Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: GUEST,Malka Ary
Date: 15 Aug 20 - 07:15 PM

I first heard a version of this sung by Lord Templer. I'm wondering if anyone has heard of him. I've never found anyone who has, but there were some really fun songs on that little album of his.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: GUEST
Date: 06 Jun 17 - 05:02 PM

What a great song! Wake up Mr Clam!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: MorwenEdhelwen1
Date: 24 Aug 11 - 07:35 AM

Anyone still interested? Refresh.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: MorwenEdhelwen1
Date: 18 Aug 11 - 08:30 AM

Refresh

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: MorwenEdhelwen1
Date: 14 Aug 11 - 08:30 AM

"Near the bed", even more creeepy!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 14 Aug 11 - 03:37 AM

He's from Ivory Coast, Morwen.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: MorwenEdhelwen1
Date: 13 Aug 11 - 06:39 PM

Eliza, what country is your husband from?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 13 Aug 11 - 03:39 PM

Have been up to Norwich today, and this song was going round and round in my head all day. The tune is so cheerful, and the rather rude content makes me smile! My W.African husband was a bit shocked when I explained it, but he too likes calypso. I expect most Caribbean people have roots in W Africa.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 13 Aug 11 - 03:29 PM

Ah, that explains the very first words, which I heard as "Ma punny, you have me balzodee".
Is 'yanivair' perhaps 'anywhere in the partition' ie someplace in the partition?

I don't think he says "punny" in this song. I mentioned that just as as an example of what one might say in an *explicit* (*Jamaican*) song, where c**t is not common. It would be out of place in *this* song.
However, I'm not sure exactly what that part says! Sounds like "Ma, come here...", but I don't know.

The 'yanivair' parts sounds like "near di bed"!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 13 Aug 11 - 02:41 PM

Thread 9916 has that "cunny hole" line in "Marianne," verse taken from a book. Agree, probably not recorded, but on the other hand, "Night Food" was a runaway seller for the producer of that single.

Marianne

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: MorwenEdhelwen1
Date: 13 Aug 11 - 08:40 AM

*Christmas*

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: MorwenEdhelwen1
Date: 13 Aug 11 - 08:39 AM

And, Eliza- he IS comparing his clothes to the other guy's :). I'm listening to Lord Invader singing it as I type this. "Just because me blouse ain't long and me pants ain't drapes and with a waïst by my shoulders", kind of saying, "Because I'm not fashionable like *him* means you invite him over while I'm out on Christams evening?" Don't know why he had to see for himself before he confronted her, though.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: MorwenEdhelwen1
Date: 13 Aug 11 - 08:29 AM

Oh, you're welcome, Eliza :).

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 13 Aug 11 - 07:26 AM

Ah, that explains the very first words, which I heard as "Ma punny, you have me balzodee".
Is 'yanivair' perhaps 'anywhere in the partition' ie someplace in the partition?
It's super to have postings from people who know Trinidadian and Jamaican dialect. This song has absolutely fascinated me! (Thank you Morwen, I'd never have heard it otherwise.)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 13 Aug 11 - 03:11 AM

Mash your corn(s) also means to taunt, rag on, "break someone's balls", criticize, give someone a hard time, berate, put someone in their place, etc.

Growing up in my locality we used to say "rank on", like "He was ranking on me"! :)
= he mash mi corns

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: James Fryer
Date: 13 Aug 11 - 03:08 AM

I think that might be a slightly modern interpretation. Calypsos were often sung from the POV of the calypsonian. So to be able to sing the song, he had to be observing in some way -- he couldn't report in such detail on events that he hadn't personally witnessed.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: MorwenEdhelwen1
Date: 13 Aug 11 - 03:07 AM

Sorry if this is unclear, but I meant the *narrator* was *watching* her and the other guy from a peephole.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: MorwenEdhelwen1
Date: 13 Aug 11 - 02:53 AM

Thanks for that, James! For some reason, this is one of the old songs I like even though it's creepy. I mean, the guy *really likes* watching his girlfriend cheating on him with the other guy from a peephole.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: James Fryer
Date: 13 Aug 11 - 02:45 AM

Morwen: "Mash someones corns" means to step on their foot.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: James Fryer
Date: 13 Aug 11 - 02:44 AM

I agree it must be "corns". There is a similar line in Jumbie Jamboree: The jumbie raise her finger to warn/She say "mister, take care you mash me corn."

For some context, there were "bawdy" lyrics to the song Mary Ann which I have seen printed, something like "Water from her cunny hole would sail a boat", but these were never recorded. I am not certain if records were still censored in Trinidad in 1945 but I don't believe the word "cunt" would have been recorded in this period.

