“It's a Shame to Whip Your Wife on Sunday”

Description

"It's a shame to whip your wife on Sunday/When you've got Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday...." Subsequent verses "It's a shame to play cards on Sunday...." "It's a shame to get drunk on Sunday."

Notes

Some joke. -PJS

I have to suspect this is funnier in concert than in print. (It would be hard for it to be LESS funny, after all.)

The version in the Folksinger's wordbook omits the crucial first verse, but I don't think it actually circulated in that form; I think it's just a case of political correctness. - RBW

Recordings

• Fiddlin' John Carson, "It's A Shame To Whip Your Wife On Sunday" (Okeh 45122, 1927)
• New Lost City Ramblers, "It's a Shame to Whip Your Wife on Sunday" (on NLCR12)
• Pete Seeger, "Ain't It a Shame" (on PeteSeeger32)

References

1. Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 78, "It's A Shame to Whip Your Wife on Sunday" (1 text, 1 tune)
2. Silber-FSWB, p. 22, "Ain't It a Shame" (1 text)
3. DT, AINTSHAM
4. BI, CSW078