Topic: Blind Blake lyrics meaning?

[big joe weems]

Hi all,
Anyone have an idea what the numbers "7-17-24" refer to in Blind Blake's "Playing Policy Blues?"
Thanks,
Joe

[Slack]

Policy is a form of lottery.  So those are lottery numbers.  but the verse:

I begged my baby, let me in her door
I begged my baby, let me in her door
Wanted to put 25-50-75 in her 7-17-24

Sounds like a double entendre, yes? Or maybe just a change of subject.

[Old Man Ned]

I've always thought this to be a double entendre but have often wondered if the numbers were just made up for the song or whether they related to something in a numbers book.

[Alexei McDonald]

Have a gander at this piece. It answers many questions about policy and the numbers books, along with an exegesis of Blake's song :-

http://www.luckymojo.com/auntsallys.html

[Slack]

Interesting - thanks for posting Alexei!  ...and The Lucky Mojo Curio shop has certainly expanded their product line since the last time I visited.

[lindy]

And . . .

I see that Lucky Mojo has a lyrics page!

http://www.luckymojo.com/allblues.html

Lindy

[big joe weems]

Yeah!  I had a notion there was meaning behind them.  That's the "magic" of WeenieCampbell!  Ask and receive!  Thanks Alexei, that's awesome info!

[Old Man Ned]

I picked up a dream/numbers book in Memphis years ago and was looking through it last night without any success. Thanks for the post Alexei, it's a lot clearer now :-)

[alyoung]

I picked up a dream/numbers book in Memphis years ago and was looking through it last night without any success. Thanks for the post Alexei, it's a lot clearer now :-)

Same here. I've got two of them, also acquired in Memphis. But they both give the word, then its numbers. So I can find out that if I dream about a xylophone (don't we all?), I should take 537 but I have no way of finding out that if I take 537  it means xylophone. Another problem is that not all dream books give the same interpretations. Xylophone is 537 in The H.P. Dream Book by Prof Uriah Konje  (who is referenced in the Lucky Mojo article); The Three Witches Book (no author named) gives xylophone as 37.77.  But I suspect there were numbers and combinations that were fairly universal. Get your bets down... 

[Mr.OMuck]

Incredibly interesting! Thanks Alexei!