songs about fallen women in the city

Subject: fallen women in the city
From: GUEST,Ellen Kushner/Sound & Spirit
Date: 13 Apr 03 - 01:36 PM

I'm putting together a radio program on CITIES, and I'm looking for a **recording** of the perfect "she came to the city and lost her virtue" song. I've found the lyrics to "It's the Same the Whole World Over" - and remember a bowdlerized recording from my youth that was not too filthy to play on public radio - but don't know who did it.

Does anyone know of an available recording either of that song or on that theme? I'm guessing English Music Hall or Victorian Hits would do it . . . .

Subject: RE: fallen women in the city
From: MartinRyan
Date: 13 Apr 03 - 02:18 PM

I seem to remember a guy called Ian Whitcomb recording it way back in the early 60's.

Regards.

Subject: RE: fallen women in the city
From: SINSULL
Date: 13 Apr 03 - 02:25 PM

She's More to Be Pitied Than Censured"

Subject: RE: fallen women in the city
From: mack/misophist
Date: 13 Apr 03 - 02:58 PM

Duke Ellington has a spoken piece about a little country girl who comes to the big city and gets taken in by a fast talking hipster. Except that, at the end, she's got the gold chain and he's saying 'Yes, Baby'. Also jazz 'Love For Sale' Sorry, can't remember anything but jazz, today.

Subject: Lyr Add: STREETS OF BALTIMORE (Glazer/Howard)
From: Mark Clark
Date: 13 Apr 03 - 03:25 PM

“The Streets of Baltimore” has to be pretty near the top the list.

      - Mark

---

The Streets of Baltimore  (Tompall Glaser-Harlan Howard)

    F                          Bb                           F                               Bb
I sold the farm to take my woman where she longed to be
       C7                                                             F
We left our kin and all our friends back there in Tennessee
      F                                       Bb                        F                         Bb
I bought those one-way tickets she had often begged me for
                    C7                                               F
And they took us to the streets of Baltimore

          C                                                                       F
Her heart was filled with laughter when she saw those city lights
                                                                                                        C7
She said the prettiest place place on earth is Baltimore at night
                         F                        Bb                           F                              Bb
Well, a man feels proud to give his women what's she's longing for
             C7                                                  F
And I kind of like the streets of Baltimore.

              F                       Bb                  F                        Bb
Then I got myself a factory job; I ran an old machine
       C7                                                     F
I bought a little cottage in a neighbourhood serene
        F                                  Bb                           F                      Bb
Yet every night when I came home with every muscle sore
                       C7                                                           F
She would drag me through the streets of Baltimore.

               C                                                          F
Well, I did my best to bring her back to what she used to be

But I soon learned she loved those bright lights
                                                  C7
Much more than she loved me

                    F                       Bb                         F                                      Bb
Now I'm going back on that same train that brought me here before
                     C7                                               F
While my baby walks the streets of Baltimore
                 C7                                               F
Yes, my baby walks the streets of Baltimore

Subject: RE: fallen women in the city
From: Gareth
Date: 13 Apr 03 - 06:55 PM

A Rugby Club favorite - please excuse me if I don't type or search it out tonite, a 15 hour shift, but yes the two links above are close.

The "Aberflyhalf RFC" version will follow.

Gareth

She did go to London City,
For to hide her bleeding shame,
But a fat old Tory met her,
Put her on the game again."

Subject: ADD: Oom Pah Pah (from Oliver)
From: *daylia*
Date: 13 Apr 03 - 07:13 PM

How about Nancy's song "Oom Pah Pah" from the musical "Oliver"?

Oom Pah Pah

" Pretty little Sally Goes walkin' down the alley,
Displays a pretty ankle to all of the men.
They could see her garters, But not for free and gratis --
An inch or two, and then She knows when to say when!

ALL:
Oom-pah-pah! Oom-pah-pah! That's how it goes.
Oom-pah-pah! Oom-pah-pah! Ev'ryone knows:
NANCY:
Whether it's hidden, or whether it shows,
It's the same, oom-pah-pah!

She was from the country, But now she's up a gum-tree --
She let a feller feed 'er, and lead 'er along.
What's the use o' cryin'? She's made a bed to lie in.
She's glad to bring a coin in And join in this song!

ALL:
Oom-pah-pah! Oom-pah-pah! That's how it goes!
Oom-pah-pah! Oom-pah-pah! Ev'ryone knows:

NANCY: She is no longer the same blushin' rose
Ever since oom-pah-pah!"

