“Hidi Quili Lodi Quili”

Description

"Hidi, quili, lodi, quili, Hidi, quili, quackeo, If you'd a-been as I'd a-been, You would a-been so pretty, o!" (Someone) maakes a song, "heels in the path and toes in the grass, Don't take nothing but a dollar and half."

Notes

Listed in Brown as a corn-husking song, but it appears to be more than that. The first two verses look like a song about a migrant singer, or at least a migrant worker who sang, with the first verse being his song.

The third stanza, "The ole fish hawk said to the crow, I hope to the Lord tonight it'll rain; The creeks am muddy and millpond dry; 'Twasn't for tadpoles minnows all die," floats (e.g. from "The Crow Song (I)"); whether it played a role in the original song is unclear. - RBW

References

1. BrownIII 206, "Hidi Quili Lodi Quili" (1 text)
2. BI, Br3206