Songs & Commentary about Hair

Subject: Songs & Commentary about Hair
From: Azizi
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 07:15 AM

Hair's a real hot button topic-especially when Black folks are talking among themselves or when non-Black people refer to the texture of Black hair.

I'm starting this thread as an extention of the previous thread Skin color in songs and singer's names.

Similar to that related thread, my purpose here is to provide a forum for listing examples of songs that mention hair, discuss changes in hair styles, and folk's attitudes toward hair, including hair texture, and hair length for females as well as males.

Your comments are welcome!

Subject: RE: Songs & Commentary about Hair
From: Mr Fox
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 07:27 AM

The first thing that sprung to my mind was an MC at a festival (it might have been Mike Harding) introducing Hedgehog Pie (remember them?): - "Ladies and gentlemen, seven tons of flesh and eleven tons of hair - Hedgehog Pie!"

Subject: RE: Songs & Commentary about Hair
From: Emma B
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 07:27 AM

The Loch Tay Boat Song

Nighean ruadh, your lovely hair has more beauty I declare
Than all the tresses fair from Killin to Aberfeldy.
Be they lint-white, gold, or brown, be they blacker than the sloe,
They mean not as much to me as a melting flake of snow.

one of my favourite songs but as a "ruadh" I would say that :)

Subject: RE: Songs & Commentary about Hair
From: Azizi
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 07:31 AM

Here's a song about hair from one of my favorite composers, Bob Marley:

Dread, natty dread now, (natty dread)
Dreadlock congo bongo i. (natty dread)
Natty dreadlock in a babylon: (natty dread)
A dreadlock congo bongo i. (natty dread)
Eh! children get your culture (natty dreadlock)
And don't stay there and gesture, a-ah, (natty dreadlock)
Or the battle will be hotter (natty dreadlock)
And you won't get no supper. (natty dreadlock)

Natty dread, natty dread, now; (natty dread)
A dreadlock congo bongo i. (natty dread)
Natty dreadlock in a babylon - (natty dread)
Roots natty, roots natty! (natty dread)

Then I walk up the first street, (natty dreadlock)
And then I walk up the second street to see. (natty dreadlock)
Then I trod on through third street, (natty dreadlock)
And then I talk to some dread on fourth street. (natty dreadlock)
Natty dreadlock in a fifth street, (natty dreadlock)
And then I skip one fence to sixth street. (natty dreadlock)
I've got to reach seventh street: (natty dreadlock)
Natty dreadlock bingy bongo I (natty dread)
Natty dread, natty dread, now, (natty dread)
Roots natty congo i. (natty dread)

Oh, natty, natty,
Natty 21,000 miles away from home, yeah!
Oh, natty, natty,
And that's a long way
For natty to be from home.

Don't care what the world seh; (natty dread)
I'n'i couldn't never go astray. (natty dread)
Just like a bright and sunny day: (natty dread)
Oh, we're gonna have things our way. (natty dread)
Natty dread, natty dreadlock, (natty dreadlock)
Dreadlock congo bongo i. (natty dreadlock)
Don't care what the world seh; (natty dreadlock)
I'n'i gonna have things our way. (natty dreadlock)
If a egg natty in a the red - (natty dreadlock)
If a egg natty in a the red. (natty dreadlock)
Natty dread, natty dreadlock. /fadeout/

http://www.lyricsfreak.com/b/bob-marley/21769.html

Here's an excerpt from Wikipedia about Natty Dread:

Natty Dread was a 1974 (see 1974 in music) reggae album by Bob Marley & the Wailers.

"Natty Dread was the first album released as Bob Marley & the Wailers (as opposed to The Wailers) and the first recorded without former bandmates Peter Tosh and Bunny Livingston. It is also the first album recorded with the I-Threes, a female vocal trio that included Bob's wife, Rita Marley, along with Marcia Griffiths and Judy Mowatt."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natty_Dread

Subject: RE: Songs & Commentary about Hair
From: Azizi
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 08:00 AM

Regarding Marley's song "natty dread", "dread" refers to the hairstyle in which naturally tightly curled hair common to many people of the African Diaspora is washed and conditioned, but not treated with chemicals or hot combs. These curls eventually lock and the hair grows longer.

According to Tony Thorne: The Dictionary of The Caribbean, and other English Speaking Cultures} Contemporary Slang {Pantheon Press, 1990, p.356} "natty" {adj} means impressive, admirable, cool; a vogue term in Jamaican youth patois, particularly the phrase "natty dread", but usuable as an all-purpose term of approval". wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn provide this definition "dapper: marked by up-to-dateness in dress and manners".

