I am gathering as much of the music referenced in this novel as I can. Two songs are eluding me at the moment. I assume that they are from actual songs rather than invented by Ellison. The first lyric is:

"Godamighty made a monkey
Godamighty made a whale
And Godamighty made a 'gator
With hickeys all over his tail..."

The second lyric is:

"Did you ever see Miss Margaret boil water?
Man, she hisses a wonderful stream,
Seventeen miles and a quarter,
Man, and you can't see her pot for the steam..."

Ellison also uses "Boogie Woogie Blues," which I believe was by Count Basie and Jimmy Rushing. I'd appreciate any recommendations of good recordings (including the words, not just instrumental) I might find.

Thank you. It's best to reach me via e-mail.

Alan Warhaftig
warhaftig@alumni.stanford.org