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Note to those of delicate sensibilities:
The songs in this section are exactly as described: "bawdy", also known as "raunchy" or "dirty". In other words, they deal with exactly the subjects you would expect them to deal with: sex and excrement. Unlike most of the printed sources of previous periods, the relevant words are not omitted or bowdlerized but are documented as collected from tradition. The lyrics are not always explicit and the subject is often addressed humorously and euphemistically but the subject, as previously stated, is something not discussed in polite society, either sex or excrement. |
The bawdy songs in this section are my selections from various sources.
Most of these songs were learned by ear from various singers but a large number
of them were learned from the series of Bawdy Songs and Backroom Ballads
albums recorded by Oscar Brand. Beginning in 1949 Oscar Brand recorded many albums,
at least 22 of which were collections of bawdy songs. Because of censorship considerations at the time,
the lyrics were severely edited although the original words can usually be determined.
The songs in this collection are, as someone once said, "folklore with the fur left on", that is, I have restored them, as much as possible, to their original conditions. The two printed sources for bawdy songs in my library are:
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