Walkin' in de Parlor
Walkin' in de Parlor
Walking in the Parlor
Folk Song
Folk Song
(Historical Black American English)
(English)
Walkin' in de parlor,
Lightnin' is a yaller gal.
She live up in de clouds.
"Thunder he is black man,
He can holler loud,
When he kisses lightnin'.
"She dart up in wonder,
He jump up and grate de clouds;
That what make it thunder.
Walking in the parlor,
Lightning is a yellow girl.
She lives up in the clouds.
Thunder he is a black man,
He can holler loudly
When he kisses lightning.
She darts up in wonder,
He jumps up and grates the clouds;
That's what makes it thunder.
Thanks and Acknowledgements
This song was written down in the Work Projects Administration's Slave Narratives. The government sent out interviewers in the late 1930's to talk with the ex-slaves and write down what they had to say. This song is from an interview of Harre Quarls who was 96 at the time and was born in Flardice, Missouri. He was a slave of John W. Quarls, who sold him to Charley Guniot. The latter owner moved to Texas, where Harre lived at the time of emancipation. At the time of the interview Harre lived in Madisonville, Texas.