A confession: before I looked up this word for this post, I though "natty" was a Jamaican way of saying "nappy". I thought this was an attempt to reclaim the word, making "nappy" a positive instead of what is usually-rightly or wrongly- considered by Black people to be a insulting referent for our hair.

Here's an excerpt about the dreadlock hairstyle {commonly known at least in the USA as "locks"} Perhaps it can provide some context for this song and other songs about "natty" dreadlocks.

"Dreadlocks are not unique to Jamaica and Rastafarians. The dreadlocks hairstyle originated in Africa and was worn by various tribes there. The earliest tribe this hairstyle can be attributed to is the Masai tribesmen of Kenya. Many of the warriors of this tribe wore this hairstyle. These men sometimes dyed their hair red with root extracts.

Dreadlocks in Jamaica
The dreadlocks hairstyle first appeared in Jamaica during post emancipation. It was a means of defiance for ex-slaves to rebel against Euro-centrism that was forced on them. The hairstyle was originally referred to as a "dreadful" hairstyle by the Euro centric Jamaican society. It later evolved to the term now used: Dreadlocks. Jamaicans also use the term Natty Dreadlock.

Dreadlocks and Rastafari
Rastafarians grow their hair into dreadlocks because it is a part of the Nazarite Vow. (Also their dietary rules are part of the law) All Rastafarians take this vow and claim it is commanded by the Bible (Leviticus 21:5 "They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard nor make any cuttings in their flesh").

Samson is believed to be a Nazarite with dreadlocks. Many Rastafarians believe that like Samson, their hair is their strength and also their weakness if it is cut off . The belief in the weakness of cutting of the dreadklocks was used as a way to intimidate Rastafarians in Jamaica in the past, as they would be arrested and their hair cut off. This was one of the reasons many of the early Rastafarians moved to isolated areas (bush) of the Island.

To many Rastafarians, dreadlocks also symbolizes the mane (locks) of the lion in the Lion of Judah, which is one of titles given to all Ethiopian Kings. Emperor Haile Selassie was also very fond of lions and had them as pets around his palace. The lion is also seen as an animal that is gentle but powerful when provoked. He is the "King" of the jungle"...
a href="http://www.jamaicans.com/culture/rasta/dreadlocks.shtml">http://www.jamaicans.com/culture/rasta/dreadlocks.shtml

Subject: ADD: Hair (from the Musical)
From: bobad
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 08:10 AM

HAIR
She asks me why...I'm just a hairy guy
I'm hairy noon and night; Hair that's a fright.
I'm hairy high and low,
Don't ask me why; don't know!
It's not for lack of bread
Like the Grateful Dead; darling

Gimme a head with hair, long beautiful hair
Shining, gleaming, steaming, flaxen, waxen
Give me down to there, hair!
Shoulder length, longer (hair!)
Here baby, there mama, Everywhere daddy daddy

CHORUS:
Hair! (hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair)
Flow it, Show it;
Long as God can grow it, My Hair!

Let it fly in the breeze and get caught in the trees
Give a home to the fleas in my hair
A home for fleas, a hive for bees
A nest for birds, there ain't no words
For the beauty, the splendor, the wonder of my

CHORUS

I want it long, straight, curly, fuzzy
Snaggy, shaggy, ratty, matty
Oily, greasy, fleecy, shining
Gleaming, steaming, flaxen, waxen
Knotted, polka-dotted; Twisted, beaded, braided
Powdered, flowered, and confettied
Bangled, tangled, spangled and spaghettied!

O-oh, Say can you see; my eyes if you can,
Then my hair's too short!
Down to here, down to there,
Down to where, down to there;
It stops by itself!
doo doo doo doo doot-doot doo doo doot

They'll be ga-ga at the go-go
when they see me in my toga
My toga made of blond, brilliantined, Biblical hair
My hair like Jesus wore it
Hallelujah I adore it
Hallelujah Mary loved her son
Why don't my Mother love me?

Subject: RE: Songs & Commentary about Hair
From: Azizi
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 08:10 AM

Sorry, let me try that link again:

http://www.jamaicans.com/culture/rasta/dreadlocks.shtml

By the way, in Marley's song "Dem Crazy Baldheads" , "baldheads" is a referent for members of the White [and- I believe- Black, and other non-White] ruling class. Those people don't wear their hair in dreadlocks and look scornfully on those who do.

