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.
Stars Fell On Alabama
“We lived our little drama.
We kissed in a field of white
And stars fell on Alabama last night.
I can’t forget the glamour.
Your eyes held a tender light
And stars fell on Alabama last night.”
—Mitchell Parish & Frank Perkins, Stars Fell On Alabama, 1934.
The Little White Cloud That Cried
“He asked me if I’d tell all my world
Just how hard those little clouds try
That’s how I know I’ll always remember
The little white cloud that sat right down and cried.”
—Johnnie Ray, The Little White Cloud That Cried, 1951.
the Green Book
“Legend has it that it was written by the dark ones
Ikitome Nekanavious, roughly translated, the Green Book
The book served as a gateway to the distant realms of the mind
It was written long ago when the sun was the brightest of radiant green glow
It was this monsterous energy that was used to ink the book
In the year 1970 A.D. the book was believed to be destroyed
Or was it?!”
—Jamie Madrox (Twiztid), The Green Book, 2003.