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Shame and Scandal in the Family

[ Roud - ; DT SHMSCNDL , SHMSCND2 ; Mudcat 25938 ; Sir Lancelot]

Calypso singer Sir Lancelot wrote Shame and Scandal in the Family for the 1943 horror movie I Walked With a Zombie. The song was originally titled Fort Holland Calypso Song. Sir Lancelot issued his recording of it in the late 1940s. This version was covered by folksingers Odetta and Burl Ives. In 1962, Trinidadian calypsonian Lord Melody wrote new lyrics for the verses while keeping the melody and the chorus. [Wikipedia]

Dallahan sang Shame and Scandal in 2014 on an uncredited bonus track of their first album When the Day Is on the Turn.

Kirsty Potts sang Woe Is Me on her 2015 CD The Seeds of Life. She noted:

In the early 80s I used to sing with Martin ‘Kid’ Boyd’s New Orleans Jazz Band in and around York. Although my repertoire was early blues we had fun finding other songs and this is one which Martin adapted for the band’s setting. Equally Alasdair [Roberts], Anne [Wood] and I had fun with this rendition and you just have to feel sorry for the poor young man with an over-active father but it all comes good in the end!

Buffy Sainte-Marie’s song Johnny Be Fair has a similar plotline.

Lyrics

Kirsty Potts sings Woe Is Me

In Trinidad there lived a family
With much confusion as you will see.
There was a Mama, a Papa, a son who was young
Who wanted to marry, have a wife of his own.

He found a young maiden who suited him nice,
Went to his Papa to ask his advice.
His Papa said: Son, I’ve got to say no,
That girl is your sister, but your Mama don’t know!

Chorus (twice after each verse):
O woe, O woe is me! Too much shame and scandal in the family!

The weeks went by and the summer turned round,
Soon the best cook on the island was found.
He went to his Papa to name the big day,
His Papa looked at him and to him he did say:
You can’t marry that girl, I’ve got to say no,
The girl is your sister, but your Mama don’t know!

Now years went by, the son wished he was dead,
He’d found seventeen girls and he still wasn’t wed.
He’d asked his Papa, he’d always said No!
The girl is your sister, but your Mama don’t know!

He went to his Mama, he bowed his head,
Told his Mama what his Papa had said.
His Mama said, Son you gotta go, man, go!
Your Papa ain’t your Papa, but your Papa don’t know!