Grantville Gazette 43 by Eric Flint

Author:Eric Flint [Flint, Eric]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: a.!.read, a.Author.F
Published: 2012-08-28T13:46:26+00:00

Gloom, Despair and Agony on You

Written by Gorg Huff and Paula Goodlett

"No, no, Johan," Bucky Carpenter croaked. "It's Wabash, not Vabisch."

Johan Faber, the Johan most of the Old Folks' Band called "little weedy Johan who lives in the attic," shook his head at the old man. Bucky Carpenter was failing. That was plainly evident. It was Bucky's voice that had been recorded as lead singer in some of the work they'd done for Trommler Records, but that voice had been pretty thin when they'd started. Now the voice was nearly gone altogether. And Johan was supposed to be the replacement, since he'd been learning banjo from Bucky.

"It's hard to say," Johan said. "I always have to stop and think about it, but you can't stop and think about it when you're singing."

"That does kind of—" Bucky stopped to wheeze. "—interrupt the rhythm."

"You und the band already recorded this one, ja?"

Jerry Simmons spoke up. "Oh, sure. We've recorded just about everything we know, I think."

"Then, it will not matter so much," Johan pointed out. "When we perform at the Gardens, if I say Vabisch, it will be okay. Not perfect, as you would like, but it won't ruin the song."

"Probably not," Huey Jones said. "Heck, we get so much sing-along going that probably half the people in there are saying Vabisch anyway."

****

Weedy Johan . . . well, he didn't think he was all that weedy anymore. He'd just finished a growth spurt when the old ladies had given him the nickname. He was learning English—almost had to, living with the various Old Folks' members—but not everyone in Germany was. And even with his English, some of the songs didn't make a whole lot of sense. "Vabisch Cannonball" was one of them. It was about a world that had railroads, not a world that needed them. He picked up one of the new steel-tipped pens, dipped it in the ink bottle, and began to write.

Vabisch was the first thing he would change because he hated trying to pronounce it. To him, wabash looked like it should be vabisch. How about "The Bamberg Cannonball"? Bamberg was the capitol of the SoTF, after all. And the various railroad companies were already in negotiations with landowners for rights of way to build it. But the lyrics of the various versions of "Wabash Cannonball" weren't much help.

Johan thought about the lines of the song. It seemed as though every up-timer he knew sung it a little differently. He couldn't help but wonder, "Where the heck was New Hampshire?" Curious, Johan got up, went downstairs and looked at the atlas. While he was looking, Bucky came in and looked at him. "Whatcha looking for?"

"I wondered where New Hampshire was."

"Up north. Why?"

"Where are the New Hampshire mountains and why are they green?" Johan asked.

"I gotcha," Bucky wheezed. "It'll help to know where you're singing about. 'Cajun lore' is talkin' about down south, round New Orleans."

Bucky came over and pointed out New Hampshire, New Orleans and the other locations of the song.

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