[Dixielandjazz] Whoopee (was: Makin' it)

[Don Kirkman]

On Tue, 8 Jan 2008 06:06:13 -0600, eupher dude wrote:

>which brings up another good question!
>Yes, "Makin' Whoopee" is a reference to sex, disguised as rabble rousing or partying.

Yes, but ISTM there's more to it than that.  Robert Service, "The
Shooting of Dan McGrew," set in the Yukon gold strike of the 1890s,
begins

"A bunch of the boys were whooping it up in the Malamute saloon;
  The kid that handles the music-box was hitting a jag-time tune;
Back of the bar, in a solo game, sat Dangerous Dan McGrew,
  And watching his luck was his light-o'-love, the lady that's known as
Lou."

So ya got yer noise, and ya got yer music (jag time/rag time), and ya
got yer boys, but where are yer girls to whoop it up with?   :-)

And W. H. Auden somewhere wrote "It's natural the Boys should whoop it
up for so huge a phallic triumph" (whatever that means).  I suspect the
original emphasis was on the noise (whoopee cushion, anyone?), not on
the underlying reason for the noise.

FWIW, Making Whoopee is one of my favorite tunes for making a joyful
noise.

>But, how many other phrases for "whoopee" are there?

>**Dancin' ---------- my favorite (Bring your dancin' shoes, come back home to me--Tin Roof Blues)

>and right now, I can't think of the others I've come up with.  

>Let's get down and dirty a bit.  But, keep it clean, folks, OK??
-- 
Don Kirkman