Worst song ever?

Xavi6 wrote: »

Tom Jones - Black Betty

Absolutely woeful

Black Betty is an original Leadbelly song isn't it? Leadbelly was a legend.


My nomination would be Castles in the Sky.

IanCurtis wrote: »

David Brent's favourite of hers

Des'ree's his favourite singer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfznTuGXT5E

LOL:D Classic!

Xavi6 wrote: »

Tom Jones - Black Betty

Do you mean worst version?
Never heard Tom sing it. It's a great song though!

DublinWriter wrote: »

Nothing compares to the dual horror of:

The Birdy Song - The Tweets
Agadoo (do do) - Black Lace

Classics tbh. :pac:

I remember now, yore a Backstreet boys fan!

Back on topic, that reminds me....

'As long as you love me'

Fúcking awful song!

'I don't care who you are
Where you're from
What you did
As long as you love me'


Very rosemantic! :rolleyes:

Black Betty

Source


Meaning:

The origin and meaning of the lyrics are subject to debate. Some sources claim the song is derived from an 18th century marching cadence about a flint-lock musket with a black painted stock; the "bam-ba-lam" lyric referring to the sound of the gunfire. Soldiers in the field were said to be "hugging Black Betty". In this interpretation, the rifle was superseded by its "child", a rifle with an unpainted walnut stock known as a "Brown Bess".[8]

Other sources[who?] claim the term was a contemporary reference for a prostitute, a prison bullwhip, or the "paddywagon".

David Hackett Fischer, in his book Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America (Oxford University Press, 1989), states that "Black Betty" was a common term for a bottle of whiskey in the borderlands of northern England/southern Scotland, and later in the backcountry areas of the eastern United States.

In Lead Belly's version of the song, Black Betty is characterized as a woman with a child:

Woah, Black Betty
bam-ba-lam
Woah, Black Betty
bam-ba-lam

Black Betty had a child
bam-ba-lam
Black Betty had a child
bam-ba-lam

Damn thing gone wild
bam-ba-lam
Damn thing gone wild
bam-ba-lam

In an interview (see The Land Where the Blues Began, 1st Edition, Alan Lomax, Pantheon Books, 1993) conducted by Alan Lomax with a former prisoner of the Texas penal farm named Doc Reese (aka "Big Head"), Reese stated that the term "Black Betty" was used by prisoners to refer to the "Black Maria" — the penitentiary transfer wagon. Below is a song in which the term "Black Betty", used to refer to the wagon, appears in the context of a prison work song.[citation needed]

Black Betty's in the bottom,
I can hear her roar,
She's bringing some po sucker,
With an achin soul.

She'll bring you here and leave you,
Let your hammer ring,
For a hundred summers,
Let your hammer ring.

(and now we hear the most familiar part of the song)

Black Betty's got a baby,
Let your hammer ring,
Damn thing's gone crazy,
Let your hammer ring,
Dipped its head in gravy,
Let your hammer ring.

[citation needed]
This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims.
Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (April 2008)

In this interpretation, Black Betty's baby may be the prisoner himself, who has by his own admission "gone crazy" — as it was "Black Betty" who delivered the prisoners into the prison world ("She's bringing some po' sucker"). In the lyrics above, the phrase "Let your hammer ring" is used repeatedly. In this case, the "hammer" refers to the hoes used by prisoners to break up the ground in the cotton fields. The song itself was used to keep a steady rhythm among the workers as they toiled in the field. It had the added benefit of helping the time go by faster through collective participation.

Many early blues and proto-blues songs follow a theme that the wickedness of man (Adam) is the result of a woman (Eve). A number of early artists sang of how they got mixed up with a woman and ended up in prison as a result; in this context, the personification of the prison wagon as a woman makes sense.













As Long As You Love Me

Source

Due to illness and the deadline for the song, member A. J. McLean's vocals do not appear on the recorded version of the song. He was taught the background vocals by Brian Littrell at the music video shoot.



Fascinating! :pac:

Which BackpassageStreet was your fav?

Shane is teh hot.

Xavi6 wrote: »

Black Betty still give me a headache though!

Fascinating Captain, I always thought the version by Ram Jam in 1976 was an original composition, I must dig out their one and only LP from my vinyl library and see if Mr.Trad.Arr. has earned a few more million in royalties.