Here's the lyrics to "Dem Crazy Baldheads"

Bob Marley
Natural Mystic: The Legend Lives On (1995)
Crazy Baldheads
Them crazy, them crazy
We gonna chase those crazy
Baldheads out of town
Chase those crazy baldheads
Out of town

I and I build a cabin
I and I plant the corn
Didn't my people before me
Slave for this country
Now you look me with a scorn
Then you eat up all my corn

We gonna chase those crazy baldheads
Chase them crazy
Chase those crazy baldheads out of town

Build your penitentiary, we build your schools
Brainwash education to make us the fools
Hate is your reward for our love
Telling us of your God above

We gonna chase those crazy
Chase those crazy bunkheads
Chase those crazy baldheads out of town

Here comes the conman
Coming with his con plan
We won't take no bribe, we got to stay alive

We gonna chase those crazy
Chase those crazy baldheads
Chase those crazy baldheads out of town

http://www.usq.edu.au/course/material/EDU1131/real/lec07/Supplementary/lyrics.html
{located in the middle of that page}

Subject: RE: Songs & Commentary about Hair
From: bobad
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 08:13 AM

Crosby Stills Nash Young - Almost Cut My Hair

Almost cut my hair
It happened just the other day
It's gettin kinda long
I coulda said it wasn't in my way
But I didn't and I wonder why
I feel like letting my freak flag fly
Cause I feel like I owe it to someone

Must be because I had the flu' for Christmas
And I'm not feeling up to par
It increases my paranoia
Like looking at my mirror and seeing a scar
But I'm not giving in an inch to fear
Cause I missed myself this year
I feel like I owe it to someone

When I finally get myself together
I'm going to get down in that sunny southern weather
And I find a place inside to laugh
Separate the wheat from the chaff
I feel like I owe it to someone

Subject: RE: Songs & Commentary about Hair
From: Azizi
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 08:15 AM

Hey bobad!

I really got a kick out of that song, especially the chorus!

"I want it long, straight, curly, fuzzy
Snaggy, shaggy, ratty, matty
Oily, greasy, fleecy, shining
Gleaming, steaming, flaxen, waxen
Knotted, polka-dotted; Twisted, beaded, braided
Powdered, flowered, and confettied
Bangled, tangled, spangled and spaghettied!

O-oh, Say can you see; my eyes if you can,
Then my hair's too short!
Down to here, down to there,
Down to where, down to there;
It stops by itself!
doo doo doo doo doot-doot doo doo doot"

-snip

I think that's soo funny {good funny-not bad}

I bet it's uptempo, right?

So who wrote it?

Subject: RE: Songs & Commentary about Hair
From: Splott Man
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 08:23 AM

In the UK at least, natty was a complement, if you looked natty, it meant you were smart - Collins English Dictionary says "(informal) smart and spruce (dialect "net" neat)."

Other songs I know with hair references:

Lakes of Pontchartrain - "Her hair around her shoulders in jet black ringlets fell."
Willie Moore - "Her eyes were as bright as diamonds in the night, and raven black was her hair."



(Incidentally, is it a coincidence that the two clicky ads below this message box are for hair loss treatment?)

Splott Man

Subject: RE: Songs & Commentary about Hair
From: GUEST,Richard
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 08:29 AM

Re. "Almost cut my hair"
"Like looking in my mirror and seeing a police car" is what I hear, hence it increases his (and my!) paranoia.
Richard

Subject: RE: Songs & Commentary about Hair
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 08:55 AM

As Splott Man said, "natty" in England means smart. That might be what Bob Marley meant - or perhaps it might have been short for natural.

I'm a bit taken aback at the idea that "nappy" as a word for hair should be considered demeaning. I've always assumed it's just a way of saying that hair is short and springy. I suppose it's a reflection of the fact that in a prejudice-affected culture any descriptive word can take on an insulting meaning.

Subject: Lyr Add - The Coolin
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 09:16 AM

Here's a version of The Coolin (An Ch�ilfhionn) from this site. (Which has the Irish words and a couple of other English versions, and also the tune):

Have you seen my fair-haired girl walking the roads
A bright dewy morning without a smudge on her shoes?
There is many a young man envious and longing to marry her
But they won't get my treasure.....no matter what they think.

Have you seen my beautiful woman, a fine day and she is alone
Her hair curling and twining, hanging down about her shoulders?
Sweet young woman with the rosy blush on her brow
And every worthless man hopes she will be his lover.

