nick manho

i wanted to post a halloween song but the only one i had that had anything to do with it was, "let's jump the broomstick", by brenda lee. and it was only the broomstick part that was relevant because the phrase refers to getting married rather than getting your face wet ducking for apples.

here's the brenda lee thing, anyway:

Brenda Lee, 1959: Let's Jump The Broomstick


then i decided to do a bit of research on jumping the broomstick and i discovered that it was an african tradition imported into america by the slaves:




and that the broomstick represented the brushing away of evil spirits, so it was relevant to halloween after all.


then i decided to do a bit of research to see who wrote the song and when it was released and stuff, and i discovered that it was copied from an old sophie tucker song, and i thought, well, if sophie did it then the broom certainly wasn't symbolising evil spirits, and that's for sure.


i haven't got the original version by sophie but here's another song by her:

Sophie Tucker: Making Wicky Wacky Down In Waikiki



and here's sophie with the guys:






just goes to show. you think you have nothing to say, and then you discover you have, and then you discover you still have but it wasn't what you thought you'd discovered to say that took the place of having nothing to say.

trick or treat?