Hi everyone,
I hope this is the right place to be asking this question (if not, please feel free to direct me to another subreddit!)
I am a bass player for a small time blues rock band. We mostly do covers in local pubs and bars.
We’ve decided to try and add « Dust my broom » to our playlist the other day. We’re following the ZZ Top version for the most part rather than Elmore James’.
Anyway, last night we had a good laugh when someone asked if anyone knew what “I believe I’ll dust my broom” might mean for real.
People seem to agree on the fact it might simply mean to leave without looking behind. That makes sense in the context of Elmore James’ lyrics talking about cheating.
But I don’t know, the ZZ Top version sounds like there’s a hidden meaning - like you are left alone with nothing else to do but wank because you’ve been dumped haha 😂. According to most lyrics websites, the last verse is “I believe, I believe my time alone” so although it sounds like a transcription mistake, it might be legit. That would make for a funny metaphor.
Fun song to play and listen to anyway.
Could anyone enlighten us? Thanks!
The last line in the ZZ Top version is "I believe my time ain't long", as in "not long for this place".
As I understand it, its about leaving town and ambling on down the ol' lonesome road.
i feel it is more about "my time on earth is not for long" ... meaning live hard, party hard, but don't expect to live too long.
seeing as how Elmore James died when he was only 45, perhaps he was prophetic in somehow sensing his own early demise.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmore_James
Thanks!
Yeah I suspected it was a mistake in the lyrics transcript indeed.
That makes complete sense. It wouldn’t have come as a big surprise if the ZZ Top guys were actually perverting that song though.
it is well known that black musicians, in composing and singing blues songs, often made sexual references in a way that was not too aggressive or obvious, and left open to interpretation.
it seems clear to me here what Elmore James' (composer) intent was, namely a reference to sexual releations.
another example, Little Red Rooster, was a reference to a man's penis. here an early Stones version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYJ0TbS2BPU
here some cultural context and the contention that lyrics were used by black musicians to express otherwise forbidden themes and even fight against racism:
https://blogs.longwood.edu/sarahh/2012/12/01/a-deeper-meaning-to-sexual-euphemisms-how-the-blues-used-sex-to-battle-racism/
I think your interpretation is correct, at least for the original version. Many early blues songs dealt with traveling or leaving the South. Here's a history of the song which goes back to the early 30's:
“I Believe I’ll Make a Change” was first recorded on February 25, 1932, by Aaron and Milton Sparks in Atlanta, Georgia, for Victor Records. Other musicians were to use the song’s melody on their own recordings, including Jack Kelly and His South Memphis Jug Band in 1933 (as “Believe I’ll Go Back Home,”), Josh White (1934), and Leroy Carr with Scrapper Blackwell (934). Other version of “I Believe I’ll Make a Change” continued to appear through 1942, including Washboard Sam’s rendition for Bluebird in 1939. The tune is best known today by the title “I Believe I’ll Dust My Broom,” first recorded to those words by Robert Johnson on November 23, 1936, for the ARC label. Lyric antecedents for the “dust my broom” stanza can be found in songs such as “Mr. Carl’s Blues” by Carl Rafferty with Roosevelt Sykes in 1933 and “Sagefield Woman Blues” by Kokomo Arnold in 1934 for Decca. The “Dust My Broom” version of the song would continue to be played as bluesmen traveled between Mississippi and Chicago. Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup recorded one version in March 1949 for Victor, Johnson protege´ Robert Lockwood cut another in November 1951 for Mercury. Elmore James is the post–World War II musician most identified with “Dust My Broom,” waxing four versions between 1951 and 1962.
Basically it’s an amalgamation of other phrases and no one knows conclusively. It isn’t a saying from that time he just made it up. The Wikipedia on this song does a great job.
I think it just means to make a change. To jump over a broom is part of a marriage ceremony and hitting someone with a broom is like a Muslim throwing their shoe.