. Talley's book Negro Folk Rhymes: Wise And Otherwise posted online at http://www.gutenberg.org/files/27195/27195-h/27195-h.htm
A 1937 version of this song can be found at http://www.loc.gov/folklife/guides/Children.html AFS 884B4-886B3: Eight songs sung by older children. Brandon, Mississippi, March 9, 1937.
886A3: "Sissy In The Barn". I believe this version is the same as that given as Example #1.
Notice that the version of "Sissy In The Barn" that is given below as Example #9 is included on a 1978 recording of Caribbean songs & games and ascribed to Trinidad. To date, I've not found any other indication that "Sissy In The Barn" is of Caribbean origin. If that ascription is correct, my guess is that someone in Trinidad either learned this song by visiting the United States South or by having contact with someone in the United States South.
For explanations of various words found in versions of "Sissy In The Barn", read my comments in the section below entitled "Word Meanings".
FEATURED EXAMPLES
[Posted in chronological order]
Example #1: [added September 13, 2020]
Youse de sweetest liddle couple dat I ever did see.
Oh Love! Love! Ahms all 'round me!
Say, liddle sistah, won't you marry me?
Oh step back, gal, an' don't you come a nigh me,
Wid all dem sassy words dat you say to me.
Oh Love! Love! Ahms all 'roun' me!
Oh liddle sistah, won't you marry me?
From: Negro Folk Rhymes, Wise and Otherwise: With a Study
Author: Thomas W. Talley; originally published in 1922
E-book edition: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/27195/27195-h/27195-h.htm
****
Example #3: Sissy In The Barn; Eva Grace Boone
From the Album Field Recordings Vol. 4: Mississippi & Alabama (1934-1942)[Sound file/MP3 Download]; [1937]?
SISSY IN THE BARN*
Sissy in the barn, barn the levee**
Prettiest little couple I ever did see,
Oh bon bon***, put your arms around me,
Say little sissy, won't you marry me?
Oh step back now, don't you come near me,
All those sassy things you say
Oh bon bon***, put your arms around me,
Say little sissy, won't you marry me?
From http://www.amazon.com/Sissy-In-The-Barn/dp/B000V978MI
*Transcription by Azizi Powell from the sound file whose link is given above.
**This word might be "de lairy".
***These words might be "barn barn".
****
Example #4: field recording (Julia Griffin and group; Women's Dormitory; State Penitentiary, Raiford, Florida; June 4, 1939; collected & recorded by Alan Lomax & Ruby T. Lomax)
SISSY IN DE BARN
Sissy in de barn, join de wedding
Prettiest little couple I ever did see,
Oh, bye-an'-bye put yo' arms around me
Says, little sissy, won't you marry me.
Oh, step back, gal, don't you come near me,
All those sassy words you say
Bye-an'-bye, throw yo' arms around me
Pretty little sissy, won't you marry me.
From http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.afc.afcss39.2718b3/default.html
These singers were African American women.
****
Example #5: Altona Trent Johns Play Songs Of The Deep South (The Associated Publishers, Inc.; 1st edition; 1944)
My comment:
Altona Trent Johns' book includes two versions of "Bon Ton or Sissy In De Barn" (pages 1-5) Two of these pages are drawings. One drawing shows Black girls & Black boys outdoors forming a circle [with the children not holding hands] and a girl & boy in the center of the circle. The other drawing shows a Black girl and Black boy outdoors dancing the two step [with no other children in the drawing.] A piano score is provided for the first "arrangement" of this song. The words to the second arrangement of "Bon Ton" are given within a piano score.
Here's the lyrics and directions from that book:
BON TON or SISSY IN DE BARN
Sissy in de barn,
O jine de weddin'
Sweetes' li'l' couple I e'er did see,
O Bon Ton, put yo' arms around me!
Say, Ii'l' Sissy, Won't you marry me?
Get back, gal.
Get yo' arms from 'round me!
All those sassy words you say,
O Bon Ton, put yo' arms around me!
Say, Ii'l' Sissy, Won't you marry me?
Get back, boy,
Don't put yo' arms around me!
All those foolin' words you say,
O Bon Ton, put yo' arms around me!
Say, 'li'l' Sissy, Won't you marry me?
"Sissy" is affectionate for "little Sister" [This is the author's statement and her performance directions follow.]
Directions
Any number may participate. The players form a large circle with a boy in the center.
They clap hands on each beat throughout as they swing.
