Hokum: The Art of Fooling Around with Words and Music
If you have ever heard a song that uses clever and suggestive wordplay to make you laugh or blush, you have encountered hokum. Hokum is a term that can describe anything that is deceptive, fraudulent, or nonsensical, but it also refers to a specific style of music that emerged in the American blues in the early 20th century. Hokum songs are characterized by their humorous, sexual, and often outrageous innuendos, which were intended to entertain and provoke the audience. Hokum also influenced other forms of writing and entertainment, such as comedy, satire, and pulp fiction, which used similar techniques to mock the conventions and pretensions of society. In this article, we will explore the origin, development, and legacy of hokum in music and literature.
Hokum in Music
The word hokum is believed to be a blend of hocus-pocus and bunkum, two terms that imply trickery and nonsense. It was originally used as a vaudeville term for a simple and vulgar performance that relied on cheap jokes and gimmicks. However, it was also adopted by some blues musicians who used it to describe their songs that used extended analogies or euphemistic terms to make humorous, sexual innuendos.
hokum
Hokum songs were influenced by the dirty blues, a subgenre of blues that featured explicit and often taboo lyrics about sex, drugs, violence, and other topics. Dirty blues songs were popular among African American audiences in the rural South and urban North, who enjoyed their frankness and rebelliousness. However, dirty blues songs were also subject to censorship and criticism from white authorities and moralists, who considered them obscene and immoral.
Hokum songs were different from dirty blues songs in that they used more subtle and witty language to convey their meanings. They also had a more playful and lighthearted tone, which made them less offensive and more appealing to a wider audience. Hokum songs often used double entendres, metaphors, slang terms, rhymes, puns, and other devices to create humor and ambiguity. For example, in the song \"Meat Balls\" by Lil Johnson, recorded in 1937, she sings:
Got out late last night, in the rain and sleet
Tryin' to find a butcher that grind my meat
Yes I'm lookin' for a butcher
He must be long and tall
If he want to grind my meat
'Cause I'm wild about my meat balls.
In this song, she uses the words \"meat\", \"grind\", \"butcher\", and \"meat balls\" to refer to both food and sexual activities. She also uses rhyme (\"meat\"/\"sleet\", \"butcher\"/\"grind my meat\") and alliteration (\"butcher\"/\"ball\") to create a catchy and humorous effect.
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Hokum in Literature
Hokum was not only a musical style, but also a literary technique that was used by many writers and entertainers to create comedy, satire, and pulp fiction. Hokum in literature involved the use of exaggeration, absurdity, irony, parody, and other devices to mock the conventions and pretensions of society, politics, religion, art, and culture. Hokum in literature also often featured sexual and racial themes, which were used to challenge the norms and taboos of the time.
One of the earliest examples of hokum in literature is the work of Mark Twain , who used hokum to satirize the hypocrisy and corruption of American society in the 19th century. His novels, such as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , featured characters who used hokum to deceive, trick, or outsmart others, such as Tom Sawyer's fence-painting scheme or Huck Finn's fake death. Twain also used hokum to expose the racism and violence of slavery and the Civil War, such as in his short story \"The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County\" or his novel A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court .
Another example of hokum in literature is the work of H. L. Mencken , who was a journalist, critic, and editor who wrote about American culture and politics in the early 20th century. He was known for his sarcastic and cynical style, which he used to ridicule the ignorance and stupidity of the masses, the mediocrity and dishonesty of the politicians, and the hypocrisy and fanaticism of the religious leaders. He also coined many terms that became part of the American vocabulary, such as \"Bible Belt\", \"booboisie\", \"boobocracy\", \"boobus Americanus\", \"the Sahara of the Bozart\", and \"the American Mercury\". He also wrote a series of articles called \"The Hokum Trilogy\", which consisted of The American Language , Treatise on the Gods , and Treatise on Right and Wrong , in which he used hokum to mock the American language, religion, and morality.
Conclusion
Hokum is a term that can mean different things, but it is most commonly associated with a style of music and literature that uses humor, sex, and satire to entertain and challenge the audience. Hokum originated in the American blues in the early 20th century, when some musicians used clever and suggestive wordplay to create humorous and sexual innuendos in their songs. Hokum also influenced other writers and entertainers who used similar techniques to mock the conventions and pretensions of society, politics, religion, art, and culture in their works. Hokum is still relevant and appealing today, because it reflects the human desire to have fun, to express oneself freely, and to question the status quo.
FAQs
Here are some common questions and answers about hokum:
QuestionAnswer
What is the difference between hokum and dirty blues?Hokum and dirty blues are both subgenres of blues that feature sexual and humorous lyrics, but hokum is more subtle and witty, while dirty blues is more explicit and taboo.
Who are some of the most famous hokum artists?Some of the most famous hokum artists are Tampa Red , Georgia Tom , Bo Carter , Blind Boy Fuller , Memphis Minnie , Big Bill Broonzy , Bessie Smith , Ma Rainey , Lucille Bogan , Butterbeans & Susie , Papa Charlie Jackson , Memphis Jug Band , The Hokum Boys , The Mississippi Sheiks , Lonnie Johnson , Victoria Spivey , Lil Johnson , Clara Smith , Blind Willie McTell , Blind Lemon Jefferson , Leroy Carr , Scrapper Blackwell .
What are some of the most popular hokum songs?Some of the most popular hokum songs are \"It's Tight Like That\" by Tampa Red and Georgia Tom, \"Banana in Your Fruit Basket\" by Bo Carter, \"Get Your Yas Yas Out\" by Blind Boy Fuller, \"Me and My Chauffeur Blues\" by Memphis Minnie, \"Good Jelly\" by Big Bill Broonzy, \"Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out\" by Bessie Smith, \"See See Rider\" by Ma Rainey, \"Shave 'Em Dry\" by Lucille Bogan, \"I Want a Hot Dog for My Roll\" by Butterbeans & Susie, \"Shake That Thing\" by Papa Charlie Jackson, \"On the Road Again\" by Memphis Jug Band, \"You Can't Get Enough of That Stuff\" by The Hokum Boys, \"Sitting on Top of the World\" by The Mississippi Sheiks, \"Tomorrow Night\" by Lonnie Johnson, \"Organ Grinder Blues\" by Victoria Spivey, \"Press My Button (Ring My Bell)\" by Lil Johnson, \"My Good-For-Nothin' Man\" by Clara Smith, \"Statesboro Blues\" by Blind Willie McTell, \"Matchbox Blues\" by Blind Lemon Jefferson, \"How Long How Long Blues\" by Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell.
Who are some of the most famous hokum writers?Some of the most famous hokum writers are Mark Twain , H. L. Mencken , Robert E. Howard , Kurt Vonnegut , Terry Pratchett , Douglas Adams , Woody Allen , Mel Brooks , Monty Python , The Simpsons .
What are some of the benefits of hokum?Hokum can have many benefits, such as making people laugh, relieving stress, stimulating creativity, enhancing communication skills, promoting critical thinking, challenging stereotypes, exposing hypocrisy, and celebrating diversity.
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