Liza Jane

 "Li'l Liza Jane", also known as "Little Liza Jane", "Liza Jane", and "Goodbye Liza Jane", is a song dating back at least to the 1910s. It has become a perennial standard both as a song and an instrumental in traditional jazz, folk music, and bluegrass, and versions have repeatedly appeared in other genres including rock and roll. Numerous scholars and musicologists have written about the song, and it is one of the standards of the New Orleans brass band tradition. 

Scholar Dan Gutstein indicates that "Little Liza Jane" and "a suite of closely related folk songs likely originated among enslaved people during celebratory dances or 'frolics' on southern plantations." Gutstein cites ten narratives from the Works Progress Administration Slave Narrative Collection in establishing the song's origins. During the Civil War, some "Liza Jane" songs likely "leaked out" from the folk repertoire of enslaved people and were adopted by regiments from both sides of the war, including the 43rd United States Colored Troops Regiment, the 23rd North Carolina Regiment (known as the Pee Dee Guards), and the Indiana 67th Regiment.

After the war concluded, some "Liza Jane" variants were popularized in burnt cork minstrelsy—most notably "Goodbye Liza Jane," which was published as sheet music by bandleader Eddie Fox in 1871. However, the best-known variant "Little Liza Jane" likely remained fixed in folk tradition until a variety of writers and performers popularized the melody and certain lyrics in the early 20th century; these individuals would include the writer Anne Virginia Culbertson, the composer Ada de Lachau, the actress Ruth Chatterton, bandleader Earl Fuller, and banjoist Harry C. Browne. Even as many "Liza Jane" variants therefore appeared in nineteenth century and early twentieth century popular culture, Gutstein attributes their ultimate origins as being the name Liza Jane "affixed to 'snotches' of folk melodies or as several 'one-verse songs' among enslaved people on plantations in several states." This may account for the many different titles (such as "Little Liza Jane" and "Goodbye Liza Jane") as well as a wide variety of lyrics. 

"Li'l Liza Jane" was first published in 1916 by Sherman, Clay & Co of San Francisco, California as a composition by Countess Ada de Lachau (Ada Louise Metz, 1866–1956). It was described as a "Southern dialect song". The tune was featured as entr'acte entertainment during the 1916-1917 Broadway show Come Out of the Kitchen.

The song's origins, however, seem to go back even earlier. Lucy Thurston remembered a song with the refrain "Ohoooooooo lil Liza, lil Liza Jane" being sung by slaves in the area of Covington, Louisiana before the American Civil War. While the melody is not preserved in the written interview, the lyrics and their rhythm strongly suggest it was the same or very similar to the song published decades later.

The name "Liza Jane" or "Eliza Jane" was a standard female character name in minstrel shows. A tune "Goodbye, Liza Jane" was published by Eddie Fox in 1871. Harry Von Tilzer published "Goodbye, Eliza Jane" in 1903, which has some similarity to the later "Li'l Liza Jane".

Natalie Curtis Burlin's book Negro Folk-Songs, published in 1918, documents a version said to be a Negro folk song with an associated dancing game. In the "Liza Jane" dance, couples would dance in a circle, with an extra man in the middle. The extra man would "steal partners" with one of the couples, and the odd man out would go into the center and do a solo dance, then in cut in on another couple and the process would repeat.

The melody of the chorus is shared with the West African welcome song "Fanga Alafia". 

To download the easy alphanotes sheet music, look here. Enjoy!

Lyrics:

I know a girl that you don’t know;
Little Liza Jane,
Way down south in Baltimore;
Little Liza Jane.

Oh! Little Liza, Little Liza Jane,
Oh! Little Liza, Little Liza Jane.

Liza Jane looks good to me;
Little Liza Jane,
Sweetest one I’ve ever seen;
Little Liza Jane.

Oh! Little Liza, Little Liza Jane,
Oh! Little Liza, Little Liza Jane.

Where she lives the posies grow;
Little Liza Jane,
Chickens round the kitchen door;
Little Liza Jane.

Oh! Little Liza, Little Liza Jane,
Oh! Little Liza, Little Liza Jane.

What do I care how far we roam;
Little Liza Jane.
Where she’s at is home sweet home;
Little Liza Jane.

Oh! Little Liza, Little Liza Jane,
Oh! Little Liza, Little Liza Jane.
Oh! Little Liza, Little Liza Jane,
Oh! Little Liza, Little Liza Jane. 

Let There Be Peace on Earth

 Let There Be Peace on Earth is a song written by Jill Jackson-Miller and Sy Miller in 1955. It was initially written for and sung by the International Children's Choir created by Easter Beakly and Arthur Granger of the Granger Dance Academy in Long Beach, California. The composers led a number of rehearsals for the children's choir from 1955 to 1957, and the song is still the theme for this group of children who represent a host of nations and who sang in Washington, D.C., at the JW Marriott next to the White House in 2002.

Jackson-Miller, who had been suicidal after the failure of her marriage to screenwriter Felix Jackson, later said she wrote the song after discovering what she called "the life-saving joy of God's peace and unconditional love".