Click here for the rest of the lyrics. I think both music and lyrics are by Lionel Bart though, not Webber/Rice as Genie says in the message.

Good luck - daylia

Subject: RE: fallen women in the city
From: GUEST,EllenKushner
Date: 13 Apr 03 - 09:41 PM

Thank you - these are great suggestions, and I'm hot on the trail....to my astonishment, there is a recording of "She is more to be pitied" made in the 1890's, offered at http://www.archeophone.com/Catalogue/Yearbooks/9006.html ! Its lyrics don't seem to mention all this naughtiness happening in a CITY, though, so I'll keep looking....

Note that this is for a radio programme where quality recordings whose lyrics can be well-understood immediately by the listener are critical, so if you know of a good recording, please include that information.

If you're curious about the programme, there is much information at: www.wgbh.org/pri/spirit

With thanks,
Ellen

(Daylia, I'm a huge "Oliver!" fan - I'll have to remember to use "Oom pah pah" if I ever do a show on... well, the "oom" in "oom pah"!)

Subject: RE: fallen women in the city
From: mg
Date: 13 Apr 03 - 09:56 PM

I think in one of the Walt Robertson threads is a song called Cle Elum girl...mg

Subject: RE: fallen women in the city
From: GUEST,Rapaire
Date: 13 Apr 03 - 10:46 PM

I don't know if this poem by Hardy has been set to music or not.

Subject: RE: fallen women in the city
From: open mike
Date: 14 Apr 03 - 05:06 AM

She said her name was Caroline...
Tecumseh Valley by Townes Van Zant
"She took to whorin' out on the street,
with all the lust inside her..."
I have a request in to a friend who
sings a song about a character, I believe
her name is San Francisco Mabel Joy..
it is a sad one...

Subject: Lyr Add: TECUMSEH VALLEY (Townes Van Zandt)
From: open mike
Date: 14 Apr 03 - 05:10 AM

TECUMSEH VALLEY
(Townes Van Zandt) (singer/composer, died in 97')

The name she gave was Caroline, daughter of a miner,
her ways were free, and it seemed to me,
that sunshine walked beside her.

She came from Spencer, 'cross the hill,
she said her pa had sent her 'cause the coal was low,
and soon the snow, would turn the skies to winter.

She said she'd come, to look for work,
she was not seeking favors,
For a dime a day and a place to stay,
she'd turn those hands to labor.

But times were hard, and jobs were few,
all through Tecumseh valley,
but she asked around and a job she found,
tending bar at Gypsy Sally's

She saved enough to get back home,
when spring replaced the winter,
but her dreams were denied, her pa had died,
the word come down from Spencer.

So she turned to whorin', on the streets,
with all the lust inside her, and it was many a man, returned again,
to lay himself beside her.

They found her down beneath the stairs,
that led to Gypsy Sally's,
in her hand when she died was a note that cried,
fare thee well... Tecumseh valley.

The name she gave was Caroline, daughter of a miner,
her ways were free,
and it seemed to me,
that sunshine walked beside her.

From his 1st album, titled "First Album", circa: mid-60's.

Subject: Lyr Add: SAN FRANCISCO MABEL JOY (Mickey Newbury)
From: open mike
Date: 14 Apr 03 - 05:14 AM

SAN FRANCISCO MABEL JOY
(Mickey Newbury)

Oh his daddy was an honest man, red dirt Georgia farmer
His mama lived her short life havin' kids and bailin' hay
He had fifteen years and an ache inside to wander
Hopped a freight in Waycross wound up in LA

Oh the cold nights had no pity on that Waycross Georgia farm boy
Most days he went hungry, then the summer came
He met a girl known on the strip as San Francisco's Mabel Joy
Destitution's child born on an LA street called shame

Growin' up came quietly in the arms of Mabel Joy
Laughter found their mornings, it brought a meaning to his life
On the night before she left, sleep came and found that Waycross country boy
With dreams of Georgia cotton and a California wife

Sunday morning found him standing 'neath the red light at her door
When a right cross sent him reelin' put him face down on the floor
In place of Mabel Joy he found a merchant man marine
Who growled, 'Your Georgia neck is red, but sonny you're still green'

He turned twenty one in a grey rock federal prison
Old judge had no mercy on this Waycross Georgia boy
Starin' at those four grey walls in silence he would listen
To that midnight freight he knew would take him back to Mabel Joy

Sunday morning found him lyin' 'neath the red light at her door
With a bullet in his side, he cried 'Have you seen Mabel Joy?'
Stunned and shakin', someone said, 'Son, she don't live here no more
No, she left this house four years today - they say she's lookin' for
Some Georgia farm boy'.

