Many, Many Stars Are in the Sky
DESCRIPTION: "Many, many stars are in the sky/skies, Some as old as Adam [or, "And each as old as Adam"], Down upon your knees and kiss who you please, Your humble servant, Madam." Described as a kissing game
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1903 (Newell-GamesAndSongsOfAmericanChildren)
KEYWORDS: playparty courting
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Killion/Waller-ATreasuryOfGeorgiaFolklore, p. 227, "Many, Many Stars" (1 short text)
Newell-GamesAndSongsOfAmericanChildren, p. 62, "(Many, many stars are in the skies)" (1 short text, filed under #10, "marriage")
Gentry/Smith-ASingerAmongSingers, #55, "If I Had As Many Wives" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Roud #14006
NOTES [88 words]: Roud lumps several playparties about stars under the same number; I am hesitant to agree.
It might be noted that, according to Genesis 1:16, the stars are older than Adam.
Also, the Gentry text "If I Had As Many Wives" talks about being as old as Moses. But Moses did not live particularly long by the standards of the patriarchs; he is said to have live too be 120 years old (Deuteronomy 34:7); even his brother Aaron lived to be 123 (Numbers 33:39), and his grandfather Levi is said to have lived to be 137 (Exodus 6:16). - RBW
Last updated in version 6.4
File: Newe066M
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
The Ballad Index Copyright 2024 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.