Way Down Below

DESCRIPTION: "Oh, a good beef steak and' a mutton chop, Way down below! Make dat nigger's lip go flip flap flop. Way down below (x2), Ole Aunt Kitty am honin' for de sea, Way down below." Verses float (e.g. "My old master promised me"); lines 2 and 4-6 are the chorus
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1952 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: slave freedom floatingverses food
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore3 492, "Way Down Below" (1 text)
Roud #11870
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "My Ole Mistus Promised Me" (floating lyrics) and references there
NOTES [23 words]: This looks like it might have been built on the broken fragments of a sea shanty, but the verses have clearly come from tradition ashore. - RBW
File: Br492

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