cadence

[Jonathan Lighter]

The "Duckworth Chant"  (e.g., "I don't know, but I been told....") is more
melodic than the standard "You had a good home but you left."  Both use a
descending tune for the "sound off!" chorus.

What is essentially the Duckworth melody was already in print in 1941 in
John Lomax & Alan Lomax's _Our Singing Country_ as the vehicle for the song
"The Marrowbone Itch," collected in Kentucky in 1937.

JL


On Tue, Jun 17, 2014 at 11:41 AM, Bill Mullins <amcombill at hotmail.com>
wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Bill Mullins <amcombill at HOTMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      cadence
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The military has a special sense of "cadence" that isn't in the OED.  It's
> =
> the rhythmic chant used in marching to help uncoordinated recruits keep
> the=
>  beat and distinguish their left foot from right (I'm sure Wilson could
> ste=
> p in here and amplify). =20
> See:
> http://www.npr.org/2014/06/16/322589902/sound-off-where-the-militarys-=
> rhythm-came-from
>
> _Springfield [MA] Union_ 10/23/1960 p 19a col 1"Most GI's and former
> servic=
> emen remember the chant:=20
> "You had a good home but you left.  You're right.You had a good home but
> yo=
> u left.  You're right.Jodie was there when you left.  You're right.Jodie
> wa=
> s there when you left.  You're right.
> Sound off!  One two.  Sound off!  Three four.Cadence count! One two three
> f=
> our=2Cone two -- three four!"
> That is one of the more familiar chants from the "Jodie Cadence=2C" which
> s=
> pread throughout the military service after Jackson devised it to help a
> gr=
> oup of unco-ordinated recruits learn how to march in 1943 at Camp Barkley=
> =2C Texas."
> Note the differences in who originated the Jodie Cadence -- NPR gives
> credi=
> t to Pvt Duckworth at Ft Slocum in 1944=3B the cited article gives it to
> Sg=
> t Herman Jackson of Camp Barkley in 1943.  Isn't folklore fun?
>                        =
>
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