The Big Rock Candy Mountains

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"The Big Rock Candy Mountains", first recorded and copyrighted by Harry McClintock in 1928, [1] is a country folk song about a hobo's idea of paradise, a modern version of the medieval concept of Cockaigne. It is a place where "hens lay soft-boiled eggs" and there are "cigarette trees". McClintock said that he wrote the song in 1895, based on tales from his youth hoboing through the United States while working for the railroad as a brakeman. [2] It is catalogued as Roud Folk Song Index No. 6696. [3]

Contents

History

The song was first recorded by McClintock, also known by his "hobo" name of Haywire Mac. McClintock said that he wrote the song, though it was likely partially based on other ballads, including "An Invitation to Lubberland" and "The Appleknocker's Lament". Other popular itinerant songs of the day such as "Hobo's Paradise", "Hobo Heaven", "Sweet Potato Mountains", and "Little Streams of Whiskey" likely served as inspiration, as they mention concepts similar to those in "Big Rock Candy Mountain". [4]

Before recording the song, McClintock cleaned it up considerably from the version he sang as a street busker in the 1890s. Originally the song described a child being recruited into hobo life by tales of the "big rock candy mountain". In later years, when McClintock appeared in court as part of a copyright dispute, he cited the original words of the song, the last stanza of which was:

The punk rolled up his big blue eyes
And said to the jocker, "Sandy,
I've hiked and hiked and wandered too,
But I ain't seen any candy.
I've hiked and hiked till my feet are sore
And I'll be damned if I hike any more
To be * * * * * * * *
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains.

The lyrics of the missing line have not been made public; in the released version the entire verse was omitted. [5]

The song was not popularized until 1939, when it peaked at #1 on Billboard magazine's country music charts. [6] But it achieved more widespread popularity in 1949 when a sanitized version intended for children was re-recorded by Burl Ives. It has been recorded by many artists throughout the world, but a version recorded in 1960 by Dorsey Burnette to date was the biggest success for the song in the post-1954 "rock era", having reached No. 102 on Billboard's chart.

The most famous version has this refrain:

Oh, the buzzin' of the bees in the cigarette trees
The soda water fountain
Where the lemonade springs and the bluebird sings
In that Big Rock Candy Mountain.

Sanitized versions have been popular, especially with children's musicians; in these, the "cigarette trees" become peppermint trees, and the "streams of alcohol" trickling down the rocks become streams of lemonade. The lake of whiskey becomes a lake of soda pop.

Editions

Folklorist John Greenway published the song in his American Folksongs of Protest (1953), redacting only the second to last line. Bowdlerized versions are included in Irwin Silber's Songs of the Great American West (1967) and Alan Lomax's The Penguin Book of American Folk Songs (1964). [7]

A folk version of the song is included in the Gordon "Inferno" Collection in the Library of Congress, under the title "The Appleknocker's Lament". [8]

Recordings

Other renditions

References to the song

Physical locations

Big Rock Candy Mountain in Utah Big Rock Candy Mountain Marysvale Utah 19970724.jpg
Big Rock Candy Mountain in Utah

A cluster of brightly colored hills just north of Marysvale, Utah, near the Fishlake National Forest, is named the "Big Rock Candy Mountain". In 1928, after the song had been released, some Utah residents jokingly placed a sign at the base of the hills labeling it the "Big Rock Candy Mountain", along with a sign next to a nearby spring proclaiming it "Lemonade Springs". The Big Rock Candy Mountain Resort [11] currently sits at the base of the hills offering lodging and an assortment of high adventure activities through Big Rock Adventure. [12] The resort is also a major hub on the infamous Paiute ATV trail. [13] [14]

Other rock formations in the United States have also borrowed the name of the song; the largest exposed rock in the South Platte rock climbing area of Colorado is also called "Big Rock Candy Mountain" because of its colored stripes resembling a candy cane. [15] [16] Additionally, one of the peaks in the Capitol State Forest in Washington State is named "Big Rock Candy Mountain".

In literature

In film and television

In music

Related Research Articles

"An Invitation to Lubberland" was a broadside ballad first printed in 1685. Many believe that it inspired the hobo ballad which formed the basis of the song Big Rock Candy Mountain recorded in 1928 by Harry McClintock. Lubberland is the Swedish name for Cockaigne, land of plenty in medieval myth.

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References

  1. "Victor matrix BVE-46454. The Big Rock Candy Mountains / Mac [i.e., Harry K. McClintock] - Discography of American Historical Recordings".
  2. Harry "Haywire Mac" McClintock- Biography Archived 2021-12-01 at the Wayback Machine , Bluegrass Messengers
  3. "Roud Folksong Index No. 6696". Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  4. Rammel, Hal (1990). Nowhere in America: the Big Rock Candy Mountain and Other Comic Utopias. University of Illinois Press. ISBN   9780252017179 . Retrieved September 23, 2010.
  5. Granade, S Andrew (2014). Harry Partch, Hobo Composer. Boydell & Brewer. p. 205. ISBN   9781580464956 . Retrieved June 21, 2016.
  6. Billboard June 24, 1939, p. 127
  7. DePastino, Todd (2003). Citizen Hobo: How a Century of Homelessness Shaped America . Chicago / London: University of Chicago Press. pp.  88, 286, note 112. ISBN   9780226143781.
  8. "The Big Rock Candy Mountain (3)". Sniff.numachi.com. Retrieved 2013-07-01.
  9. "Through the Woods: An Appalachian Adventure Album" (PDF). Okee Dokee.org (pdf). Retrieved January 16, 2016.
  10. "Harmony Howlette's Wild West Show - Showtape Review". www.showbizpizza.com. Retrieved 2023-12-15.
  11. "Big Rock Candy Mountain Resort". Big Rock Candy Mountain. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
  12. "Big Rock Adventure". Big Rock Adventure. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  13. "ATV Paiute Trail". Visitutah.com. Archived from the original on 2019-02-09. Retrieved 2013-07-01.
  14. Wilkerson, Christine. "Big Rock Candy Mountain - Utah Geological Survey". Geology.utah.gov. Retrieved 2013-07-01.
  15. "Rock Climbing Routes in Big Rock Candy Mountain, South Platte Area". Rockclimbing.com. Retrieved 2013-07-01.
  16. Hansen, Brian. "Big Rock Candy Mountain". Climbing Boulder.com. Archived from the original on December 3, 2008.
  17. "2021 Chevrolet Silverado TV Spot, 'Cat' Song by Harry McClintock [T1]" . Retrieved October 15, 2022 via iSpot.tv.

Further reading