Big Rock Candy Mountain
158507
225558022
2008-07-14T08:42:09Z
Ground Zero
232133
disambiguation needed -- there were two presidents named Roosevelt; [[WP:DATE]]
"'''Big Rock Candy Mountain'''" is a [[song]] about a [[hobo]]'s idea of [[paradise]] - a modern version of the [[medieval]] concept of [[Cockaigne]], and similar to the fishermen's concept of [[Fiddler's Green]]. It was frequently sung by President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]'s [[New Deal]] Armies, nation-building schemes to employ men during the Great Depression.
The song describes a hobo's vision of utopia, a place where the "hens lay soft boiled eggs" and there are "cigarette trees." The song is also rather ironic and satirical in that it additionally describes mollified versions of things that one wouldn't think should exist in paradise at all, such as police (with wooden legs) and jail bars (made of tin).
==History==
{{Refimprove|date=June 2008}}
The song is generally recognized as a turn of the century hobo [[ballad]] based on ''[[An Invitation to Lubberland]]'', but authorship is also generally attributed to [[Harry McClintock]] since earlier written evidence of the song is not known. As a result, the song's [[copyright]] status is also in dispute. There are secondhand reports that McClintock attempted to enforce a copyright on the song but lost his [[lawsuit]]; in that case the song is in the [[public domain]]. Without further verification it must be assumed that the song is copyright by Harry McClintock.
The song was first recorded in 1928 by [[Harry McClintock]], also known as Haywire Mac. It is probably best remembered for its recording by [[Burl Ives]] in 1949, but it has been recorded by many artists throughout the world. A version recorded in 1960 by [[Dorsey Burnette]] reached #102 in [[Billboard magazine|Billboard]], the biggest success for the song in the post-1954 "rock era".
Sheet music with a copyright date 1928, by Denton & Haskins Music Pub. Co. Inc., 1595 Broadway, New York, N.Y., identify the author as '''Billy Mack'''.
Before recording the song, McClintock cleaned it up considerably from the version he sang as a street [[busking|busker]] in 1897. Originally the song described a child being recruited into hobo life by tales of the "big rock candy mountain". Such recruitment actually occurred, with hobos enchanting children with tales of adventure called [[ghost story|ghost stories]] by other hobos. In proof of his authorship of the song, McClintock published the original words, the last stanza of which was:
:''The punk rolled up his big blue eyes''
:''And said to the jocker, "Sandy,''
:''I've hiked and hiked and wandered too,''
:''But I ain't seen any candy.''
:''I've hiked and hiked till my feet are sore''
:''And I'll be damned if I hike any more''
:''To be buggered sore like a hobo's whore''
:''In the Big Rock Candy Mountains.''"
In the released version this verse did not appear. Sanitized versions have been popular, especially with [[children's music]]ians; in these, the "[[cigarette]] trees" become [[peppermint]] trees, and the "streams of [[alcohol]]" trickling down the rocks become streams of [[lemonade]]. The lake of [[gin]] is not mentioned, and the lake of [[whiskey]] becomes a lake of [[soft drink|soda pop]].
A folk version of the song is included in the [[Gordon "Inferno" Collection]] in the [[Library of Congress]], under the title "The Appleknocker's Lament".<ref>Digital Tradition [http://sniff.numachi.com/~rickheit/dtrad/pages/tiBIGROCK3;ttBIGROCK.html]</ref>
==Recordings==
*In 1986 [[The Beat Farmers]] released a version of the song, featuring a vocal by [[Country Dick Montana]], on their mini-CD ''Glad 'N' Greasy,'' recorded in England in 1985.
*In 1988, renowned photographer and filmmaker [[Robert Frank]] released a feature film entitled ''Candy Mountain.'' The film was written by novelist and screenwriter [[Rudy Wurlitzer]] and starred [[Tom Waits]].
*The song was used in the 1989 movie ''[[Ironweed]]'' and sung by [[Tom Waits]].
*In 2000, inclusion in the popular [[O Brother, Where Art Thou? (soundtrack)|soundtrack]] for the movie ''[[O Brother, Where Art Thou?]]'' brought the song to a modern audience. The version in the film, sung by [[Harry McClintock]], includes the original references to "cigarette trees," "streams of alcohol," and the lake of whiskey as well.
*[[John Hartford]] sang the song in [[Down from the Mountain]], the concert film of music from ''O Brother, Where Art Thou?''
*[[Lisa Loeb]] sang a clean version of the song on her 2004 children's release, [[Catch the Moon]], re-released in 2007.
*The song was used in a 2005 [[Burger King]] commercial, although the lyrics are changed to reference the [[TenderCrisp|food]] being promoted. In the commercial almost all of the promises of the song are shown in detail. [[Darius Rucker]] (of [[Hootie and the Blowfish]]) is shown as a cowboy singing the song. [[Brooke Burke]] also appears in the commercial as a cowgirl.
