Nagasaki by Harry Warren and Mort Dixon
Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 6:45 am
I was playing a few versions of Nagasaki to a (non-dancer) friend the other day. He wondered why a Japanese city would be the subject of an American song in the early 30s.
According to this writer,
"it represents a time (the 1930s) when jazz (especially big band or "swing" jazz) was still in its infancy, and popular American musical composers like Harry Warren wrote songs about exotic, far-away places to take people's minds off their troubles. ... It is, of course, not a song about Nagasaki at all, but of America and American perceptions of peoples and places from days gone by."
NAGASAKI
Lew Stone & His Band (vocal: Nat Gonella)
Hot ginger and dynamite
There's nothing but that at night
Back in Nagasaki
Where the fellers chew tobaccy
And the women wicky-wacky
Woo.
The way they can entertain
Would hurry a hurricane
Back in Nagasaki
Where the fellers chew tobaccy
And the women wicky wacky
Woo.
In Fujiama
You get a mama
Then your troubles increase.
In a pagoda
She orders soda
Da-da-da-da-da-da-da. Guarantees
They kissy and huggy nice
By Jingo! I'ts worth the price.
Back in Nagasaki
Where the fellers chew tobaccy
And the women wicky-wacky
Woo.
(Orchestral Interlude)
They give you a carriage free
The horse is a Japanee
Back in Nagasaki
Where the fellers chew tobaccy
And the women wicky-wacky
Woo.
They sit you on the floor
And splinter you galore
Back in Nagasaki
Where the fellers chew tobaccy
And the women wicky-wacky
Woo.
With Sweet Kimono
I tried to phone ‘er
And found the number engaged
In a pagoda
She orders soda
Ba-da-da-da-da-da. Guaranteed.
You just have to act your age
Or wind up inside a cage
Back in Nagasaki
Where the fellers chew tobaccy
And the women wicky-wacky
Woo.
(Gonella ad libs for one line)
In a pagoda
She orders soda
Ba-da-da-da-da-da. Guaranteed.
When the girls Ju Jitsu
Seems like a bus hit you
Back in Nagasaki
Where the fellers chew tobaccy
And the women wicky-wacky
Woo.
Back in Nagasaki
Where the fellers chew tobaccy
And the women wicky-wacky
Woo.
(Transcribed by Bill Huntley - November 2004)
http://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs ... saki.shtml
Wikipedia reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagasaki_%28song%29
According to this writer,
"it represents a time (the 1930s) when jazz (especially big band or "swing" jazz) was still in its infancy, and popular American musical composers like Harry Warren wrote songs about exotic, far-away places to take people's minds off their troubles. ... It is, of course, not a song about Nagasaki at all, but of America and American perceptions of peoples and places from days gone by."
NAGASAKI
Lew Stone & His Band (vocal: Nat Gonella)
Hot ginger and dynamite
There's nothing but that at night
Back in Nagasaki
Where the fellers chew tobaccy
And the women wicky-wacky
Woo.
The way they can entertain
Would hurry a hurricane
Back in Nagasaki
Where the fellers chew tobaccy
And the women wicky wacky
Woo.
In Fujiama
You get a mama
Then your troubles increase.
In a pagoda
She orders soda
Da-da-da-da-da-da-da. Guarantees
They kissy and huggy nice
By Jingo! I'ts worth the price.
Back in Nagasaki
Where the fellers chew tobaccy
And the women wicky-wacky
Woo.
(Orchestral Interlude)
They give you a carriage free
The horse is a Japanee
Back in Nagasaki
Where the fellers chew tobaccy
And the women wicky-wacky
Woo.
They sit you on the floor
And splinter you galore
Back in Nagasaki
Where the fellers chew tobaccy
And the women wicky-wacky
Woo.
With Sweet Kimono
I tried to phone ‘er
And found the number engaged
In a pagoda
She orders soda
Ba-da-da-da-da-da. Guaranteed.
You just have to act your age
Or wind up inside a cage
Back in Nagasaki
Where the fellers chew tobaccy
And the women wicky-wacky
Woo.
(Gonella ad libs for one line)
In a pagoda
She orders soda
Ba-da-da-da-da-da. Guaranteed.
When the girls Ju Jitsu
Seems like a bus hit you
Back in Nagasaki
Where the fellers chew tobaccy
And the women wicky-wacky
Woo.
Back in Nagasaki
Where the fellers chew tobaccy
And the women wicky-wacky
Woo.
(Transcribed by Bill Huntley - November 2004)
http://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs ... saki.shtml
Wikipedia reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagasaki_%28song%29