Gibb, Jamaican music (even from the 40s/50s) tends to be a lot more bawdy than Trinidadian.

A couple of other things I noticed while listening:

18: I think this is "Made me attack and...", an idiomatic phrase

22: I think "Didn't light the lamp", pronounced "Di'n"

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: MorwenEdhelwen1
Date: 13 Aug 11 - 02:33 AM

So, Gibb, what does "mash someone's corns" mean? I know "mash" means "crush".

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 12 Aug 11 - 11:52 PM

FWIW I've listened to LOTS of Jamaican music in my time (I realize we are talking Trini here, but again it might be a reasonable comparison) and I can't say i ever remember hearing the word "cunt." Keep in mind, much of the music is deliberately "slack" = ranging from bawdy to fully explicit. I am talking about recent decades, too. It's not so much for censorship or propriety reasons, just that the word is uncommon. Any explicit jamaican song would say "punany", "punny," "pum pum" (all roughly equivalent to "pussy") etc. Less explicit sex phrases would say "kill your cat", "put wood in de fire", "clean up your backyard" or something along those lines. One notorious 60s song used "fanny" and "crumpet"! The most direct I've ever heard is "f*ck your vagina", which jumps out of the song because it sounds much more like "standard" English discourse rather than Jamaican.

The "C" word is rare in usage, at least in my experience.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 12 Aug 11 - 06:30 PM

"macadee"
Similar Caribbean words (Just to give some idea of the great variety of words)
Macca- a thorn
Maco- to eavesdrop
Macometer- mythical measuring device, inserted in heads of Trinidadians, alows for detection, retention and repetition of other people's business.
macajuel syndrome- dazed state of inactivity or sleep brought on by extensive over-eating, after the Trinidad snake that devours small animals whole and lies in the same place for several days after; the politically correct version of the more well-known "niggeritis."

Some other words from the Caribbean-
Bazodee (Trinidad)- totally confused; head over heels in love.

Skettle- a slut. Cheap clothes.
Toonie- the vagina (in Canada, a two-dollar coin)
pumm- the vagina

In the Oxford English Dictionary, quotations with "cunt" from the 14th century; a very old and well-known word. It may not carry our current speech prohibitions in the Caribbean.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 12 Aug 11 - 06:01 PM

Gibb Sahib, I have to say, I'm quite relieved, as I cannot imagine the West Indians would have accepted the c*** word, and neither would the recording company!
As to the shorts, again, it's possible, the guy might be comparing his own clothes to the usurper in his snazzy trousers.
Oh, I so wish we could find a copy of the actual lyrics. I admire Jim Dixon's excellent efforts, but there are still some hard-to-hear words. I've tried Googling, but I don't think they're anywhere to be found.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 12 Aug 11 - 05:51 PM

Eliza, "mash your corns" is a West Indian phrase. Sometimes in the elision of two words it can sound like there is another letter, like a "t".

MacDee is just a guess. Perhaps a topical reference to what was current at the time. And fashion/style is being discussed. In any case, the earlier word in the line sounds like "shorts," rather than "shots" to me.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: MorwenEdhelwen1
Date: 12 Aug 11 - 05:43 PM

Jim, I think Roaring Lion was a trinidadian :).

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 12 Aug 11 - 05:39 PM

Corns? I don't know, GS, there definitely seems to be a 't' at the end of the word!
'Any more shorts give me MacDee' doesn't make much sense to me.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 12 Aug 11 - 05:27 PM

MacDee shorts?
1945:
http://books.google.com/books?id=p0sEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA126&lpg=PA126&dq=macdee+short

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 12 Aug 11 - 04:58 PM

"He mash your CORNS"

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 12 Aug 11 - 04:46 PM

By the way, anyone know what 'macadee' could be? Is it a drink of some sort?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 12 Aug 11 - 04:43 PM

I totally agree, Jim. I've listened to it lots of times on Youtube, and it can only be c***! I'm not offended at all myself by the word, it just sounds so, well, direct! As you say, it must have been less rude in the West Indies in those days. I absolutely adore the song (and the singer, Roaring Lion) I've played it over and over, and it's stuck in my head now! You did ever so well to get all the words, very patient of you!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 12 Aug 11 - 04:33 PM

Yeah, I even had second thoughts about whether I should have posted it as I did, or maybe I should have spelled it "c**t." Ordinarily I don't worry about such things, but this is the first time I've heard THAT word in a song. But I listened to it several times, and I really couldn't hear it any other way.

