Frog Music (50 page)
Authors: Emma Donoghue
“Some Folks”
Published in 1855, this insouciant ode to individualism and “the merry, merry heart” is yet another bestselling song by Stephen Foster (1826–1864).
CHAPTER VII: BANG AWAY
“How Can I Keep from Singing,” aka “My Life Flows On in Endless Song”
This famous hymn seems to have begun as a poem entitled “Always Rejoicing,” published in the
New York Observer
on August 7, 1868, by “Pauline T.” Others attribute the words to Anna Bartlett Warner (1827–1915). All that’s clear is that the tune is by American Baptist minister (and composer of some five hundred hymns) Robert Lowry (1826–1899), who included both music and words—claiming credit for only the music—in the 1869 songbook he helped edit,
Bright Jewels for the Sunday School
.
“Old Aunt Jemima,” aka “Aunt Jemima Ho Hei Ho”
This minstrel-show song, drawing on slave work chants, is usually said to have been written in 1875 by a man who performed it often, Billy Kersands (ca. 1842–1915). An extraordinary African American acrobat, Kersands was a graceful two-hundred-pounder who could fit several billiard balls in his enormous mouth and whose trademark dance, Essence of Old Virginia, was a forerunner of the soft-shoe shuffle.
But the facts are more complicated. James (Jim) Grace, Kersands’s fellow performer from the Callender’s Georgia Minstrels (the most successful African American troupe), published “Old Aunt Jemima” in 1876, claiming authorship of the words and music. In 1876 the variant Blanche hears—with lyrics hinting at a violent threat to an interracial relationship—was included in Sol Smith Russell’s
Jeremy Jollyboy: Songster
, “as sung by Joe Lang,” a white blackface performer and theater manager. There is an 1873 publication with the title
Joe Lang’s Old Aunt Jemima Songster
, so its first performer and/or composer may have been neither Kersands nor Grace, but Lang.
The performers of this song, whether black men or white, usually wore drag. In 1889 it was used to brand a pancake mix, and Aunt Jemima gradually became a generic nickname for black women, especially rural ones.
“Bang Away, Lulu,” aka “Bang Bang, Lulu,” “(My) Lulu (Gal),” “(My) Lulu Lula,” “She Is a Lulu,” and “When Lulu’s Gone”
This dirty crowd-pleaser seems to have been widespread in the United States, Canada, and England by the end of the nineteenth century but for reasons of prudery was published only in censored versions until the second half of the twentieth. Ed Cray offers this undated composite in the first edition of his wonderful collection
The Erotic Muse
(1968), calling it a Southern Appalachian ballad and emphasizing that these verses are just a handful out of hundreds known. Other versions of the song feature (Miss) Rosie or Susie.
CHAPTER VIII: WHEN THE TRAIN COMES ALONG
“When the Train Comes Along,” aka “When That Train Comes Along”
A new nineteenth-century American musical form, the Negro spiritual drew on both African and European traditions. “When the Train Comes Along” is a spiritual first published in 1909 (in Howard W. Odum’s
Religious Folk-Songs of the Southern Negroes
). The version Blanche hears was collected on St. Helena Island, South Carolina, in 1913 and published in Carl Diton’s
Thirty-Six South Carolina Spirituals
(1930). The song appeared in many variations in the 1920s and became popular in white gospel and blues too.
“I’ll Eat When I’m Hungry”
The lines Jenny sings here were collected in an untitled three-verse fragment by Emma Bell Miles (1879–1919) in her
The Spirit of the Mountains
(1905). Variations on this floating stanza can be found in “Rye Whiskey”/”Jack o’ Diamonds” and “The Cuckoo” as well as “Drunkard’s Song,” “Drunken Hiccups,” and “(Way Up on) Clinch Mountain.” Jürgen Kloss, in his tireless investigation of the British/American song lineage that includes “Rye Whiskey,” manages to trace versions of the eat/drink quatrain back through Civil War songs (“The Rebel Soldier,” “The Rebel Prisoner”) to an English play of 1737, Robert Dodsley’s
The King and the Miller of Mansfield
; see Kloss’s “From ‘Earl Douglas’ Lament’ to ‘Farewell Angelina’: The Long and Twisted History of an Old Tune Family,” http://justanothertune.com/html/tarwathie.html.
