[Dixielandjazz] Snag it

Jim O'Briant jobriant at garlic.com
Wed Apr 3 06:39:31 PDT 2013


Glen Page wrote:

> Seems to me that the verse of Snag It is referring to working 
> conditions in the Pen, or possibly on the chain gang.
> 
> " Captain, Captain" is the man in charge of the work gang and he "must 
> be cross" because the workers are not keeping on schedule. Because of 
> this he is not letting  them "knock off"
> at twelve o'clock for lunch or a break. In that environment it is not 
> foreseeable that they would be finished for the day.

The same terms could also be said or sung by roustabouts on a steamboat,
either loading & unloading cargo at a river town, or in the early days,
"wooding up" -- that is, carrying wood from a riverside wood yard onto the
boat to fuel the boilers.

Jim O'Briant
Gilroy, CA
Tuba & Leader, The Zinfandel Stompers






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