*The [[United Kingdom|British]] [[anarcho-punk]] band [[The Restarts]] have recorded a version using an early, uncensored version of McClintock's lyrics, but their recording does not include the highly sexualized last stanza, reprinted above.<ref>http://www.restarts.co.uk The Restarts - their cover of BRCM can be downloaded for free here</ref>
*The punk rock band Ashtray re-recorded the song but changed the name to "Punk Rock Candy Mountain" for the Rock 'n' Roll Three Way CD with The Secretions and Final Summation.
==Other uses==
*Shortly after the release of the song in 1928, some local residents, as a joke, placed a sign at the base of cluster of some brightly-colored hills a short distance north of [[Marysvale, Utah]] near [[Fishlake National Forest]] naming it “Big Rock Candy Mountain.” They also placed a sign next to a nearby spring proclaiming it “Lemon Springs.” The [http://www.candymountainresort.com/ Big Rock Candy Mountain Resort] currently sits at the base of the hills and is a major hub in the [http://www.utah.com/offroad/paiute_trail.htm Paiute ATV trail]. <ref>http://geology.utah.gov/surveynotes/geosights/candymtn.htm Info on BRCM</ref>
*The largest exposed rock in the [[South Platte]] rock [[climbing area]] of [[Colorado]] is also called "Big Rock Candy Mountain" because of its colored stripes resembling a [[candy cane]].<ref>http://www.rockclimbing.com/routes/listArea.php?AreaID=2544 Big Rock Candy Mountains (Colorado) climbing area info</ref><ref>http://www.climbingboulder.com/rock/db/south_platte/big_rock_candy_mountain/ More Colorado BRCM climbing info, with pictures</ref>
*One of the peaks in the [[Capitol State Forest]] in [[Washington]] State is named "Big Rock Candy Mountain."
*A mine located approximately 24 kilometers north of Grand Forks, B.C., Canada, is called the "Rock Candy Mine". The mine was developed in the 1920s and is noted for its colorful fluorite and barite crystals.
*In 1943, [[Wallace Stegner]] published an autobiographical novel titled ''The Big Rock Candy Mountain''. He published a further autobiographical work in 1992 entitled ''Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs'', a reference to a line in the song.
*In 1945, [[George Orwell]] parodied this phrase in the book ''[[Animal Farm]]'' with an animal version of [[heaven]] named [[Sugarcandy Mountain]].
*The song is also discussed in depth in the book ''[[The Areas of My Expertise]]'' by [[John Hodgman]], and performed by [[Jonathan Coulton]] in the audiobook.
* In the 1970s, Big Rock Candy Mountain was made into an environmental fairytale, published on an LP intended for children with the namesake and addition songs. It is the story of a goose, a crawdad, a family of rats, a [[whangdoodle]], and two hobos who journey to the fabled mountain in search of a home. There they find Pollution Pete, Cement Sam, and a construction crew damming the rivers, cutting down forests, and turning the mountain into suburbia. The animals steal shovels, paint them with glow-in-the-dark paint, and use them to scare away the crew so that the mountain can be returned to its pristine state.
* In the Cormac McCarthy novel ''[[All the Pretty Horses]]'', John Grady Cole comments on how much the Mexican Tavern keeper loves America by saying "He made that Country sound like the Big Rock Candy Mountains."
*In 1987, the British indie band [[The Motorcycle Boy]]<ref>[http://indie-mp3.net/motorcycleboy/ Big Rock Candy Mountain - The Motorcycle Boy<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> released a single called "Big Rock Candy Mountain". This song has different words and music and is not related to the McClintock version.
*In 1990, [[Jane Wiedlin]] recorded a song with the same title on her album ''Tangled.''
*In 1991, children's sing-along producers created [[Wee Sing Video Series|"Wee Sing in the Big Rock Candy Mountains."]] The video includes a G-rated version of the song.
*In 2000, the Coen Brothers used McClintock's version in the opening credits of ''O Brother, Where Art Thou?''
*Professional Wrestler Hobo Joe uses the song as entrance music.
*The theme song to the TV series ''[[The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack]]'' draws heavy inspiration from this song. In fact, some of the lines in the theme song are lines from this song with a few words changed to include more references to candy (for example, "whiskey drippin' down the rocks" became "sody pop drippin' down the rocks.")
==References==
<!--This article uses the Cite.php citation mechanism. If you would like more information on how to add references to this article, please see http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Cite/Cite.php -->
{{reflist}}
==Further reading==
* Jack Goodman, "Life-Size Model of a Hobo Paradise," ''New York Times'', June 11, 1950, p. 273.
* Ron F. Carlson, "Encounter: Stranded at Rock Candy Mountain," ''New York Times'', Oct. 17, 1976, pp. 29-30.
=North of Marysvale, UT.
*[http://scenicutah.com/south-west/south-west0140.php Photo the BRCM in Utah]
[[Category:1928 songs]]
[[Category:American folk songs]]
[[Category:Burl Ives songs]]
[[Category:Busking]]
[[Category:Harry McClintock songs]]