The song doesn't even seem to be trying to be shocking with its language. That's the only time where he uses such a blunt word, while elsewhere he says things like "torpedo" when he obviously means something else. It certainly is puzzling. Maybe the "c-word" doesn't have such awfully obscene connotations in Jamaican colloquial speech. Maybe the record producers allowed it because they didn't understand it! Maybe I misunderstood it—but I'd love to know what the word really was, if anybody has any suggestions.

I don't blame anyone for not wanting to sing the song "as is" but if you like the song for other reasons, say, for the music, I see nothing wrong with changing the song however you like to make it more acceptable.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 12 Aug 11 - 02:10 PM

The recording is quite difficult to hear, but is that really the C*** word, as Jim Dixon so ably noted?? If so, I'm amazed, as I would have thought that a recording of that era would never have permitted THAT word! And when singing this song, does one actually sing that word? Eeek!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: MorwenEdhelwen1
Date: 12 Aug 11 - 02:17 AM

Refresh

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: MorwenEdhelwen1
Date: 11 Aug 11 - 11:17 PM

What is striking about this song is both the fact that the narrator spies on the girl and planned to humiliate her with what he saw. Not only does he really seem to be thrilled by it, but the whole song is addressed to the woman. It seems to be a conversation between the two of them, but we don't actually "hear" her replies, there is only an implication. She has obviously said something. "you said I'm wrong, but you do not know/Don't blame the neighbours, for they didn't tell me so." The narrator seems to like the idea of both confronting and really humiliating his girlfriend, in order to make her feel even worse for cheating on him than she already might.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 11 Aug 11 - 06:30 PM

Many thanx to all. The words have been confusing me since I first heard it, some 65 years ago.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: MorwenEdhelwen1
Date: 11 Aug 11 - 06:00 PM

And probably "Donkey City". *starts singing "So wegot it already, and it cost no money, it's softer than jelly, and it's sweeter than honey." At least if you're singing to younger relatives, they (probably) won't know what that chorus is about. It's more subtle in its bawdiness.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: MorwenEdhelwen1
Date: 11 Aug 11 - 05:42 PM

Yeah! And that makes it kind of inappropriate for a teenage girl like me(I will be 18 in October) to sing. If I were choosing a song to sing in public, this wouldn't be high on the list, although "Hold Him Joe" would probably be.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 11 Aug 11 - 03:20 PM

I thought that too, Morwen. I reckon he got quite a frisson watching them 'at it'. He certainly noted all the details of what they were up to! Bit pervy!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: MorwenEdhelwen1
Date: 11 Aug 11 - 06:17 AM

What is really *creepy* about this song is the narrator spying on his girlfriend and her saga-boy through a peephole. And "bazodee" can also be used in the sense "head over heels" as in dizzy with romantic love. So there is probably a play on the word in this song.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 10 Aug 11 - 01:49 PM

'bazodee' means confused, upset. ie 'You're doing my head in'.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 10 Aug 11 - 08:36 AM

Here's my attempt at a transcription of the recording at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHO7vwhbs9w:


FAN ME SAGA BOY
As sung by The Lion

1. Ma, come here, you have me balsody*
2. Any more shots give me malcady*
3. Ma, come here, you have me balsody*
4. Any more shots give me malcady*
5. Just because me blouse ain't long
6. And me pants ain't drapes and with a waist by me shoulders
7. You wait until I went out on a Xmas evening
8. And you bring your saga in my house romancing

9. Fan me, saga-boys, fan me.
10. I said, oh, fan me, saga-boys, fan me.
11. Long live our gracious king, but I kissed me saga-boy Christmas morning.

12. (Hook line and sinker
13. She came in here, she come in ha
14. Wake up mister clam)

15. You said I'm wrong but you do not know
16. Don't blame the neighbors for they didn't tell me so
17. I have my idea and besides I lay me trap
18. Made me wait up and lay wait in the back
19. I heard a knocking; I saw him ent'ring
20. The lights went low; I heard a whispering.
21. There was no earthquake but the place was shaking.
22. You dim-light the lamp and you begun singing.

23. This fan me, saga-boy.
24. I said, oh, fan me, saga-boys, fan me
25. Long live our gracious king, but I kissed me saga-boy Christmas morning.

26. (And fishy sauce
27. Then poley* fish)

28. A hole yanivair* in the partition
29. Is where I gained my observation
30. He loved your neck and you made to gasp
31. 'Cause he kiss you in your eyes and you gave up the ghost
32. He loved your neck a second time again
33. Made you content, promise him a fighter plane
34. In the heat of the battle made a right about
35. He mash your cunt and you're darn-well knocked out

36. Fan me, saga-boy, fan me.
37. I said, oh, fan me, saga-boy, fan me.
38. Long live our gracious king, but I kissed me saga-boy Christmas morning.

39. (La-da-dah, la-da-dee, la-da-da...)

40. I also saw; don't you say a lie.
41. When you hear the facts, I'm sure you can't deny.
42. Same hole, so wish again observation,
43. I even noticed some naval action,
44. Because I saw him with his destroyer,
45. While you were getting ready with your minesweeper.
46. He shot a torpedo at your ship and missed,
47. But dropped his bombs in your captain's office.

48. Fan me, saga-boy, hook, line and sinker.
49. Fan me, saga-boy; don't stop at all.
50. Long live our gracious king, but I kissed me saga-boy Christmas morning.


[* I just made up these words to phonetically represent the sounds.]

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: MorwenEdhelwen1
Date: 09 Aug 11 - 06:36 PM

Refresh. Can anyone figure out the lyrics from the clip?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 08 Aug 11 - 02:29 PM

Corsets were not expensive in the period 1894-1910 (I have catalogues from that period).
The following from Sears, Roebuck (mail order) for 1908:

"Made of good quality contil, well boned throughout,......." $0.47.

A full bodied corset, the most expensive costs 95 cents. "...Very popular long hip medium high bust..." "made of best quality French contil..." "....fitted with the best non-rusting stays and aluminum eyelets" "...Four hose supporters of the best lisle elastic..." "...finished with valenciennes lace and satin ribbon..."
"Postage extra (if not bought in store) 17 to 21 cents."

A hip corset is offered for 57 cents. A "summer" corset with sateen covered stays is 44 cents.
Similar prices in a 1894 catalogue from a Canadian company.

True whalebone stays were expensive, but largely supplanted with steel in the 1880s. The average person used the steel or did without. A girl on the street would have used the steel 'bones'.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 08 Aug 11 - 01:36 PM

It is difficult to interpret words in a folk-promulgated song.
It could mean stop and consider, then pull shawl up- or known only to singer.
I know of no other versions using 'haul up'.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: Roger the Skiffler
Date: 08 Aug 11 - 09:33 AM

The late Cliff Hall of the Spinners used to lead this one as well. Those 'Catters who have copies of their Spin magazine may be able to help.

RtS

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: MorwenEdhelwen1
Date: 08 Aug 11 - 02:10 AM

"Stäce"= misspelling of stays, corsets (not affordable except to wealthier women in 19th and possibly early 20th century England). What's a "haul-up?" In my songbook, it is "haul-up, shawl-up." I wonder if any other versions have that line.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 07 Aug 11 - 03:27 PM

Lyr. Add: FAN ME SOLJA MAN

Fan me solja man, fan me,
Fan me solja man. fan me,
Fan me solja man, fan me, oh !

Gal, yuh character gawn.

Wey de use yuh dah shawl up, shawl up,
Wey de use yuh dah shawl up, shawl up,
Wey de use yuh dah shawl up, shawl up,

Gal yuh character gawn.

Wey de use dah lace-up stays-up, (3x)

Gal, yuh character gawn.

Sake a Coolie-man bangle, (3x)

Gal yuh character gawn.

*Fan me solja man, fan me,
Fan me solja man, fan me,
Fan me solja man, fan me, oh,

Gal yuh character gawn.

* Verses 1, 4 and 5.

Wey de use yuh dah - What is the use of your ....
Sake a - For the sake of ....
Coolie-man- Usually an East Indian.
Solja - soldier

Tom Murray, Editor, 1951, Folk Songs of Jamaica, Oxford University Press.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 07 Aug 11 - 03:09 PM

FAN ME, SOLDIER MAN, FAN ME

Fan me, soldier man, fan me;
Fan me, soldier man, fan me;
Fan me, soldier man, fan me oh !

Gal, you character gone !
Sake a ten shilling shahl,
Sake a ten shilling shahl,
Sake a ten shilling shahl, oh !

Make me character gone.

Dancing tune CXXV, *5th Figure, p. 223 (No other verses given).
Walter Jekyll, 1907, Jamaican Song and Story, Folklore Society, pub. by David Nutt, London. Reprint by Dover Publications, Inc.
*5th Figure: "This figure goes either to 6/8 or 3/4 time. The 3/4 figures and Schottische tunes are always interchangeable, the only difference being that the Schottische requires a slower time."
Comment by Walter Jekyll, p. 217, Part IV, Dancing Tunes.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Fan Me Saga Boy (Roaring Lion)
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 07 Aug 11 - 02:32 PM

mean anything....? I don't follow.