The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #8911 Message #1731348
Posted By: Q (Frank Staplin)
01-May-06 - 02:21 PM
Thread Name: Info: Whisky on a Sunday
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Whiskey on a Sunday
Leadfingers, Tony Davis did the melody arrangement for the Spinners; but was he the composer of the tune? If so, he should be credited, but either no composer for the music is listed or it is called traditional (which I doubt). I don't doubt that he was the composer; I have seen no credible prior reference to the song based on Glyn Hughes poem.
Tunesmith and Azizi, a couple of websites refer to Seth Davy was Jamaican. From this, it is assumed that he was Black. Without getting into some of the books about Liverpool, this remains an assumption.
Azizi, the expression "Come day, go day, God send Sunday" is well known from English and Scottish writings of the 18th c. (and, I think, 17th c.). It appears in collections of old Scottish sayings. It became used, disparagingly, in sermons and articles, to speak of lazy people. It is in a list of Newfoundland sayings, and was well-known in America.
Slaves probably understood the saying in its original meaning, which was a sort of prayerful wish for Sunday, a day mostly free of hard labor.