Blue-Haired Boy (Little Willie II, Blue-Haired Jimmy)

DESCRIPTION: (Willie/Jimmy) has gone ("He never died so suddenly before"). After undergoing horrendous medical treatments..."he sneezed and smiled and died/He blew his nose and smiled and died again". Singer vows to plant a bunch of whiskers on his grave
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1929 (unissued recording, Cumberland Mountain Fret Pickers)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Parody of sentimental death songs; (Willie/Jimmy) has gone ("He never died so suddenly before). After undergoing horrendous medical treatments, including bathing his head in boiling lead and filling his mouth with glue..."he sneezed and smiled and died/He blew his nose and smiled and died again". Singer vows to go to the barber shop, per the deceased last request and plant a bunch of whiskers on his grave
KEYWORDS: disease grief request death dying mourning humorous nonsense paradox parody family
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Burton/Manning-EastTennesseeStateCollectionVol1, pp. 30-31, "Blue-Haired Jimmy" (1 text, 1 tune)
Pankake/Pankake-PrairieHomeCompanionFolkSongBook, pp. 134-135, "Little Willie II" (1 text, tune referenced)
Roud #1411
RECORDINGS:
Horton Barker, "Blue-Haired Jimmy" (on Barker01)
Cumberland Mountain Fret Pickers, "Little Blue-Haird (sic) Boy" (unissued Brunswick/Vocalion mx TK-145, 1929)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Little Willie (I)" (lyrics)
NOTES [121 words]: It sounds like this should be a parody of a particular song, rather than a pastiche of a genre, but so far I haven't found an original on which it's based. - PJS
Listed by the Pankakes as being sung to "Jesse James," although other versions appear to use different tunes. One suspects that their tune is a retrofit by their informant -- or perhaps an assimilation to the familiar; the tune I seem to recall is similar to, but not quite the same as, "Jesse James."
The Pankakes also have a song (on the same page) called Little Willie I. It is by no means clear that this is the same song, but I haven't seen it elsewhere; I suspect it is a parody of all the various songs about murderers and other vile folks named Willie. - RBW
Last updated in version 5.1
File: RcBlHaJi

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