wee hours of the ....

[hpst@earthlink.net]

I hadn't thought about the use of the word "wee" in popular music because
it is so common that it escaped my notice but then I decided to look up
song lyrics and discovered that it had been used so many times that it was
a cliche.

Here are two examples although you can find many others with little trouble
in everything from blues to jazz to popular music.

Watch out for the Scots and those of us of Scottish descent lest we
continue wee weeing over you.

Page Stephens

Artist: Simon, Carly Lyrics
Song: In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning Lyrics
When the sun is high in the afternoon sky
You can always find something to do
But from dusk till dawn as the clock ticks on
Something happens to you

In the wee small hours of the morning
While the whole wide world is fast asleep
You lie awake and think about the boy
And never ever think of counting sheep

When your lonely heart has learned its lesson
You'd be his if only he'd call
In the wee small hours of the morning
That's the time you miss him most of all

When your lonely heart has learned its lesson
You'd be his if only he'd call
In the wee small hours of the morning
That's the time you miss him most of all

Chuck Berry's lyrics.

In the wee, wee hours
That's when I think of you
In the wee, wee hours
That's when I think of you
You say, but yet I wonder
If your love was ever true

In a wee little room
I sit alone and think of you
In a wee little room
I sit alone and think of you
I wonder if you still remember
All the things we used to do

One little song
For a fading memory
One little song
For a fading memory
Of the one I really love
The only one for me


> [Original Message]
> From: Michael McKernan <mckernan at LOCALNET.COM>
> To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Date: 8/28/2006 1:17:35 PM
> Subject: Re: [ADS-L] wee hours of the ....
>
> John Baker wrote:
>
> >        I'd say that the standard phrase is just "wee hours," which gets
> >3,740,000 hits.  So it could plausibly be combined with either "of the
> >night" or "of the morning."
>
> I believe the original phrase comes from Robert Burns in Scotland around
> 1790s:  ''wee sma' hours...''
>
> This phrase was often used in the USA in connection with social dance
> events which continued past midnight in the 19th century.
>
> Michael McKernan
> Benson, Arizona
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org