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Showing posts with label Odetta. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Odetta. Show all posts

Thursday, September 10, 2020

The Children's Song "There's A Hole In The Bucket" (with information & lyrics, & YouTube examples))

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post presents information about the folk song "There's A Hole In The Bucket" and presents the contemporary lyrics for that song. This post also showcases two YouTube videos of that  song.

The content of this post is presented for cultural and entertainment purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.


Thanks to the composers of this song and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to all those who are featured in these videos and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.  

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SONG "THERE'S A HOLE IN THE BUCKET"
Excerpt #1:
From 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There%27s_a_Hole_in_My_Bucket
"There's a Hole in My Bucket" (or "...in the Bucket") is a children's song, based on a dialogue between two characters, called Henry[a] and Liza, about a leaky bucket. The song describes a "deadlock" situation: Henry has a leaky bucket, and Liza tells him to repair it. To fix the leaky bucket, he needs straw. To cut the straw, he needs an axe. To sharpen the axe, he needs to wet the sharpening stone. To wet the stone, he needs water. But to fetch water, he needs the bucket, which has a hole in it.

[...]

Origins and development
The earliest known archetype of this song seems to be in the German collection of songs Bergliederbüchlein (c 1700). It is set as a dialogue between a woman named Liese, and an unnamed man.

[…]

In later German sources the song is reproduced under the title of Heinrich und Liese and credited as a folk song from Hesse

[…]

In George Korson's "Pennsylvania Songs and Legends" (1949) there is a song with meter closer to the modern English version …

This was collected in 1940, and is earlier than any known English-language version. This suggests that it might be a traditional "Pennsylvania Dutch" (i.e. German) song. Ed McCurdy recorded it in 1958 on "Children's Songs". Harry Belafonte recorded it with Odetta in 1960. It reached No. 32 in the UK Singles Chart in September 1961.[5] In his book Where Have All the Flowers Gone: A Singer's Songs, Stories, Seeds, Robberies (1993), Pete Seeger refers to it as an originally German song, "Lieber Heinrich"….

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Excerpt #2
From https://muppet.fandom.com/wiki/There%27s_a_Hole_in_the_Bucket
"There's a Hole in the Bucket" is a traditional children's song. It was performed by the Anything Muppets on Sesame Street in the mid-1970s.

Henry (played by Jim Henson) is about to fetch a bucket of water from his well, but realizes that his bucket has a hole. Liza, his wife (voiced by Rita Moreno), explains how to fix it, but she grows frustrated with having to tell him everything he needs to do.”…

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LYRICS: THERE'S A HOLE IN THE BUCKET

There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza,
There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, a hole.

        Then mend it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
        Then mend it, dear Henry, dear Henry, mend it.

With what shall I mend it, dear Liza, dear Liza?
With what shall I mend it, dear Liza, with what?

        With straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
        With straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, with straw.

The straw is too long, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The straw is too long, dear Liza, too long.

        Then cut it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
        Then cut it, dear Henry, dear Henry, cut it.

With what shall I cut it, dear Liza, dear Liza?
With what shall I cut it, dear Liza, with what?

        With a knife, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
        With a knife, dear Henry, dear Henry, a knife.

The knife is too dull, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The knife is too dull, dear Liza, too dull.

        Then sharpen it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
        Then sharpen it, dear Henry, dear Henry, sharpen it.

With what shall I sharpen it, dear Liza, dear Liza?
With what shall I sharpen it, dear Liza, with what?

        With a stone, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
        With a stone, dear Henry, dear Henry, a stone.

The stone is too dry, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The stone is too dry, dear Liza, too dry.

        Then wet it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
        Then wet it, dear Henry, dear Henry, wet it.

With what shall I wet it, dear Liza, dear Liza?
With what shall I wet it, dear Liza, with what?

        With water, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
        With water, dear Henry, dear Henry, with water.

In what shall I fetch it, dear Liza, dear Liza?
In what shall I fetch it, dear Liza, in what?

        In a bucket, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
        In a bucket, dear Henry, dear Henry, in a bucket.

But there's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza,
There's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, a hole.


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SHOWCASE YOUTUBE EXAMPLES
Example #1: A Hole in the Bucket by Harry Belafonte and Odetta [sound file]


brendandawna, Jan 20, 2010

From Belafonte Returns to Carnegie Hall

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Example #2: Classic Sesame Street - Song: "There's a Hole in the Bucket" [video]


MonsterpieceTheatre, Aug 16, 2012
-snip-
At least one commenter in this video's discussion thread wrote that segment first aired on Sesame Street in 1976.
 

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Visitor comments are welcome.

