GRGR(10) - Vulgar Song

[Gary Thompson]

Right, right--very music-hall-ish, and I can plunk it out on my parlor
piano. The other one, "The Penis He Thought Was His Own," has to be "'Neath
the Shade of the Old Apple Tree" (may not be the correct title--don't do it
in swing 4/4, however, but the sad 'n' sentimental '90s 3/4, with a
barbershop quartet as prompted.

Doesn't Orwell do something with shade and trees in talking about the name
of the club for derelicts where Winston winds up? Something like

        Neath the spreading chestnut tree
        I sold you and you sold me
        (etc.)

The combination here of paranoia with the playful appropriation of these old
tunes _is_ rather startling, sort of like going to a film and discovering
it's a musical . . . something Brechtian going on here, distancing us from
these events even as we're being pulled into sympathy with poor Tyrone.

On a different subject from yesterday's posts, seems to me that "futureless
look" for Katje connects in some way with Frenesi: though there are
significant differences between the characters, both are used, both are
connected (in Katje's case, briefly) with "heroes" who are glozing neuters,
both are betrayers (Katje comes to regret hers; not sure about Frenesi) and
so on. But I suspect we've been here before, on the VuLVuL.

Gary Thompson

Jeremy Osner wrote:

> The Vulgar Song has a very distinct melody when I read it -- I know
> exactly what it sounds like. However I don't know what the source of the
> melody is and I don't have any way of communicating it via e-mail.
>
> Sorry
> J
>
> Mark Wright AIA wrote:
>
> > Howdy
> >
> > Any suggestions of sources for melodies to "Vulgar Song" (p.213) or
> > "The Penis He Thought Was His Own" (p.216)?
> >
> > Mark