Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss

Fairasee

16 views
Skip to first unread message

Bob Eagle

unread,
Jul 3, 2002, 10:18:46 PM7/3/02
to
Does any have an idea what 'Fairasee' refers to?

There are a few references in blues lyrics. One is in a Dan Pickett song
(maybe "Something's Gone Wrong") in which he sings something like:

"If I don't come in on that milk train, I'll be on that Fairasee".

That seems to suggests a name (nickname?) of a train. The rhyme is with
"Tennessee".

Peetie Wheatstraw made a song in 1936 called "Fairasee Woman (Memphis
Woman)", which (if the reference is to a train) may suggest the route from
St. Louis to Memphis.

There seems to be no location in the US with any similar spelling. There is
a "Pharisee Creek" near Harrell, NC, but it's hard to see how that can be
connected.

If Fairasee is a mis-spelling of Pharisee, the sense may be that his woman
is suffering from false pride (?).

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Bob

Professor HiJinx

_________________________________________________________________
MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos:
http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx

chuck n.

unread,
Jul 4, 2002, 4:33:34 AM7/4/02
to
>From: Bob Eagle <profh...@HOTMAIL.COM>
>Subject: Fairasee

>
>Does any have an idea what 'Fairasee' refers to?
>

Must be related to those Fayrows, dontcha know.


_________________________________________________________________
Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com

Lil Bug

unread,
Jul 4, 2002, 6:01:10 AM7/4/02
to
> >From: Bob Eagle <profh...@HOTMAIL.COM>
> >Subject: Fairasee
> >
> >Does any have an idea what 'Fairasee' refers to?


I believe it is a Biblical term Pharisees (sic?). I'm gonna ask Pastor
Trent, he knows everything, and report back later.

LB

------ http://USFamily.Net/info - Unlimited Internet - From $8.99/mo! ------

Lil Bug

unread,
Jul 4, 2002, 6:25:02 AM7/4/02
to
Here is a parable about the Publican and the Pharisee.

The Pharisee sounds like a lot of people I've run into.

Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a
publican. {11} The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank
thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or
even as this publican. {12} I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all
that I possess. {13} And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up
so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be
merciful to me a sinner.

{14} I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the
other:

for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth
himself shall be exalted.

McIntosh, Iain

unread,
Jul 4, 2002, 6:41:25 AM7/4/02
to
A quick look on the Web shows a similar word "farasi" which means horse in Swahili. I suppose "fairasee" could be the same or an adapted word carried over from the African continent. It makes some sense in the lyric "If I don't come in on that milk train, I'll be on that Fairasee".

Best wishes, Iain McIntosh

Winchester, Hampshire, England
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

-----Original Message-----
From: Bob Eagle [mailto:profh...@HOTMAIL.COM]
Sent: 04 July 2002 03:17
To: BLU...@LISTSERV.BROWN.EDU
Subject: Fairasee


Does any have an idea what 'Fairasee' refers to?

There are a few references in blues lyrics. One is in a Dan Pickett song

Lil Bug

unread,
Jul 4, 2002, 10:01:09 AM7/4/02
to
This raises a question: Was Swahili commonly spoken throughout Africa, or
was it a regional language?

If it was a regional language, was it spoken by the interior African tribes
that the East Coast African tribes raided in the interior to abduct and sell
to the Portuguese to bring over to America to sell to the Plantation owners
(and others) as slaves?

LB

------ http://USFamily.Net/info - Unlimited Internet - From $8.99/mo! ------

Jean-Julien Pauwels

unread,
Jul 4, 2002, 10:17:04 AM7/4/02
to
It was spoken (and still is) in Central Africa. Places like Congo, Rwanda,
Burundi, ...)
This I am sure of, don't know about the rest of Africa

JJ

http://www.ibelgique.com/bluesquest

Bob Eagle

unread,
Jul 4, 2002, 5:57:08 PM7/4/02
to
Swahili is mainly a trading language, and its use is centered around
Zanzibar, on the east coast. There is a great site for language locations -
here is a link to the entry for Swahili:

http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=SWA

The counterpart in West Africa, from which came many slaves sent to the US,
is probably Hausa.

If there is a "fairasee" soundalike in Hausa, then we may be getting
somewhere.

Bob


Professor HiJinx

Ricky Stevens

unread,
Jul 7, 2002, 9:55:53 PM7/7/02
to
"If Fairasee is a mis-spelling of Pharisee, the sense may be that his woman
is suffering from false pride (?).

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Bob

Professor HiJinx"

I suspect this is the case in the Peetie Wheatstraw song.. The Pharisees and Sadducees were two groups of Jewish scholars, both active in the time of Christ. The main difference between the two was that the Pharisees believed in an afterlife in Heaven, and the Sadducees did not. As the Jewish priests were the ruling body not only of the church but also of the everyday life of the people (subject to approval by the Roman governors of the time) these two groups also developed into what were effectively political parties. Saul of Tarsus (St. Paul) was a Pharisee.

Jesus, Peter, and Paul often make reference to the Pharisees and Sadducees in the New Testament as strict followers of the law, without regard for what is morally right or wrong. Pharisee has come into common usage as meaning one who believes himself to be above the law, or better than the common man-for example, the Pharisee who prays in the Temple and thanks God that he is not as the beggar in rags who is praying "God have mercy on me a sinner".

I have no clue how this might relate to the Dan Pickett song.

Ricky Stevens
"The Ark was built by amateurs, the Titanic was built by pros."

0 new messages