Vowels, The

DESCRIPTION: "B-a, ba; b-e, be; B-i, bick-a-bi; B-o, bick-a-bi-bo; B-u, bu, bick-a-bi-bo-bu." Similarly through the alphabet: "C-a, ca; C-e, ce, C-i, cick-a-ci." (The text does not specify whether "cick" is pronounced "sick" or "kick.")
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1922 (Brown); the Dime-Song-Book #25 version is from 1870
KEYWORDS: wordplay nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore3 139, "The Vowels" (1 text)
Brown/Schinhan-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore5 139, "The Vowel" (1 tune plus a text excerpt)
Randolph 873, "The Alphabet Song" (6 texts, 6 tunes, but the "E" and "F" texts are "The Vowels")
Arnold-FolkSongsofAlabama, p. 131, "B-A-Bay" (1 text, 1 tune)
Dime-Song-Book #25, p. 42, "Ba, Be, Bi, Bo, Bu" (1 text)
Roud #3303
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Alphabet Songs"
NOTES [81 words]: The Dime-Song-Book #25 text is much fuller than the others; it begins, "Come, white folks, listen unto me" and proceeds to a great many absurd spellings, e.g. "b, o, y spells little girl, And c, a, t, spells rat; Next, d, o, g spells pussy cat." But the chorus is "With b, a, ba, b, c, be, B, i, bi, be, bi...." I don't know if it's an independent development of this sort of wordplay, an adapted version of the traditional piece, or the source, but they're too alike to separate. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.7
File: Br3139

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography