If U Seek Amy

[Randy Alexander]

On Fri, Jan 23, 2009 at 5:04 PM, Randy Alexander
<strangeguitars at gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Fri, Jan 23, 2009 at 2:54 PM, Benjamin Zimmer
>> <bgzimmer at babel.ling.upenn.edu> wrote:
>>> What to make of the song "If You See K" by R[eginald] Spofforth,
>>> listed in the _Catalogue of the Allen A. Brown Collection of Music in
>>> the Public Library of the City of Boston_ (1916)?
>>>
>>> http://books.google.com/books?id=MEAQAAAAYAAJ&q=if-you-see-k
>>>
>>>
>>> --Ben Zimmer
>>>
>>
>> That's a hard call without at least seeing the lyrics. Â Anyone in
>> Boston feel like making a trip to their fine public library? Â It's a
>> great place. Â I spent many happy hours there as an undergrad. Â Their
>> music collection is fabulous.
>>
>> In the meantime, I contacted a BPL librarian (they have a 24hr chat
>> service). Â She couldn't find anything yet, but said she'd get back to
>> me by email.
>>
>> According to WP, Reginald Spofforth died in 1827, so if he was
>> deliberately playing on FUCK, that would be quite an early use.
>>
>
> Here's the call number:
>
> No. 24 in M.430.1.32
> If you see K. Catch [for three voices]. (In Catch Club.
> Original manuscript collection. Vol. 31, p. 49.)

I just received an email back from the Curator of Music at the Boston
Public Library, following up on this.  She sent me the lyrics:

Voice 1:  If you see K I mean my Kitty my Kitty my Kitty+
      I mean my kitty I mean my kitty kitty
       my kitty my kitty my kitty my kitty my kitty+
     I mean my kitty if you see K I mean my Kitty

Voice 2:  If with the Nymph you dare before next toast I give+
     Shall be to fit ye next toast I give shall be
     shall be shall be shall be shall be shall be to fit ye+
     shall be to fit ye next toast I give shall be to fit ye so

Voice 3.  Mind my Boy see you a’n’t he
     so mind my Boy see you a’n’t he
      so mind my boy see you a’n’t he
      see you a’n’t he see you a’n’t he
      see you a’n’t he see you a’n’t he
      see you a’n’t he see you a’n’t he
      so mind my boy see you a’n’t he

So not only is this definitely a very early (pre-Joycean, even) play
on FUCK, it also is a play on CUNT "see you a'n't he", although I'm
not sure what "a'n't" is.

I've sent a request to the curator to see if I can get the song
scanned because now I see that there seems to be even more in there.
A "catch" is like a canon or round, where the voices have great
potential for interrelation (it's a genre that makes use of a lot of
polyphony).  It seems that the words might fit together in such a way
to produce some kind of lewd sentence.  For an example of what I'm
talking about, listen to the second and third pieces here, from PDQ
Bach's "The Art of the Ground Round":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkjR3cdXSS8

Until I get another response from BPL (the first one took over a
year), maybe some of the more creative list members can try to figure
out how the words might combine into a sentence.

--
Randy Alexander
Jilin City, China
Blogs:
Manchu studies: http://www.sinoglot.com/manchu
Chinese characters: http://www.sinoglot.com/yuwen
Language in China (group blog): http://www.sinoglot.com/blog

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