Today, we're free to talk
more or less about anything (are we?). So, a certain type of song that was very
popular in the first 6-7 decades of the 20th Century is almost extinct: the
risqué song, with double entendres, or what plain folks would call the
"naughty" song. At the time, it was a thriving kind and Ruth Wallis
was one of its most famous representatives. You will have realized that this
week we're going even further back in time, in the exotic 50s.
Born Ruth Shirley Wohl in
Brooklyn (1920-2007), she began her career singing jazz and cabaret standards
with band-leaders such as Benny Goodman and Isham Jones. She soon realised,
however, that her talents lay with the naughty songs, which she wrote herself.
Her music was often banned from radio stations, but that only helped make her
even more popular. The new century did not push her into oblivion though. Some
of her most famous songs were collected and became the Off-Broadway hit, Boobs! The Musical: The World According To Ruth Wallis. BOOBS! opened at the Triad Theater (NYC/2003) and by closing date it had
played nearly 300 performances.
The song in our list today is
Queer Things from 1956. It's about a woman who discovers that the man that she
married is gay:
We got married in the spring
To prove it here's my wedding
ring
I always think of my blushing
groom
Whenever I see the pansies
bloom
There are various cliched
lines, such as the above, but the general spirit of the song is that of
goodwill. The last verse is indicative of this:
We have decided it cannot be
I'm not for him and he's not
for me
He can do what he wants and
I'll do what I can
But the both of us
Have gotta get a man.
Because of the "live and
let live" spirit, the song, in my opinion, is a good addition to our list.
I would suppose naughty songs as a distinct entity fell by the wayside when formerly naughty, raunchy rock & roll was accepted into the mainstream. Rap and some hip hop blasted through any remaining propriety and we now get top ten songs where the word f*ck is in the title. Coy, flirty songs are no longer titillating when the internet promises a bounteous smorgasbord of all manner of raunch & roll. And some days, that's a pity.
ReplyDeleteHi RM! I quite agree with your position, R'n'R & Rap made naughty songs redundant. It is indeed a pity, because many of those songs were really witty. I can't say the say for most of today's f*ck songs.
DeleteYes sir yianang, wit, nuance and subtlety have no place in today's culture. We're all on a fast train going nowhere.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, my friend, that's true.
Delete