Here is the whole piece, Façade, which runs some 32 minutes in length:įacade by Dame Edith Sitwell and Chamber Orchestra conducted by Frederik Prausnitz on Grooveshark Perhaps, too, something is to be gleaned about late 60s America, around the time the Dead song was composed. From the Dead site, it appears to be pure homage. I leave it to you to make what you will of Hunter's quote of Sitwell. Certainly, "China Cat Sunflower" has long been one of the Dead's most popular tunes. Obviously, the Sitwell piece achieved fame in its own way. I thought about excluding the song because of all this, but it seemed more honest to face up to it and recognize it for what it is and put it out there to consider. Racist lines that are somewhat disturbing today. Racism or because she shared it, Sitwell's verse does have some mildly "Furthermore, either because she was satirizing the upper crust's casual The All Music Guide, in reviewing Façade, says Interestingly, Wikipedia, which goes into a great deal of detail, does not mention her use of ethnic terms.] Through a number of reworkings and even being the basis for a ballet. (with Sitwell reciting the poems, through a megaphone protruding from aĬurtain, to musical accompaniment), it became quite popular, going You can find a great deal of background on it here.Įvidently, after being variously condemned on its initial performance "Trio for Cats and a Trombone" was part of a larger musical piece called Façade, which was something of a scandal when initially performed. [More on the Sitwell, after a bit of investigation. Another source defined the term as a Chinese person living in England. Still, it should be noted even if not meant offensively, ignorance, on anyone's part, is no legitimate defense.Ī couple of databases of racial slurs listed the term as offensive, a couple of others did not it evidently originated as a back formed singular for Chinese in the plural sense, but probably found bigoted popularity in the inability of Chinese people to speak English well, thereby mimicking their pronunciation of English in a derogatory way. Hunter quotes Sitwell directly with "palace of the Queen Chinee," so I attempted to run down the term "Chinee," which gives off a vague sense of the derogatory, though I'm not sure about it in the context of either the poem or song.
Like Wellington, Byron, the Marquis of Bristol,īut he finds fresh isles in a Negress' smiles. Stand Venus' children in their gay frocks. According to the Dead lyric site, Robert Hunter, the Dead's lyricist, mentions Sitwell's influence on the lyrics, with a special mention of the following poem, "Polka":
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