Kitchen Polka
Y9W12 - Topic: In the Home
I've patterned this after an old sea chantey so the structure is sound and the length is acceptable. How does the storyline read to you? (Hint: the correct answer is a five-letter word that begins with the letters G and R, and it isn't G-R-O-S-S!) Wilhelmina
As I am peeling carrots
By the kitchen sink,
He looks up from his paper
And flickers me a wink.
The Prairie Home Companion
Is on the radio.
Supper's cooking on the stove,
It has a ways to go.
(Chorus)
He says, "Hey, my kitchen gal,
Will you come and dance the polka?"
I says,
"Put your hands upon my waist,
Twirl me round and round.
I never will say no, boy.
You cannot dance me down."
I kicks off my old slippers.
To the corners they do fly.
I spins around to meet him
And grabs my skirts up high.
The cat that's on the kitchen chair
Goes bolting for its life,
Shook awake by my good man
Prancing with his wife.
(Chorus)
He says, "Hey, my kitchen gal,
Will you come and dance the polka?"
I says,
"Put your hands upon my waist,
Twirl me round and round.
I never will say no, boy.
You cannot dance me down."
The pot lids on the red hot stove
Are jumping to and fro.
The fiddler wants to find out
How much faster he can go.
We thump around the kitchen
Till we both are out of breath.
When we dance the kitchen polka,
We near dance ourselves to death.
(Chorus)
He says, "Hey, my kitchen gal,
Will you come and dance the polka?"
I says,
"Put your hands upon my waist,
Twirl me round and round.
I never will say no, boy.
You cannot dance me down."
Well that was absolutely...um..Green?....nope...um...gravy? grump?... hang on.. Greek?
OK, it was great. :D
If you learn guitar as fast as you seem to be making progress with lyrics you'll be in Carnegie Hall before Christmas.
The whole spontaneous dancing in the kitchen thing worked really well, and created a very appealing image. Lots of nice touches with the words too. Things like "prancing" instead of re-using "dancing", gave a good feel of them capering about like kids and really enjoying themselves.
About the only thing that caught my eye on the way through was "To the corners they do fly" because it mangles up the way you'd normally say it. They're called 'inversions' and it's generally recommended that you try and avoid them because it sounds like you're forcing a rhyme. However, one of the best known songs of all - Red River Valley - starts "From this valley, they say you are leaving"... :shock: which is pretty dire. So I guess you could say it just sounds old fashioned to do it that way. But, hey, there's a bit of an 'old time' feel about dancing the polka, so maybe you can get away with it??
I might have been tempted to sing "shaken awake" instead of shook, just because repeating a sound (as in 'ake' and 'ake') can sometimes add a bit of spice when you sing. But it depends on whether it's comfortable with the music that way.
GR * * * * job.
Chris
Hi Wilhelmina,
Looking good. Nice spontaneous mood or action by the characters. :D
I've patterned this after an old sea chantey
This throws me a bit because what I keep reading or hearing in a "sea chantey" is 3/4 time or 6/8 time.....similar to a waltz. But it's called a polka which is typically 2/4 or 4/4 time....similar to a march.....so it seems a mismatch between the music and lyrics.
The second comment is very minor and it's probably more my own idiosyncrasy about the believability of a kitchen dance. The couple comes across as lower-income class...If that is the case, I picture modest to small living quarters and have a hard time imagining they have a kitchen big enough to dance in......if it was a wealthy couple, they could have a huge kitchen but would probably have service staff doing the cooking....BUT I guess I can imagine if the couple was working for a rich family and then they get to keep their accecents and have enough kitchen floor space to dance :wink: .
Thanks for sharing.
James
Hi James,
It doesn't take much space at all. Try it some time, it's a riot! Wilhelmina
