Lemme Go, Melda Marcy

DESCRIPTION: Singer "cried all night and not a policeman was in sight." He hits Melda when she is ready to go to bed. "Lemme go Melda Marcy You bitin' me finger." The more he cries the more she bites. "This teach you not to hit a lady." She has bitten off his finger
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1954 (Bellafonte, "Hold 'im Joe"); 1957 (Attaway and Engel
LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer "cried all night and not a policeman was in sight." He hits Melda when she is ready to go to bed. She bites his finger. "Lemme go Melda Marcy You bitin' me finger." The more he cries the more she bites. She says, "this teach you not to hit a lady in the home." He rings for the fireman but the fireman is too late. She has bitten off his finger
KEYWORDS: sex violence lover injury
FOUND IN: West Indies(Jamaica)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
ADDITIONAL: William Attaway and Lyle Kenyon Engel, _Calypso Song Book_ (New York: Calypso Music, Inc, 1957), pp. 52-53, "Lemme Go, Melda Marcy" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Harry Belafonte with Hugo Winterhalter and his Orchestra, "Hold 'em Joe" (1954, on RCA Victor 78 rpm 20-5617, 1980 on "Harry Belafonte All Time Greatest Hits Vol. I," RCA BMG LC 0316, 1980)
Lord Lebby and the Jamaican Calypsonians, "Hol 'im Joe" (1955, on Kalypso 45/78 rpm RL102, 2013, "Mento, Not Calypso," Fantastic Voyage CD FVDD163)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Hold 'im Joe" (sexual theme; some lines) references there
NOTES [115 words]: Belafonte and Sparrow incorporate the chorus from "Lemme Go, Melda Marcy" into "Hold 'im Joe."
Attaway and Engel have this as "public domain, traditional source" (facing title page); also, "Melda Marcy is a commonly used comic name in Jamaica folk songs" (p. 52).
The double entendre hold throughout. "I hit her with my hand 'cross she head" and she takes his finger. "The louder I shout, the more finger Melda bite with her mouth." At one point she says, "the finger taste like pineapple juice." At the end, "Melda drop me finger on the floor." "I cried out, 'Too late, Melda Marcy, You bite off me finger.'"
Belafonte and Lord Lebby replacing finger with backbone doesn't change things. - BS
Last updated in version 3.7
File: RcLMGMeM

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