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PATNAUSEAM: SALLY GO ROUND THE ROSES

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Inspired by Luc Sante's essay (or rather Robert Christgau's review), this week's show listens to the lipstick traces and hidden meanings of Jaynett's 1963 song "Sally Go Round the Roses." The song is one of the finest lyrical mysteries next to "Ode to Billie Joe." The Sally of the song is warned of the hazards of "downtown" and the unfaithful lover. Does the song explore simple boy-girl tension, the grime of downtown underworld, and/or lesbianism? It's a seemingly menacing overtone for a girl group ditty from Chess records, especially when contrast against the nurse rhyme evocations. Artie Butler's chiaroscuro arrangements contribute spookiness. Sante wrote that the song hovers like a cloud: "Sitting on top of the cloud are girls, a lot of girls, at least eight of them in multitracked call-and-response, at once ethereal and obsessive." The song inspired dozens of covers, including from competing girl groups or garage combos. UK folk-rock act Pentanngle turned it into a contemporary murder-ballad, while Tim Buckley used it as a jumping point for acid blues wanderings. We'll hear these and nearly two dozen more.

For more information about this event, contact:
Patrick Bryant
subject2wmbr@gmail.com

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