“Who Gonna Shoe Yo’ Pretty Little Feet?”
This maverick stanza about parted lovers derives from a mid-eighteenth-century Scots ballad generally known as “The Lass of Loch Royale.” Variations on these shoe/glove lines were widespread in nineteenth- and twentieth-century America, sometimes taking the spotlight in composite songs called “Who Will Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot” and “Oh, Who Will Shoe My Foot,” but more often turning up in other songs, including “Poor Boy,” “Don’t Let Your/My Deal Go Down,” “Fare You Well, My Own True Love,” “The True Lover’s Farewell,” “The False True Lover,” “(Fare You Well, My) Mary Anne,” “The Storms Are on the Ocean,” “Ten Thousand Miles,” and “Turtle Dove.”
The version sung in this novel is from “John Henry” (variant E), the famous lament for a heroic black railway man, in
Negro Workaday Songs
, edited by Odum and Johnson (1926).
(IN ORDER OF USE IN THE NOVEL)
Dors, min p’tit quinquin, / Min p’tit pouchin, / Min gros rojin; / Te m’f’ras du chagrin / Si te n’dors point qu’à d’main
Sleep, my little child, / My little chick, / My fat grape; / You’ll annoy me if you don’t / Go to sleep till tomorrow
qu’est-ce?:
What?
merde:
shit (human or animal); exclamation of annoyance
micheton:
(literally, “little Michael”) prostitute’s trick or john
allumeuse:
(literally, “she who lights/turns on”) cocktease
cigare:
(literally, “cigar”) penis
l’heure bleue:
(literally, “the blue hour”) dusk
gamin:
urchin, street child
ça va, mademoiselle?:
All right, miss?
cuisses de grenouille au beurre noir:
frog legs in black butter
mon vieux:
my old friend (masc.)
dehors:
outside
connard:
jerk
bordel:
brothel; exclamation of annoyance
chérie, ça va?:
Darling (fem.), how are you?
Blanche la danseuse:
Blanche the dancer
mac/maquereau:
boyfriend of a prostitute
ami intime:
bosom buddy (masc.)
Au clair de la lune, on n’y voit qu’un peu:
By moonlight, you can’t see much
Maman: Mom
quelle salope:
what a bitch
la vie de bohème:
bohemian life
Courrier de San Francisco:
a French-language San Francisco newspaper
con:
(literally, “vulva”) fool
enchanté:
delighted to meet you (masc.)
pantalon:
trousers
chacun ses goûts:
to each his own
qu’importe:
no matter
mon beau:
my handsome (masc.)
heureux au jeu, malheureux en amour:
lucky at gambling, unlucky in love
petite amie:
girlfriend, lover (fem.)
ma puce:
my flea; term of endearment
le Cirque d’Hiver:
the Winter Circus
les jours anciens:
past times
des conneries:
bullshit
satané:
(literally, “satanic”) damn
Français:
the French, or Frenchmen
à table, messieurs-dames:
come and eat, ladies and gentlemen
Monsieur Loyal:
traditional title of circus ringmaster
vous comprenez?:
you understand?
Voici la fin de la semaine: / Qui veut m’aimer? / Je l’aimerai. / Qui veut mon âme? / Elle est à prendre
.
