The Portland daily press., 1899-01-27
VAUDEVILLE SONGS.
Successor. 10 the Ballad That Are Now
the Rage, and the Reasons for Their
Popularity.
lFrom the Chicago Record. }

Inc deyelopment OF the NauutNhio s"Hs
from the time when vaudeville perform
ances We're known as variety shows" Is
one of the curiosities of the stage. IL
has come rapidly and naturally with the
development of the vaudeville itself. The
men who publish the sheet music oil
course have made special study OF the
song as q matter LOT business. so have
the performers. who are the first to know
whether a song Is going to take Win
the public Most of the thousands oil per
sons who go TO vaudeville shows every
week have enjoyed the song part OF the
programme without stopping to think
much about 1t. Up to the present NOBODY
outside Of the profession" seems to have
made a scientific or critical study OF TINS
interesting factor in public am ustmeh''
Yet the vaudeville song has become
big element in amusing the modern thea
tre-goer. 1t occupies the first place among
the stable attractions OF the variety show
1t becomes more quickly known to the
public than any other form Of music. III
is whistled on the streets, parodied Tor
political purposes, and played by the
military bands. 10 certain extent 1t
has usurped the place Of the sentimental
song and the old fashioned ballad. 1t has
been accepted and approved by the people
for the simple and sufficient reason that
they like It, 1t has developed such wide >
spread popularity that in some instances
not to know at least the air of the choi us
of a vaudeville song is to argue yourself
unknown But just why 1t is so popular,
what IL Is really worth as music, nopod3
hs taken the trouble to find out.
The publishers insist that the way in
which "A song is pushed Is more than
half the battIe-that its success or failure
depends upon the mum Der OF persons VINO
can be made to hear 1t, or at least near ol
it, But In the long run writer's and pup
fishers are alike dependent upon the pub
lies tastes in the matter, ana all the
"pushing" that has ever been done can
not explain why not only single song,
bat whole class of songs, having dis
tinot family resemblance, should have
come into flourishiDg popularity.
The so-called "coon song. for instance,
which appeared in its present shape lit.
tie more than five years ago, has had u
readily traceable history. America mas
no coster class 10 be taken OF in song In
the manner OF Albert Chevalier. The
nearest approach TO it is the Bowery
IFDt, ana Ent DOhtIN SUNK Nh'N oBPNHhSN
1t has still moderate popularity, ana
"My Poll Is Bowery Coil and The
Bow-ry' RACED for awhile. But the
Bowery type one of the very few which
lends itself readily and safely to caria-
ture was either not widely enough known
or had too little variety to hold attention
long Gradually the ''coon song crowd
ed it out of place, and 1t 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 char
acter, of course, and the theory that she
inspiration of the "coon song is drawn
from the colored race Is "A transparent
fiction. The subject of the sons Is the
same imaginary person who is seen in the
funny weeklies. who speak make-be-
lieve dialect, and has no existence in
actual life. The tpye is individual,
however, and so IL strikes the Imagination
turned to IL uuoop sciously as the one
sffording the most accessible material
for song writing of the kind which would
make a hit What other cle7erre ;
there is in these songs lies in the success
full use of catoh-line refrains and sug-
gestion 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 character
istic favor of the true negro melody
Most of the songs have romping choruses
which are made attractive by reason of
their swing and rhythm. Probably with
out stopping TO consider the means they
used, the writers of the tunes most popu
lar today have resorted TO IN expert use
of accent and rhythm. One secret of the
"coon song is thRt 1t has caught the
rhythm of the shutting, Gathering, halt
ing dance stsp which is the especial
property of the vaudeville dancer. This
is the reason. also, for the popularity Of
the rag time and all other ingenious
rhythmical conttivnnoes of the vaudeyiIle
musiomaker. 10 theoIist in music. OF
course, this is chiefly trick of synco IA
zion. 1t consists very largely in keeping
In the auditors mind the true rhyth m
of the music at the same time delaying or
advancing an accent so that 10 fall on u
''of1 beat This popularity, or else the
steady use of its strong accent, such Us
Sousa employs in his marches, combined
with swinging melody, has sgiven the
"ocon song" musirsmu UGH of Its character
as music lake a collection of such
songs as "Ali Coons Look Alike 10 Me.
"A High Born Lady" The Wedding of
the Chinee and the Coon "A dot
Time in the ola Town Tonight and
1.-The Warmest Baby in the Bunch, and
=
swinging, rompins rhythm and the
smashing accents of the chorus are the
tlings which hold the average ear. II
Is with no little interest that people who
nave time enough to watch this curious
phase OF peoples amusements will wait
TO see what takes the place OF the "ooon
song" Several attempts have been made
to get away from it, and in some cases,
AS in ION the Banks of the Wabash" and
"She Was Bred in Old Kentucky" the
composers have mace signal successes in
AN entirely different line But it seems to
have bean shown both here ana in Eng
land that the development of music hail
performances follows some logical law,
and one of those laws is that people like
a note Of character i1ation in popular
stage songs. The coon song" has been
distinct and individual. as its subject. S
swinging tunes and its cake-walk ad
fuuots show. All these elements save one
may be- taken away, as they are. in fact.
in why Don's Yo' Get Lady of Yo'
own" an absuidiy reproachful ditty,
that has some re,l charm of melody in it.
But tie character esp. cially strong