Have you seen my maid beside the sea
Gold rings on her fingers she is making up her mind?
Mr. Power, who is the master of a ship, said
He would prefer to have her than the whole of Ireland.

Subject: RE: Songs & Commentary about Hair
From: bobad
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 09:22 AM

Azizi

The song is from the musical "Hair" From Wikipedia:

Hair, subtitled The American Tribal Love/Rock Musical, is a musical about hippies and was a significant part of the drug, music and peace-love culture of the 1960s. It is famous for originally being performed with all the players totally naked in some scenes. It was written by James Rado and Gerome Ragni (book and lyrics), and Galt MacDermot (music). The original cast previewed a few performances at a go-go club called The Cheetah. It premiered off-Broadway, with much fanfare, as the inaugural performance of the Public Theater, on October 17, 1967, and moved to the Biltmore Theater on Broadway on April 29, 1968 where it stayed for 1,873 performances. The West Coast version played at the Aquarius Theatre on Sunset Blvd. in Los Angeles. It opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London on September 27, 1968, continuing for 1,998 performances until closure was forced by the roof collapsing in July 1973. It went on to stage productions across the world and continues to be performed today.

Listen to it here

Subject: RE: Songs & Commentary about Hair
From: GUEST,Jim
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 10:33 AM

I remember hearing a song called TALLER THAN MY HAIR, I think by Kevin Roth.
Christine Lavin has a great song called BALD HEADED MEN.

Subject: RE: Songs & Commentary about Hair
From: Azizi
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 01:32 PM

Hair texture is almost as volatile an issue among Black people as skin color. Indeed, rightly or wrongly, the "grade" of hair one has and that person's skin color is very much tied together in most Black people's minds.

The African American folk belief which may be genetically true is that unless you have some "Indian blood", the lighter a "Black" person's skin is, the more White ancestry that person has and the more likely that person's hair will be naturally straight or at least naturally wavy and not naturally tightly curled [which is the 'politically currect' way of saying "nappy".]

For many Black woman the term "bad hair day" means more than it means for non Black people. For us, the definition of "good hair" has been and in continues to be "hair like white people", meaning naturally straight hair, or certain types of wavy hair."Bad hair" means hair like most Black people have. Most Black women wear their hair straighted, or [chemically] "relaxed", or {and this is largerly in the olden days}, straightened with a comb heated on the stove. And many Black woman add 'extentions' of purchased fake hair or purchased human hair to lengthen their own straightened hair. However, other Black women, such as myself, prefer to wear our hair naturally, without using any chemical relaxers or hot combs on our hair. Some like me, wear our hair in one of many afro styles, some more closely cropped than others. Other Black women chose to wear locks {dreadlocks}, or "cornbraid" their hair. Like many other women from the African Diaspora who wear their hair in a natural style, I consider this more than a hairstyle-I consider it to be a role modeling statement of acceptance and celebration of one's self.
And I believe that it was no coincidence that James Brown rid himself of his [chemically] processed hair to record the song "Say it Loud. I'm Black And I'm Proud."

See this excerpt of one of many online articles on this subject:

"The question arrives like a missile from the back seat of my car.

I am driving and my 6-year-old daughter, Brooke, has just asked why her hair isn't real.

In my rearview mirror, I see her pixie face framed by wild strands of hair that just won't stay confined. It springs joyfully from the pigtails that I so neatly combed. I know where she is headed, but I have to ask. "What is real hair?"

"You know, like Rachel's," she answers. Rachel is our white baby sitter. What Brooke is really asking me is why her black hair texture is different. She wants hair that flings like Rachel's, not the type that springs from tightly woven braids.

Her hair journey has begun, just as it did several years ago for my oldest daughter, Nya, and for myself many decades ago.

The mother-daughter dance over hair for any culture is tricky. It's a mother's way to pass judgment and a daughter's way to rebel. It's a sign of independence and self-identity. Hair announces to the world who we are.

But for little black girls, that dance becomes more complicated. Hair is a daughter's entry point into racial differences and America's standard of beauty. It's a mother's chance to instill strong roots, if you will, to help those daughters stand proud.

"I'm very guarded," says Donna Jenkins, 42, the mother of two daughters, Johari, 7, and Jamila, 10. Both girls have long hair that Jenkins has braided or flat-ironed for easy styling. She wears her own hair pulled back tightly into a bun.

Her daughters are often complimented on their hair, an issue that Jenkins says she quickly puts into perspective for them.