1. Boy in center advances in short, skip-like steps to a girl in the circle and stops in front of her on the words, "li'l' couple".
2. He catches girl's right hand in his.
3. They take position for social dancing.
4. They move to center and dance the "two step" inside the circle.
5. Pushes girl gently from him
6. Shakes finger in mock anger at girl, meanwhile skipping back to her.
7. Same as (2)
8. Same as (3)
9. Same as (4)
10. Reverse (5), i.e. girl pushes boy from her.
11. Reverse (6)
12. Use steps (2), (3), and (4) again.
13. At the conclusion of the above directions this girl and boy join the ring, some other boy goes to center and the dance is begun again.
This should be sung and danced gaily and not dragged out.
-snip-
BON TON
"This second arrangement of "Bon Ton" can be played by more advanced pianists. It would provide a more colorful and more difficult accompaniment for the dance and could also be used as a piano solo".
-snip-
Altona Trent Johns provides more information provided about how the piano solo is played. The lyrics are the same as above.
Notice that this song is performed by a co-ed group of children (females & males). I believe this is the earliest way this courting game song was played.
****
Example #6: [late 1930s] From http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=122276&messages=21
Subject: RE: lyr/info req: Sissy/Missy in the barn... (Bon Ton)
From: GUEST,Betty Pierce
Date: 31 Mar 14 - 09:03 AM
"When I was in the 4th and 5th grades in a little country school in North Alabama, we played this game, both girls and boys. I cannot remember how the went but we were in a circle. This is how we sang the song......................Sissy in the Bon, was the name of it or that is what we called it.
Sissy in the bon,
bon in the lerry.
Prettiest little girl that I ever did see.
Oh bon, bon, put your arms around me.
Say my little sissy won't you marry me.
Oh step back gal, don't you come nigh me,
All those sassy words you said.
Oh bon bon put your arms around me.
Pretty little sissy, won't you marry me
...........This was in the late 1930's. I will be 85 years on April 18, 2014. The reason why I remember the song so well is that I guess I liked it and I would sing it at home all the time. My uncle still at home at time learned it to and it stuck with him as long as he lived. I have a tape with him singing it. As I remember we would sing it real fast.
-snip-
I changed the formating of this comment for this post.
The word "nigh" in this example may be a typo for "near".
****
Example #7: The Archive Of Folk Song;
B. A. Botkin [prior to 1950]
From
http://www.loc.gov/folklife/LP/PlayandDanceL9_opt.pdf
SISSY IN THE BARN
Sissy in the barn, the levee
Prettiest little couple I ever did see,
Oh barn, barn, put your arms around me,
Say little sissy, won't you marry me?
Step back now, don't you come near me,
All those sassy things you say
Oh barn, barn, put your arms around me,
Say little sissy, won't you marry me?
-snip-
Folk Music Of The United States
Music Division
Recording Laboratory AFS 19
Library of Congress, Washington [No date is given for this recording. However it must be 1950 or earlier as the cover art for the album is documented to have been donated in 1950.]
There are no collector's notes or performance instructions are given for this example.
****
Example #8: Carver Elementary School
Recorded: May 6, 1954
From http://www.floridamemory.com/audio/cd1.php 1954 Florida Folk Festival White Springs, Florida
(S 1576, reel T76-1).
Sissy in the barn barn a lairy
pretty little sissy I ever did see
Oh bon bon, throw your arms all around me
little sissy won’t you marry me.
Oh step back sissy, don’t you come near me
all those sassy words you say
Oh bon bon, throw your arms all around me
little sissy won’t you marry me.
[both verses repeated]
-snip-
Transcription by Azizi Powell from the download/sound file given as #15 on that list. This rendition is performed with the children clapping their hands and either stomping their feet while standing or the sounds of their feet while they move around.
Although the race of the children isn't noted, they are probably African American as "Carver Elementary School" was probably named after the African American scientist/inventor George Washington Carver.
****
Example #9: Folkways 07858, Songs for Children from New York City (1978)
SISSY IN DE BARN
Sissy in de barn, de barn de leary.
Prettiest little gal I ever did see.
Oh barn, barn put your arms around me.
Say pretty sissy won't you marry me.
Oh step back gal*, don't you come near me.
All those sassy words you say.
Oh barn, barn put your arms around me.
Say pretty sissy won't you marry me.