Here’s the weekend: / Who wants to love me? / I’ll love him. / Who wants my soul? / It’s for the taking.
putain:
whore; exclamation of annoyance or surprise
prends-la dans le cul:
take her in the ass
chatte:
(literally, “female cat”) vulva
l’amant de Blanche:
Blanche’s lover (masc.)
merci:
thanks
bisou:
kiss
regarde le beau cheval:
look at the handsome horse
chut:
shh
voilà:
there
caca:
poo
viens ici, mon gars:
come here, my lad
gulli gulli:
tickling taunt
putain de merde:
(literally, “shit-whore”) exclamation of extreme annoyance
mon amour:
my love (masc.)
pauv’ bébé:
poor baby
qu’est-ce que ce sera?:
What’ll it be?
choucroute:
sauerkraut
j’en ai marre:
I’ve had enough
bordel de merde:
(literally, “shit-brothel”) exclamation of extreme annoyance
patron:
boss
foutu:
(literally, “fucked”) damn
bel ami:
boyfriend, boy toy
hein:
now (conveying insistence)
Chapeau sur côté, Musieu Bainjo / La canne à la main, Musieu Bainjo, / Botte qui fait crin crin, Musieu Bainjo …
Hat on one side, Mr. Banjo, / Cane in hand, Mr. Banjo / Boots that squeak, Mr. Banjo …
la vie est trop courte pour boire du mauvais vin:
life’s too short to drink bad wine
la ville sans honte:
the shameless city/town
désolée:
sorry (fem.)
Mais il est bien court, le temps des cerises … / Cerises d’amour au robes pareilles, / Tombant sous la feuille en gouttes de sang …
But cherry time is very short …/ Cherries of love in the same dresses, / Falling under the leaves in drops of blood …
bonne nuit, mes amis:
good night, my friends
hou-hou:
yoo-hoo
comme il faut:
as it should be done
cuisses de grenouille à la poulette:
frog legs chicken-style
à bientôt:
see you soon
bonne chance:
good luck
libre:
free (to do)
gratuit:
free (in price)
cul:
ass (meaning sex in general)
ta gueule:
shut your trap
enchantée:
delighted to meet you (fem.)
l’une pour l’autre, double paix-paroli, masque, sept-et-le-va:
faro jargon
que ça pue:
what a stink
va te faire foutre:
go fuck yourself
bon voyage:
have a good trip
jamais de fumée sans feu:
there’s no smoke without fire
fille de joie:
(literally, “joy girl”) prostitute
Mardi i’ r’viendra m’ voire, / O gai! vive la rose; / Mais je n’en voudrai pas, / Vive la rose et le lilas!
He’ll come back to see me on Tuesday, / Hey, long live the rose; / But I won’t want him back / Long live the rose and the lilac!
gouine:
dyke
ma pauvre:
poor thing (fem.)
qu’est-ce que c’est que ça?:
What’s this?
qu’est-ce qui m’est arrivé?:
What’s happened to me?
gendarmes:
French police
corbillard:
hearse
croque-morts:
undertaker’s assistants
le voilà enfin:
there he is at last
un enfant sauvage:
a wild child
enceinte:
pregnant
mari de convenance:
husband of convenience
santé:
to your health (a toast)
pommes frites:
French fries
Ma chandelle est morte, / Je n’ai plus de feu. / Ouvre-moi ta porte / Pour l’amour de Dieu
.
My candle’s out, / I’ve got no more fire. / Open your door to me, / For the love of God.
dernier cri:
the last word in fashion
Born in Dublin in 1969 and now living in London, Ontario,
EMMA DONOGHUE
writes short stories and literary history as well as drama for stage, radio, and screen, but she is best known for her novels both historical (
Slammerkin, Life Mask, The Sealed Letter
) and contemporary (
Stir-fry, Hood, Landing
). Her international bestseller
Room
was a
New York Times
Best Book of 2010 and a finalist for the Man Booker, Commonwealth, and Orange Prizes. For more information, go to emmadonoghue.com.
Visit
www.AuthorTracker.com
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Astray
Room
Inseparable: Desire Between Women in Literature
The Sealed Letter
Landing
Touchy Subjects
Life Mask
The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits
Slammerkin
Kissing the Witch: Old Tales in New Skins
Hood
Stir-Fry
Cover illustration: Emma Farrarons
