MAN’S SONG OF WOMAN
There is probably no theme which comes nearer being common to all types
of Negro songs than the theme of the relation of man and woman. It is
the heart and soul of the blues. The Negro bad man is often pictured
as being bad because of a woman. The jail and chain gang songs abound
in plaintive references to woman and sweetheart, and the worker in
railroad gang and construction camp often sings to his “cap’n” about
his woman. Likewise, in the songs of woman, man plays the leading
rôle. These man and woman songs are of such significance that special
attention must be given to them as a type of Negro song in order to
round out the picture of Negro workaday life which this volume is
trying to present. In this chapter and the one following, therefore,
there have been brought together examples of songs which deal primarily
with the relation of the sexes.
Conflicts, disagreements, jealousies and disappointments in the love
relation have ever been productive of song. They are the chief source
of “hard luck” songs or blues, and the Negro’s naïve way of singing
of his failure and disappointments in love is what has made the blues
famous. Sometimes his songs portray vividly, often with a sort of
martyr-like satisfaction, his difficulties with women. At times his
song is defiant. At other times it is merely a complaint. Again, it is
despondent, in which case he is going “to jump in the rivuh an’ drown”
or “drink some pizen down” or do something else calculated to make the
woman sorry that she mistreated him. Some of the “hard luck” stories of
the Negro man are told in the following group of songs.
LAWD, SHE KEEP ON WORRYIN’ ME
Lawd, Lawd, she keep on worryin’ me,
Lawd, captain, she keep on worryin’ me.
Lawd, she cry all night long,
Lawd, Lawd, she cry all night long.
Mama, the mo’ I pet her, Lawd,
The mo’ I pet her the mo’ she cries.
Lawd, I gonna give her mouf full o’ fist
An’, Lawd, she won’t cry no mo’.
Captain, captain, I don’t bother nobody,
Works every day as bes’ I can.
Captain, look like you could make her,
Lawd, leave me alone.
Captain, she say she love me
Like school boy love his pie.
Lawd, she say I leave her alone,
Lawd, ain’t got no friends at all.
MY GIRL SHE’S GONE AND LEFT ME
My girl, she’s gone and left me,
She left me all alone,
She promised that she would marry me
The day that she left home.
So kiss me, all you brown skins
And all you yellows, too.
I would give anything in this wide, wide world
Just because I do love you.
BROWN GAL BABY DONE TURN ME DOWN
I’s goin’ down to de rivah,
Jump in an’ drown,
Dat brown gal baby
Done turn me down,
Done turn me down.
Goin’ down to de drug sto’,
Pisen I drink down,
Den dey take de news
To my baby brown,
To my baby brown.
Call up de doctah
Mighty quick,
Tell my brown baby
I sho’ is sick,
I sho’ is sick.
Den my black baby
Come hurryin’ ’roun’,
She sho’ be sorry
She turn me down,
She turn me down.
I BRUNG A GAL FROM TENNESSEE
Ain’t yer heard my po’ story?
Den listen to me:
I brung a gal from Tennessee
Tennessee, Tennessee
I brung a gal from Tennessee.
Ain’t yer heard my po’ story?
Den listen to me:
Dat Georgia gal set de police on me.
Tennessee, Tennessee,
I brung a gal from Tennessee.
DON’T WANTA SEE HER NO MO’
I ain’t never seed her befo’,
I ain’t never seed her befo’,
I ain’t never seed her befo’,
Don’t wanta see her no mo’, baby.
She say, “Come on, go to my house,”
She say, “Come on, go to my house,”
She say, “Come on, go to my house,”
She ain’t nuffin but a roust-about, baby.
She s’arch my pockets through,
She s’arch my pockets through,
She s’arch my pockets through,
Den say, “I ain’t got no need of you, baby.”
Don’t e’r wanta see her no mo’,
Don’t e’r wanta see her no mo’,
Don’t e’r wanta see her no mo’,
Never had seed her befo’, baby.
I’S HAVIN’ A HELL OF A TIME
I’s a-havin’ a hell of a time,
I’s a-havin’ a hell of a time,
I’s a-havin’ a hell of a time,
Livin’ wid dese two women o’ mine.
De po’ boy, dey got no mercy at tall,
De po’ boy, dey got no mercy at tall,
De po’ boy, dey got no mercy at tall,
Dey lock in de room, he sets out in de hall.
