THE COLLABORATIVE ARRANGEMENTS OF ALICE PARKER AND ...

The basses hold a pedal point at mm. 42-45, and continues beyond the scope of this
excerpt. An ostinato in the lower voices is seen at mm. 25-28 in the nonsensical repetition of
“Seeing Nellie, I was seeing Nellie, seeing darling Nellie, I was seeing darling, darling Nellie,
seeing Nellie home.” The fact that the downbeat emphasis shifts from word to word makes it the
more interesting and fun.
#19 Tendency to favor men’s voices over women’s
Again, as in the sea shanty, this arrangement is for men’s voices only.
As in the last example, “What Shall We Do with the Drunken Sailor,” this arrangement
demonstrates musical wit and humor. A considerable number of musical shenanigans are
employed to describe the wild enthusiasm of the youth who is thrilled at the notion of being able
to take Nellie home from Aunt Dinah’s quilting party. For example, the conclusion of the chorus
is suddenly aborted at m. 31; instead, a sentimental 2-measure soliloquy-like phrase is inserted,
which has nothing to do with the song or any of its motives: “There’s no place like home.” This
kind of writing is unexpected, bold, and audacious, and is just the kind of thing that charms an
audience. The bass voice wraps it up and brings us back to reality with the accented words,
“Seeing Nellie home.” Then, in a similar, jarring manner, the melody of the verse, found in the
third voice from the top, is subjected to augmentation in halting, stammering bursts for four
measures in homorhythmic texture. This, of course, is driven by the text, as “on [his] lips a
whisper trembled,” and then it’s off in madcap fashion once again.
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