Go In and Out the Window

DESCRIPTION: "Go in and out the window (x3) As we have done before (or: "For we have gained the day")." "Go round and round the levee..." "Go forth and face your lover..." "I kneel because I love you..." "One kiss before I leave you..."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1898 (Gomme)
KEYWORDS: playparty courting nonballad
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MA,MW,NE,SE,So) Britain(England(All),Scotland(Aber)) Ireland West Indies(Jamaica) New Zealand
REFERENCES (29 citations):
Randolph 538, "Round and Round the Levee" (3 texts plus an excerpt, 1 tune)
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore3 76, "In and Out the Window" (1 text)
Brown/Schinhan-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore576, "In and Out the Window" (1 tune plus a text excerpt); also p. 524, "Marching Round the Levee" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Hudson-FolksongsOfMississippi 140, pp. 287-288, "Marching Round the Levee" (1 text)
Hudson-FolkTunesFromMississippi 35, "Marching Round the Levee" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Cambiaire-EastTennesseeWestVirginiaMountainBallads, p. 136, "Susie Brown" (1 text, a mixed text which has two verses typical of "Cuckoo Waltz" or something like it and two from "Go In and Out the Window"); p. 131, "I Measure My Love to Show You" (1 text, with unusual verses but the "For we have gained the day" chorus")
Henry-SongsSungInTheSouthernAppalachians, p. 243, (no title) (1 fragment, probably this)
Bush-FSofCentralWestVirginiaVol4, pp. 22-23, "In And Out the Window" (1 text, 1 tune)
Spurgeon-WaltzTheHall-AmericanPlayParty, p. 105, "Go In and Out the Window"; pp. 209-210, "We're Marching 'Round the Levee" (2 texts, 2 tunes)
Rosenbaum-FolkVisionsAndVoices, p. 52, "We're Marching Round the Level" (1 text, 1 tune)
Killion/Waller-ATreasuryOfGeorgiaFolklore, pp. 220-222, "Marching ' Round the Level" (1 text, 1 tune)
Byington/Goldstein-TwoPennyBallads, p. 103, "Go Round and Round the Village" (1 text, 1 tune)
Linscott-FolkSongsOfOldNewEngland, pp. 9-10, "Go In and Out the Windows" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fuson-BalladsOfTheKentuckyHighlands, p. 175, "Go Out and Meet Your Lover" (1 text)
Wolford-ThePlayPartyInIndiana, pp. 47-48, "Go In and Out the Windows" (1 text, 1 tune)=Wolford/Richmond/Tillson-PlayPartyInIndiana, pp. 171-172, "Go In and Out the Window" (1 text, 1 tune)
Sackett/Koch-KansasFolklore, pp. 216-217, "Marching 'Round the Levee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Abernethy-SinginTexas, pp. 92-93, "Marching Round the Levee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Newell-GamesAndSongsOfAmericanChildren, #63, "Go Round and Round the Valley" (1 text, 1 tune); #163, "Walking on the Levy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Solomon-ZickaryZan, pp. 18-19, "We're Sailing Round the Ocean (We're Marching Round the Levee)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Welsch-NebraskaPioneerLore, pp. 285-286, "Round and Round the Valley" (1 text, 1 tune)
Neely/Spargo-TalesAndSongsOfSouthernIllinois, p. 204, "Marching Round the Levee" (1 text)
Chase-AmericanFolkTalesAndSongs, pp. 191-193, "We're Marchin' 'Round the Levee" (1 text, 1 tune)
Leyden-BelfastCityOfSong 22, "Round About the Ladies" (1 text, 1 tune)
Brady-AllInAllIn, pp. 115-116, "All Around the Village" (1 text)
Peirce-KeepTheKettleBoiling, p. 36, "(In and out the windows)" (1 text)
Gardham-EastRidingSongster 6, pp. 10, 43, "Mr. Noah" (4 texts, 1 tune, all to the tune of "Go In and Out the Window"; the first text, on p. 10, has an "Old Uncle Noah" first verse and a "Go In and Out the Window" second verse but is given its own Roud number, #1405. the (A) text on p. 43, "Marry's Grandma," is a fragment that does not seem to occur elsewhere; (B) on p. 43 mixes verses about a lunatic asylum with "in and out the window" lines and is also unique; its Roud number is #1410. The final lyric on p. 43, (C), is a fairly normal "Go In and Out the WIndow" variant)
Greig/Duncan8 1615, "Out and In at the Windows" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Sutton-Smith-NZ-GamesOfNewZealandChilden/FolkgamesOfChildren, p. 34, "(In and out the windows)," "(Walking round the village)," (In and out the windows)" (3 texts)
ADDITIONAL: Olive Lewin, "Rock It Come Over" - The Folk Music of Jamaica (Barbados: The University of the West Indies Press, 2000), p. 69, "In an' Out the Windah" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST R538 (Full)
Roud #4320
RECORDINGS:
Judy Cook, "Go in and out the Windows" (Piotr-Archive #280, recorded 10/03/2022)
Kelly Harrell, "Cave Love Has Gained the Day" (Victor 23649, 1929; on KHarrell02)
Louise Massey & the Westerners, "Go In and Out the Window" (Vocalion 05361, 1939)
Pete Seeger, "Go In and Out the Window" (on PeteSeeger21)
SAME TUNE:
Yes! And We Can Do It! (File: BrPa035)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Go Round and Round the Valley
Round and Round the Village
Marching Round the Valley
NOTES [127 words]: Chase-AmericanFolkTalesAndSongs explains, "'Levee' here has no connection with flood control! It must mean a morning party or reception. (See Webster.) Such levees were held during the War Between the States to celebrate victories... 'For we have gained the day.'"
Maybe this explains why I've never heard the "levee" verses in the north. But the notes in Brown claim "Levee" is an error for "Valley."
Harrell's recording gained its odd name by studio incompetence. He sang the chorus as "Caze [='Cause] love has gained the day." The studio people couldn't figure out "Caze," and interpreted it as "Cave"!
It appears that the "Go In and Out the Window" title is rare in tradition. But that's the first verse of the song as I learned it in my youth, so there. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.7
File: R538

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