The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #123037   Message #2705206
Posted By: Azizi
21-Aug-09 - 12:36 AM
Thread Name: Lyr Add: Poontang Little Poontang Small (Strothers
Subject: RE: Lyr add: Poontang Little, Poontang Small
I've listened to this song over and over again. And I agree with some of the unclear lyrics given above, don't agree with some of those lyrics, and can't figure out others.

Here's what I think about some of these lines:

I agree with the view that he's singing "Poontang stretches like a rubber ball". I'm not sure if he says "twisted" like a rubber ball later in the song. I think he repeats the word "stretches".

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I think the chorus is "Oh my babe, oh my salty thing."

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Instead of "hung my poontang from the wire/Rest [rush?] come down like the hottest fire", I think I hear "hung my poontang from the wire/where it come down like the hottest fire.

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This is minor, but instead of "Gonna hang my poontang from the fence/
Oh, the man come an' git it ain't got no sense", I think he's singing "Ooh, the man come an' get it ain't got no sense".

("Ooh" rhyming with "to" and not "oh" rhyming with "low")

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Instead of "I'm gonna tell them some for the [?] women to rest.", I think he's singing "I'm gon' do it once, gonna do my best". I'm not sure if this is correct. And I'm not sure about the rest of that verse.

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Instead of "Oh, cry-a, cry-a, little mo' lark,]/
[Been headin' east since an hour 'fo dark,]", I think he's reciting a rhyming riddle that he may have made up or maybe it's traditional, I think he's singing "cry o' cry o' lemo lark", how many gueese are in a flock." I think the first part of this verse may be alliterative words that have no real meaning. And I think the "how many gueese are in a flock" carries the bragging message that he is far from monogomous.

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I think the word "I gotta hump back" is correct, but I can't figure out what else he's singing, but I'm wondering if he's listing some gris gris (or whatever hoodoo items are called that are believed to make a person's sexuality more potent.   

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Though it's kinda off-topic, here's some information about that "hump back" line that may be of interest to folks reading this thread:

I believe that "I got a hump in my back" is a line from a song found in Step It Down Bessie Jones/Bess Lomax Hawes' children's book of African American songs from the Georgia Sea Isle. If I recall correctly, that song and accompanying movement was considered to be risque.

While I couldn't find that particular song, I did find this very brief sound clip from Jesse Fuller from a song entitled "Hump In My Back". Here's one line: "ya got a hump in your back/you know you been ballin the jack".

And I found this YouTube listing for a hip-hop song from DJ Smurf called "Put A Hump In Your Back":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xnqt8RFCfPk

Also, in the 1990s or so, the rap group Digital Underground had a hit record called "The Humpty Dance".

Here's a relatively 'clean' definition for "humping" from http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=humping :

"humping - the act of rubbing on or against another person's body."

-snip-

In case it needs to be clarified, this definition means rubbing sexually.

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Back to the transcription of "Poontang Little, Poontang Small", I was interested in reading the transcription of "wear (put) my dress above my knees, because that is a rather widely known floating line in a children's playground rhyme, and a variant of that rhyme was immortalized because it was sung by gay men during the 1969 Stonewall Riots.

However, I've listened to that portion over and over again and I don't think that's what the singing is singing. (Could it be that that people think they are hearing that "wear our dress above our knees" because they are familiar with it, and because the singer is singing something similar to it?

Instead of that line, I think he's singing something like "Watch me sitt up on my knees, I'm gonna give my poontang to whoever I please".

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That's as far as I got before my energy and concentration ran out. I admit I got sidetracked and started looking up examples of that "wear our dresses up above my knees" children's rhyme & adult variants. I intend to start a thread about that rhyme tomorrow.

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Of course, I'm not going to swear on a stack of Bibles that any of this is absolutely correct.

I wish that all of the song was as clear as the lines "One flew, east, one flew west/ one flew over the cuckoo's nest". But, still, it's good to hear this song. It has a catchy tune, though it's a little too "salty" for my taste-in a manner of speaking. ;O)

Thanks for sharing this song with us, Bob!