Here’s the latest installment of our weekly series, The Language of the Blues, in which author/rocker Debra Devi explores the meaning of a word or phrase found in the blues. To learn even more about what your favorite blues songs really mean, grab a signed copy of Devi’s award-winning book The Language of the Blues: From Alcorub to ZuZu (Foreword by Dr. John) at Bluescentric.com. “One of the wittiest, bawdiest, most fascinating dictionaries ever.” (Reuters)
“Stormy Monday Blues” contains the famous verse:
The eagle flies on Friday
And Saturday I go out to play
The eagle referred to here is the eagle that appears on the back right side of the U.S. dollar bill. The eagle that flies on Friday is the dollar that flies into a working man’s hand when he gets paid on Friday, the money he can use on Saturday to go out and play.
The Eagle Rock was a popular African American dance move performed with the arms outstretched and flapping slowly like wings, while the body rocked side to side, like an eagle in flight. It was incorporated into a dance called, Ballin’ the Jack, which is described in the 1913 vaudeville tune “Ballin’ the Jack” written by Chris Smith (music) and James Henry Burris (lyrics):
First you put your two knees close up tight
Then you sway ’em to the left, then you sway ’em to the right
Step around the floor kind of nice and light
Then you twist around and twist around with all your might
Stretch your lovin’ arms straight out into space
Then you do the Eagle Rock with style and grace.
The Eagle Rock may have been picked up from Native American dances in which dancers mimic the movements of a flying eagle, as was done at the Eagle Rock Reservation in northern New Jersey. Another theory is that it was named after the Eagle Rock Baptist Church in Kansas City, where worshippers were prone to waving their arms and rocking side to side.
As Bessie Smith sang in “Baby Doll” in 1926, a man can make up for a lot by being a good dancer:
He can be ugly, he can be black
So long as he can eagle rock and ball the jack
Songs:
“Baby Doll”- Bessie Smith and Webman
“Ballin’ the Jack”- James Burris and Chris Smith
“Stormy Monday Blues”- T-Bone Walker (Aaron T. Walker)
Video:
T-Bone Walker – “Stormy Monday Blues”
Gene Kelly – “Ballin the Jack”
