Jenrose and the Kentucky Bootleggers: Music
Long Week in April
(Jenrose and the Kentucky Bootleggers)
This song documents a week in April 2002 that started with a drag king funeral and ended with an outlaw wedding. By the end of the week, I had a new understanding of what the words “family” and “community” really mean.
[DRAG KING TRILOGY 2:]
It was the 12th day of April when I got that telephone call
And down in Columbus they were all pacin' the halls
Miss Si'le said Hey girl, you'd best get on your way
for a king of a woman, she's holdin' her last court today
So I went to the place where her families were all gathered 'round
But I knew in my heart she was gone when my plane touched the ground
So on the 18th of April we dressed in our best suits and ties
Pinned on those blue ribbons, went out to say our last goodbyes
It was the 19th of April the day that we rolled into town
And my heart was achin' for the girl we'd just laid in the ground
When a friend called me up, said The big day's just 2 days away
Gonna be a big family affair out Terrakin way
She said Come on with me, girl, we'll have us a hell of a time
And it'd be just the thing, girl for easin' that troublin' mind
We're gonna raise up some spirits that night, we're gonna kick up some hay
Stand in line, step in time, find our own kind of family way
So we went out that Sunday, out to that old Stamping Ground
And by the time we arrived all the people were gathered around
And they said To the whole family circle that's come here today
Won't you please bear us witness and keep us from losin' the way
They said Please stand beside us in sickness and health, love and pain
And when the deal it was done everyone went in out of the rain
And I smiled to myself as the wedding band started to play:
Stand in line, step in time, redefine the American way
Well some people say a family's just the people who make us at home
Some we inherit, others we choose for our own
Well I think I knew more about family traditions and ways
In that long week in April than all of the rest of my days
Yes I understood more about family traditions and ways
In that long week in April…