Origins: Put Yer Shoulder Next to Mine & Pump Away

Subject: Put Yer Shoulder Next To Mine
From: Beno
Date: 15 Feb 00 - 03:36 PM

Hi! I'm looking the whole version of this song:

Oh, once I had a girl, had a girl, - Had a girl! Oh, once I had a girl, she put me in a whirl, - Put yer shoulder next to mine an' pump away, pump away,

It was sung in english language by the polish shantie group "Cztery Refy".

Subject: RE: Put Yer Shoulder Next To Mine
From: MMario
Date: 15 Feb 00 - 03:43 PM

This is one of those songs where there are probably as many versions as there are singers. with the commonality of the chorus....

Subject: RE: Put Yer Shoulder Next To Mine
From: Crowhugger
Date: 15 Feb 00 - 03:51 PM

If someone posts it, could you include ABC if you have it? "Cztery"= four. Anyone know what a "ref" is? Murray on Saltspring, how's your memory. I only know that the "y" makes it plural.

Subject: RE: Put Yer Shoulder Next To Mine
From: wysiwyg
Date: 15 Feb 00 - 06:42 PM

See Crowhugger, you have only to wish for Polish and there you go!

Subject: Origins: Put Yer Shoulder Next to Mine &
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 14 Sep 09 - 09:19 PM

Opinions wanted -- this is the title of a chantey given by Hugill in his SEVEN SEAS:
"Put Yer Shoulder Next To Mine and Pump Away." What I am trying to figure out is whether he just made that title/chorus up, having bowdlerized the text, or if that was the way it was really meant to be sung.

Did the chantey come first, giving birth to other popular forms, or was it inspired by the bawdy song? I realize that the theme of the song was probably already existing before the chantey, but still I wonder if anyone can give a sense of how original the chantey was.

Also, I'm curious as to whether this chantey ever gets performed/recorded in recent decades, or if anyone's spotted it in other collections besides Hugill's. Thanks.

By way of introducing the song, here are some notes (copy-pasted) that I threw together about it, not all relevant and not particularly deep, but...

*********
This simple, bawdy pump chantey is a funny example of Hugill's bowdlerization of text, and the "slippery slope" effect of that. He says of his versions that "much 'blue-penciling' has been done." Indeed, his camouflage has meant that the entire theme had to be altered. I suppose it didn't worry him too much – the uncensored version is supposed to have appeared in the manuscript of unexpurgated chanteys that he had written at that time. Unfortunately, that manuscript has never seen the light of day!

This is a variant of what is sometimes called "The Inches Song" or "Drive it On." The usual bawdy chorus is "Put your belly next to mine and drive it on/home." It is unclear whether the present "Put your shoulder next to mine and pump away" is an alternative chorus that had currency in the nautical context, or if that is a brand new bowdlerized chorus that Hugill made up! It is clear, however, that the usual pattern of verses goes "I gave her inches #." Hugill bowdlerized it as "I bought her presents #"!!

The song is significant as the presumed predecessor to the well known WWII era song "Roll Me Over in the Clover."   Cray, in THE EROTIC MUSE, remarked on the irony not only that Hugill was supposedly printing this song "for the first time" (so claimed Hugill – though he doesn't REALLY print it!) but also that, by the time of Hugill's publication, the "equally ribald" "Roll Me Over" that it spawned was known and sung by thousands.

At some stage of its evolution, this song form seems to have adopted the melody to "She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain" or something like "If you're happy and you know it…" and the structure of verses changed a bit so that the shouted refrain would always be "Drive it on!" rather than "inches #!"
Here are links to some examples:
Ron & the Rude Boys
Iris and Rose

Randolph (in his "'Unprintable' Ozark Folksongs") alleged that "The Inches Song" was "basically a macho gloat of male domination over the woman," and that the woman's replies are "purely passive repliques." He appears to have some kind of chip on his shoulder (?):

"In its essence, the present song is a continuous measuring and bragging of the presumed inch-size of the penis, a matter which much excercises the minds of tens of thousands of men with marked inferiority."

