That Juke Joint Music...

dedicated to Shunda...



About a month ago, I made a few CDs for my book club president, Shunda. She wanted a little Cameo, a little H-town, etc... But she also wanted some old, OLD stuff, like Jackie Moore, Otis Redding, and Sam Cooke... you know, that old stuff.

That juke joint music.

Now juke joint music is something that I am not particularly fond of. It is too depressing. But Shunda seems to like it because it reminds her of when, on Saturday mornings, her mother use to play those old classics. She said her mama made her and her brother listen to it when they cleaned up the house on Saturday mornings.

I frowned up at her... That was some craziness. To me, it is the type of music that you listen to when you're in a dark club, in the hood, down in the basement of some liquor store...

and you're sitting in the back booth, in the dark, sipping on your third strong drink, smoking a Virginia slim cigarette...

Contemplating, getting good and drunk, so you can get up the nerve to go cuss your man and that woman he been taking up with lately completely out...

THAT's what I think of when I think of that type of music...

So, um... you know I was looking at Shunda sideways...

But anyway, I remember, about 3 or 4 years ago, I was driving down Old Nat L (Old National Highway) in College Park, during a blinding thunderstorm, and listening to the Stacy D quiet storm show. He played this song where this broad was just talking about some dude she'd broken up with and when she got back up with him again she needed a martini...

I lost all interest in that doggone thunderstorm...

"This is some old juke joint music... I can't listen to that!"

LOL!!

Well, I asked one of my co-workers, who is fond of that type of music (she use to hang out in the juke joints!) if she'd ever heard that song, and she said, "Oh yeah, that's the 3 degrees, that's that good stuff right there!)...

The Three Degrees... They are one of the Philly Soul groups of the sixties and seventies. There most popular songs were "When will I see you again" and TSOP, the old theme song for Soul Train...

But they also sang a little of that juke joint music.

So I found that one crazy song, and I have been listening to it... so you know I had to post it LOL!! And it is the background music for this post (if you can hear it. It will change automatically around 5 posts down the line).

With a little commentary to follow, of course...

So this one is for you, Shunda:)

"Maybe" by The Three Degrees

SPOKEN:

You know Girls?
It's hard to find a guy that REALLY blows your mind.
And you just dig everything he does, like...
Like when he gives you that great big special hug, and that UMPH... heavy kiss! Girls, you know the kind...
the kind that's in the wrong place at the wrong time...
And it really turns you on?
Well, I had a guy like that.
And then that time that happens to all of us... We had an argument.
And like all, and I mean all us girls, I said some pretty dumb things like...
Like "GET LOST, I don't want to see you anymore!

But he was cool, he just stood there looking SO hurt
And he said "If that's the way you want it" and he split.
And I just stood there looking dumb and let that man walk right out of my life.
And I've been as evil as a wet hen ever since.
I told myself I wasn't gonna sweat it...But I did.
Ohhh, he was inside of me... in my thoughts, in my dreams.
Every place I went I saw his face.
And my friends? They knew. I know they knew.
And then one evening I was standing at the bus stop and I heard a voice behind me say "Hi baby"
Oh I just fell all apart inside, because I hadn't heard that voice in such a long time.
I turned aroud and there he was... looking GOOD!!
Oh, I just can't tell you how good that man looked to me!
And as I stood there trying to maintain myself, he asked me if I had a few minutes.
I really wanted to tell him that I had a lifetime, but I couldn't blow my cool!

We stopped at a cozy little place, and the shock of seeing him made me order a martini, because that is something that I've never done before, but I thought I needed something stronger than coffee to lean on.
Oh the music was soft, and the lights were low, and that drink had started going to my head.
He hadn't said anything about us, so I knew it was my move, and it had to be now.
I could feel my nerves building, I couldn't let him go...not this time, NOT this time.
So I took his hand,
looked him straight into the eyes, and I said...
I said...
I SAID!...

SUNG:
Maybe if I prayed every night (on my knees)
You'll come home to me (home home)
And maybe baby if I cried every day
You'll come back, you'll come back to stay
Maybe (maybe maybe baby)

OH, OH,
Maybe if I could hold your hand (maybe)
You'd understand (maybe maybe baby)
Maybe maybe maybe maybe if I just kissed your sweet lips, yeah...
you'll be at my command
Maybe (maybe maybe baby)
OH, OH!!
Maybe (maybe maybe baby)
Yeeeeahhhhh!
Maybe (maybe maybe MAYBE)

The End

Hmmm... I have a few thoughts on this song...

1. First of all, this is truly juke joint music, meaning, I need a real STRONG drink, a pack of cigarettes, a plate of ribs, and a really dark booth off in the back of the club stuck off in the corner to TRULY appreciate this song.

2. What the heck does "I was as evil as a wet hen" suppose to mean!? I really don't know. I've been running around work yelling that at various folks and they've looked at me like I was a damn fool.

3. I wonder what the argument was about... you know, when she told dude to "GET LOST!"... What was the argument about? Did he cheat on her? Was he not paying the bills? If so, the song should have ended at "GET LOST!" LOL!!

4. Okay, homegirl is standing at the bus stop... he walks up behind her and says, "Hi Baby", and she melts. Does he have a car, or is he catching the bus too? My first thought is, "Shorty, don't talk to me if you are riding the bus!"

5. She ordered a martini, due to the shock of seeing him... Dang, I would love to get that shocked at seeing a negro, where I have to order a strong drink. Goodness. I don't think that that would happen with none of my ex's. I was happy to get rid of them fools. Well maybe not the one who inspired this poem, but all the rest of them... no martini for me.

6. The singing part... That sound like some straight up begging a man to come back... Screw that! I'd probably still be thinking back to that argument we'd had in the past... I'd be still stuck at "GET LOST!" I've had a problem in the past with holding grudges, and even though I am getting better, I know I would still be pissed off about that argument...

As you can see, I pontificate a bit too much about songs... That ain't good...

But Shunda, if that juke joint music reminds you of days of old, then good for you...

I aint' mad at cha :)