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Say Darlin' Say/ Hush Little Baby
Traditional Old-Time, Breakdown and song
sheetmusic: http://www.lizlyle.lofgrens.org/RmOlSngs/SayDarlingSay.pdf
ARTIST: Standard Versions from the Wildcats Marimac 9015. Key D/ Also The Jaybirds
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes
DATE: Early 1900’s
RELATED TO: Hush Little Baby; Western Country; Shout Lulu; Mamma's Goin' to Buy Him a Little Lap Dog;
OTHER NAMES: Say Darling Say; Mockingbird Song; Papa's Going to Buy Me a Mockingbird
RECORDING INFO: Say, Darling, Say [Me II-A13] - Ward, Fields
Carlin, Bob. Where Did You Get That Hat, Rounder 0172, LP (1982), trk# 14
Famous Pyle Brothers. Up on Pyle Mountain, Pyle, Cas (1989), trk# B.03
Flat Mountain Girls. Honey Take Your Whiskers Off, Flat Mountain Flat S002, CD (2005), trk# 3
Jarrell, Tommy. Rainbow Sign, County 791, LP (1984), trk# 1
Molsky, Bruce; and Bob Carlin. Take Me as I Am, Marimac 9023, Cas (1989), trk# 2
Powell, Dirk. Hand Me Down, Rounder 0444, CD (1999), trk# 8
Red Clay Ramblers. Rambler, Sugar Hill SH-C-3798, Cas (1992), trk# 9a (Darling, Say)
Roundtown Boys. Deadheads and Suckers, Swallow 2001, LP (1978), trk# B.07
Sheehan, Lauren. Some Old Lonesome Day, Sheehan 1, CD (2001), trk# 12
Stoneman, Ernest V. ("Pop"). Stoneman Family Old Time Songs, Folkways FA 2315, Cas (1957), trk# 1
Stoneman, Ernest; and the Sweet Brothers. Early Country Music. Vol. 1, Historical HLP 8001, LP (197?), trk# B.02 [1929/03]
Sweet Brothers. Round the Heart of Old Galax, Vol 3., County 535, LP (1980), trk# B.03 [1928/07/08]
SOURCES: Mudcat; Folk Index;
Sharp EFSSA- 1918;
BrownII 196, "Swapping Songs" (4 text plus 2 excerpts, with most texts being "The Swapping Boy," but "E" and "F" are this song)
SharpAp 234, "The Mocking Bird" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Peacock, p. 15, "Lullaby" (1 text, 1 tune)
Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #558, p. 228, "(Hush, little baby, don't say a word)"
Scott-BoA, p. 164, "Hush, Little Baby" (1 text, 1 tune)
Arnett, p. 61, "Hush, Little Baby" (1 text, 1 tune)
Pankake-PHCFSB, pp. 224-225, "Mockingbird" (1 text, with some unusual verses; the ending may be a parody)
Silber-FSWB, p. 409, "Hush Little Baby" (1 text)
Virginia Mountain Boomers was a pseudonym for Ernest Stoneman and the Sweet Brothers on Gennett and Supertone. The recording, GE14017A, was made in Indiana on 9 July 1928. Ernest 'Pop' Stoneman recorded it subsequently for Folkways ca 1956-57. Elizabeth Lomax made an unissued recording of it by George Stoneman for the Library of Congress in 1941.
NOTES: Say Darlin' Say has been recently revived through a series of new recordings. It was first recorded by Ernest Stoneman with the Sweet Brothers and released under various names such as Virginia Mountain Boomers, and Willie Stoneman (an alias for Ernest Stoneman) to avoid the recording contract with Ralph Peer and copyright issues. The group of musicians included Fields Ward and the Folk Index attributes the song to Fields.
