The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1899-01-26
GENESIS OF VAUDEVILLE
THE BOWERY SONG Is NOW OUT
OF FASHION.
How the Coon Song Came in and the
ity with all Glasses.

The development of the vaudeville
song from the time when vaudeville
performances were known as variety
shows" is one of the curiosities of the
stage. 1t has come rapidly and natur-
ally with the development of vaude
vile itself.
The so called "coon song" for in
stance, which appeared in it's present
shape a little more than five years ago,
has had a readily traceable history.
America has no coster class to be TAX
en- off in song in the manner of Albert
Chevalier. The nearest approach to it
is the Bowery type, and the Bowery
song duly appeared. 1t has still a more
moderate popularity, and MY Poll is
a Bowery Coil" and "The Bow-ry"
ragged for a while. But the Bowery
type, one of the very few which lends
itself readily and safely to caricature,
was either not widely enough known
or had too little variety to hold atten-
ton long. Gradually the coon song"
crowded it out of place, and it is the
coon song which still somehow hangs
on to the public favor.
There are reasons for this. The
coon song has character. 1t is not
true character, of course, and the theo-
ry that the inspiration of the coon
song is drawn from the ColOred race
is a transparent fiction. The subject
son who is seen in the funny weeklies,
who speaks a make believe dialect and
has no existence in actual life. The
type is individual, however, and so it
strikes the Imagination and holds in
terest. The song writer's turned to it
unconsciously as the one Offering the
most accessible material for song writ
ing of the kind which would make
hit" What other cleverness there is
in these songs lies in the successful use
OF catch line refrains and a sugges-
ton of grotesque humor in the lines.
Apart from the element of character,
however, the coon songs" have come
into popularity, no doubt, largely on
the strength of the tunes themselves,
and these, too, have flavor of their
own, though it is totally unlike the
Characteristic flavor of the true negro
melody. Most of the songs have romp-
ing choruSeS which are made attrac-
tive by reason of their swing and their
rythm. Probably without stopping
to consider the means they used, the
writers of the tunes most popular to-
day have resorted to an expert use of
accent and rythm. One secret of the
coon song" is that it has caught the
rythm of the shufiling, Gathering, halt
ing dance step which is the especial
property of the vaudeville dancer
This is the reason, also, for the popu-
larlty of the rag time" stop time
and all other ingenious rythmical con-
trivances of the vaudeville music ma
ker. To a theorist in music, of course,
this is chiefly a trick of syncopation 1t
consists very largely in keeping in
the auditors mind the true rythm of
the music, at the same time delaying
or advancing an accent so that it falls
on an off beat" This popularity or
else the steady use of a strong accent,
such as Sousa employees in his march
es, combined with a swinging melody,
have given the "coon song" music
much of its character as music. Take
collection of such songs as "All Coons
Look Alike to Me-" "A High Born La
dy,' THE Wedding of the Chinee and
the Coon" "A Hot Time in the Old
Town Tonight" and THE Warmest
Baby in the Bunch" and in most cas-
es you will find that the swinging,
romping rhythm and the smashing ac-
cents of the chorus are the things
which hold the average ear.