January 24, 2003
Friday Quiz #47: Sweet Betsy from Pike

Five more weeks to go before we hit #52. Now, on to today's brain-deflator...

The following are lyrics from a set of songs which have a particular event in common -- they all refer directly or indirectly to this event, and most have their recorded origin as songs sung by those involved in the event itself.

  • "I worked both late and early, In rain, in sun, in snow/I was working for my Sally; It was all the same to Joe"
  • "Oh, don't you remember sweet Betsy from Pike"
  • "Don't go there I pray, stay away if you can"
  • "Lie up nearer, brother, nearer, for my form is growing cold"
  • "But let them come and try it, To satisfy themselves. "
  • "Some had ten wives, others none; Thirty-six had Brigham Young."

What was the event?

No Googling or bothering your Great-Uncle Mortimer, the man is trying to get some sleep. First correct answer posted to comments wins a vintage cassette tape copy of Yo! MTV Raps MONSTERS OF RAP, which features the mind-blowing "4 at a Time" by Freshco.

Posted by BT at January 24, 2003 09:52 AM
Comments

The Johnstown Flood?

Posted by: boxjam on January 24, 2003 10:17 AM

The filming of Bob Hope's "Road to Morocco"?

(How about that boots? I'm on the "road to morocco," dude. Wow man, it's pretty early for that.)

OK, now I'll read the question kind of carefully and engage my brain.

Posted by: Scott on January 24, 2003 10:17 AM

I'll take a swing aiming at the Brigham Young part and say The Whiskey Rebellion. No, I mean, the Mormon exodus to Utah, which was Zion. Somebody has to get that out of the way, right?

Posted by: Scott on January 24, 2003 10:19 AM


The Gold Rush?

Posted by: Christina on January 24, 2003 10:48 AM

That's pretty good, ScottW, but I'm pretty sure you mean Christopher Wren's "Road to Morocco." (Nothing like spot of St. Paul's on a cold Friday mornin' - might join ya.)

"My form is growing cold... " hmm, that's gotta refer to pouring concrete, right? That or working out on the buffalo range skinning various types of animals.

Posted by: bootsy on January 24, 2003 10:54 AM

I have a primo guess, though I'm not sure it's the sort of thing one sings about --

The Donner Party affair.

Posted by: Scott on January 24, 2003 10:59 AM

Yeah, but Brigham didn't have that many wives, I don't think, until he was out in Utah leading the LDS church. I think that's a throwaway line. Although the 'Joe' in the first snippet might be Joseph Smith.

The Chicago Fire. The event, not the soccer team.
I'm betting that "Thirty-six had Brigham Young" rhymes with "Mrs. O'Leary should be hung."

Posted by: boxjam on January 24, 2003 10:59 AM

Doggone it, Christina beat me to my guess. I can only lamely try to specify a different gold rush, the one that led North to Alaska.

Posted by: hackly_fracture on January 24, 2003 11:01 AM

"on top of spaghettiiiiii
all covered with Louise..."

Posted by: Scott on January 24, 2003 11:05 AM

I thought Christina meant the Alaska one...

Posted by: boxjam on January 24, 2003 11:16 AM

I bet Brigham Young had to take out a lot of damn trash, eh, Boxjam?

Posted by: Scott on January 24, 2003 11:34 AM

Christina strikes it rich! Here's the full text of some of these classics:

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/cowell:@FIELD(SOURCE+@band(afccc+@1(goldr))):@@@$REF$


The "Brigham Young" line is from "When I left the States for Gold." A little more lyrical context:

The Mormon girls were fat as hogs,
The chief production, cats and dogs.
Some had ten wives, others none;
Thirty-six had Brigham Young.

Please note that the Wombat File management in no way endorses the songwriter's implication that obesity is in any way associated with membership in the LDS religion.

Posted by: BT on January 24, 2003 11:39 AM

I hate how fold songs conflate things and reinvent history, then hide behind their "oh, oral tradition, it's so vital, and a valid cultural treasure, even though it's not accurate" nonsense.

Brigham Young arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in July 1847 (cite: http://www.byu.edu/about/brigham/bio4.htm ), and I seriously doubt he was particularly famous, or that Salt Lake City was a great stopping point on the way to California, in 1849.

Posted by: boxjam on January 24, 2003 12:05 PM

If you have 36 wives, I think word gets around.

Posted by: Scott on January 24, 2003 12:31 PM

If only your kids know about you, you've got small village celebrity at least.

By the way, no attempt to undercut our winner -- I thought maybe gold rush might refer exclusively to Califor-nigh-ay. Although I'd love an mp3 of that Monsters comp, because of course you have an 8-Track to Digital Conversion Box laying around, I think maybe on the patio.

Posted by: hackly_fracture on January 24, 2003 01:01 PM

In other news, I just saw the cover to Ann Coulter's new book, and it's a lot less interesting than the one BT imagined a few weeks ago:

http://www.thismodernworld.com/weblog/mtarchives/week_2003_01_19.html#000134

Posted by: teenidol on January 24, 2003 02:29 PM

It's either the California GOLD RUSH or the MIGRATION WEST.

Posted by: Tom Geraghty on April 26, 2005 02:20 AM