Jeanine
Jeanine at Mardis Gras!
rainbow around my shoulders
“There’s a rainbow around my shoulders
And a sky of blue above
Oh the sun shines bright, the world’s all right
’Cause I’m in love.”
—Dave Dreyer, Al Jolson & Billy Rose, There’s A Rainbow Round My Shoulders, 1928.
long black veil
“She walks these hills in a long black veil
She visits my grave when the night winds wail
Nobody knows, nobody sees
Nobody knows but me.”
—M. Wilkens & D. Dill, The Long Black Veil, originally recorded by Johnny Cash in 1964.
Indian Red
“I’ve got a Big Chief, Big Chief, Big Chief of the Nation
Wild, wild creation
He won’t bow down, down on the ground
Oh how I love to hear him call Indian Red.”
—Indian Red, traditional.
the Red, White, and Blues
“Get out the dishes,
Tu-way-pa-ka-way!
Get out the pan,
Tu-way-pa-ka-way!
Here comes the Indian man,
Tu-way-pa-ka-way!
Oh the Red, White, and Blues!
Tu-way-pa-ka-way!
Bravest Indians in all the land,
Tu-way-pa-ka-way!
They are on the march today,
Tu-way-pa-ka-way!
If you should get in their way,
Tu-way-pa-ka-way!
Be prepared to die,
Tu-way-pa-ka-way!”
—Tu Way Packa Way, traditional, 1930s; Harold Courlander: Negro Folk Music, U.S.A., 1966.
don’t you dream without me!
–Walt Kelly, Pogo A La Sundae, 1961.
The Great Speckled Bird
“With the other birds flocking around her
She is so despised by the squad
The Great Speckled Bird in the Bible
Representing the great Church of God.”
—The Reverend Guy Smith, The Great Speckled Bird, 1936.
gold stickpin, puce foulard
“BEAUREGARD: When I thnks of your poor punctured form, tears spring to my soft brown eyes.
CHURCHY: Tears spring to my perty gold-speckle eyes, too . . . I could die bein’ dead.
BEAUREGARD: If you gets shot, b’lieve me, I’ll attend the services in nothing but the best . . . gold stickpin, puce foulard, pearly grey derby . . . spats . . . maybe even carry a cane.
CHURCHY: Really? Why is you so good to me?”
—Walt Kelly, Gone Pogo, 1961.
polka dots and moonbeams
“Suddenly I saw polka dots and moonbeams
All around a pug-nosed dream.”
—Johnny Burke & Jimmy van Heusen, Polka Dots and Moonbeams, 1940.
I Like the Sunrise
“I like the sunrise cos it brings a new day
I like the new day it brings new hope they say
I like the sunrise blazing in the new sky
Nighttime’s so weary and oh so am I.”
—Duke Ellington, I Like the Sunrise, 1947.