Ain’t gonna stay here no mo’,
Ain’t gonna stay here no mo’,
Ain’t gonna stay here no mo’,
De creepers all ’roun’ my do’.
Goin’ back down to Georgia lan’,
Goin’ back down to Georgia lan’,
Goin’ back down to Georgia lan’,
Where women don’t have jes’ one man.
Yer don’t haf to have no clo’es,
Yer don’t haf to have no clo’es,
Yer don’t haf to have no clo’es,
De women don’t never lock deir do’s.
LAWDY, WHAT I GONNA DO?
U--h, Lawdy, what I gonna do?
U--h, Lawdy, what I gonna do?
U--h, Lawdy, what I gonna do?
Been havin’ jes’ ol’ lady, but now I got two, baby!
U--h, Lawdy, ol’ lady got rough,
U--h, Lawdy, ol’ lady got rough,
U--h, Lawdy, ol’ lady got rough,
Say, hell in fire, she sho’ got ’nough, baby!
U--h, Lawd, ol’ un bring in de meat,
U--h, Lawd, ol’ un bring in de meat,
U--h, Lawd, ol’ un bring in de meat,
Dis new gal of mine she got all de sweet, baby!
U--h, Lawdy, dem rations am good,
U--h, Lawdy, dem rations am good,
U--h, Lawdy, dem rations am good,
Have sech a good time, if de ol’ woman would, baby!
SOME O’ DESE DAYS
Some o’ dese days,
Hit won’t be long,
Mammy gonna call me
An’ I be gone.
Some o’ dese nights,
An’ I don’t kere,
Mammy gonna want me
An’ I won’t be here.
Some o’ dese days
In de by an’ by,
You won’t have no’n’ t’eat,
Den you gonna cry.
Some o’ dese days
While I’s here to home,
Better feed me an’ pet me,
Don’t, I’s gonna roam.
YOU TAKE DE STOCKIN’, I TAKE DE SOCK
You take de stockin’, I take de sock, honey,
You take de stockin’, I take de sock, baby,
You take de stockin’, I take de sock,
Take you all night to wind dat clock, honey.
You take de garter an’ I take de string, honey,
You take de garter an’ I take de string, baby,
You take de garter an’ I take de string,
You gits de money, I don’t git a thing, honey.
You take de slipper, I take de shoe, honey,
You take de slipper, I take de shoe, baby,
You take de slipper, I take de shoe,
I don’t kere now whut you gonna do, honey.
You take de boot an’ I take de laig, honey,
You take de boot an’ I take de laig, baby,
You take de boot an’ I take de laig,
You ain’t nuffin but a rotten aig, honey.
PULL OFF DEM SHOES I BOUGHT YOU
A
Goin’ up de country,
Don’t you wanta go?
Git me out my
Rag time clo’es.
Pull off dem shoes I bought you,
Pull off dem socks I bought you,
Pull off dat hat I bought you,
You know you have mistreated me.
Tore up all my clo’es;
Pull off dat wig I brung you,
Let yo’ devilish head go bal’.
B
Mary, Mary, when I met you
You didn’t have no clo’es at all.
Now I ax you kindly, Miss Mary,
Give me dem shoes, stockin’s, an’ dat petticoat,
An’ dat dress an’ hat, an’ las’ dat wig,
An’ let yo’ head go bal’.
MAMMY-IN-LAW DONE TURN ME OUT
Keep on a-worryin’,
What’s it all about?
Mammy-in-law
Done turn me out.
Don’t bring in no sugar,
Don’t bring in no meat,
Don’t never bring in
Nothin’ to eat.
Mammy-in-law done turn me out.
Don’t bring in no rations,
Don’t bring in no dough,
’Nother man hang around her do’.
Mammy-in-law done turn me out.
DE WOMEN DON’T LOVE ME NO MO’
De women don’t love me no mo’,
I’s a broke man from po’ man’s town.
De women don’t love me no mo’,
’Cause I can’t buy her stockin’s an’ a gown,
’Cause I can’t buy her stockin’s an’ a gown.
I don’t kere, don’t matter wid me,
I don’t love to work no mo’.
Got to have money, got to have clo’es,
Don’t, a feller can’t make no show.
