Broomstick Song

[Gaylene Merganthaler]

Let's Jump the Broomstick" is a song written by Charles Robins and performed first by a black Nashville group, Alvin Gaines & The Themes, in 1959, then covered that year by Brenda Lee. Her version reached No.12 in the United Kingdom in 1961.[2] The song was featured on her 1960 album, Brenda Lee.[3] The song is based on the popular custom and phrase jumping the broom.

Adam McNaughton wrote this song for Betsy Whyte, the wonderful travellerstoryteller and singer. It describes the passing of a way of life for the travellers.This song is a great favourite.

Yellow's on the Broom

1. Ah ken ye dinnae like it lass tae winter here in toonFor the scaldies aye miscry us and they try tae bring us doonAnd it's hard tae raise three bairns in a single flea-box roomBut Ah'll tak ye on the road again when yellow's on the broom.

Chorus

When the yellow's on the broom, when the yellow's on the broom

plus last line of preceding verse

2.The scaldies ca' us tinker dirt and sconce oor bairns in school But who cares whit a scaldie thinks for a scaldie's but a fool They never hear the yorlin's sang, nor see the flax in bloomFor they're aye cooped up in hooses when the yellow's on the broom.

3.Nae sale for pegs nor baskets noo, sae jist tae stey aliveWe've had tae work at scaldie jobs fae nine o'clock till fiveBut we ca' nae man oor maister for we own the warld's room And we'll bid fareweel tae Brechin when the yellow's on the broom.

4.Ah'm wearied for the springtime when we tak the road aince mairTae the plantin', and the pearlin' and the berry fields at BlairWe'll meet up wi' oor kinfolk fae a' the country roonWhen the gang-aboot folk tak the road an yellow's on the broom.

The song continues with lyrics about their custody battle. "I would wake up every morning hoping one of us would go, but not me 'cause I'm paying the bills. Find another Sugar Daddy and a wallet with bills 'cause I know that you will when you finish trying to take my kids (unintelligible) that's how you is..."

The song also seems to include a warning for the young mother. "And then she wants me to pay her. You've lost your da-- mind. I put a price tag on your head. That's right. You must have told your attorney I got intentions on killing you. What? (unintelligible) Might stop me, but my bullets will get you soon. I've got my goons from way back. They still owe me money, told them you stayed at my mom's crib. Now ain't that funny?"

Authorities believe Hayes killed Ackerson, dismembered her body and disposed of her remains in Texas. His wife, Amanda, also is charged in connection with the crime. Amanda recently gave birth to the couple's first child together.

The song continues with lyrics about their custody battle. \"I would wake up every morning hoping one of us would go, but not me 'cause I'm paying the bills. Find another Sugar Daddy and a wallet with bills 'cause I know that you will when you finish trying to take my kids (unintelligible) that's how you is...\"

The song also seems to include a warning for the young mother. \"And then she wants me to pay her. You've lost your da-- mind. I put a price tag on your head. That's right. You must have told your attorney I got intentions on killing you. What? (unintelligible) Might stop me, but my bullets will get you soon. I've got my goons from way back. They still owe me money, told them you stayed at my mom's crib. Now ain't that funny?\"

With the wild success of "The Lamentable Tragedie of Scott Walker" in the not-so-distant past and the controversial governor himself gearing up for a presidential bid, Broom Street Theater is once again staging a parody with Walker as its target.

"In 2011, I became aware of the Wisconsin Uprising, primarily through Facebook," said Doyle. "The more I found out about the 45th governor of the state of Wisconsin, the more I thought this was a story that could be told in an ironic parody of Scott Walker's rise to power."

Doyle started writing in early spring of that year and finished in August 2011. The play became a musical with the help of Michael Dilthey, who collaborated on the music, and came to Broom Street at the suggestion of Doyle's longtime friend, former BST artistic director Callen Harty.

"It became a musical because I started playing with lyrics to a song called 'Fudge it, the Budget,'" Doyle said. There is a song called "Tweeting for Democracy," inspired by the social media response to the protests, and "I Had A Conversion," sung by a child of hippies who became a Republican.

"It follows the early events of the uprising," Doyle said. "I later went back and did revision, but I didn't really bring it up to date to what's going on now. It would just make the play four hours long."

In the end, everyone ends up in political exile. Walker's character goes back to Marquette University, then gets a law degree from the University of Granada and joins the law firm of Blagojevich and DeLay.

Doyle is originally from Shullsburg, Wisconsin, and left for school in 1981. He now lives in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, where he works in commercial real estate and teaches communications at Mercy College.

He and Dilthey are collaborating on a musical adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's "Mrs. Warren's Profession," and he's working on a full-length play about his experiences as a director in New York in the 1990s.

Share your opinion on this topic by sending a letter to the editor to tctv...@madison.com. Include your full name, hometown and phone number. Your name and town will be published. The phone number is for verification purposes only. Please keep your letter to 250 words or less.

Lindsay Christians has been reporting about the fine arts and food for The Capital Times and 77 Square since 2008, when she completed a masters at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She earned her journalism degree at Michigan State University and is a native of northwest Ohio.

Singing together: Some of the nursery rhymes in this book have been put to music. If you do not know the tunes, you could look them up on the internet, listen to them, and sing along with your child. You could also accompany your singing with simple musical instruments: a tambourine, bell, harmonica, or even two wooden spoons.

For the chain continues yet: Do you remember any songs you learned as children? After reading this book, perhaps you could try to remember songs you once knew off by heart, sing them, and introduce them to your children too.

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