A: How are you going to spend your winter holidays? B: This winter I'm going to the countryside to meet my grandparents. A: Do you always go to the country in January? B: No, I go there very seldom. Last time I went to the country two years ago. A: And what do you do there? B: I like to ski and skate. I also like to play snowballs with my friends. A: Can you ski well? B: Oh, yes. Skiing is one of my favourite kind of sport. I have been skiing since my childhood. A: And what do you do in the country when the weather is bad? B: If the weather is bad I prefer to stay at home. I like to read books and drink hot tea with my grandmother. A: How long do you usually stay there? B: I usually go to the country for one week but maybe, this time, I will go there for two weeks. A: Lucky you are. Have a good time.
Bert Williams was the most popular black comedic performer in America at the turn of the 20th century. But his celebrity grew tremendously when he put the songs from his stage show Abyssinia to disc and cylinder. That record included the piece he was best known for, “Nobody.” It’s an upbeat tune whose buoyant arrangement runs perpendicular to its melancholy message of isolation and disappointment, a device that’s since become ubiquitous. The idea at the center of “Nobody” — laughing at the self-deprecation of an unfortunate schlemiel — was what fueled its tremendous success. And having a black man as the song’s tragic protagonist added to its novelty and ultimate comedic longevity, spawning a comic genre where vulnerability and ennui weren’t taboo, but welcome subjects. Released at a time when cylinder recordings were at their apex, Williams became widely known for the song, and he was forced to sing it at essentially every appearance he made, for the rest of his life.
B: This winter I'm going to the countryside to meet my grandparents.
A: Do you always go to the country in January?
B: No, I go there very seldom. Last time I went to the country two years ago.
A: And what do you do there?
B: I like to ski and skate. I also like to play snowballs with my friends.
A: Can you ski well?
B: Oh, yes. Skiing is one of my favourite kind of sport. I have been skiing since my childhood.
A: And what do you do in the country when the weather is bad?
B: If the weather is bad I prefer to stay at home. I like to read books and drink hot tea with my grandmother.
A: How long do you usually stay there?
B: I usually go to the country for one week but maybe, this time, I will go there for two weeks.
A: Lucky you are. Have a good time.
Bert Williams was the most popular black comedic performer in America at the turn of the 20th century. But his celebrity grew tremendously when he put the songs from his stage show Abyssinia to disc and cylinder. That record included the piece he was best known for, “Nobody.” It’s an upbeat tune whose buoyant arrangement runs perpendicular to its melancholy message of isolation and disappointment, a device that’s since become ubiquitous. The idea at the center of “Nobody” — laughing at the self-deprecation of an unfortunate schlemiel — was what fueled its tremendous success. And having a black man as the song’s tragic protagonist added to its novelty and ultimate comedic longevity, spawning a comic genre where vulnerability and ennui weren’t taboo, but welcome subjects. Released at a time when cylinder recordings were at their apex, Williams became widely known for the song, and he was forced to sing it at essentially every appearance he made, for the rest of his life.