De gal love de money
An’ de man love de gal;
If dey bofe don’t git what dey wants,
It’s livin’ in hell.
The Negro man runs true to masculine style when he philosophizes upon
the subject of woman. Needless to say, his philosophy is often the
result of his failure to get along with the other sex. When he is
“down” on womankind the burden of his song is that woman is the cause
of most of the trouble in the world. He avows that
Woman is a good thing an’ a bad thing, too,
They quit in the wrong an’ start out bran’ new.
Or he declares that he will never again have anything to do with women:
All I hope in dis bright worl’:
If I love anybody, don’t let it be a girl.
One of his strong points is giving advice to others in order that they
may avoid his mistakes. “Listen to me, buddy,” he says, “let me tell
you what a woman’ll do.”
Don’t never git one woman on yo’ min’,
Keep you in trouble all yo’ time.
_De Woman Am De Cause of It All_ and the songs immediately following
it are typical of the songs of the woman-hater. _Dey Got Each and de
Other’s Man_ is as clever a bit of cynicism as one could want.
DE WOMAN AM DE CAUSE OF IT ALL
A
De woman am de cause of it all,
De woman am de cause of it all,
She’s de cause of po’ Adam’s fall,
De woman’s de cause of it all.
Bill and John fall jes’ de same,
Bill and John fall jes’ de same,
De onliest difference, dey ain’t got po’ Adam’s name,
But de woman am de cause of it all.
She strips yo’ pocket book,
She strips yo’ pocket book,
Den tells de police you a damn crook,
De woman am de cause of it all.
Workin’ in de gang, ’out no frien’,
Workin’ in de gang, ’out no frien’,
Nobody comes, brings nuffin’ in,
De woman am de cause of it all.
B
De woman is de cause of it all,
She’s de cause of Daddy Adam’s fall.
Ol’ Daddy Adam, Ol’ Mudder Eve,
Takin’ all dese years to bring in de sheaves.
Ol’ Miss Eve didn’t have no showin’
Widout heaps of stags to keep her goin’.
If dey’d been twenty stags in de Garden of Eden,
De devil and de sarpent sho’d got beaten.
IF DERE’S A MAN IN DE MOON[68]
If dere’s a man in de moon,
Dere’s a woman hangin’ roun’.
If dere’s a man in de moon,
She nag at ’im, I be boun’.
Man in de moon, man in de moon,
Wonder if dat man’s a coon,
Wonder if dat man’s a coon,
Wonder if dat man’s a coon,
Dat man in de moon.
Go fer a walkin’ out at night,
See dat woman pickin’ a fight.
Man in de moon, man in de moon,
Wonder if dat man am a coon,
Wonder if dat man am a coon,
Wonder if dat man am a coon,
Dat roun’ face man in de moon.
[68] Probably derived from the song _If the Man in the Moon Were a
Coon_, which was a popular minstrel several years ago.
A VAMPIRE OF YOUR OWN
If you want to have a vampire of your own,
Let these loose women alone.
Fix up your wife you have at home,
An’ you’ll have a vampire of your own.
Stop spendin’ your money on other women,
An’ your friends, you have not any.
Go home at night, treat your own wife right,
An’ you’ll have a vampire of your own.
DEY GOT EACH AND DE UDDER’S MAN
See two passenger trains, Lawd,
Runnin’ side by side.
See two womens, see two womens,
Stan’ an’ talk so long.
Bet yo’ life dey got
Each and de udder’s man.
The Negro man is at his best when he sings of his “gal” or his
“baby.” Sometimes his song is boastful of the qualities of his “gal.”
Sometimes he compares the merits of the brown girl and the yellow girl
or of the black and the yellow and casts his vote for his favorite
color. Again, he sings the story of his courtship, and he counts it a
never-to-be-too-much-talked-about experience to have been driven away
from his sweetheart’s house by an irate father. In _My Jane_ the lover
characterizes his “gal” with enviable terseness and humor.
MY JANE
My Jane am a gal dat loves red shoes,
My Jane am a gal dat loves silk clo’es.
My Jane am a gal what loves plenty money,
She can devil a feller till it ain’t even funny.
My Jane am a gal dat loves heaps o’ men,
Gits what you got an’ dat’s yo’ en’.
My Jane am a gal loves to frolic all night,
Won’t cook fer a feller, not even a bite.