"My sister and I, we grew up like Jamila and Johari. One of us is darker and the other lighter, except I had short hair and my sister had long hair. When people would meet us, the first thing they would say about my sister is, `Oh, she has such pretty hair.' And I would sit there and think, `My hair is not pretty.' So I've been quick to correct someone on a compliment," she says. "It's not good or bad hair. It's just how our genetics came out."

I grew up with a slew of cousins with "good" hair, the kind that they could wash and go. I remember believing my hair was "good," too, even though it was different. Maybe it was a gift from my mother, who just always stood proud. Maybe it's a gift from a fair-skinned aunt who always called me "the pretty little brown one."

-snip-

Click http://www.rep-am.com/story.php?id=4728&p=0
for the entire article.

Subject: RE: Songs & Commentary about Hair
From: Azizi
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 01:37 PM

Reading over my last post, I must hasten to say that for decades now I have not believed that "good" hair is only hair like White people's. I believe that all textures of hair are good.

And as Michael Jordan has helped teach the world, I also believe that "bald is beautiful".

Subject: RE: Songs & Commentary about Hair
From: Kaleea
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 01:56 PM

Azizi-
my first thought was one of my favorites for Christmas, a Carol by Alfred Burt:

                  Some Children See Him


Some children see Him lily white
the infant Jesus born this night
Some children see Him lily white
with tresses soft and fair

Some children see Him bronzed and brown
the Lord of heav'n to earth come down
Some children see Him bronzed and brown
with dark and heavy hair (with dark and heavy hair!)

Some children see Him almond-eyed
This Saviour whom we kneel beside
Some children see Him almond-eyed
With skin of yellow hue!

Some children see Him dark as they
Sweet Mary's Son to whom we pray
Some children see Him dark as they
And, ah! they love Him so!

The children in each different place
Will see the Baby Jesus' face
Like theirs but bright with heav'nly grace
And filled with holy light!

O lay aside each earthly thing
and with thy heart as offering
Come worship now the infant King
'tis love that's born tonight!

'tis love that's born tonight!

And--
I can only remember a fragment now of a song a cousin used to sing about a girl with "hair like a horse's tail." I believe it was referring to a pony tail of dark, thick hair.

Subject: RE: Songs & Commentary about Hair
From: Azizi
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 02:02 PM

Kaleea,

Thanks for reminding me of this song. It's lyrics, tune, and spirit are beautiful.

Subject: RE: Songs & Commentary about Hair
From: Azizi
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 02:14 PM

Of course, I never could figure out why Asian people were said to have "yellow skin". But then again, the whole skin color terminology is not accurate, anyway, so why single out "yellow" as not making very much sense when white, black, and red don't either..Race is cultural and not genetic.

Perhaps I should have posted this comment on the Skin color in songs and singer's names thread instead of this one. But while I love just about all of the lyrics of that "Some Children See Him" song, I'm not sure about that "skin of yellow hue" line. I wonder how Asians feel about being called "yellow" people? Or Indians {Native Americans? First Nation people?} feel about being called "Red" people or "Red skinned people"?

Subject: RE: Songs & Commentary about Hair
From: greg stephens
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 02:26 PM

You've lost me now, Azizi. What colour are you saying is a more appropriate word to describe Chinese people? They are certainly not red, orange, green, blue, indigo,or violet, or black, or white. "Yellow" may or may not be offensive where you come from, I wouldn't know, but surely it's a reasonably accurate description?

Subject: RE: Songs & Commentary about Hair
From: Azizi
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 02:40 PM

Greg, I think that the group should collectively decide which is the appropriate referent or referents for themselves. Since I'm not of that group, I wouldn't presume to say what referent is appropriate or inappropriate-hence my question.

Unfortunately, I've not known any Native Americans except for those who have Black ancestry and seem more socialized to African American culture than Native American. Also, unfortunately, I've known very few Asians except for several individuals from Pakistan who are browner in complexion than me and many Black people. So again, I "yellow" doesn't appear to me to be a reasonably accurate description. But as I said, most Black people-in Africa and elsewhere, aren't black either.

Subject: RE: Songs & Commentary about Hair
From: Marion
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 02:49 PM

One of my own songs has a reference to black hair texture. It's a story about a romance between a white girl in Virginia and a slave; full lyrics at my website - direct to this song.

The lines in question are:

"This Irish girl was not annoyed by kinks in Johnny's hair
Nor paid she mind the coloured blood to which he was an heir..."

