The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #40621   Message #3777763
Posted By: GUEST,catherine yronwode
09-Mar-16 - 09:58 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Add: Yazoo CD- Best of the Memphis Jug Band
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Yazoo CD- Best of the Memphis Jug Band
In verse 2 on "A Black Woman is a like a Black Snake"

Aw, [fish?] eye[d] women, they come from Jim Kinnane's
Aw, [fish?] eye[d] women, they come from Jim Kinnane's
When they get on Beale Street, they got to do the best they can,
I mean, the best they can.

The reference is to Jim Kannane's Monarch CLub, which also appears in Robert Wilkins' 1935 song "Old Jim Canaan's." It was built in 1910 and was also known as "The Castle of Missing Mem."

The meaning seems to be that certain women, having no longer qualified to be sex workers at Jim Kinnane's, are now reduced to the role of streetwalkers on Beale Street.

As for that first line, i have seen many attempts:

Aw, fish-eyed women

All peach-sized women

A few shy women

Ah, fleshized women

Ah, flea-sized women

Ah, fish-thigh women

And what are "fish-eyed women"???

Well, according to the urban dictionary, the fish eye is defined as this: "Fish eye: The act in which the fellow, performing intercourse with his gal doggy-style, pulls out right before orgasm, spits on her back or neck to trick her into thinking he ejaculated on her, then shoots his load into her eye when she turns her head."

Or, in India, "The name Meenakshi has a special meaning. Meena means fish and akshi means eyes. It is a description of the fish like eyes of the goddess of Madurai, known as "the fish-eyed goddess."