Topic: Peetie Wheatstraw Lyrics

[Johnm]

I believe if you all re-listen, there is in fact only one syllable in between "my" and "woman", and in that single syllable, Peetie Wheatstraw enunciates "this" with perfect clarity. He's not using the word "my" as a possessive here, but more as an exclamation, like "my, oh my".

[waxwing]

Johnm,

I did re-listen and I do hear it as you described, altho, I would say "perfect clarity" is a stretch. There is a little trace sound, either 'this-eh woman' or 'this w-woman' that fools the ear if not following very tightly, 'cause it's sung so fast.

I still think he sings HAS or HAVE instead of 'done' in the first phrase of the line.

Wax

[Johnm]

Hi waxwing,
I don't think so with regard to "have" or "has". There is neither a "v" sound or a lazy "s" sound like a "z" at the end of that verb. It concludes with an "n" sound and rhymes with "run". It's a perfectly common usage, "done told me" as in Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer's "Blues In the Night"--"My mama done told me . . .."

[waxwing]

Listening again I hear the 'n' loud and clear, at the end of 'per-SON' right before HAS or HAVE. He accentuates that second syllable of 'person' and then there is a very faint HAS or HAVE before 'told' . So faint that the difference between the fricative 'v' and the sibilant 's' is indiscernible to my ears. I would see 'have told' or 'has told' are about as common usage as 'done told.

Wax

[Johnm]

Hi waxwing,
I'm hearing two consecutive syllables ending with the "un" sound as in "run".