Chill, Randolph! That may be partly true, but a search for information on the song reveals that many of the performances and recordings have been done by women, with a slight change in perspective (e.g. "HE gave me inches one"… "I said, boy this sure is fun"). The women's lines are hardly passive in these versions! In any case, we can hardly fault the sailors, in the exclusive company of men (never mind their deprived conditions) for singing from a macho, fantasy perspective!

Trivia: A variant of this song strain that most folk-music enthusiasts probably don't know is the reggae version by Hopeton Lewis with U Roy toasting over it, "Drive Her Home." HERE

Subject: RE: Origins: Put Yer Shoulder Next to Mine & Pump Away
From: Joe Offer
Date: 15 Sep 09 - 12:11 AM

I combined threads in a (perhaps vain) attempt to avoid confusion.
Cztery Refy now have a Website with the lyrics:

Put Your Shoulder next to Mine
and Pump Away!

s³. i mel. trad.

Oh, once I had a girl, - Had a girl!
Oh, once I had a girl, - Had a girl!
Oh, once I had a girl,
And she put me in a whirl,

Put your shoulder next to mine and pump away!
Put your shoulder next to mine and pump away!

Oh, she had me on a string, - On a string!
Oh, she had me on a string, - On a string!
Oh, she had me on a string,
And I bought her everything,

Put your shoulder next to mine ...

Oh, I bought her presents one, - Presents one!
Oh, I bought her presents one, - Presents one!
Oh, I bought her presents one,
Which she said I shouldn't done,

Put your shoulder next to mine ...

Oh, I bought her presents two, - Presents two!
Oh, I bought her presents two, - Presents two!
And then she et me woo,

Oh, I bought her presents three, - etc.
She began to fancy me,

Oh, l bought her presents four,
And she kissed me at the door,

Oh, I bought her presents five,
And she was very much alive,

Oh, I bought her presents six,
And that one did the trick,

Oh, I bought her presents seven,
And I thought I was in heaven,

Oh, I bought her presents eight,
And I took her for me mate,

Oh, I bought her presents nine,
And the baby's doing fine,

Oh, I bought her presents ten,
And we did it all again,

---

"Put Your Shoulder next to Mine and Pump Away" - szanta pompowa, któr¹ Simon pozna³ podczas wspólnego œpiewania z angielsk¹ grup¹ "Shanty Crew" na rzecznej barce "Cambria", na Tamizie w 1983r. Podobieñstwo do "Koniczynki" ("Roll Me Over On The Clover") jest ewidentne. Jest to ulubiona szanta Simona, która znalaz³a zastosowanie praktyczne przy obs³udze pompy ... kingstonu na szkunerze "Pioneer".

Subject: ADD: I Gave Her Inches One
From: Joe Offer
Date: 15 Sep 09 - 12:23 AM

The mirror of the Immortalia Website has a version called "I Gave Her Inches One":

I GAVE HER INCHES ONE

I gave her inches one and shoved it home (shove it home)
I gave her inches one and shoved it home (shove it home)
I gave her inches one. She said, "Can you make me come?"

Put your belly next to mine & shove it home.

I gave her inches two and shoved it home (shove it home)
I gave her inches two and shoved it home (shove it home)
I gave her inches two, she said, "John you sure can screw."

Put your belly next to mine & shove it home.

I gave her inches three and shoved it home (shove it home)
I gave her inches three and shoved it home (shove it home)
I gave her inches three. She said, "John I have to pee."

Put your belly next to mine & shove it home.

I gave her inches four and shoved it home (shove it home)
I gave her inches four and shoved it home (shove it home)
I gave her inches four. She said, "Now it's getting sore."

Put your belly next to mine & shove it home.

I gave her inches five and shoved it home (shove it home)
I gave her inches five and shoved it home (shove it home)
I gave her inches five. She said, "That damned thing's alive."

Put your belly next to mine & shove it home.

I gave her inches six and shoved it home (shove it home)
I gave her inches six and shoved it home (shove it home)
I gave her inches six. She said, "Give it six more licks."

Put your belly next to mine & shove it home.

I gave her inches seven and shoved it home (shove it home)
I gave her inches seven and shoved it home (shove it home)
I gave her inches seven. She said, "Feels like I'm in heaven."