The children circle holding hands during the first part of the game. The child in the middle picks a partner and dances with him. The partner rejects the child with exaggerated movements on "step back gal." They reconcile and dance again at the end. The partner now becomes the new "Sissy."
-snip-
* "Oh step back gal" is spoken.
Collected by Alan Lomax from African American children.
Posted by Joe Offer on 14 Jul 09 - 01:59 PM on http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=122276 "lyr/info req: Sissy/Missy in the barn... (Bon Ton)"
****
Example #10: Caribbean Songs And Games: Puerto Rico, Haiti, Trinidad, Jamaica, The Bronx, 1978 [Trinidad]
SISSY IN THE BARN
Sissy in the barn the barn de lerie
Sissy in the cupboard, the cupboard we'll see,
Oh by and by, I'm the one who
Say little Sissy won't you marry me.
Just step back girl
Don't come near me
Say little Sissy won't you marry me.
The children are in a circle with "Sissy" in the middle. She chooses a partner on "Oh barn." On "step back," she pushes the partner from her, points her finger and shakes her hip. They reconcile at the end and she leaves her partner (usually a boy) in the middle of the circle to start again.
-snip-
http://media.smithsonianfolkways.org/liner_notes/folkways/FW07856.pdf Band 3A
Folkways Records Album No FC 5856
Copyright 1978 Folkways Record
Recorded and annotated by Edna Smith Edet
-snip-
Notice that this example is the only one presented which doesn't include the line "All those sassy things you say".
****
MEANINGS OF CERTAIN WORDS IN THIS SINGING GAME
Here is a list of words from the game song "Sissy In The Barn" whose meanings may be unclear. Many of these featured words help document the evolution of that song over a period of time. The changes in these lyrics are probably a result of folk etymology - mishearing or misremembering words, or unknowingly replacing an unfamiliar word, phrase, or sound with a familiar word, phrase or sound. Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_etymology for more information about "folk etymology".
"Sissy"
"Sissy" is an affectionate nickname for females, from the word "sister". This nickname is used by family members and non-family members regardless of the females' personal name.
The Caribbean game song "In A Fine Castle" which includes the repeated line "do you hear my sisi-o" is another example of a game song that includes this meaning of the nickname "Sissy".
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/08/two-examples-of-caribbean-game-song-in.html and http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/08/example-of-in-fine-castle-brown-girl-in.html for pancocojams posts about the song "In A Fine Castle".
A somewhat familiar use of the nickname "Sissy" is Anglo-American actress "Sissy Spacek".
The song title "Sissy In The Barn" simply describes where the young woman called "Sissy" is. The title "Missy In The Barn" given in the Mudcat discussion forum link above is probably a misremembering of the title by the person seeking information about that song.
**
"De" - "the"
**
"O'lairy, "o'leary"; "de lerie"
"O'lairy" and similarly spelled words are forms of a phrase found in English language children's playground rhymes from at least the mid twentieth century on. Here's an excerpt from a Mudcat discussion forum post which includes a rhyme with the word "o'lairy" and which provides information about the source & meaning of the word "o'lairy":
"Chicago, early 1940s:
One, two, three a'leary,
Four, five, six a'leary,
Seven, eight, nine a'leary,
Ten a'leary, USA!...
[Folk singer] Jean Redpath pointed out, as she was doing one of these ball-bouncing/leg-cross-over games, that there is a line in [the British folk song] Piers Plowman about beggars sitting at the city gate, "Legs aleery." I'm not sure of the spelling, but the meaning was clear: they had their legs crossed, i.e.: sitting in what we call "Indian fashion." In the game, of course, the player crosses her leg (this is usually considered a girl's game) over the bouncing ball."
http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=11034 Jazz Lyric '1 2 3 O'Lairy' - Count Basie 1940; posted by Sandy Paton; 19 May 99 -10:08 PM
-snip-
According to this information quoted by Sandy Paton, "o'lairy" pronounced "oh-LEER-ree"] means "legs crossed". Traditionally, when children bouncing a ball say the word "o'lairy" as part of a rhyme, they were supposed to raise one leg and bounce the ball under that leg. Or when children playing jump rope (skipping rope) say "o'lairy", they were supposed to cross their legs. Nowadays, in the United States, that movement is called jumping "criss cross".
