The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #63464 Message #1030710
Posted By: M.Ted
06-Oct-03 - 02:29 PM
Thread Name: Discussion: Playing Filthy Lyrics
Subject: RE: Discussion: Playing Filthy Lyrics
The tradition of singing filthy lyrics while roaring drunk is ancient--it has been much neglected by academics and folklorists, though some long supressed collections have been recently printed for the first time. The internet has also brought a lot of stuff into wider circulation--but it's always been with us.
As a kid, I never heard any of my neighbors sing Barbara Allen or any of the other more literary ballads, but my best friend's Uncle did a rip-roaring version of "Eskimo Nell" and he, and others, taught us bits and pieces of some of the most unmitigated filth you could imagine--of course, in those days, they and we were very careful about who it was shared with--and in what circumstances--
In those days, I would never have imagined that the radio would play music full of scatological references, or that it would be performed anywhere other than in the back room--The fact is that certain people have always wanted to hear that stuff, but nowdays, they need for everyone else to hear it as well--hopefully, it will only go so far, and then start to swing back again--