Move, Daniel

DESCRIPTION: Directions to Daniel: "Move, Daniel," "Go the other way, Daniel" -- including obfuscation -- "Sinner in my way" and "Do the eagle wing"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1959 (Proctor recording)
KEYWORDS: warning trick nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Rosenbaum-ShoutBecauseFree, pp. 121-124, "Move, Daniel" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #21455
RECORDINGS:
Lawrence McKiver and the McIntosh County Shouters, "Move, Daniel" (on McIntosh1); "Move, Daniel" (on McIntoshShouters-RingShoutOnsiteVideo)
Freddie Palmer and The McIntosh County Shouters, "Move, Daniel" (on McIntoshShouters-RingShoutPresentation)
Freddie Palmer, Brenton Jordan and The McIntosh County Shouters, "Move, Daniel" (on McIntoshShouters-SpiritualsShouts)
Willis Proctor, "Daniel" (on LomaxCD1712, recorded 1959))
NOTES [235 words]: Art Rosenbaum's liner notes to McIntosh1, quoting the lead singer, Lawrence McKiver: Daniel is on a mission for the other slaves. They warn him when the "ol' boss was comin' down... So ol' boss thought that they was singin' a party song, but they was tellin' Daniel how to get out the way, so that ol' boss wouldn't put that whiplash on him..." (p. 6). - BS
The Rosenbaum-ShoutBecauseFree/McIntoshShouters-RingShoutSongs text and track and LomaxCD1712 and McIntoshShouters-SpiritualsShouts tracks are "ring shout" songs. The McIntoshShouters-RingShoutPresentation and McIntoshShouters-RingShoutOnsiteVideo videos show the shout.
Gordon has a ring shout song that might be related to "Move, Daniel": "Side 'um, Darn'l," which Gordon translates as "Go sideways, Darn'l." The format is one line of religious commentary -- say, "When I get to Heaven, Heaven own me" -- followed by the title line. The ring shout "holy dance" often mimics the lines being sung. In this case, Gordon writes, "The step used for this was a modified chasse and very sprightly, though without any 'crossin' of de feet.'" "Crossing feet," like other non-deferential references to The Cross, is an invitation to the Devil. (See Robert Winslow Gordon, "Negro 'Shouts' from Georgia" in Alan Dundes, editor, Mother Wit from the Laughing Barrel (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1990) ""Side 'um, Darn'l," pp. 450-451 (1 text)) - BS
Last updated in version 6.7
File: RcMovDan

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