The song is performed worldwide throughout the year, and particularly during the Christmas season, which has led to it being considered a Christmas song. It is included in the hymnals of a variety of Christian denominations, and is used in worship services even by a number of denominations that do not include it in their hymnals. It typically concludes Unity Church services each week.

The original lyrics for "Let There Be Peace on Earth" have been altered on many occasions for differing reasons, including for gender neutrality (where "father" is replaced with "creator", and "brother" is replaced with "family" or "each other"), and secularity (where "God as our Father" is replaced with "Earth as our Mother" or "love as our compass"). Both the gender-neutral and secular alternate lyrics have been copyrighted by the original licensing agent of the song. 

In 1967, Mahalia Jackson sang "Let There Be Peace on Earth" at her concert in Berlin.

On November 7, 1988, it was performed by the GMA Stars and Personalities along with a small group of children with lighted candles in honor of the Launching of GMA-7's 777-foot Tower of Power in Tandang Sora, Quezon City, the tallest man-made structure in the country used for the Towering Power: A Musical Dedication.

In 1993, the song was covered by American country music singer Vince Gill and his daughter Jenny, as the title single for his platinum-selling Christmas album.

In December 31, 1999, the song was performed by Randy Santiago, John Estrada and Willie Revillame during the ABS-CBN Worldwide Celebration of the New Millennium.

It is the final song during the holidays each year during the "IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth" firework show at Epcot at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. It previously featured narration by Walter Cronkite and singing by Sandi Patti and the Harlem Boys Choir.

The song was performed by the Young People's Chorus of New York City on September 25, 2015, at the close of the Interfaith Prayer Service and Remembrance, presided over by Pope Francis, at Ground Zero in New York.

In 2017, Carlos Santana and Ernie/Ronnie Isley released the song on their Power of Peace album (Sony Music's Legacy Recordings).

During the 2015 Christmas and holiday season, American technology company Microsoft got dislikes and criticism on YouTube when it released an advertisement featuring a cover by employees and a New York City children's choir that skipped over the verse "With God as our Father, brothers all are we / Let me walk with my brother, in perfect harmony". In response, the company released a second, longer version that included the omitted verse.

In 2020, Ricky Dillard released "Let There Be Peace On Earth" as the 4th track on his 11th album, Choirmaster. 

To download the easy alphanotes sheet music, look here. Enjoy!

Lyrics:

Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me;
let there be peace on earth, the peace that was meant to be.
With God our creator, children all are we.
Let us walk with each other in perfect harmony. 

Let peace begin with me, let this be the moment now.
With every step I take, may this be my solemn vow:
To take each moment and live each moment
in peace eternally.
Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me. 

Kookaburra

 "Kookaburra" (also known by its first line: "Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree") is an Australian nursery rhyme and round about the laughing kookaburra. It was written by Marion Sinclair (9 October 1896 – 15 February 1988) in 1932.

Marion Sinclair was a music teacher at Toorak College, a girls' school in Melbourne she had attended as a boarder. In 1920, she began working with the school's Girl Guides company.

One Sunday morning in 1932, Sinclair had an inspiration in church and dashed home to write down the words to "Kookaburra". In 1934, she entered the song into a competition run by the Girl Guides Association of Victoria, with the rights of the winning song to be sold to raise money for the purchase of a camping ground, eventually chosen as Britannia Park. The song was performed for the first time in 1934 at the annual Jamboree in Frankston, Victoria, at which the Baden-Powells, founders of the Scouting and Guiding movements, were present.

The song is performed around the world, particularly in the United States, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, where the Girl Guide movement has adopted it as a traditional song. 

Marion Sinclair died in 1988, so the song is still under copyright, according to Australian copyright law. The publishing rights are held by Larrikin Music. In the United States, the rights are administered by Music Sales Corporation in New York City.

In June 2009, Larrikin Music sued the band Men at Work for copyright infringement, alleging that part of the flute riff of the band's 1981 single "Down Under" was copied from "Kookaburra". This action followed an episode of Spicks and Specks where this usage was the basis of a panel question. The counsel for the band's record label and publishing company (Sony BMG Music Entertainment and EMI Songs Australia) claimed that, based on the agreement under which the song was written, the copyright was actually held by the Girl Guides Association. On 30 July 2009, Justice Peter Jacobson of the Federal Court of Australia made a preliminary ruling that Larrikin did own copyright on the song, but the issue of whether or not songwriters Colin Hay and Ron Strykert had plagiarised the riff would be determined at a later date. On 4 February 2010, Justice Jacobson delivered his judgement that Men at Work had infringed Larrikin's copyright, and that both recordings submitted to the court "...reproduce a substantial part of Kookaburra". Larrikin subsequently petitioned the court to receive between 40 and 60 percent of the song's royalties backdated to 1981, but on 6 July 2010 Justice Jacobson awarded the company five percent of royalties backdated to 2002—believed to be a six-figure sum.

