Parents may be assured no child is swallowed herein, though several shoes are lifted suddenly, and one bass trombone behaves with enough authority to frighten timid hens near Popeville after supper or Brainardsville either.
Toe-Bite Shuffle at The Forge
Commodore Sootshake Bellows and the Shatagee Steamboat Players Stir Up Upper Chateaugay Lake
SHATAGEE WOODS MUSEUM OF UNNATURAL HYSTERIA, UPPER CHATEAUGAY LAKE, N.Y., 21 AUGUST 1928.
Dear EDITOR:— Know this Forge well as did every boy who ever loafed near the outlet pretending to be sent on errands. We never stood too long by the old planks as they always had a certain “beat”. Likewise it was very damp & even the frogs seemed to keep time under protest. Can recall the Shatagee Steamboat Players setting up there last Saturday with kettles, bent iron, bass drum, old boiler pipe, and one beeg trombone that Commodore Sootshake Bellows handled as if it were a church organ with brass opinions.
They called the piece Toe-Bite Shuffle though some say Deep State Blues, which title I do not pretend to understand except that it got into the feet quicker than rheumatism. The snare went lazy and sly, the bass came up like wet rope from the lake, and the guitar notes flashed out and disappeared as minnows do when the moon is bad minded. There was also a frog consort much lowered in pitch, whether by nature or machinery I cannot say.
It was reported by old Mose Tupper that the dock learned syncopation during the second strain and was thereafter nipped on the toe by history. This may be so, as several respectable persons lifted their shoes at once. With best wishes from all the local liars and experts— BELZORAM.
P.S. Heard a lecture last Monday on survivals of ancient music in rural districts. I was quite astonished—it seems the old gods may yet be hiding under brass horns, plank roads, &c.
“Toe-Bite Shuffle (Deep State Blues)”
(Beat kicks in—slow snare, humid bass)
[Main Vocal (half-whispered)]
Whispers in de reeds, nips on de toes,
Somethin’ down deep where de black water flows,
Watch ya step, mon frère, don’t wiggle no feet,
De Gitaskog babies, dey lookin’ for meat.
(ghost female voice hums, off-key, left channel only: “toe-bite… shuffle…”)
[Half-rap, low voice, distorted slightly]
Gloria she march wit’ a clipboard held tight,
“Government dreams,” she say, “come out at night,”
Measure ya scream, measure ya fear,
Toe in de lake—dat’s de volunteer.
(random dock creaks and low frog sounds slip in—almost subliminal)
[Hook – Whisper Chant Together]
Toe-bite… shuffle…
Toe-bite… shuffle…
(Short bass dropout — just vocals hanging in air)
[Verse 2 (Soft growl voice)]
Beeg Donnelly wit’ de pickled herring bribe,
“Stick ya foot in, feel dat vibe,”
Raccoon in de shack, got secret files,
Government grin with de crooked smiles.
*(female voice echoes random words behind: “bribe… vibe… smiles… smiles…”) *
[Bridge (dreamlike, almost whispered to self)]
Shack door crack, raccoon stare back,
Little hands, dirty plans,
Scribble in de sand… scribble in de sand…
[Last Hook – Slower, Drowning Feel]
Toe-bite… shuffle… (dragged)
Toe-bite… (shuffle…)
Shuffle… shuffle…
(Final ghostly hum fades into lake ripple sounds. Beat dies like a dying campfire.)
What mysteries of Chateaugay Lake haunt you?