740
Down at Widow Johnson's
'Down at Widow Johnson's.' Sung by Bascom Lamar Lunsford, Turkey
Creek, Buncombe county, 1902. The singer learned this tune from Lula Black
in 1902 while teaching school at Dogget's Gap, between Buncombe and
Madison counties. In order to get a better recording, the singer repeated the
song for this editor while he was visiting Chapel Hill in 1945. In his per-
formance it was interesting to observe the influence of the more recent jazzy
rhythm on such a veteran mountaineer (measures 2 and 15).
F-639
Down at wid - ow John-son's the oth - er night —
Did a lit - tie court - in' out of sight.
Down on my knees my love I was tell - ing,
My old girl on the out - side yelling
'You can't fool me Char - lie,
You can' fool me Char - lie,
You've tried ev - 'ry man - ner for to fool your
lit - tie Han-nah, Mm. You can't fool me, but you can.'
Scale : Hexachordal, plagal. Tonal Center : g. Structure : abb^a^ccde (2,2,2,
2,2,2,2,2). It is easy to see the compound structure built upon the principle
of inverted barforms plus strophe. Over-all form, however (ignoring the
rhyme scheme of the text) = abed (4,4,4,4) ; b is somewhat related to a.
The heterogeneous elements of this tune are held together by repetitions of
some parts, as well as similarities of some of the material used. This ad-
ditive principle is familiar from the period of motets and madrigals, as well
as the later Classic period, for example, the operatic arias of Mozart.