Friday, June 11, 2004

I Don't Make This Sh*t Up, People...

In August 1946, Cowboy Copas reached the #4 spot on the country & western charts in 1946 with this little toe-tapper:

Filipino Baby

When the warships left Manila
Sailing proudly o'er the sea,
All the sailor's hearts were filled with fond regret
Looking backward to this island
Where they spent such happy hours
Making love to every pretty girl they met.
When up stepped a little sailor with his bright eyes all aglow
Sayin', "Take a look at my gal's photograph"
Then the sailors gathered round him just to look upon
Her smiling face
And he said, "I love my Filipino Baby."
She's my Filipino baby
She's my treasure and my pet
Her teeth are bright and pearly
And her hair is black as jet
Oh, her lips are sweet as honey
And her heart is true I know
She's my darlin' little Filipino Baby.
In a little rustic cottage in the far off Philippines
Dwells a pretty little maiden all alone
She is thinking of her true love, though he's far across the sea
And her heart beats true for him and him alone.
Then one day he whispered,
"Darlin' I've come back from Caroline
I've come back to claim the only girl I love."
Then that night there was a wedding while the ship's crew gathered 'round
And he wed his little Filipino Baby.


How did I unearth this delightful treasure? I was diligently researching Douglas MacArthur's mistress, Isabel Rosario Cooper, when I found it deep in the mire of this site, which I refuse to actually name for fear of the GC's, aka the "Google Consequences."

Brilliant bloggers like The Wily Filipino could take the time to place this thing in its proper cultural and historical context, providing readers with important information that they could then share with others to create a daisy chain of meaning and knowledge. Me? I'm just rolling my eyes.


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