Put your belly next to mine & shove it home.

I gave her inches eight and shoved it home (shove it home)
I gave her inches eight and shoved it home (shove it home)
I gave her inches eight.  She said, "John I just can't wait."

Put your belly next to mine & shove it home.

I gave her inches nine and shoved it home (shove it home)
I gave her inches nine and shoved it home (shove it home)
I gave her inches nine.  She said, "Do it from behind."

Put your belly next to mine & shove it home.

I gave her inches ten and shoved it home (shove it home)
I gave her inches ten and shoved it home (shove it home)
I gave her inches ten.  She said, "Let's start once again."

Put your pecker in your pants and use your tongue.
Put your pecker in your pants and use your tongue.
Put your pecker in your pants and use your tongue.

There's a YouTube video and discussion of the song here (click). I can't figure out who the singers are, but I'm sure somebody here will recognize them (right, Gibb???).

-Joe-

Subject: ADD: Drive It On
From: Joe Offer
Date: 15 Sep 09 - 12:38 AM

One more, this one from folklore.ms:



DRIVE IT ON

I gave her inches ONE and drove it on,
I gave her inches ONE and drove it on,
I gave her inches ONE, she said, "Honey, this is fun,
Put your belly close to mine and drive it on."

I gave her inches TWO and drove it on,
I gave her inches TWO and drove it on,
I gave her inches TWO, she said, "Honey, I love you,
Put your belly close to mine and drive it on."

THREE... "Honey, please fuck me !"
FOUR.... "Honey, give me more !"
FIVE.... "Honey, I'm alive !"
SIX..... "Honey, this is kicks !"
SEVEN... "Honey, this is heaven !"
EIGHT... "Honey, this is great !"
NINE.... "Honey, this is fine !"
TEN..... "Honey, come again !"


Tune is a variant of "She'll Be Comin 'Round the Mountain."

Subject: RE: Origins: Put Yer Shoulder Next to Mine & Pump Away
From: Joe Offer
Date: 15 Sep 09 - 12:45 AM

Google Books kindly gave us this page (270) from Randolph/Legman, Unprintable Ozark Folksongs and Folklore: Roll me in your arms, on "Shoulder," and this page (391) from the same source on "Drive It On."
Randolph/Legman ties the song to "Roll Me Over in the Clover."
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Origins: Put Yer Shoulder Next to Mine & Pump
From: Gibb Sahib
Date: 15 Sep 09 - 08:40 PM

Thanks, Joe, for merging my query to this thread (which I missed somehow).

The Cztery Refy lyrics are just those from Hugill -- of no great value, since they are highly bowdlerized.

So, any takers on the "origins" question?

Gibb

Subject: Lyr. Add: I Gave Her Inches Ane
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 02 Dec 10 - 08:27 PM

Randolph published a version c. 1890, Glasgow. Some lines missing.

Lyr. Add: I Gave Her Inches Ane

I gave her inches ane, and she said it was nane,
Thump it in, bore away, Bonnie Laddie O.
I gave her inches twa, and she bid me work awa'.
I gave her inches three, and she said it would need to dee.
I gave her inches four, and her cunt was running o'er.
I gave her inches five, and she swore t'was like to rive.

I gave her inches seven, and she bade me haud it even.

I gave her inches twal', and I gave her bags and all.

Then aye the pentil came and went, and aye the bullets sang,
An' amang the hair ye wadna kent, to wha' the stanes belang.
Oh! Some were fou o' love divine, and some were fou o' brandy,
And mony jobs that day began, may end in Haughmagandie.

Forbidden Fruit, Glasgow, c. 1890, p. 32. In Vance Randolph, 1992, Roll Me Over In Your Arms, vol. 1, "Roll Me Over in the Clover," p. 391.

Comparison is made with chanties, but the form is common to many work and drinking songs; it could equally have come from the land and gone to sea, or v. v..

Subject: RE: Origins: Put Yer Shoulder Next to Mine & Pump
From: Charley Noble
Date: 02 Dec 10 - 09:03 PM

Geez, Gibb, this is just a regular old pumping shanty, what was needed to get the job done, however long it took.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble