by Douglas Messerli
Bob Caver, Eddie Coleman, and Gus Simons (performers), Josef Berne
(director) Sweet Kentucky Babe / 1945
In another Soundie from 1945, the singing group Day, Dawn and Dusk
presented a comic song, “Sweet Kentucky Babe,” this one referring to a female baby
played by Gus Simons. Simons begins in a cradle with a small white bib tied
around his neck.
But after the first chorus
of the song where Eddie Coleman and Bob Caver sing a cleaned-up version of the
original song—losing the demeaning words such as “coon” and most of the fake
dialect:
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'Skeeters am a
hummin' on de honey suckle vine,
Sleep, Kentucky
Babe!
Sandman am a coming
to this little babe of mine,
Sleep, Kentucky
Babe!
Silv'ry moon is
shining in the heavens up above,
Bobolink am pining
for his little lady love,
You is mighty
lucky, Babe of old Kentucky,
Close your eyes in
sleep.
But suddenly as the tempo increases, the
baby jumps out of bed to join in the chorus:
Fly away, fly away
Kentucky Babe,
fly away to rest,
Fly away,
Lay your little
head on your poppy's breast.
And the
original sentimental piece begins to parody itself as the baby suddenly demands
that when the nipple is put in mouth he no longer wants milk but “some kosher corn beef … Chinese chop suey, Irish
stew, chili beans, and bacon.”
Although the music returns to the original
sentimental tune and Coleman plants a white baby female baby hat on Simon’s
head, the original is deconstructed, enjoyed for the beauty of its tune but
parodied for its original sentiment.
As
commentator on the Soundies, Mark Cantor summarizes it:
“‘Sleep Kentucky Babe,’” by white songwriters
Adam Geibel and Richard Henry Buck, was part acknowledgment, part parody and
caricature, of an African American lullaby. The song was performed by Blacks
and Whites alike and was a hit in 1896. The sentimental nature of the song, however,
is undercut by the use of such words and phrases as ‘coon’ and ‘kinky woolly
head.’
But not so in this version. Set in a well-appointed living room, with the group members nattily dressed – this includes “Bot” Simons, the baby – the trio overlays parody upon parody, making a mockery of the original lyrics.”
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That parody is visualized by the very fact
that Simons is being asked to alternate his role as a member of the singing
trio and a female baby who is told several times to lay her head down on her
pappy’s breast, as Coleman leans into hug Simons, who cries like a baby and
attempts to escape. Moreover, they use the lyrics themselves to hint at they
attitude toward the original’s values, not only repeating the “fly fly away
line” but adding in several phrases to “shoo” the old off and present it in a
new light.
In short, by singing so beautifully while
still mocking its minstrel-like black dialect, the group redeems the original,
and turns it into a joyous comic romp.
I have printed the original lyrics of the song below.*
* KENTUCKY
BABE
'Skeeters am a hummin' on de honey
suckle vine,
Sleep, Kentucky Babe!
Sandman am a comin' to dis little
coon of mine,
Sleep, Kentucky Babe!
Silv'ry moon am shinin' in de
heabens up above,
Bobolink am pinin' fo' his little
lady love,
You is mighty lucky, Babe of old
Kentucky,
Close yo' eyes in sleep.
[Chorus]
Fly away, fly away Kentucky Babe,
fly away to rest, Fly away,
Lay yo' kinky woolly head on yo'
mammy's breast,
Um Um close yo' eyes in sleep.
Daddy's in the canebrake wid his
little dog and gun,
Sleep, Kentucky Babe!
Possom fo' yo' breakfast when yo'
sleepin' time is done,
Sleep, Kentucky Babe!
Bogie man 'll ketch yo' sure unless
yo' close yo eyes,
Waitin' jes' outside de doo' to
take yo' by surprise,
Bes' be keepin' shady, Little
colored lady,
Close yo' eyes in sleep.
Los Angeles,
February 19, 2024
Reprinted from My
Queer Cinema blog (February 2024).
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