The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-05-14
VAUDEVILLE SONGS.
The Reason Why Some of Them Are
Popular

The Reason Why Some Of Them Are
Popular
The development of the vaudeville song
! from the time when vaudeville perform
ances were known as variety shows" is
one of the curiosities of the stage. 1t has
come rapidly and naturally with the de-
| velopment of vaudeville itself The men
| who publish the sheet music, OF course,
have made a special study OF the song as
d matter of business. 80 nave the per
whether a song is going to take Win the
public. Most of the thousands of persons
who go to vaudeville shows every week
have enjoyed the song part OF the pro-
gram without stopping to think much
about it, says the Chicago Record.
Yet the vaudeville song has become
big element in amusing the modern thea-
tre-goer. 1t occupies the nrSt place among
the stable attractions of the variety snow
1t becomes more quickly known to the
public than any other form of music. IL
political purposes and played by the mill
tary bands. To a certain extent II mas
usurped the place of the sentimental song,
and the old-fashioned ballad. 1t has been
accepted and approved by the people Tor
the simple and sufficient reason that they
like it. 1t has developed such widespread
popularity that in some instances not 10
know the least the air of the chorus OF d
J
known. But just why 1t is so popular.
what is the secret of its attraction, ana
what it is really worth as music, NOBODY
has taken the trouble to find out
The so-called coon song" for instance,
which appeared in its present shape, a
little more than five years ago has mad a
readily traceable history. America mas
no coster class to be taken off in song IN
the manner of Albert Chevalier. The
nearest approach to 1t is the Bowery type,
and the Bowery song duly appeared; II
has still a moderate popularity, ana MY
Coil is a Bowery Coil" and The Bow
cry ragged for awhile. But the BoWery
type, one of the very few which lends
itself readily and safely to carlcatufe.
had too little variety to hold attention
long. Gradually the coon song crowded
it out of place, and it is the coon song
which still somehow hangs on to the pun
There are reasons for this. The coon
song has character. It is not true charac-
ter, of course and the theory that the
inspiration of the coon song Is aIa ~
from the colored race is transparent nc
ton The subject of the song is the same
imaginary person who is seen IN tne
funny Weeklies, who speaks In make
believe dialect, and has no eXlstehGe III
actuaI life The type Is individual, now
ever, and so it strikes the imagination anu
holds interest. .
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 cha iadI,
teristic flavor of the true negro melody.
Most of the songs have romplng chorusess
which are made attractive by reason o.
their swing and rhythm Probably WIN
out stopping to consider the means they
used the writer's of the tunes most popu-
lar today have resorted to an expert use
of accent and rhythm. one secret OF
the coon song is that 1t has caHgnt lne
81
ing dance step which is the especial prop
erJy of the vaudeville dancer. IhlS IS
the reason, also, for the popularity Of
the rag time, stop time ana an other IL N
genious phythmicaI contrivances OF the
Vaudeville music maker. TO theorlsI n
music, of course, this is chiefly trlGk
of syncOpation. 1t consists very largely
in keeping in the auditors mind the true
rhythm Of the music, at the same time
DELAYING or advancing an accent SO tndL
1t falls on an off beat This peculiarly
or else the steady use of its strong ac-
cent such as Sousa employs IN ms
marches. combined with a swinging
melody, has given the coon song music
much of it's character as music. rake
collection Of such. songs as All c9oh :
.SThe wedding of the Chinee and the
coon" "A hot time in the old town To-
night" and 1.-The warmest baby IN the
bunch" and in most cases you WIN nnd
that the swinging, romping rhythm ana
the smashing accents of the chorus are
the things which hold the average ear
IL is WIh no little interest that people
who have time enough to watch this
curious phase of a peoples amusement
will wait to see what takes the place OF
the coon song. Several attempts have ,
been made to get away from It, and IN
some cases, as in "On the banks OF the
Wabash" and "She was bred in old Ken
tuclxy," the composers have made signal
successes in an entirely different Inc
But it seems to have been shown, both
here and in England, that the develop
ment Of music hall performances fol-
lows some logical law, and one OF those
laws is that people like note of charac-
terization in popular, stage songs. The
coon song has been distinct and indiyid77
ual, as its subject, its swinging tunes ana
its cake walk adjuncts show. All these
elements save one may be taken away,
as they are in fact, in why don't 70
get a lady of yo' OWN" an absurdlY re-
5roachful ditty that has some real charm
Of melody in it. But the character is es-
pecially strong in that particular song
The sentimental songs, most of when are
atrociously bad as music and maudlin IN
sentiment, may recur from time to time,
but they will not answer the requirements
of the Unsuitable vaudeville public, which
diamonds IN he amused,