However, I don't mean to imply that children singing "Sissy In The Barn" crossed their legs when they sang the words "o'leary". Actually, I believe that they probably did no such thing. In my opinion, the traditional meaning of the word "o'lairy" became largely unknown to children in the United States, if not elsewhere, decades ago. Children sang or recited "o'lairy" because it was/is a part of a rhyme or song, but they didn't/don't attach any particular meaning to it.
My opinion is that children started singing "o'leary" at the end of that line in "Sissy In The Barn" because they were familiar with the "o'leary" at the end of lines of text in children's rhymes & game songs. The "jine the wedding" with its outdated word "jine" was eventually dropped and was replaced by the words "de barn o'lairy" ["the barn o'lairy"] ["Sissy in the barn the barn o'lairy"].
Also notice how the words "o'lairy" [and similar sounding forms] were changed in Example #4 to the words "the levee". A levee is "an embankment built to prevent the overflow of a river." http://www.thefreedictionary.com/levee
In addition, it should be noted [no pun intended] that the words "the barn o' lairy" has five beats while the words "jine the weeding" has four beats. Yet Black children would have no difficulty whatsoever elongating the word "wedding" to make the words "the barn o'lairy" substitute for those earlier words.
**
"Bon Ton" and "Bye and Bye"
Example #3 of "Sissy In The Barn" posted above gives "Bon Ton" as the alternate title for that song.
"Oh bye and bye" in the line "Oh, bye-an'-bye put yo' arms around me" may have been an unintential folk etymology replacement for the words "bon ton".
"Bye and bye" means "eventually". In my opinion, that meaning doesn't fit the theme of the song as well as the meaning for the words "bon ton".
In the lyrics "O Bon Ton ["oh bon bon"] put your arms all around me", bon ton [bon bon] is similar to the affectionate terms "my sweetie, "my honey" or "my dearest one". However, "bon ton" also carries a connotation of a person with high fashion & sophistication.
From http://www.thefreedictionary.com/bon+ton
a. A sophisticated manner or style. b. The proper thing to do. 2. High society. [French : bon, good + ton, tone.] bon ton (French) [bɔ̃ tɔ̃]. n Literary. 1. sophisticated ...
The Zydeco song "Bon Ton Roulet" is a somewhat familiar use of the words "bon ton". According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bon_Ton_Roula
" "bon ton roulet" ("bon ton roula") is a phonetical approximation of "bons temps rouler", Louisiana Creole French for "good times roll" as in "Laissez les bons temps rouler" or "Let the good times roll", an unofficial slogan for New Orleans and the Mardi Gras celebration."
**
"Jine" - "join"
**
"Yo'" = "your"
**
"Sassy"
In the context of the line "all those sassy words you say", "sassy" means "improperly forward or bold".
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/sassy
Also, click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2011/09/changing-meanings-of-being-sassy.html for my comments about the changing meaning of "sassy".
-snip-
ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES OF FOLK ETYMOLOGY
Example #7 as found above, gives the line "Sissy in the cupboard the cupboard we’ll see". This line is an obvious folk etymology form. The word "cupboard" may have been used since a cupboard may have been more familiar to those children then a barn. The ending words "we'll see" may have been a folk etymology replacement for the words "the levee".
Comparing it with the other presented examples, this line in Example #7 "Oh by and by, I'm the one who" seems like it is incomplete.
****
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND THANKS
Thanks to all those who have shared examples of this song in records, books, blogs, and otherwise.
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Viewer comments are welcome.
[Update March 15, 2015]
This post presents lyrics, performance instructions, and comments about the singing game "Sissy In The Barn" ("Sissy In De Barn").
Brief sound files of "Sissy In The Barn" ("Sissy In De Barn" are included in this post. Unfortunately, to date, I've not been able to locate an online video of this singing game.
The content of this post is presented for recreational, folkloric, educational, and aesthetic purposes.
All rights to this material remain with their owners.
****
GENERAL OVERVIEW
Bessie Jones, African American performer, folklorist, and co-author of Step It Down, a collection & study of African American children's singing games in the Georgia Sea Islands, described singing games as forms of dramatized play. During that dramatized play, children take on the role of certain characters and sing & act out the words of those characters. "Sissy In The Barn" is a good example of African American children's game song as a theatrical play. Read the performance instructions for Example #2 for a great example of this singing game as theatrical play.