And the source I used for it said this:

"It is very certain, that this Irish girl was not annoyed by the kinks in John's hair. Nor was she overly fastidious about the small percentage of colored blood visible in John's complexion."

Source: The Underground Railroad, William Still, 1879 (you can read the original story on the link through my website).

Marion

Subject: RE: Songs & Commentary about Hair
From: greg stephens
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 02:51 PM

Aziz: nobody would call people from Pakistan yellow. They tend to be brown. It's Chinese people who are referred to as yellow. Which they are: it's a matter of definition really, the word "yellow" is a word that, among other things, means "the colour that Chinese people tend to be". As I say, you may or may not feel that's is offensive, but it's not something you can really deny. Some are a browner kind of yellow, some more yellowy yellow. I know lots of them.

Subject: RE: Songs & Commentary about Hair
From: Kaleea
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 03:17 PM

As a child, I was quite puzzled by the color of the crayon called "flesh" as I had never seen anyone with skin that color.

I have seen people with advanced kidney disease who had yellowish skin. I spent some time in my younger days in Asia & did not see anyone there with yellow skin.

I think all of my family members or friends who are Indians, or Indigenous Americans, consider "redskin" to be as offensive as the "n" word is to a person of African or African American descent.

The only persons I have known with skin of a reddish hue are those who spent a great deal of time in an outdoor activity under a very hot sun & not a lot of clothing, for example, after participating in a Sun Dance, suntanning, farming or any other activities in great heat. I also observed that those same persons appeared to not look reddish in the winter. However, I have heard people say that in previous generations there were those persons from the Southwest who were somewhat reddish brown after a lifetime spent in the desert with little clothing.

Subject: RE: Songs & Commentary about Hair
From: greg stephens
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 03:22 PM

Well, I find this all very confusing(especially as it's meant to be about hair, not skin). But seriously, what colour would you call Chinese people's skin? Everybody I know says yellow, and it seems accurate to me. What is your alternative?

Subject: RE: Songs & Commentary about Hair
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 04:49 PM

Re hair, there's Al Stewart's darkly brilliant "Pretty Golden Hair" which seems to be the central character's undoing (there was a clip of him singing it on the Beeb's Folk Britannia).

Also there's George Carlin's hilarious poem/monologue (which could be set to music) which is called something like "Be Fair To Your Hair" and has every rhyme in existence, including French ones ("Au contraire, mon frere"...)

Subject: RE: Songs & Commentary about Hair
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 05:25 PM

I've never seen a Chinese person whose skin is remotely what I'd call "yellow". As I said, I'm no good at differentiating neighbouring shades of colour, but all the Chinese people I know, or see around - and that's a fair number - seem to have skin colour well within the range of variation of native Europeans. (Which overlaps with the range of variation of people referred to as "black".)

"Sallow" might possibly be a more fitting word, but "yellow" just seems weird. Like describing Native Americans as "red", when the only genuinely red people are Northern Europeans who've caught the sun.

Where there is a lot less variation, of course, is in hair colour, which is pretty consistently black in most parts of the world, even thoygh the texture varies. Europe and places colonised from Europe are the exception, with hair in a relatively wide range of colours.

But of course hair colour isn't just natural colour - there's a lot of hair colours you see on the streets which bear no relation to anything you fin din nature. Actually I quite like that - of people are going to dye their hair it's much more fun if they dye them cheerful bright colurs or combinations of colours.

I expect before too long we'll be seeing the same thing happening with skin - blue and green and scarlet people. Brighten up the place on a dull day. Of course the more lurid Morris and Molly dancers are ahead of the game here already...(And here's another shot. But I'd like to see it with people when they are going abouit the daily business of living, the way you do with hair colours these days.

Subject: RE: Songs & Commentary about Hair
From: greg stephens
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 07:31 PM

Is it not the case(or is it just a bit of folklore) that red Indians were first called red because of their red war paint, and nothing to do with their skin colour(which is obviously not red, as far as I now). But I disagree, McGrath, with your suggestion that Chinese people are more sallow than yellow. they have called yellow for a long time, and that is what colour they are. Not of course the same yellow as a lemon, but still yellow. Just like laurel trees and lime trees: they are nothing like the same colour, but they are both called green. usage defines that one word as covering two very different colours.
And people with sunburn generally are more pink than red.
   But since this is meant to be a hair thread, I think it is more interesting that red hair isn't really red at all.