My Jane’s a gal gits all she can,
If you ain’t got it, she hunts another man.
My Jane am a gal drive a feller to de bad,
But Jane’s, hell-o-mighty, bes’ gal I ever had!
MY GAL’S A HIGH BO’N LADY
My gal she’s a high bo’n lady,
She’s dark but not too shady,
All de mens fall fer dat
High bo’n gal o’ mine!
_Chorus_:
She’s a high bo’n baby,
She’s a high bo’n lady,
She’s a brown dat suits my eye.
De mens dey calls her cutie,
Dat gal a natural bo’n beauty,
All de same I’s in de ring
Fer dat high bo’n brown o’ mine.
IF YOU WANT TO SEE A PRETTY GIRL
Rubber is a pretty thing,
You rub it to make it shine.
If you want to see a pretty girl,
Take a peep at mine, take a peep at mine.
Talkin’ about a pretty girl,
You jus’ ought-a see mine.
She is not so pretty
But she is jus’ so fine.
She gives me sugar,
She gives me lard,
She works all the while
In the white folks’ yard.
HONEY BABY
If I could lay my head on yo’ sweet breas’,
Honey baby, I could fin’ sweet res’.
Sweet res’, sweet res’,
Honey baby, I could fin’ sweet res’.
If I could set down in your lap,
Baby mine, I could have a nap.
Good nap, sweet nap,
Honey baby, I could have a nap.
GIVE ME A TEASIN’ BROWN
If ’twant fer de ter’pin pie
And sto’-bought ham,
Dese country women
Couldn’t git nowhere.
Some say, give me a high yaller,
I say, give me a teasin’ brown,
For it takes a teasin’ brown
To satisfy my soul.
For some folksies say
A yaller is low down,
But teasin’ brown
Is what I’s crazy about.
YOU TAKE DE YALLER, I TAKE DE BLACK
Yaller gal’s yourn
An’ de black gal’s mine,
You never can tell
When de yaller gal’s lyin’.
Give me a chocolate drop,
She’s white on de inside,
Black on de back.
She don’t cause a feller
To ride de railroad track.
You take yaller,
I take de black,
Hurry up, nigger,
Come out’n dat shack.
Dat chocolate
Gal am mine.
LONG, TALL, BROWN-SKIN GIRL
I’m Alabama boun’,
Long, tall, brown-skin girl.
I’m Alabama boun’,
I’m Alabama boun’.
I have a mule to ride
To that long, tall, brown-skin girl.
I have a mule to ride,
I have a mule to ride.
She is on the road somewhere,
She is a long, tall, brown-skin girl.
She is on the road somewhere,
She is on the road somewhere.
You can leave me here
With my long, tall, brown-skin girl.
You can leave me here,
You can leave me here.
I GOT A GAL AN’ I CAN’T GIT HER
I got a gal an’ I can’t git her,
I got a gal an’ I can’t git her,
I got a gal an’ I can’t git her,
Mammy won’t lemme see ’er, can’t even go wid her.
Went to de house, I wus lovin’ sick,
Went to de house, I wus lovin’ sick,
Went to de house, I wus lovin’ sick,
I got over dat spell, Lawd, mighty quick.
Daddy had a pistol, mammy had a gun,
Daddy had a pistol, mammy had a gun,
Daddy had a pistol, mammy had a gun,
Totin’ my stuff roun’ de corner, Lawd, wus fun.
I WENT TO SEE MY GAL
I went to see my gal at half pas’ fo’
Her ol’ fool daddy met me at de do’.
“I come to git a match,” so says, says I.
“Write it on yo’ tombstone, by and by.”
I kicked up dirt, I kicked up san’,
Lawd, I kicked up everything but dry lan’.
You ax me did I run?--No, Lawd, I flew.
I’s a mighty black nigger, he skeered me blue.
BABY, WHY DON’T YOU TREAT ME RIGHT
I’m goin’ down to the rivuh,
I’m goin’ to jump overboard an’ drown,
Because the girl I love,
I can’t see her all the time.
_Chorus_:
Baby, why don’t you treat me right,
So that I can love you all the night?
Then you will be my sweet little wife.
Baby, why don’t you treat me right?
I’m coming to see you tomorrow night,
I want everything to be just right,
I’m coming to get my own,
An’ I want that shine to leave you alone.
