I need to move back from the implied assumption in my 22 Aug 09 - 03:46 AM statement that only an African American could be knowledgable about or have a better understanding of certain aspects of African American culture. I don't think this is true, and particularly don't think it's true in reference to Blues music (or Jazz music).

I specifically focused on Blues and Jazz-both of which are musical genres that originated from African Americans and were influenced by African Americans more than people of any other race. However, for a host of reasons, many African Americans have turned their backs on these two musical genres and a number of non-Black musicologists and other non-White researchers have studied those genres.

Besides that point, it seems to me that non-Black people might be able to correctly suss out the meaning of words in old Blues songs like "Poontang Little, Poontang Small" (and not just figure out the unclear words that a vocalist is singing) because of the nature of African American music & other indices of African American culture.

African American culture is largely open to many influences and adaptive of those influences. If we (African Americans) like it, we'll take it, and may use it "as is" or may re-work it till it fits our aesthetics even better than it originally did.

**

More information on "Meadowlark Lemon":

[I admit that this is a tangent, but it came about because both Amos and I think the last word of one of the verses to "Poontang Little, Poontang Small" is "flock". My rough transcription of that verse is:

"cry o' cry o' lemo lark", how many geese are in a flock."

-snip-

That "lemo lark" caused me to think of the former Harlem Globetrotter "Meadowlark Lemon".

I've reviewed a number of online websites on former basketball player, now ordained minister Meadowlark Lemon. It's clear from those sites that "Meadowlark" is Mr. (Reverend) Lemon's "real" name. Given that "Meadowlark" is such a unique personal name, it's interesting that none of these websites include any information about why he was given that name. Perhaps it has something to do with the actual meadowlark bird, for instance, I wouldn't be at all surprised if his name was given in commemoration of the meadowlark's singing:

"An abundant and familiar bird of open country across the western two-thirds of the continent, the Western Meadowlark is beloved for its melodic song. It is frequently seen singing atop fenceposts along roadsides in native grassland and agricultural areas."

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/western_meadowlark/id

-snip-

Maybe the meadowlark's singing used to mean good luck in Southern African American culture* but that is just an (uneducated) guess.

* Meadowlark Lemon was borh on April 25, 1932. His place of birth is given on one site as Wilmington, North Carolina and as Lexington, South Carolina on another site.

**

By the way, I doubt whether the Broadway song "Meadowlark" has anything to do with why Meadowlark Lemon was given his name. But for the record, here's an excerpt from the Wikipedia article about that song:

"Meadowlark is a song from the [1976] musical The Baker's Wife, with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. It has been performed by several famous Broadway singers such as Patti LuPone, Betty Buckley, Liz Callaway, Alice Ripley, and Sarah Brightman.

In the musical, it is sung by the character Geneviève, trying to decide whether she should stay with her husband or run off with a younger man. She likens her situation to a story about a meadowlark who lived with a king who adored her. One day, the sun god approached the meadowlark and urged her to come with him. The meadowlark refused and perished. At the end of the song, Geneviève decides to leave with the younger man".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meadowlark_(song)


-snip-

Note that in this story (a fable from an unnamed country?) the meadowlark is female. For that and other reasons, I repeat that I'm not suggesting that this uncredited fable is the source of former basketball player, now minister Meadowlark Lemon's name.