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Odetta - Jack O' Diamonds (sound file & lyrics)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post showcases the Blues song "Jack of Diamonds" (Is A Hard Card To Play) as recorded by Odetta in 1956. Odetta's lyrics for this now classic Blues song are also included in this post.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/01/blind-lemon-jefferson-jack-of-diamonds.html for a companion post of Blues singer Blind Lemon Jefferson's 1926 version of this song.

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

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SHOWCASE EXAMPLE: Odetta - Jack O' Diamonds



Nostalgicjukebox, Published on Aug 19, 2013

From the album Odetta - "Sings Ballads And Blues" [1956 Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues Tradition TLP1010]
-snip-
Here's information about Odetta from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odetta
"Odetta Holmes (December 31, 1930 – December 2, 2008), known as Odetta, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, songwriter, and a civil and human rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement".[4] Her musical repertoire consisted largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and spirituals. An important figure in the American folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s, she was influential to many of the key figures of the folk-revival of that time, including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Mavis Staples, and Janis Joplin"..."

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LYRICS: JACK OF DIAMONDS (IS A HARD CARD TO PLAY)
(as recorded by Odetta)

Jack O' Diamonds is a hard card to play
Jack O' Diamonds is a hard card to play
Jack O' Diamonds is a card
Sending many poor man to his grave
Jack O' Diamonds is a hard card to play

Put your Jack on the Queen
It'll turn your money green
Jack O' Diamonds is a hard card to play
Put your Jack on the Queen
And it'll turn your money green
Your Jack is a hard card to play

[Humming]

Put your Jack on the Queen
It'll turn your money green
Jack O' Diamonds is a hard card to play

Well I tell you
[?] its old enough to change
keep on playing
Man you're far to win
Keep your Jack on the Queen
It'll turn your money green
Jack O' Diamonds is a hard card to play

Source: http://www.lyrics59.com/lyrics-1417548/odetta/jack-o%5C'-diamonds.html

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COMMENTS ABOUT THIS SONG
According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_of_Diamonds_(song).
"It [Jack o'Diamonds] was sung by railroad men who had lost money playing Coon can.[2]."
-snip-
From http://www.rummy-games.com/rules/conquian.html
"Conquian (also known as "Cooncan", "Coon Can", and "Coon-Can") is generally regarded as the earliest form of Rummy (see Rummy History). It features all of the basic features common to all Rummy games.
-snip-
Note that the name "Coon Can" isn't related to the [now always highly derogatory] referent for Black people "coons".

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COMMENTS ABOUT CERTAIN LYRICS
"Jack of Diamonds is a hard card to play"

From http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=1102696

02-01-2001, 12:14 PM puddleglum
"...since the Jack is the lowest of the face cards it is hard to play because for it to win all of the other face cards have to have been played and by then someone might have run out of diamonds and use the trump. So it is a card that looks important but has little real value. Also it is a one eyed jack. It seems the metaphor is of feeling of having something but of not having enough to make a difference."

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Johnny Angel
"I'm with puddleglum on this. The significance of the Jack of Diamonds is that it's the lowest ranked face card, and therefore a tempting but lousy bet. Like the old song says:

Jack of Diamonds, Jack of Diamonds, well I know you of old
Robbed my poor pockets of silver and gold.
If the ocean was whiskey and I was a duck
I'd dive to the bottom and never come up.
But the ocean ain't whiskey and I ain't a duck.
I play Jack of Diamonds and trust to my luck."
-snip-
Click http://planetpeschel.com/the-wimsey-annotations/the-short-stories/the-queens-square/
for information about & analysis of the Jack of Diamonds song that includes the line "
Here's a brief excerpt from that page: [This is] "A 19th century American folk song, with the melody based on the Scottish song “Farewell to Tarwathie.”.

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"Put [or "keep"] your Jack on your Queen/ It'll will turn your money green"

I think that the verse signifies that in the card game of coon can (the card game that this song is said to refer to as per the Wikipedia article cited above) the Jack of Diamonds beats the Queen (note that in the United States all paper money is the color green) and the person playing the Jack would therefore win the money that was betted.

Click http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=5267.30 for a discussion about these lines. Here's one entry from that discussion that was posted by blueshome; February 08, 2009, 03:08:01 PM:
"In Bob Campbell's "Dices Blues" he has the line:
"My buddy played the Jack when he give me that hard-luck queen"

and in the following stanza:
"Jack o'diamonds, jack o'diamonds will turn your money green"

This would seem to refer to the same game with the jack beating the queen."

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Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/01/grizzly-bear-as-sung-by-black-texas.html for the song "Grizzly Bear" that refers to "Jack Of Diamonds". In that song "Jack Of Diamonds refers to a particular man and not a card.

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Thanks to Odetta for her musical legacy.

Thanks also to the publisher of this sound file on YouTube and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.

Thank you for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.