Topic: Words that only appear once in Blues lyrics

[stunasty 55]

Charley Jordan - Soft serve ice cream lol


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[Johnm]

I reckon that is "saucer of ice cream", Stu.
All best,
Johnm

[Gumbo]

Love, Love is a worried ol' heart disease
Looks like the very one you be lovin' is so confound hard to please

Like I said, I think he uses it in another track on the same collection (Father of the Delta Blues), which is essentially the same song, but its the only use of that word that I can recall.  Would that still count?

I'd count it but for the appearance in Frank Stokes' Chicken, You Can Roost Behind The Moon (Confound you now)
and also in Papa Charlie Jackson' Salty Dog:
Now who in the ham and the confound nation

EDIT unfortunately Balloon also appears in Rabbit Brown's Same Bee Sting you Twice

[evan]

Drayman in Clifford Gibson's Drayman Blues?

[Pan]

Speaking about Leadbelly, "Bourgeois" comes to mind, in his "Beourgeois Blues", but perhaps that's too obvious?

Cheers

Pan

[evan]

Tuberculosis in Lead Belly's TB Blues

[Johnm]

Hi all,
How about "'vestigating", as in Emery Glen's "Back Door Blues"?

   I got up this morning, 'vestigating on my mind
   Well, I got up this morning, 'vestigating on my mind
   I wanted to see if mama was the right kind

And "valise", from Frank Stokes in "Half Cup of Tea", pronounced "vay-liss", with the accent on the first syllable.

   I'm gon' grab my valise, I'm goin' away from home
   I'm gonna grab my valise, I'm goin' 'way from home
   You don't like my treatment, you sure can leave me 'lone

All best,
Johnm

[Dylan61]

From Michael Taft?s concordance there are 2449 words that only appear once. (There are for sure some errors, but not too many).The Concordance is here:
http://www.dylan61.se/taft.htm

BUT as someone have noted it is not working as of today. I will try to fix it soon.

[Johnm]

What's the fun of picking them up all at once?

[Dylan61]

Well, it depends on what you use the concordance for. There are some people that are writing a thesis using among other things the concordance.
BTW the concordance works fine using Firefox.
http://www.dylan61.se/taft.htm

[waxwing]

It is certainly a mistake to use anything but academic journal published material, without a good deal of further corroboration, in writing a thesis. I particularly wouldn't uses someone's online pet project that hardly claims to be truly comprehensive nor academic, without checking each cited reference personally. This is particularly a problem with the country blues, where apparently whole theories are based on the inebriated utterances of elderly men decades after the fact, often dredged up by leading questions on the part of the interviewer. Something like that needs comprehensive corroboration, for which modern internet bloggers have seemingly little time or inclination.

No one said writing a thesis is supposed to be easy.

Wax

[Rivers]

BTW to the original poster, who is new around here and apparently does not realize it, we've been aware of Taft's concordance index for years. People have referred to it many times in posts on weenie going back to the beginning of the board, even before that, when it was an email listserv.

The spirit of this thread, as I interpret it, is to elicit some in-depth and/or entertaining discussion of rare words in their own context. Studying a list of all of them would be a one post thread, with no discussion or depth.

Taft's site works OK with Chrome. I don't bother with other browsers, except when testing web dev.

[DavidCrosbie]

The reason acknowledge is such a common word in blues lyrics is explained by Big Bill in I Believe I'll Go Back Home

I believe, I believe : babe, I believe I'll go back home
Well I'm going back to me mother : and acknowledge that I have done wrong

The prodigal son went home : I believe I'll do the same
I did not have to run away : that's why I know I'm not  ashamed

It's common trope for the singer to echo the words of the prodigal son ? including the word acknowledge. Another example is Kokomo Arnold's Sissy Man Blues;

I believe : I believe I'll go back home
Lord acknowledge to my good gal mama : Lord that I have done you wrong

[DavidCrosbie]

There's direct confirmation of the meaning of typewriter in Sunnyland Slim's Johnson Machine Gun

I'm going to buy me a Johnson 'chine gun : and a carload of exploding balls
I'm going to be a walking cycloon baby : from Saginaw to the Niagra' Falls

Go bring me my typewriter : and a whole round belt of balls
I'm going to free my no good woman : she's in the state penitentiary walls

[Prof Scratchy]

That's a great lyric, David!


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