Subject: RE: Songs & Commentary about Hair
From: Ferrara
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 08:49 PM

Kaleea, the song "Some Children See Him" brought tears to my eyes. It is lovely.

In graduate school I dated a Chinese guy from Hong Kong. One day he placed his forearm next to mine and said, "Oh, I see why they call our skin yellow." It was much yellower than my pink-tan-English-Welsh-Italian-and-a-bit-of-Cherokee skin.

... He also said, "I see why they called you ghosts." ["Foreign devils" is the usual translation.] In China, ghosts were white, and I believe white was the color of mourning.

Azizi, your comments about skin and hair color brought back a lot of memories. Two of my African-American friends, in the 70's, were sharing reminiscences of being discriminated against -- in their segregated elementary schools, by African-American teachers, this was before integration -- because of their dark skin. One said, "Well, sometimes the teachers liked me anyway, because I had 'good hair.'" She made it clear that it was because her hair was straighter (straihtened?) and more like a white person's. By the time I knew her she wore it in an Afro.

Subject: RE: Songs & Commentary about Hair
From: Ferrara
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 08:59 PM

Stephen Foster included lines about hair in a number of songs.

"I Dream of Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair,"

"Sweetly she sleeps, my Alice fair,
Her cheek on the pillow pressed,
Sweetly she sleep, while her Saxon hair
Like sunlight, streams o'er her breast."

And in Uncle Ned:

"There was an old d---y and his name was Uncle Ned,
He's dead long, long ago,
He had no wool on the top of his head,
In the place where the wool ought to grow.

Then lay down the shovel and the hoe,
Hang up the fiddle and the bow,
There's no more work for poor old Ned,
He's gone where the good d-----s go."

Please note, I don't sing this song!!! I am very uncomfortable about posting it. But if I understand correctly, it fits with the theme of the thread and is the kind of example Azizi is looking for.

Subject: RE: Songs & Commentary about Hair
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 08:59 PM

Where we draw colour lines on words is pretty variable. All I can say is, if the colour Chinese people generally are is "yellow", it seems to me that'd be the right word for the colour of a lot of people whose ancestors all lived in Europe.

Yellow hats - but yellow faces?

I've heard it suggested that the use of the term "yellow" for Chinese people has a similar kind of origin to the use of "red" for Native Americans - a sort of carry over from the fact that the colour was very important in the culture (eg the Yellow River, and the Yellow Emperor). Rather as if the Irish were spoken of as being "green", and that had ended up with people adjusting their definition of "green" to include the colour Irish people generally are.
.............................
Red Hair - I'd say sometimes the hair so described would fall into what would be counted as a kind of red, if we were dealing with garments.

Which leads to a good red-haired song in the DT - Red Haired Mary. And pointing the way to songs is a thing this thread needs to do, or someone is likely to push it down the BS end of the page, which is fine by me, but it tends to leave out in the cold those people who say that they never go down there on principle.

Subject: RE: Songs & Commentary about Hair
From: Ferrara
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 09:01 PM

Reminded by another thread: "Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair."

Subject: RE: Songs & Commentary about Hair
From: number 6
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 10:35 PM

A rather silly, but endearing song called 'Lady Godiva' by Peter and Gordon .... following is an excerpt:

Her long blonde hair
Hangin' down around her knees
All the cats who dig striptease
Prayin' for a little breeze
Her long blonde hair
Falling down across her arms
Hiding all the lady's charms
Lady Godiva

sIx

Subject: RE: Songs & Commentary about Hair
From: Ferrara
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 11:03 PM

Sioux City Sue. My favorite song (as sung by Gene Autry) when I was in kindergarten.

Why Bob Your Hair, Girls, which for some reason I thought was called "Girls Don't You Bob Your Hair."

I remember a song (what is it? probably a 50's pop song) that started,

"Hair of gold, eyes of blue,
Lips like sherry wine,
Prettiest girl I ever knew,
And I'm going to make her mine."

Interesting ... when I searched for "hair of gold," I found one entry in the Forum for this song. It was posted by my husband, Bill D. He also was the first person I ever met who knew all the words to "Sioux City Sue." No wonder I fell in love with him.

Silver Threads Among the Gold. Hair color as a sign of age. I thought of "Silver in the Stubble" but that's beard hair.

Oh, and Tom Lehrer's "When You Are Old and Gray."

Subject: RE: Songs & Commentary about Hair
From: Azizi
Date: 26 Apr 06 - 07:26 PM

This is a related question:

What other songs about wigs can you think of besides this one?

