damn, it is now not going to be possible to get to sleep before ten, and when am i ever going to have some free time to just lie in bed and read for a while, anyway? but i had to write about this – one of the nights we camped, B. played his guitar and we sang some songs. he’d brought a book that i think was supposed to be different folk songs. there were quite a few old american folk songs, many of which i’d never heard of. and it struck me how depressing many of them are – songs about having a lover and then killing her and then being sad that she’s not around anymore, stuff like that. some song, i’m sure you’ve heard it, about a woman selling something…cockles and mussels, maybe? but then she gets sick and dies. all kinds of fun topics.
and one of these songs is called “there’s a hole in the bucket.” i’ve never heard it, but here are some of the lyrics –
There’s a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza,
There’s a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, a hole.
So fix it dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
So fix it dear Henry, dear Henry, fix it.
With what should I fix it, dear Liza, dear Liza,
With what should I fix it, dear Liza, with what?
With straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
With straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, with straw.
But the straw is too long, dear Liza, dear Liza,
The straw is too long, dear Liza, too long.
So cut it dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
So cut it dear Henry, dear Henry, cut it!
With what should I cut it, dear Liza, dear Liza,
With what should I cut it, dear Liza, with what?
you get the idea. finally, at the end, she tells him to use the bucket, and then he sings again that there’s a hole in the bucket, so i guess you could basically just sing the stupid song for the rest of your life. it was in my brain yesterday and wouldn’t go away which was somewhat torturous.
anyway, this seems like such a stupid song. b. and i talked about it, and agreed that dear henry is passive aggressive, and dear liza is controlling. but dear henry also doesn’t seem to be very bright, and he can’t seem to do anything at all by himself. i think it would be funny to do this song and have one of them shoot the other somewhere in the middle of it. i mean, that would fit perfectly with the whole killing your lover motif of those early american folk songs.
i can’t imagine that it’d have been any fun to live back then.
10:02. now i really must rest.
ok then,
grace 99% asleep already.