Hallelujah

DESCRIPTION: "The election now is over, Now, men, you all know well, The Democrats done the best they could But the Republicans gave them -- Hallelujah (chorus)." Each verse leads you to expect a word, then zips in the chorus instead
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (recording, Pope's Arkansas Mountaineers)
KEYWORDS: humorous nonballad political lie Hell wordplay
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Randolph 421, "Old Lyda Zip Coon" (1 text)
Roud #7632
RECORDINGS:
Pope's Arkansas Mountaineers, "George Washington" (Victor 21469, 1928)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Johnny Fell Down in the Bucket" (technique)
cf. "Hopalong Peter" (technique)
cf. "Teasing Songs" (technique)
cf. "Old Zip Coon (II)" (technique)
cf. "Old Lady of Amsterdam" (technique)
cf. "Oh, Jenny Brown She Baked My Bread" (technique, lyrics)
NOTES [90 words]: Like "Johnny Fell Down in the Bucket," this is one of those "hidden word" songs -- the verse leads you to expect the last word, which is usually not fit for polite company. But instead of saying the word, it breaks off into the chorus (which in this case starts with "Hallelujah," though the rest may vary).
The form is so close to "Oh, Jenny Brown She Baked My Bread" that I would probably have lumped them. But Roud splits them, and given that this is seemingly a political piece, there is probably a deliberate rewrite along the way. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.5
File: R421

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