I wonder if that's not what I call "folk song drift" (there's probably a
more formal term for the phenomenon). Every person interprets a
song/arranges a song differently, and what I see in folk music is a lot of
word replacement/phrase shifting. Sometimes its deliberate and for the
best: "Johnny Come Down to Hilo" originally opened with "Never seen the like
since I been born, a big buck nigger with his sea boots on." Clearly not
appropriate for a modern audience! The Mystic Seaport's chanty men changed
the line to "Never seen the like since I was born, an Arkansas farmer with
his sea boots on." The meaning is the same, but avoids the inappropriate
terminology. Other times it's a matter of the singer remembering a line
wrong, or adding a new phrase to an old tune, or even forgetting the lyrics
and improvising.
I'm not sure what the original line was in Summertime; I know Sarah Vaughan
sang: "Oh your Daddy's rich and your Ma's good lookin'", for whatever that's
worth.
-patty
-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Scott
Sent: Friday, September 03, 2010 12:26 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Porgy & Bess wasATEG Digest - 1 Sep 2010 to 2 Sep 2010
(#2010-142)
In the musical Porgy and Bess, the song Summertime has the line in print
"Oh, yo' Daddy's rich and your Mama's good looking." The few times that I
have heard Caucasian singers do that line, it was just as written with
the exception that Yo' > Your. Virtually time that I heard an
African-American sing the song--especially in Charleston--the line went,
"Oh, yo Mammy's rich and your Pa is good looking. Is the change class,
cultural, ethnic, or what--my in-depth exposure to Charleston was 1975--76.
Scott Catledge
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