Writer: Mickey Newbury Source: Insert to Mickey Newbury 'Nights when I am sane' Winter Harvest CD WH3301-2

Subject: RE: fallen women in the city
From: GUEST,GUEST
Date: 14 Apr 03 - 05:35 AM

Oscar Brand did "It's the Same the Whole World Over," with a terrible cockney accent, on one of his albums. Sorry I don't know which one.

Jim.

Subject: RE: fallen women in the city
From: GUEST,Ellen Kushner
Date: 17 Apr 03 - 02:47 PM

Yes, I love that Hardy poem! If I can't find good recordings, maybe I'll put on my even worse Cockney accent than Oscar, and give it a whirl!

Subject: RE: fallen women in the city
From: Joe_F
Date: 17 Apr 03 - 07:02 PM

And let us not forget those who *defended* their virtue:

* My Mother Was a Lady
* Heaven Will Protect the Working Girl

Subject: RE: fallen women in the city
From: michaelr
Date: 17 Apr 03 - 07:44 PM

Check out "Paint and Powder Beauty" and "The Banks of the Clyde" from Linda Thompson's latest, "Fashionably Late".

Cheers,
Michael

Subject: RE: fallen women in the city
From: Ebbie
Date: 17 Apr 03 - 08:27 PM

Hazel Dickens' Don't Put Her Down (You Helped Put Her There) is a good one.

Subject: RE: fallen women in the city
From: Lin in Kansas
Date: 17 Apr 03 - 11:48 PM

"Louise" by Bonnie Raitt.

Lin

Subject: RE: fallen women in the city
From: Snuffy
Date: 18 Apr 03 - 04:25 AM

I never knew there were honky-tonk angels .....

Subject: RE: fallen women in the city
From: AllisonA(Animaterra)
Date: 18 Apr 03 - 06:23 AM

I don't have anything to add, but may I say thank you Ellen Kushner for one of the best radio shows on NPR! I finally live in a place where I can get WGBH and make a point of tuning in to hear Sound and Spirit whenever I can on Sunday mornings!

Subject: RE: fallen women in the city
From: curmudgeon
Date: 18 Apr 03 - 08:51 AM

Ellen -- I can't really add to the great list you've been given, but just out of curiosity, is there any connection between you and '60s Boston area folksinger Lynn Kushner?

Thanks -- Tom

Subject: RE: fallen women in the city
From: JJ
Date: 18 Apr 03 - 09:01 AM

"A Picture from Life's Other Side," which I once sang in a production of DARK OF THE MOON, but which I can't remember now.

Subject: RE: fallen women in the city
From: Charley Noble
Date: 18 Apr 03 - 09:07 AM

Another set of songs which gives equal time to "young men" as well as "young women" is by Charlie Case, a black-face comedian of the late 19th century. For the young men there was the ever popular "Fatal Glass of Beer" and for the young women, to the same tune, this one from Sigmund Spaeth's READ 'EM AND WEEP, pp. 242-243:

There was once a poor young girl who left her country home,
And came to the city to seek employment;
She had to leave her home because the wolf was at her door
And her father had fallen down and hurt his knee.

Just before she went away her sweatheart, whose name was Jack,
Said to her, "I fear you will not be true."
And so she had to promise him before she got on the train
That every night at eight o'clock she would burst into tears.

She came to the city, and was riding on a street car
When a man got up and offered her his seat;
She refused the offer with scorn, for she saw he wore a ring,
And she didn't know but he might be a married man.

Then up came the conductor and said, "I knew you would be true!"
And tore off his false whiskers, and it was Jack!
And that day she got a telegram saying that her father's knee was better,
And an aunt had died and left her $58,000.00.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: fallen women in the city
From: GUEST
Date: 18 Apr 03 - 11:13 AM

Thanks for your kind words on Sound & Spirit! No, I'm no relation to any other Kushners that anyone has ever heard of (though I am the same Ellen Kushner who writes the novels - and I'm delighted to report that THOMAS THE RHYMER is coming back into print next year).

I've now got the Linda Thompson "Banks of the Clyde" slotted in the "Big Bad Cities" portion of the show - but I'd like something Victorianish to balance it - great idea to look for something like "Heaven Will Protect the Working Girl"!

Charley, that's a great one from the Spaeth collection - and I think I've actually heard it played on the air somewhere.... I wonder if "Fatal Glass of Beer" is around? We'll check!

