#5 Food: drinks
In this column: bottle it up and go, bucket's got a hole in it, beer bucket, bourbon, sloppy drunk, John Lee Hooker, Washboard Sam, John Lee Hooker, Sonny Boy Willamson, Whistler's Jug Band (Folding Bed)
BOTTLE IT UP AND GO
"May be old, may be gray
You ain't too old just to shift them gears
You gotta bottle up and go"
Bottle up and go = Leave, make a change, stop talking (or drinking) and hit the road.
Bottle it up and go - John Lee Hooker
BUCKET
“My bucket's got a hole in it, won't buy no beer”,
Washboard Sam.
"I went walkin' right down the street, two good-lookin' girls I had a chance to meet
One had a bucket, the other one had a dime, "come on boys let's have a good time",
Whistler And His Jug Band
bucket's got a hole in it = My bucket's got a hole in it" serves as a metaphor for financial troubles. The "bucket" symbolizes the source of funds or income, while the "hole" represents the constant leakage or depletion of money. This line reflects their inability to buy beer because they lack the necessary funds.
In general you can also say that if your bucket has a hole, you are lacking all kinds of things, such as love.
My bucket's got a hole in it - Wasboard Sam (with 1930s photo's slider)
Whistler's Jug Band
In my search for the original version of 'My Bucket's got a hole in it' I came across a colorized film of the Whistler's Jug Band and their song 'Folding Bed'. The video clearly shows how the jug bands made music.
Very rare footage of the the Whistler's Jug Band (1930). The clip has been colorized by Jitterbug Zombies using DeOldify.
Whistler’s Jug Band – Folding Bed (1930)
Lyrics Folding Bed
Went downtown to have a little fun
Bought myself a razor and shiny guns
Carried it home, laid it on the shelf
Got so doggone hard just to get it myself
Come on out of my foldin' bed, I believe I'm gonna tear it down
(Tear it down) Slats and all
(Tear it down) You make my baby squall
(Tear it down) Baby come on
Don't take no time at all
Come on out of that foldin' bed, I believe I'm gonna tear it down
I went home about four o'clock
Knocked on the door and found it locked
Round to the window and I took a peek
A sheik there fast asleep
That'll only be my foldin' bed, ah heh heh heh
(Tear it down) Slats and all
(Tear it down) You make my baby squall
(Tear it down) Get with her
I believe it won't take no time at all
Come on out of that foldin' bed, I believe I'm gonna tear it down
Folding Bed = a bed that may be folded or swung into a closet, if you have limited space in a house or room, there is only room for a folding bed.
ONE BOURBON ONE SCOTCH ONE BEER
John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson – Sloppy drunk blues
Lyrics Sloppy Drunk
Now I would rather be sloppy drunk a-than anything I know (2x)
You know in another half-a-pint Woman, an you will see me go
Now, my gal she done quit me for somebody else 2x)
Now, an' I'm sloppy drunk again, woman sleepin' all by myself
Now, I would rather be sloppy drunk, sip-tin, in the can (2x)
Now, then be out in the street, mm runnin' from the man
Because, a-oh-oh, mm, a-bring another half-a-pint (2x)
Now, an' I believe I'll get n' drunk, baby, I'm gonna wreck this joint
Now, an' I love my moonshine whiskey, I tell thee world I do (2x)
Now, but I drink some more whiskey to get a-long with you
Now, an' I'm 'onna drink whiles I'm up, baby, drink until I fall (2x)
Now, an if ya want me to stop drinkin' whiskey, you ain't talkin' bout nothin' at all!
Sloppy drunk = someone who is unable to govern himself/herself while drunk, engaging in unruly behavior and acting in an undignified manner - starting fights; drunken behavior; sickness; talking loudly; annoying other people, etc.
Half-a-pint = a half-pint refers to the volume of half of a pint. It is equivalent to 8 fluid ounces or 1 cup.
Sip-tin in the can = he does exactly what he is intended to do
Sources: Talkin' to myself: Blues lyrics, Michael Taft, digitalcitizen.ca, federalcigarjugband.com, pancocojams.blogspot.nl, americanbluesscene.com, YouTube, Wikipedia, Hudson Motors Compagny, Archive Minneapolis, The Cruel Plains, M.H.Price a.o., truewestmagazine.com, The Austin Chronicle, Cambridge Free English Dictionary, Oxford Dictionary, TheSaurus.com, dragonjazz.com/grablue/blues_travel, Encyclopedia of African American Popular Culture, Blues by Paul Breman, Blues by David Harrison, Quora.com, urbandictionary.com, Blogs.loc.gov, The Ballad Hunter by Alan Lomax, Black Pearls: Blues Queens of the 1920th by Daphne Duval Harrison, jopiepopie.blogspot.nl, redhotjazz.com, The Blues Lyrics Formula by Michael Taft, American Ballads and Folk Songs by Alan Lomax and John Avery Lomax, The Past Is Not Dead: Essays from the Southern Quarterly by Douglas B. Chambers, EarlyBlues.com, railroad-line.com, Jason Lee Davis' RailFan Pages , centertruthjustice.org