HIGH HEEL SNEAKERS
Put on your red dress, baby
Ya know we're goin' out tonight
Put on your red dress, baby
Lord, we're goin' out tonight
And-a bring along some boxin' gloves
In case some fool might wanna fight

Put on your high-heel sneakers, lordy
Wear your wig-hat on your head
Put on your high-heel sneakers, child
Wear your wig-hat on your head
Ya know you're looking mighty fine, baby
I'm pretty sure you're gonna knock 'em dead

Put on your red dress, baby
Lord, we're goin' out tonight
Put on your red dress, baby
Well, we're goin' out tonight
And bring along some boxin' gloves
'case some fool might wanna fight

Put on your high-heel sneakers, child
Wear your wig-hat on your head now
Put on your high-heel sneakers, baby
Wear your wig-hat on your head
Ya know you're looking mighty good, really
I'm pretty sure you're gonna knock 'em dead

-snip-

I believe the recording artist for this song was Tommy Tucker. But I'm not sure of the date of the recording.

Subject: RE: Songs & Commentary about Hair
From: Azizi
Date: 27 Apr 06 - 07:39 AM

I introduced the subject of wigs in my last posts because I am curious about how songs reflect the biases that are sometimes conscious and sometimes unconscious in the song writer's society.

Songs that contain references to hair usually reflect a society's preference for women's hair of a certain color and/or hair of a certain length. Though I can't think of any examples, it seems likely that there are some American songs that positively or negatively refer to the 1920s Roaring Twenties "bobbed" hair cuts that became vogue than among some women. However, it seems to me that in "Western" societies, long hair has been and is still considered the norm for women, though since the mid 20th century there has increasingly been more acceptance of shorter hairstyles for women. My point is that these opinions about hair are likely to be reflected in popular music and other indices of folk culture such as jokes.

In addition to a societal preference for long female hair, and in spite of the fact that a large number of women wear hair attachments such as hair pieces and extentions, and a smaller but still substantial number of women wear wigs, I believe that an analysis of popular music {and for these purposes, I include "folk music" in that definition of popular music}, would reveal a decided bias against women wearing fake hair. There's no question that this bias against women wearing fake hair also shows up in jokes, but I'm going to refain from citing any jokes in this post or others in this thread. ;o)

One song from the mid 1990s that includes a referent to women wearing fake hair is DJKool's "Let Me Clear My Throat". That song has a call & response talking interlude where the highly danceable percussive music stops and the DJ asked -and I am paraphasing

"Now, all ladies in the house who have real hair, real fingernails and have a job, say yeah!" The next sound you hear on the recording is that of women shouting loudly.

****

Btw, this online site http://www.mmguide.musicmatch.com/album/album.cgi?ALBUMID=493849 includes a listing of the songs, and this review of DJKool's album:

"DJ Kool's Let Me Clear My Throat was one of the most invigorating hip-hop records of the mid-'90s, simply because it didn't follow conventional hardcore, alternative, or gangsta rap patterns. Instead, DJ Kool returned to the wild, careening atmosphere of freestyle, old-school hip-hop, anchoring the rhymes with spare scratching and elastic reggae grooves. The result was one hell of a party album, filled with terrific beats and infectious, humorous rhymes. ~ Leo Stanley, All Music Guide"

-snip-

Although that website refers to "Let Me Clear My Throat" as hiphop, I thought it was an example of "bass music". Here's a definition of bass music:

Miami bass (booty bass, bass music) is a form of music known for deep, throbbing beats, hyperkinetic rhythms and, often, sexually explicit lyrics. It arose in the southern United States, centered on Miami and Orlando, and elsewhere in Florida, as well as Atlanta and Alabama. Miami bass has achieved little mainstream chart success, though it has won acceptance among US southerners and some northern hip hop listeners, a form to which it is closely related.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_bass_music

Subject: RE: Songs & Commentary about Hair
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 27 Apr 06 - 12:57 PM

About the only song with a wig in it I can think of off the top of my head (sic) is The Old Maid and the Burglar -

She took out her teeth and a big glass eye
And the hair off the top of her head...
I'm pretty sure that any song mentioning a wig would be likely to be poking fun at the wearer, male or female, I'm afraid. Unfair, but that's how it goes.

Dolly Parton makes no secret of the fact she wears a wig - I wonder if she's come up with any songs about it. (Funny when people go on about "singer-songwriters" they never seem to mention her...)