With thanks,
Ellen

Subject: Lyr Add: THE FATAL GLASS OF BEER
From: Charley Noble
Date: 18 Apr 03 - 11:34 AM

Ellen- there is a version of the "Fatal Glass of Beer" in the DT here but it's strayed far more from the original Charles Case song than the family version I learned as a child which I'll post:

FATAL GLASS OF BEER-1
(From Helen Ramsay, printed in Shay's More Pious Friends etc.
Recorded by W. C. Fields)

There was a young man, and he came to New York
To find himself a lucrative position befitting his talents.

And he hunted all the Employment Agencies, but was nearly starved
to death,
When at last he got a job in a stone quarry with all the other
college graduates.

And after work was done, they lured him into a saloon,
And tempted him to drink a glass of beer.

But he'd promised his Dear Old Mother that he never would imbibe
That he'd never touch his Lips to a glass containing Liquor.

They laughed at him and Jeered, and they called him a cow-yard
Till at last he clutched and drained that glass of beer.

When he saw what he had Did, he dashed his glass upon the floor,
And staggered out the door with Delirium Tremens.

And the first person that he met was a Salvation Army Lass,
And with one blow he broke her tambourine!

When she saw what he had did, she placed a mark upon his brow
With a kick that she had learned before she was sav-ed.

And the moral of this tale is to shun that fatal glass,
And don't go around breaking other peoples' tambourines.

FATAL GLASS OF BEER-2
(Adapted from Charlie Case by the Ipcar Family in the 1960's)

There was a country lad, who left his country home
And came to the big city to seek employment;
He promised his dear mother, as he climbed aboard the train
To always shun the fatal curse of drink.

When he reached the big city he found employment in a quarry,
And they he made the acquaintance of two college men;
He did not know that they were demons, for they wore the best of clothes,
But clothes do not always make the gentleman.

One night he went out with his new found friends to dine,
And they tried to persuade him to have a drink;
He refused and he refused but they persuaded and they persuaded,
And finally he had a glass of beer.
.
When he saw what he had done, he dashed his liquor to the floor,
And staggered to the door with Delirium Tremens.
And under the fatal curse of drink he met a Salvation Army Lass,
And cruelly he broke her tambourine!

She only said "God Bless you!" and placed a mark upon his brow,
With a kick that she had learned before she was sav-ed.
So let this be a lesson, shun the fatal curse of drink,
And don't go around breaking little lassie's tambourines.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: fallen women in the city
From: Charley Noble
Date: 18 Apr 03 - 11:36 AM

Whoops, I copied the whole thing!

CN

Subject: RE: fallen women in the city
From: wysiwyg
Date: 18 Apr 03 - 11:36 AM

House of the Rising Sun??

~S~

Subject: RE: fallen women in the city
From: harpgirl
Date: 18 Apr 03 - 11:40 AM

I prefer those ditties that predict triumph of the fallen woman:



Mustang Ranch Blues by harpgirl


I ain't gonna walk no more honey
I ain't gonna walk no more
I walk all night to bankroll your ride
I ain't gonna walk no more

I ain't gonna feather your nest no more
I ain't gonna be your show
I walk all night sellin my pride
I ain't gonna walk no more

No sugar daddy saved me from this strife
A tainted maiden all my life
I ain't gonna walk no more

Won't see me walkin by the mainstreet light
No more by the moonlight hitchin a ride
I ain't gonna walk no more

I'll pack my paint and my satin dress
Quit this town I'm goin out west
Find me a cowboy
Put him to the test
I ain't gonna walk no more

You got one less pony in your corral
I'm goin out West and I'm gonna raise hell
I ain't gonna walk no more

Subject: RE: fallen women in the city
From: Ely
Date: 18 Apr 03 - 07:25 PM

"Tomorrow's Already Gone" by Hazel Dickens (sorry, I don't have the complete words on hand)

Subject: RE: fallen women in the city
From: CraigS
Date: 18 Apr 03 - 08:01 PM

Cindy's Crying by Tom Paxton
She's Everything She Doesn't Want To Be by Larry Weiss

Subject: RE: fallen women in the city
From: Art Thieme
Date: 19 Apr 03 - 02:06 PM

I just got it !!! "FALLEN WOMEN". ---- She fell down and hurt her knee !!!! CUTE !   ;-)

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: songs about fallen women in the city
From: Charley Noble
Date: 30 Jul 16 - 03:40 PM

Here's another vote for "The Fatal Glass of Beer."

Charlie Ipcar