The earliest date that I've found thus far for the game song "Sissy In The Barn" (under the name "Little Sister Won't You Marry Me") is 1922. That example is included in Thomas W. Talley's book Negro Folk Rhymes: Wise And Otherwise posted online at http://www.gutenberg.org/files/27195/27195-h/27195-h.htm
A 1937 version of this song can be found at http://www.loc.gov/folklife/guides/Children.html AFS 884B4-886B3: Eight songs sung by older children. Brandon, Mississippi, March 9, 1937.
886A3: "Sissy In The Barn". I believe this version is the same as that given as Example #1.
Notice that the version of "Sissy In The Barn" that is given below as Example #9 is included on a 1978 recording of Caribbean songs & games and ascribed to Trinidad. To date, I've not found any other indication that "Sissy In The Barn" is of Caribbean origin. If that ascription is correct, my guess is that someone in Trinidad either learned this song by visiting the United States South or by having contact with someone in the United States South.
For explanations of various words found in versions of "Sissy In The Barn", read my comments in the section below entitled "Word Meanings".
FEATURED EXAMPLES
[Posted in chronological order]
Example #1: [added September 13, 2020]
The Brownies' Book
Vol 1. September, 1920 No.9
PLAYTIME
Four Games from St. Helena
Arranged by JULIA PRICE BRURRELL
SISSY IN THE BARN
The children form a circle and join hands.
One child stands in the center—a boy. All sing to child in
center:
Sissy in the barn, join the wedding!
Sissy in the barn, join the wedding!
(Child in center chooses a partner who joins him). All sing:
Sweetest li'l couple I ever did see.
Barn! Barn!
Arms all around me! Barn!
Children in center put arms around each other. All sing:
Say, little Sissy, won't you marry me?
Two in center stand opposite each other and point fingers at
each other saying:
Stay back, girl (or boy), don't you come near me.
All them sassy words you say!
O, Barn! Barn!
(All sing) Arms all around me!
Say, little sissy, won't you marry me? Marry me?
Two in center courtesy to each other—the child who was
chosen partner remains and the game starts again.
-snip-
Thanks to
-snip-
Thanks to
****
Example #2: LITTLE SISTER, WON'T YOU MARRY ME?
Liddle sistah in de barn, jine de weddin'.Example #2: LITTLE SISTER, WON'T YOU MARRY ME?
Youse de sweetest liddle couple dat I ever did see.
Oh Love! Love! Ahms all 'round me!
Say, liddle sistah, won't you marry me?
Oh step back, gal, an' don't you come a nigh me,
Wid all dem sassy words dat you say to me.
Oh Love! Love! Ahms all 'roun' me!
Oh liddle sistah, won't you marry me?
From: Negro Folk Rhymes, Wise and Otherwise: With a Study
Author: Thomas W. Talley; originally published in 1922
E-book edition: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/27195/27195-h/27195-h.htm
****
Example #3: Sissy In The Barn; Eva Grace Boone
From the Album Field Recordings Vol. 4: Mississippi & Alabama (1934-1942)[Sound file/MP3 Download]; [1937]?
SISSY IN THE BARN*
Sissy in the barn, barn the levee**
Prettiest little couple I ever did see,
Oh bon bon***, put your arms around me,
Say little sissy, won't you marry me?
Oh step back now, don't you come near me,
All those sassy things you say
Oh bon bon***, put your arms around me,
Say little sissy, won't you marry me?
From http://www.amazon.com/Sissy-In-The-Barn/dp/B000V978MI
*Transcription by Azizi Powell from the sound file whose link is given above.
**This word might be "de lairy".
***These words might be "barn barn".
****
Example #4: field recording (Julia Griffin and group; Women's Dormitory; State Penitentiary, Raiford, Florida; June 4, 1939; collected & recorded by Alan Lomax & Ruby T. Lomax)
SISSY IN DE BARN
Sissy in de barn, join de wedding
Prettiest little couple I ever did see,
Oh, bye-an'-bye put yo' arms around me
Says, little sissy, won't you marry me.
Oh, step back, gal, don't you come near me,
All those sassy words you say
Bye-an'-bye, throw yo' arms around me
Pretty little sissy, won't you marry me.
From http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.afc.afcss39.2718b3/default.html
These singers were African American women.
****
Example #5: Altona Trent Johns Play Songs Of The Deep South (The Associated Publishers, Inc.; 1st edition; 1944)
My comment:
Altona Trent Johns' book includes two versions of "Bon Ton or Sissy In De Barn" (pages 1-5) Two of these pages are drawings. One drawing shows Black girls & Black boys outdoors forming a circle [with the children not holding hands] and a girl & boy in the center of the circle. The other drawing shows a Black girl and Black boy outdoors dancing the two step [with no other children in the drawing.] A piano score is provided for the first "arrangement" of this song. The words to the second arrangement of "Bon Ton" are given within a piano score.
Here's the lyrics and directions from that book:
BON TON or SISSY IN DE BARN
Sissy in de barn,
O jine de weddin'
Sweetes' li'l' couple I e'er did see,
O Bon Ton, put yo' arms around me!
Say, Ii'l' Sissy, Won't you marry me?
Get back, gal.
Get yo' arms from 'round me!
All those sassy words you say,
O Bon Ton, put yo' arms around me!
Say, Ii'l' Sissy, Won't you marry me?
Get back, boy,
Don't put yo' arms around me!
All those foolin' words you say,
O Bon Ton, put yo' arms around me!
Say, 'li'l' Sissy, Won't you marry me?
"Sissy" is affectionate for "little Sister" [This is the author's statement and her performance directions follow.]
Directions
Any number may participate. The players form a large circle with a boy in the center.
They clap hands on each beat throughout as they swing.
1. Boy in center advances in short, skip-like steps to a girl in the circle and stops in front of her on the words, "li'l' couple".
2. He catches girl's right hand in his.
3. They take position for social dancing.
4. They move to center and dance the "two step" inside the circle.
5. Pushes girl gently from him
6. Shakes finger in mock anger at girl, meanwhile skipping back to her.
7. Same as (2)
8. Same as (3)
9. Same as (4)
10. Reverse (5), i.e. girl pushes boy from her.
11. Reverse (6)
12. Use steps (2), (3), and (4) again.
13. At the conclusion of the above directions this girl and boy join the ring, some other boy goes to center and the dance is begun again.
This should be sung and danced gaily and not dragged out.
-snip-
BON TON
"This second arrangement of "Bon Ton" can be played by more advanced pianists. It would provide a more colorful and more difficult accompaniment for the dance and could also be used as a piano solo".
-snip-
Altona Trent Johns provides more information provided about how the piano solo is played. The lyrics are the same as above.
Notice that this song is performed by a co-ed group of children (females & males). I believe this is the earliest way this courting game song was played.
****
Example #6: [late 1930s] From http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=122276&messages=21
Subject: RE: lyr/info req: Sissy/Missy in the barn... (Bon Ton)
From: GUEST,Betty Pierce
Date: 31 Mar 14 - 09:03 AM
"When I was in the 4th and 5th grades in a little country school in North Alabama, we played this game, both girls and boys. I cannot remember how the went but we were in a circle. This is how we sang the song......................Sissy in the Bon, was the name of it or that is what we called it.
Sissy in the bon,
bon in the lerry.
Prettiest little girl that I ever did see.
Oh bon, bon, put your arms around me.
Say my little sissy won't you marry me.
Oh step back gal, don't you come nigh me,
All those sassy words you said.
Oh bon bon put your arms around me.
Pretty little sissy, won't you marry me
...........This was in the late 1930's. I will be 85 years on April 18, 2014. The reason why I remember the song so well is that I guess I liked it and I would sing it at home all the time. My uncle still at home at time learned it to and it stuck with him as long as he lived. I have a tape with him singing it. As I remember we would sing it real fast.
-snip-
I changed the formating of this comment for this post.
The word "nigh" in this example may be a typo for "near".
****
Example #7: The Archive Of Folk Song;
B. A. Botkin [prior to 1950]
From
http://www.loc.gov/folklife/LP/PlayandDanceL9_opt.pdf
SISSY IN THE BARN
Sissy in the barn, the levee
Prettiest little couple I ever did see,
Oh barn, barn, put your arms around me,
Say little sissy, won't you marry me?
Step back now, don't you come near me,
All those sassy things you say
Oh barn, barn, put your arms around me,
Say little sissy, won't you marry me?
-snip-
Folk Music Of The United States
Music Division
Recording Laboratory AFS 19
Library of Congress, Washington [No date is given for this recording. However it must be 1950 or earlier as the cover art for the album is documented to have been donated in 1950.]
There are no collector's notes or performance instructions are given for this example.
****
Example #8: Carver Elementary School
Recorded: May 6, 1954
From http://www.floridamemory.com/audio/cd1.php 1954 Florida Folk Festival White Springs, Florida
(S 1576, reel T76-1).