On 31 March 2011 an appeal by record company EMI was dismissed by Justices Arthur Emmett, Jayne Jagot and John Nicholas, who concluded there had been an infringement of copyright of the tune "Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree". One of the band's songwriters, Colin Hay, said afterwards the result was disappointing and they would consider their position after reviewing the judgement more closely. In October 2011 the band lost its final court bid when the High Court of Australia refused to hear an appeal. 

In 2010, Australian primary school principal Gary Martin replaced the lyric "gay your life must be" with "fun your life must be". There was an outcry that he was banning the word "gay". Martin clarified his position. "All I was doing," he stated, "was substituting one word because I knew if we sing 'Gay your life must be' the kids will roll around the floor in fits of laughter."

To download the easy alphanotes sheet music, look here. Enjoy! 

Lyrics:

Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree,
Merry merry king of the bush is he.
Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra,
Gay your life must be!

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Eating all the gumdrops he can see
Stop, Kookaburra, Stop, Kookaburra
Leave some there for me.

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree,
Counting all the monkeys he can see
Stop, Kookaburra, Stop, Kookaburra,
That's no monkey, that's me. 

Hush Little Baby

 "Hush, Little Baby" is a traditional lullaby, thought to have been written in the Southern United States. The lyrics are from the point of view of a parent trying to appease an upset child by promising to give them a gift. Sensing the child's apprehension, the parent has planned a series of contingencies in case their gifts don't work out. The simple structure allows more verses to be added ad lib. It has a Roud number of 470.

History and traditional versions

Like most folk songs, the author and date of origin are unclear. The English folklorist Cecil Sharp collected and notated a version from Endicott, Franklin County, Virginia in 1918, and another version sung by a Julie Boone of Micaville, North Carolina, with a complete version of the lyrics. A version recorded on a wax cylinder around 1929–35 in Durham, North Carolina by James Madison Carpenter can be heard online via the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library website.

Alan Lomax recorded several varying traditional renditions of the song in the southern United States in the 1930s and 40s, including from the traditional singer Texas Gladden. All of these versions differ melodically and lyrically, to varying degrees, from the now popular version.

One of the versions recorded by Lomax was that of the influential Appalachian musician Jean Ritchie, who performed a version in 1949 that had been passed down in her family.

The Ritchie family version is identical to the versions which would later become famous. Due to the melodic and lyrical diversity of other traditional recordings and the fact that Ritchie shared a stage with and directly influenced artists who would later record the song such as The Weavers and Joan Baez, it is likely that the popular version of the song descends from Jean Ritchie's Kentucky family.

Popular versions

The song has been performed and recorded by many artists including Joan Baez, Burl Ives, Regina Spektor, Nina Simone, The Weavers and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Additionally, the song has been adapted into pop songs such as Maurice King's "Hambone", Inez and Charlie Foxx's "Mockingbird" and Bo Diddley's eponymous song "Bo Diddley", as well as Bobby McFerrin and Yo-Yo Ma's "Hush Little Baby" and Eminem's "Mockingbird".

Aretha Franklin, Carly Simon, James Taylor, Etta James, Taj Mahal and Dusty Springfield have each recorded "Mockingbird", which is an R&B variant of the song.

Lyrics

The most common version of the lyrics are:

Hush, little baby, don't say a word,
Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird.

If that mockingbird don't sing,
Mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring.

If that diamond ring turns to brass,
Mama's gonna buy you a looking glass.

If that looking glass gets broke,
Mama's gonna buy you a billy-goat.

If that billy-goat won't pull,
Mama's gonna buy you a cart and bull.

If that cart and bull turn over,
Mama's gonna buy you a dog named Rover.

If that dog named Rover won't bark,
Mama's gonna buy you a horse and cart.

If that horse and cart falls down,
You'll still be the sweetest little baby in town.

There are a multitude of different versions of the song. It has a simple structure consisting of a series of rhyming couplets, where a gift is given to the little baby. In the next couplet, the gift is found faulty in some way, and a new gift is presented. The song continues in this pattern as long as the singer likes; and can come up with new gifts that fit the rhyming pattern. An example of some common couplets used in the transcript of the Target commercial "Strawberry Shortcake" (2004):

(Strawberry Shortcake) Hush, Apple Dumpling, don't say a word,
Sister's gonna buy you a Mockingbird.

And if that mockingbird don't sing,
Sister's gonna buy you a diamond ring.
(She Cries)

And if that diamond ring turns brass...

 To download the easy alphanotes sheet music, look here. Enjoy!

Lyrics:

Hush little baby, don't say a word,

Papa's gonna buy you a mockingbird.

And if that mockingbird won't sing,

Papa's gonna buy you a diamond ring.

And if that diamond ring turns to brass,

Papa's gonna buy you a looking glass.

And if that looking glass gets broke,

Papa's gonna buy you a billy goat.

And if that billy goat won't pull,

Papa's gonna buy you a cart and bull.

And if that cart and bull turn over,

Papa's gonna buy you a dog named Rover.

And if that dog named Rover won't bark,

Papa's gonna buy you a horse and cart.

And if that horse and cart fall down,

You'll still be the sweetest little baby in town!