The lyrics are derived from "Hush Little Baby, Don't Say a Word" which is different song than "Hush Little Bay Don't You Cry " by Monroe Rosenfeld (1884) and is different from "Say Darling Say- A Spanish Cavalier" which goes:
A Spanish Cavalier stood in his retreat, And on his guitar played a tune, dear;/ The music so sweet, Would of-times repeat/ The blessing of my country and you, dear.
Chorus: Oh, say, darling, say, when I am far away/ Sometimes you may think of me dear;/ Bright sunny days will soon fade away/ Remember what I say, and be true, dear.
Here's some info from Lyle Lofgren: Ernest Stoneman (1893-1968) of Galax, Virginia, was one of the first Appalachian musicians to record for a commercial record company (1924), and later helped define the country music industry as a talent scout who gathered together many of the musicians for Ralph Peer's 1927 Victor recording sessions in Bristol, TN.
"Say, Darling, Say" was first recorded by Stoneman & The Sweet Brothers in 1928 (Gennett 14017A). Different takes were released in 1929 on other labels, using the pseudonyms Justin Winfield and Uncle Ben Hawkins (a common practice at the time).
Stoneman said he learned the song from a couple of older cousins who also taught him to play guitar and harmonica. We can only speculate how much he might have changed the verses to produce a record that would appeal to listeners old enough to buy the record. Despite similar words to Hush, Little Baby, this is not a lullaby but a breakdown. The progression does not go far, and the promise of hard work while tending to a drunken spouse is not likely to lead to restful sleep. If you want to take the progression further than Stoneman did, add more of the Hush Little Baby lyrics.
Here are the lyrics to the traditional song:
"Hush Little Baby Don't Say a Word" or "Mockingbird Song"
Hush, little baby. Don't say a word.
Daddy's gonna buy you a mockingbird.
If that mockingbird won't sing,
Daddy's gonna buy you a diamond ring.
If that diamond ring turns brass,
Daddy's gonna buy you a looking glass.
If that looking glass gets broke,
Daddy's gonna buy you a billy goat.
If that billy goat runs away,
Daddy's gonna by you a horse and sleigh.
If that horse and sleigh turn over,
Daddy's gonna buy you a dog named Rover.
If that dog named Rover won't bark,
Daddy's going to buy you a pony and cart.
If that pony and cart fall down,
you'll still be the sweetest little baby in town.
The lyrics are used as for many of the original verses and later as additional verses. This song is the basis of a children's "Hambone" song. Here's part of the lyric of the Bell Sister's version, which charted in 1952:
Hambone, hambone
Where you been?
Round the world and I'm goin' again
What you gonna do when you come back?
Take a little walk by the railroad track
Hambone
Hambone, hambone
Have you heard?
Papa's gonna buy me a mocking bird
And if that mocking bird don't sing
Papa's gonna buy me a diamond ring
And if that diamond ring don't shine
Papa's gonna take it to the five and dime
Hambone.
The tune is a little like a popular army drill chant (which have the same kind of couplet structure). "The Hambone" is accompanied by "bones" or by body slapping. "Hambone" songs were seen early in the minstrel tradition. I guess that "knick, knack, paddywack, give a dog a bone" is another. One children's game is to see who can play the song the fastest.
The Lomaxes collected "Hush Little Baby" in the forties. J.C. Burris, who worked with Sonny Terry, had a version which Pete Seeger seems to have popularised (indeed, a 1964 Nina Simone album credits the song to Pete Seeger).
The song was reworked by Bo Diddley for the "first" rock 'n' roll song, in which the famous Bo Diddley beat emerged:
Bo Diddley bought his babe a diamond ring,
I that diamond ring don't shine
He gonna take it to a private eye,
If that private eye can't see
He'd better not take the ring from me
Bo Diddley caught a nanny goat,
To make his pretty baby a Sunday coat
Bo Diddley caught a bear cat,
To make his pretty baby a Sunday hat
Mojo come to my house, ya black cat bone,
Take my baby away from home
Ugly ole mojo, where ya bin,
Up your house, and gone again
Bo Diddley, Bo Diddley have you heard?