Sissy in the barn barn a lairy
pretty little sissy I ever did see
Oh bon bon, throw your arms all around me
little sissy won’t you marry me.
Oh step back sissy, don’t you come near me
all those sassy words you say
Oh bon bon, throw your arms all around me
little sissy won’t you marry me.
[both verses repeated]
-snip-
Transcription by Azizi Powell from the download/sound file given as #15 on that list. This rendition is performed with the children clapping their hands and either stomping their feet while standing or the sounds of their feet while they move around.
Although the race of the children isn't noted, they are probably African American as "Carver Elementary School" was probably named after the African American scientist/inventor George Washington Carver.
****
Example #9: Folkways 07858, Songs for Children from New York City (1978)
SISSY IN DE BARN
Sissy in de barn, de barn de leary.
Prettiest little gal I ever did see.
Oh barn, barn put your arms around me.
Say pretty sissy won't you marry me.
Oh step back gal*, don't you come near me.
All those sassy words you say.
Oh barn, barn put your arms around me.
Say pretty sissy won't you marry me.
The children circle holding hands during the first part of the game. The child in the middle picks a partner and dances with him. The partner rejects the child with exaggerated movements on "step back gal." They reconcile and dance again at the end. The partner now becomes the new "Sissy."
-snip-
* "Oh step back gal" is spoken.
Collected by Alan Lomax from African American children.
Posted by Joe Offer on 14 Jul 09 - 01:59 PM on http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=122276 "lyr/info req: Sissy/Missy in the barn... (Bon Ton)"
****
Example #10: Caribbean Songs And Games: Puerto Rico, Haiti, Trinidad, Jamaica, The Bronx, 1978 [Trinidad]
SISSY IN THE BARN
Sissy in the barn the barn de lerie
Sissy in the cupboard, the cupboard we'll see,
Oh by and by, I'm the one who
Say little Sissy won't you marry me.
Just step back girl
Don't come near me
Say little Sissy won't you marry me.
The children are in a circle with "Sissy" in the middle. She chooses a partner on "Oh barn." On "step back," she pushes the partner from her, points her finger and shakes her hip. They reconcile at the end and she leaves her partner (usually a boy) in the middle of the circle to start again.
-snip-
http://media.smithsonianfolkways.org/liner_notes/folkways/FW07856.pdf Band 3A
Folkways Records Album No FC 5856
Copyright 1978 Folkways Record
Recorded and annotated by Edna Smith Edet
-snip-
Notice that this example is the only one presented which doesn't include the line "All those sassy things you say".
****
MEANINGS OF CERTAIN WORDS IN THIS SINGING GAME
Here is a list of words from the game song "Sissy In The Barn" whose meanings may be unclear. Many of these featured words help document the evolution of that song over a period of time. The changes in these lyrics are probably a result of folk etymology - mishearing or misremembering words, or unknowingly replacing an unfamiliar word, phrase, or sound with a familiar word, phrase or sound. Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_etymology for more information about "folk etymology".
"Sissy"
"Sissy" is an affectionate nickname for females, from the word "sister". This nickname is used by family members and non-family members regardless of the females' personal name.
The Caribbean game song "In A Fine Castle" which includes the repeated line "do you hear my sisi-o" is another example of a game song that includes this meaning of the nickname "Sissy".
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/08/two-examples-of-caribbean-game-song-in.html and http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/08/example-of-in-fine-castle-brown-girl-in.html for pancocojams posts about the song "In A Fine Castle".
A somewhat familiar use of the nickname "Sissy" is Anglo-American actress "Sissy Spacek".
The song title "Sissy In The Barn" simply describes where the young woman called "Sissy" is. The title "Missy In The Barn" given in the Mudcat discussion forum link above is probably a misremembering of the title by the person seeking information about that song.
**
"De" - "the"
**
"O'lairy, "o'leary"; "de lerie"
"O'lairy" and similarly spelled words are forms of a phrase found in English language children's playground rhymes from at least the mid twentieth century on. Here's an excerpt from a Mudcat discussion forum post which includes a rhyme with the word "o'lairy" and which provides information about the source & meaning of the word "o'lairy":
"Chicago, early 1940s:
One, two, three a'leary,
Four, five, six a'leary,
Seven, eight, nine a'leary,
Ten a'leary, USA!...
