"Bang Away Lulu" redirects here. For the World War II SOE operative, see Noor Inayat Khan.
"Bang Bang Lulu" is a traditional American song with many variations. It derives from older songs most commonly known as "Bang Bang Rosie" in Ireland, "Bang Away Lulu" in Appalachia,[1] and "My Lula Gal" in the West.[2][6] The form "Bang Bang Lulu" became widespread in the United States from its use as a cadence during the World Wars. The song uses the tune of "Goodnight, Ladies".
All versions concern a woman and her various lovers. The early forms were sometimes very directly crude, violent, or infanticidal.[7] Published versions probably drastically understate the song's popularity,[1] particularly since the first mentions allude to 78[8] or 900[9] additional verses unfit for printing. Robert Gordon, the first head of the Library of Congress's Archive of American Folk Song, included his variants of Lulu among the "Inferno" section which was excluded from the library's general collection for its "bawdy and scatological subject matter".[10]
Sandburg credited many of the verses he knew as derived from the 17th-century Scotch song "Way Up on Clinch Mountain",[12] now usually known as "Rye Whiskey".
...Lulu has an uncle (whoa)
Her uncle's name is Chuck
Every time he's at her house
She'd always want to
Bang bang Lulu
Lulu has gone away
Bang bang Lulu
Lulu is here to stay...[3]
"Bang Bang Lulu" was a 1986 single by the German band Boney M. It was taken from their final album, the 1985 Eye Dance. The single failed to chart, and the group—having disbanded after their 10th anniversary—didn't promote it. It was originally intended for Liz Mitchell to sing, but she found the lyrics vulgar and refused to do it. Instead, Reggie Tsiboe did the lead vocals, backed by session singers Amy and Elaine Goff.
^ abCray, Ed. The Erotic Muse: American Bawdy Songs 2nd ed., p. 173 ff.UIP (Champaign), 1999. Accessed 13 Jan 2014.
^ abLogsdon, Guy. The Whorehouse Bells Are Ringing and Other Songs Cowboys Sing, pp. 154 ff. 1995 reprint of UIP (Champaign), 1989. Accessed 13 Jan 2014.
^ ab"Bang Bang" at Army Study Guide. Accessed 13 Jan 2014.
^ ab"Bang Bang Lulu" at Second Hand Songs. 17 Aug 2007. Accessed 13 Jan 2014.
^ abTalley, Thomas. Negro Folk Rhymes: Wise and Otherwise, p. 131. Macmillan Co. (New York), 1922. Accessed 13 Jan 2014.
^Other titles include "Bang Bang";[3] "When Lulu's Gone"; "Bang Away, My Lulu"; "She Is a Lulu";[4] "She hugged me and kissed me";[5] or versions with the name replaced by Lu Lu, Rosie, Suzie, Lula, & al.[4]
^Lomax, John & al. American Ballads and Folk Songs, §VII. "Cocaine and Whiskey", pp. 182 ff. 1994 reprint of Macmillan Co. (New York), 1934. Accessed 13 Jan 2014.
^ abWister, Owen. The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains, §IX. Macmillan Co. (New York), 1902.
^ abSandburg, Carl. American Songbag, pp. 378 ff. 1927. Accessed 13 Jan 2014.
^An expansion of this verse—as "She hug me, an' she kiss me"—is included among the "Love Song Rhyme Section" of Thomas Talley's 1922 Negro Folk Rhymes.[5]