DEY’S HANGIN’ ’ROUN’ HER DO’
Dey’s a-hangin’ ’roun’ her do’,
Dey’s never done dat befo’,
Fer she’s wearin’ her aprons low.
Lawdy, Lawdy, I don’t wanta go,
All dese niggers hang ’roun’ her do’,
’Cause she’s wearin’ ’em hangin’ low.
Unfaithfulness in love is another great source of song. “Somebody stole
my gal” is a common tale, and the sequel, “I’m gonna git dat man,” is
equally common. The “creeper,” the man who “fools wid another man’s
woman,” is the most despised of all Negro characters. Says the Negro
man,
A sarpent crawls on his belly,
A cat wallers on his back;
De meanest varmint in de worl’
Is de creeper in my shack.
In the following group of songs the man pays his respects to the
unfaithful woman and to the “creeper.”
A CREEPER’S BEEN ’ROUN’ DIS DO’
You don’t think I don’t know
A creeper’s been ’roun’ dis do’, dis do’.
A sarpent crawls on his belly,
A cat wallers on his back,
De meanest varmint in dis worl’
Is de creeper in my shack.
My woman say hit’s her brother,
Den say hit’s her daddy, too;
If dat midnight creeper don’t stay ’way,
I know what I’s gonna do.
My han’s am long,
My fingers am strong and slim,
When I gits through wid dat creeper’s neck
Dey won’t be creeps lef’ in him.
DEW-DROP MINE
Keep me, sleep me, close on yo’ heart,
Tell me, angel Susie, never mo’ to part.
My black baby, you got no wings,
But, my black baby, you got better things.
Angel mine, you quit lyin’
In de bed wid dat udder man,
Dew-drop mine, I’s a cryin’
Fer you, but I’s spyin’.
Angel mine, dis I know,
You don’t love me no mo’.
Dew-drop mine, dis I know,
A midnight creeper come in my do’.
HE TUCK HER AWAY
I sho’ got to fight, I’s got to use de knife,
’Cause dat stray done got my wife.
Oh, he tuck her away, he tuck her away.
I GOT MY MAN
Look out, nigger, hol’ up yo’ han’.
Waited long time, but I got my man.
You got de gal, I got you,
Devil git us bofe ’fore we gits through.
HOME AGAIN, HOME AGAIN[69]
Home again, home again,
Crazy to git back.
When I gets dere,
Finds a stray man in my shack,
Finds a stray man in my shack,
Finds a stray man in my shack,
Home again, home again,
Finds a stray man in my shack.
Home again, home again,
Axe handle in de yard,
Whales dat nigger over de head.
Now I’s workin’ hard,
Now I’s workin’ hard,
Now I’s workin’ hard,
Home again, home again,
Now I’s workin’ hard.
De chain gang got me, an’ de coal mine, too,
But, Lawd, what’s a po’ nigger gonna do
When a creeper comes creepin’ in,
When a creeper comes creepin’ in,
When a creeper comes creepin’ in?
Home again, home again,
When a creeper comes a-creepin’ in.
[69] Cf. _Home Again Blues_, a popular phonograph piece.
I’S DONE SPOT MY NIGGER
Han’ on my gun,
Finger on de trigger,
I’s goin’ to jail
’Cause I’s done spot my nigger.
My woman done fool me,
Everything gone wrong;
I ain’t never gonna live
To sing dis song.
Jedge an’ jury
Sentenced me to hang,
Jes’ as lieve to go dere
As to go to de gang.
HE GOT MY GAL
Come up Whitehall,
Run out ’Catur,
I’se boun’ fer to fin’ dat
Big black waiter.
_Chorus_:
He got my gal, he got my gal,
He got my gal, he got my gal,
I boun’ now to git dat man.
He give her money,
He give her fine wear;
But when I finds dat waiter,
Watch out fer his hair.
SHE’S GOT ANOTHER DADDY
Bill Snipe’s wife couldn’t buy no coffin,
But ’hin’ her veil I seen her laughin’.
She’s got another daddy, Lawd,
She’s got another daddy.
Bill’s wife rid ’hin’ de hearse,
She rid in a hack,
I kotch her grinnin’ at her new daddy
Out’n a crack.
She’s got another daddy, Lawd,
She’s got another daddy.