[Folk singer] Jean Redpath pointed out, as she was doing one of these ball-bouncing/leg-cross-over games, that there is a line in [the British folk song] Piers Plowman about beggars sitting at the city gate, "Legs aleery." I'm not sure of the spelling, but the meaning was clear: they had their legs crossed, i.e.: sitting in what we call "Indian fashion." In the game, of course, the player crosses her leg (this is usually considered a girl's game) over the bouncing ball."
http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=11034 Jazz Lyric '1 2 3 O'Lairy' - Count Basie 1940; posted by Sandy Paton; 19 May 99 -10:08 PM
-snip-
According to this information quoted by Sandy Paton, "o'lairy" pronounced "oh-LEER-ree"] means "legs crossed". Traditionally, when children bouncing a ball say the word "o'lairy" as part of a rhyme, they were supposed to raise one leg and bounce the ball under that leg. Or when children playing jump rope (skipping rope) say "o'lairy", they were supposed to cross their legs. Nowadays, in the United States, that movement is called jumping "criss cross".
However, I don't mean to imply that children singing "Sissy In The Barn" crossed their legs when they sang the words "o'leary". Actually, I believe that they probably did no such thing. In my opinion, the traditional meaning of the word "o'lairy" became largely unknown to children in the United States, if not elsewhere, decades ago. Children sang or recited "o'lairy" because it was/is a part of a rhyme or song, but they didn't/don't attach any particular meaning to it.
My opinion is that children started singing "o'leary" at the end of that line in "Sissy In The Barn" because they were familiar with the "o'leary" at the end of lines of text in children's rhymes & game songs. The "jine the wedding" with its outdated word "jine" was eventually dropped and was replaced by the words "de barn o'lairy" ["the barn o'lairy"] ["Sissy in the barn the barn o'lairy"].
Also notice how the words "o'lairy" [and similar sounding forms] were changed in Example #4 to the words "the levee". A levee is "an embankment built to prevent the overflow of a river." http://www.thefreedictionary.com/levee
In addition, it should be noted [no pun intended] that the words "the barn o' lairy" has five beats while the words "jine the weeding" has four beats. Yet Black children would have no difficulty whatsoever elongating the word "wedding" to make the words "the barn o'lairy" substitute for those earlier words.
**
"Bon Ton" and "Bye and Bye"
Example #3 of "Sissy In The Barn" posted above gives "Bon Ton" as the alternate title for that song.
"Oh bye and bye" in the line "Oh, bye-an'-bye put yo' arms around me" may have been an unintential folk etymology replacement for the words "bon ton".
"Bye and bye" means "eventually". In my opinion, that meaning doesn't fit the theme of the song as well as the meaning for the words "bon ton".
In the lyrics "O Bon Ton ["oh bon bon"] put your arms all around me", bon ton [bon bon] is similar to the affectionate terms "my sweetie, "my honey" or "my dearest one". However, "bon ton" also carries a connotation of a person with high fashion & sophistication.
From http://www.thefreedictionary.com/bon+ton
a. A sophisticated manner or style. b. The proper thing to do. 2. High society. [French : bon, good + ton, tone.] bon ton (French) [bɔ̃ tɔ̃]. n Literary. 1. sophisticated ...
The Zydeco song "Bon Ton Roulet" is a somewhat familiar use of the words "bon ton". According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bon_Ton_Roula
" "bon ton roulet" ("bon ton roula") is a phonetical approximation of "bons temps rouler", Louisiana Creole French for "good times roll" as in "Laissez les bons temps rouler" or "Let the good times roll", an unofficial slogan for New Orleans and the Mardi Gras celebration."
**
"Jine" - "join"
**
"Yo'" = "your"
**
"Sassy"
In the context of the line "all those sassy words you say", "sassy" means "improperly forward or bold".
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/sassy
Also, click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2011/09/changing-meanings-of-being-sassy.html for my comments about the changing meaning of "sassy".
-snip-
ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES OF FOLK ETYMOLOGY
Example #7 as found above, gives the line "Sissy in the cupboard the cupboard we’ll see". This line is an obvious folk etymology form. The word "cupboard" may have been used since a cupboard may have been more familiar to those children then a barn. The ending words "we'll see" may have been a folk etymology replacement for the words "the levee".
Comparing it with the other presented examples, this line in Example #7 "Oh by and by, I'm the one who" seems like it is incomplete.
****
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND THANKS
Thanks to all those who have shared examples of this song in records, books, blogs, and otherwise.
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Viewer comments are welcome.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)