mjzee Posted January 18, 2009 Report Posted January 18, 2009 I love listening to old country blues songs, but I'm often left baffled by the lyrics. What do they mean? Here's an example: The song is "Papa's Got Your Water On" by Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell. Here are sample lyrics: Right here mama Set down on my knee I just want to tell you How you treat poor me Mama don't get funny Papa's got your water on Mama don't get funny Papa's got your water on Now I got another woman To take your place If you don't like the way I'm doing Get out of my face Mama don't get funny Papa's got your water on Mama don't get funny Papa's got your water on What does "Papa's got your water on" mean?? Quote
Chuck Nessa Posted January 19, 2009 Report Posted January 19, 2009 He's getting her ready to boil. :-) Quote
marcello Posted January 19, 2009 Report Posted January 19, 2009 Obvious, isn't? Chuck put it it delicate terms. Quote
mjzee Posted January 19, 2009 Author Report Posted January 19, 2009 Nah, I don't think so. It just doesn't follow from the lyrics: He's complaining how she treats him, says she's been replaced, yet says he's making her hot? The lyrics more sound like he's kicking her out. Quote
Chuck Nessa Posted January 19, 2009 Report Posted January 19, 2009 It is a farewell "boil". Her loss. Quote
JSngry Posted January 19, 2009 Report Posted January 19, 2009 It's a signifier of sorts. Out in the country (or in any poor area back in the day) boiling water is a commonplace activity. Cooking, washing, sterilization of drinking water, etc. But everybody knows that boiling water ain't used casually, or recreationally. That shit hurts and you best respect that fact. So it's not so much the boiling of the water that is significant as much as it is the timing, that the dude is picking a time when water is boiling to call his mama over to his knee and then call her out on her bullshit. Kinda like "harmlessly" sharpening a knife while you ask somebody about that money they owe you, that type of thing. Quote
JSngry Posted January 19, 2009 Report Posted January 19, 2009 Well, it should probably be noted that using boiling water (or grits, ask Al Green...)as a weapon of aggression is hardly unheard of either. The singer might well have had it in mind to disfigure his woman before dispatching her, to teach her a lesson, and to mark her as physically ugly as he perceived her spirit to be. Like I said, not exactly unheard of.... And if that seems genuinely dark, sinister, mean, and malevolent, oh well. It is. But shit like that did (and does) happen. Quote
AllenLowe Posted January 19, 2009 Report Posted January 19, 2009 also, don't worry about inconsistency or non-sequitors - they happen all the time in old blues; a lot of times they were making it up on the fly - Quote
Swinging Swede Posted January 19, 2009 Report Posted January 19, 2009 Now try to explain Harvard Blues... Quote
rshurman Posted January 19, 2009 Report Posted January 19, 2009 There's actually an article mostly about this phrase in the new issue of Blues & Rhythm. Basic translation: "I'm ready to deal with you now." Quote
mjzee Posted April 28, 2015 Author Report Posted April 28, 2015 I think about this thread from time to time. I found another candidate, but managed to solve it myself. Still, it's interesting: "Dead cats on the line." Lyrics https://youtu.be/Hbr0YcZxk2Y Explanation Still not clear how this phrase came about. Quote
mjzee Posted July 26, 2017 Author Report Posted July 26, 2017 Regarding "Got your water on," it's a phrase used on a track in the Mosaic James P. Johnson box: see disc 2, track 12, "Desert Blues" by Martha Copeland. Quote
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