[Warning: this song contains derogatory racial terms. No hatred is intended. It is presented in its original form as a part of music history.]
a 1877 song about the cakewalk
words by Edward Harrigan
music by David Braham
The sheet music:
Lyrics
- ‘Twas down at Aunty Jackson’s
Dar was big reception
Of high-toned colored people
So full of sweet affection
Such singing and such dancing
We made the ceiling shake
The cream of all de ev’ning was
A walking for dat cake
Chorus
So gently on de toe we darkies step out so
Easy and so gracefully around de room we go
De wenches captivate, we all perambulate
High-toned colored people dar
A walking for dat cake
Duet:
Den all forward four
Just in de gay quadrille
O Lord, how we perspire
No use, we can’t keep still
Oh, please to stop dat music
Oh, do for goodness’ sake
I feel so shy, I’ll really die
A walking for dat cake
- Oh dar was Sister Brownson
How she did hug de groun’
Wid alligator slippers
Dat covered half de town
She wiggled and she waddled
She twisted like a snake
She fell into de washtub dar
A walking for dat cake - Miss Clementina Perkins
De Rev’rend Parson Wingdom
A stepping like a turkey
In Honalulu kingdom
You’d ought to see dem gliding
Dey kept us all awake
Such fashionable sliding dar
A walking for dat cake - Dars Major General Hastings
He was de ladies choice, sir
Dey said his feet was awful
Oh, nuffin’ could be worse, sir
Wid military manner
De prize he’s gwine to take
He slipped on a banana dar
A walking for dat cake
Sung here by Fred Feild: