The Indianapolis journal., 1903-08-09
SONGS THAT ARE LOODLED
THE DITTY WITHOUT WORDS THAT
ALL MANHATTAN HUNS.
The Music Is Catchy, hut the Lines
Are Hard TO Remember-The
Popular "Hiawatha."
Hew York Man and Exnrera

LET me see" unused the literary per-
son momentarily at a loss for a quotation,
how does that passage in 'Hiawatha' run
where the"
'Tn play II all for you" interrupted the
Impulsve Young Thing. seating herself at
the piano. land when ! come TO IL per-
haps you will recognize 1T"
A moment later those frightfully familiar
strains vibrated on the suffering atmos-
phere once more.-A Wall from the West.
Go to Brooklyn If you wish TO learn all
about popular songs-the songs of summer.
Dwelers on the avenues that lead to
Coney Island and other Long island beach
resorts know only too well the tale OF songs
that have had their brief vogue OF the dog
days, and have then passed. like the la
mented Annie Rooney" into the great un-
known. These unfortunates have noted all
the whims OF popular taste Ten years ago
the midnight home-going choruses waited
to them from passing trolley cars ran like
this:
She's my sweetheart. I'm her beau.
She's my Annie, I'm her joe
Or, maybe, II was:
My best girls corlxer,
She's not the kind that's SLOW
But 1t now seems that the public is be-
ginning to care more for the music than
for the words of its songs. which isn't
strange when you consider the sheer idio-
cy of the average verses, and as a sign
of this evolution in popular taste the 'loo-
die songs are in evidence Like "Hia-
watha," these have catchey tunes and
verses SO hard to remember that the ave
erage holiday traveller TO the beaches pre-
fers to '1oodle" them through from be-
ginning TO end.
Inhabitants of dwellings that abut on
frnl1 he fv,x--
doodle lay. For at least one summer,
they hope. the song without words will
somewhat mitigate their sufferings
they sit upon a folded newspaper on the
stone front steps and are spared the vo-
cifereous choral enunciations from counts
less trolley cars Of:
For | love Rosie O'Grady,
And Rosie o'Grady loves mel
IT'S 'HIAWATHA."
On Saturday and Sunday nights, per-
sons whose houses are fronting on car
tracks sit on their steps or porches while
the girls who wear red roses in their straw
hats and the youths who adorn themselves
with sky blue neckties and plate glass
studs. who lift up their voices after this
fashion:
Loodle.. loodle loot. doodle loot, loodle loo
do day,
Loo, loo, loo, Ioo loodle loot de day, da day.
Loodle loot, loodle loot,
Loody-ute, loody-ute, loody-ute.
1-ute-eaye yaw, y2v, yaw. yaw,
Haw, haw. haw, hoo, hoo, hoo!
This with infinite variety When the faint
echo of the last car sounds in the distance
the sleepy householder leaves the front
stoop and prepares for bed. Perhaps a vis-
itor from the country may be near TO say:
What are those folks singing 1 can't
catch a single word.
That's the beauty of it," responds the
tired householder. ITS 'Hiawatha,' and
the villains can't remember the words,
praises be-
1t is .'Hiawatha.' You hear it every
where, but generally have to buy two
cent songster TO get the words. Bands play
II on excursion steamers and in restau-
rants and the crowds hum IL. 1t is a self
made song. IL was written and published
in the West and won its way into favor
without the usual boost from a vaudeville
or light opera celebrity. For two or three
years after il was published IL was compar-
atively unnoticed and it was not until the
'loodlers" got hold OF IL that IL attracted
wide attention. By the time the people
know the words so that '.loodling'' will no
longer be necessary there will probably be
a new favorite TO contest the field.
Ardent admirers of the song usually
know the first lines and parts of the chorus.
They choose time when there Is a lull In
talk and laughter Oh boat or trolley car
and then burst forth with:
Oh, the moon is all agleam on the stream
Where dream here of you, my pretty In
dian maid.
''loodlers' get in their fine work. IL may
run "loodling on to the chorus and IL may
chance that the broken thread OF the song
is passed from one TO another, If there hap
pen to be persons who can supply the
words as each successive leader falters In
his burst of melody.
THE WORDS THEY FORGET.
While the rustling sieaves are singing high
above us overhead;
In the glory of the bright summer night,
In the light and the shadows Of the forest
glade
L am waiting here to kiss your lips so
There's a flood of melodies on the breeze
Fror- the trees, and of you they breathe
so tenderly.
| While the woodlands all around are re-
sounding your name.
Oh, my all in life is you, only you.
| Fond and true, and your own forevermore
Hear then the song 1 sing with lips
afame
AS a rule, when the chorus IS reached
| I'm a popular summer song, the words ara
rolled forth with gusto born of letter
| perfect memory. Not so with ''Hia-
watha' And yet the chorus is not very
| intricate:
| 1 am your own. your Hiawatha brave,
My heart is yours. you know. dear one. !
| Oh. Minnehaha, gentle maid, decide.
| Decide and say you'll be my Indian bride.
But that is not ALL There is second
verse just as long the first It winds
| its devious way thus:
i In the tresses OF your hair lies snare.
| And it's there where my heart a willing
captive is,
| Oh my woodland queen. pray you'll hold
il ever in your care;
In my little birch canoe love, with you.
| Just us two down the stream of life in
welded bliss,
would drift, sweetheart. with you my
lot to share
When the birds upon the wing in the
spring
Gayly sing of the green and golden sum-
time.
| When the SHOWS OF early winter robe the
woodlands in white.
Then your Hiawatha free L will be:
| And to thee every thought of mine VIII
e'er incline
Heed thou then the vows i pledge to
thee this night.
That's why they doodle" IL. Next sum-
| mer perhaps. there will be something in
rogue like I'D Leave My Happy Home for
| YOU" or "Just Because She Made Them Goo
goo Eyes" and there win be more "lood-
| ling" That will be backward step. for,
| after ALL there is much more music and sem
| timent IN "Hiawatha" than in most ditties
| that captivate Manhattan islanders. IL GER
tainly is TO be preferred TO I've Got My
Eyes on You" and I'm Wearing Ny Heaft
| Away for YOU" either OF which might have
been the trolley car favorite but for Hi
/ aWatha"