Do you remember the 1966 song "Walking my Cat named Dog?" It likely came into my mind with the folk song fund-raiser on PBS. It seems to go with The Rooftop Singers "Walk Right In":
Walk right in, sit right down Daddy, let your mind roll on Walk right in, sit right down Daddy, let your mind roll on Everybody's talkin' 'bout a new way of walkin' Do you want to lose your mind? Walk right in, sit right down Daddy, let your mind roll on
The Cat Dog song was written and sung by Norma Tanenga. Norma was a songwriter, singer, and artist. She was connected to Dusty Springfield musically and romantically. Their romantic relationship was stressful and their professional relationship went poorly for her with a number of her collaborations uncredited.
Dusty Springfield was extremely well known as a top 1960s British pop star. It turns out that in 1981 she had a romantic relationship with Carole Pope. Who would guess that? Gay relationships of any kind were taboo in the 1960s and 1970s. Britain's press pried into everything and turned it ugly. So her stardom waned after she revealed she was gay in 1970.
Norma's Cat Dog lyrics seemed to be free-spirited and humorous. Would you call them a bit rebellious or defiant? Here's the start of the song:
"I'm walkin' all around the town Singin' all the people down Talkin' around, talkin' around Me and my cat named Dog Are walkin' high against the fog Singin' the sun, singin' the sun"
It concludes with "That's where I'm at"
Such an expression of the social state of things in the 1960s. Almost "stream of unconscious" lyrics.
The naming of cats and dogs is very complicated today - you can look through and go shopping for any number of most popular dog names. Would you guess that Lucy is the second most popular female dog name?
Could you name your cat "Dog"? That seems unlikely today - relegated to a novelty song title now.
This is the best colour display in the Lilycrest field this summer.
Are there pipers piping or ladies dancing today? There are so many variations in the 12 days of Christmas, so I'll cover both today.
As for pipers piping, we don't have much in the way of musical pipers anymore. We have piper airplanes and pubs named after pipers. There are "The Pipers" - a pair of standing stones near The Hurlers stone circles on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall, UK. According to folklore they represent musicians playing for three circles of dancers who were turned to stone for engaging in festivities on a holy day.
And what kind of pipe would they have been a-piping or playing? There's a folk pipe with six holes (also known as a fipple flute) , a tabor pipe with three holes, a reed pipe, and hornpipe. Flageolets were developed from the tabor pipe and became an orchestral instrument. In the U.K. there was a Pipers' Guild in the first half of the 20th century. Bagpipes are still with us, but they've been known as bagpipes since Roman times, so they don't seem to make sense as the pipes in our song.
In comparison "9 Ladies Dancing" is an expression that has been taken on to describe products and activities. One can get it barrel-aged at the Bruery - the Beer of the Month Club. There are several Nine ladies dancing videos, 9 Ladies Dancing Punch recipe at Serious Eats, 9 Ladies Dancing Productions, a 9 Ladies Dancing book on Amazon.
Who were these ladies? "Lady" is a civil term of respect for a woman among English speakers - the equivalent of gentleman. I expect that in this traditional song it is a formal title for woman of high social class. Gentleman/Lady is a rank in the hierarchy of royal, noble and chivalric ranks, as shown in the wikipedia entry for Lady. "Lady" has evolved into many expressive terms, some of refinement and others of derision. "Hey lady" would not be a term of endearment today. However, the "First Lady" is the well-known title for the U.S. President's wife.
Today's images celebrate the second of January with two flowers and two walls. Where does the blue path lead to?
