I think it would be interesting if this line from Long Face were an allusion to Tony Jackson's "Pretty Baby."
Tony Jackson was the most popular entertainer in Storyville. Like his mentee Jelly Roll Morton, he sang and played in saloons and brothels. He was also openly gay.
(Not visible here -- his iconic arm garters!)
"Pretty Baby" remains Jackson's most enduring work. The original lyrics were supposedly written about his male partner, but the lyrics were reworked by another party before the song was sold. (Jackson's work was frequently sold for pittance or outright stolen.)
Continued with lyrics below the cut:
Verse 1
You ask me why I'm always teasing you.
You hate to have me call you "Pretty Baby."
I really thought that I was pleasing you,
For you're just a baby to me.
Your cunning little dimples and your baby stare,
Your baby talk and baby walk and curly hair,
Your baby smile
Makes life worthwhile.
You're just as sweet as you can be.
Verse 2
Your mother said you were the cutest kid.
No wonder, Dearie, that I'm wild about you
And all the cunning things you said and did.
Why, I love to fondly recall.
And just like Peter Pan it seems you'll always be
The same sweet cunning little baby dear to me,
And that is why
I'm sure that I
Will always love you best of all.
Chorus
Everybody loves a baby that's why I'm in love with you,
Pretty baby, pretty baby,
And I'd like to be your sister, brother, dad and mother too,
Pretty baby, pretty baby.
Won't you come and let me rock you in my cradle of love
And we'll cuddle all the time.
Oh, I want a lovin' baby, and it might as well be you,
Pretty baby of mine,
Pretty baby of mine.
You can also view the sheet music here.
(Note: Jackson unfortunately never made a recording, but Morton did in an imitation of Jackson's style, and it's a neat bit of history!)
If he existed in the world of IWTV, Jackson likely would have been one of the piano "professors" like Morton playing the Azalea. He would have been one of the voices of Storyville underscoring the earliest days of Louis and Lestat's relationship -- a peak time for their romance, but also a time when the asymmetry of their interracial maker-fledgling dynamic was especially palpable.
On one hand, when imagining this song being used as a serenade from Lestat to Louis, these lyrics could read as a romantic overture (that smile! the curly hair! "all the cunning things you said"!) On the other hand, when Jackson's lyrics are reappropriated to the context of a vampiric maker/fledgling relationship, they could read as smotheringly patronizing. Note too the flattening of the family in that context, all collapsing into the singer ("I'd like to be your sister, brother, dad and mother too.")
If Lestat were intentionally making this allusion here, I think it would be laden with the usual concoction of romantic and concerning elements. (And of course, this is really a question for real human composer Daniel Hart!)
Story - Tony Jackson
Pencils, Colours - Jenny Son
Inks, Letters - HdE
deviantART | Seibertron | TFW2005 | BotTalk
wada sez: For whatever reason, this strip is the first of a set of three Animated strips skipped from Seibertron’s archive, so they don’t have numbers. “Girlie men” was an infamous phrase used by Arnold Schwarzenegger in his political rhetoric, used here to fit hothead!Blitzwing’s voice. Clean inks below.
Tony worked day and night with no rest. He was a watchmaker. He had to make sure everything was perfectly on time. Though he never wore a watch, he knew people who did. He wouldn’t want to disappoint them.
His adopted brothers, River and Forest, worked with him. River was more suited to lift heavy boxes of materials, and Forest enjoyed organizing everything. They worked together nicely, and Tony couldn’t help but smile when they managed to create something new.
At the end of the day, they would say their goodbyes. The two lived in town next to the shop, and Tony lived on the hill with his friends. Some days he wished that his brothers would visit, but it’s hard to climb up a hill so often.
As Tony entered the house, he was greeted by an origami swan flying directly into his face. He caught it as it fell. Shrignold came running after it. “Sorry, Tony. Colin spooked it again.”
Colin, who had been hiding under a table, spoke. “Well so-rry, mister.. uh.. paper.. man. I wasn’t even try-ing to scare it. I just wan-ted to sleep!”
“Under a table?” Tony tilted his head. “Col, you’re not in school anymore, you don’t have to hide under stuff to sleep.”
With a sigh, Colin rolled out from under the table and stood up, nearly falling over. “But I like tables! If you put a blan-ket on it, it’s like a hideout!”
Tony thought for a bit. “You know what? Maybe tables are cool.”
“No, don’t encourage him.” Shrignold put his head in his hands. “I am not dealing with this again.”
“But Shrig,” Colin grinned. “The tables love you!”
Tony nodded. “Maybe you should marry Mx. Table. I hear they like the cold.”
Shrig left and made his way up the stairs. Tony looked to his left and made eye contact with Colin. “So, when do you think the wedding will be?” He smirked.
Tony Jackson performing “Deeper Than The Holler” for Randy Travis.
____________________________
Deeper Than The Holler
Songwriter: Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz
Well, I've heard those city singers
Singing 'bout how they can love
Deeper than the oceans
Higher than the stars above
But I come from the country
And I know I ain't seen it all
But I heard that ocean's salty
And the stars, they sometimes fall
And that would not do justice
To the way I feel for you
So I had to sing this song
About all the things I knew
My love is deeper than the holler
Stronger than the river
Higher than the pine trees growin' tall upon the hill
My love is purer than the snowflakes
That fall in late December
And honest as a Robin on a springtime window sill
And longer than the song of a whippoorwill
From the back roads to the Broadway shows
With a million miles between
There's at least a million love songs
That people love to sing
And every one is different
And every one's the same
And this is just another way
Of saying the same thing
My love is deeper than the holler
Stronger than the river
Higher than the pine trees growin' tall upon the hill
My love is purer than the snowflakes
That fall in late December
And honest as a Robin on a springtime window sill
And longer than the song of a whippoorwill
My love is deeper than the holler
Stronger than the river
Higher than the pine trees growin' tall upon the hill
My love is purer than the snowflakes
That fall in late December
And honest as a Robin on a springtime window sill
And longer than the song of a whippoorwill