My pretty baby says she was a bird
The earliest versions of "Hush Little Baby" were collected in 1918 by Cecil Sharp, only the A version has a full set of lyrics:
The Mocking Bird (Sung by Mrs. Julie Boone, Micaville NC Oct. 8, 1918)
Hush, little baby. Don't say a word.
Papa's going to buy you a mockingbird.
If it can't whistle and it can't sing,
Papa's going to buy you a diamond ring.
If that diamond ring turns to brass,
Papa's going to buy you a looking-glass.
If that looking-glass gets broke,
Papa's going to buy you a billy-goat.
If that billy goat runs away,
Papa's gonna by you another today.
An Ozark version of this song ends "If that lookin-glass doesn't shine, Papa's going to shoot that beau of mine!" -- referring to a belief that mirrors only shone for chaste women. Although this particular song seems to have become popular only recently, the form with progressive items is old; Gammer Gurton's Garland (1784), for instance, has a poem beginning:
A man of words and not of deeds
Is like a garden full of weeds;
And when the weeds begin to grow,
It's like a garden full of snow;
And when the snow begins to fall,
It's like a bird upon the wall....
(For this poem, see Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #75, p. 81; also in Talley's Negro Folk Rhymes).
SAY DARLING SAY- Standard Lyics
From Wildcats. Marimac 9015. Key D
Oh little darling, if you were mine, wouldn’t you love to starch and iron
Say Darling Say
Starch and iron would be your trade, and I’d get drunk and lie in the shade
Say Darling Say
Break
Hush little darling don’t say a word, Poppa’s going to buy you a mocking bird
Say Darling Say
If that mocking bird don’t sing, Poppa’s going to buy you a diamond ring
Say Darling Say
Break
If that diamond ring turn to brass, Poppa’s gonna buy you a looking glass
Say Darling Say
If that looking glass gets broke, Poppa’s gonna buy you a billy goat
Say Darling Say
If that billy goat won’t pull, Poppa’s going to buy you a cart and bull
Say Darling Say
If that cart and bull falls over, Poppa’s going to buy you a dog named Rover
Say Darling Say
If that dog named Rover won’t bark, Poppa’s gonna buy you a horse and cart
Say Darling Say
If that horse and cart fall down, still be the prettiest girl in town
Say Darling Say
Oh little darling, if you were mine, wouldn’t you love to starch and iron
Say Darling Say
Starch and iron would be your trade, and I’d get drunk and lie in the shade
Say Darling Say
Say Darlin' Say The Jaybirds
Say little darlin', won't you marry me
Live in a holler 'neath the old oak tree
Say darlin' say
In the old oak tree we'll make our home
Never more this world to roam
Say darlin' say
Say little darlin', if you were mine
You wouldn't do nothin' but starch and iron
Say darlin' say
Starch and iron would be your trade
And I'd get drunk and lay in the shade
Say darlin say
Say little darlin', won't you marry me
Live in a holler 'neath the old oak tree
Say darlin' say
Livin' in a holler 'neath the old oak tree
Children bouncing on daddy's knee
Say darlin' say
Hush little baby don't say a word
Daddy's gonna buy you a mocking bird
Say darlin say
And if that mocking bird don't sing
Daddy's gonna buy you a diamond ring
Say darlin say
And if that diamond ring is brass
Daddy's gonna buy you a looking glass
Say darlin say
And if that looking glass gets broke
Daddy's gonna buy you a billy-goat
Say darlin say
And if that billy-goat won't pull
Daddy's gonna buy you a cart and bull
Say darlin say
And if that cart and bull fall down
You're still the sweetest baby in town
Say darlin say
Say little darlin', won't you marry me
Live in a holler 'neath the old oak tree
Say darlin say
In the old oak tree we'll make our home
Never more this world to roam
Say darlin say
Say darlin say
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