Clementine Deconstructed
I’ve had this idea for a while but it felt a little dumb. Honestly still is, but I wanted to write something and this idea to dig into a particular happy tone/dark lyrics song stuck with me.
I have broad but not all deep music tastes. In my current main Spotify playlist, Kanye West, Kenny Rodgers, U2, a Mozart aria, and an acapella rendition of a One Direction hit are back to back. More importantly for this post, halfway down the list is the folk song “Clementine/Oh My Darling Clementine.” I’m sure you’ve heard it. If you have not or never really paid attention to it, give it a listen. I particularly like this version. (1) I’ll wait.
Really grim, right? Its not a huge secret that some nursery rhymes have sad origins, such as“Ring Around the Roses” (ashes, ashes, we all fall down..), but the tragedy of Clementine was new to me until recently. It’s a classic nursery rhyme; we sing it to babies to make them sleep! You think you’re sing a folksy song about a lost love to your dear child and BAM, someone is drowning. So I wanted to break down the song a bit and talk about it in detail. So here we go, the commentary you’ve always wanted for “Clementine.”
In a cavern, in a canyon,
Excavating for a mine,
Lived a miner forty-niner,
And his daughter, Clementine.
So far so good. We’ve got a setting (California canyons) and an era (1840s-50s). We have a good imagine in my mind. I do not know a great deal about 49ers(2) but my understanding is that it was a hard life involving eastern transplants moving to gold mining towns and wading in rivers in search of their big break. You hear about the single dudes, not so much the family they dragged out to California. But definitely tough, adventurous folk all around
[CHORUS] Oh, my darling, oh, my darling,
Oh, my darling Clementine,
You are lost and gone forever,
Dreadful sorry, Clementine.
We have our first sign that something is not right. Clementine is lost to him. We can assume the singer is a potential mate, not the aforementioned 49er father, especially in light of what comes later. She could still be alive and just gone from his life, but the “dreadful sorry“ is ominous.
Light she was and like a fairy,
And her shoes were number nine,
Herring boxes without topses,
Sandals were for Clementine.
The highlight here is obviously the shoes. “herring boxes without topses“ is a banger line. I for one am glad I never had to wear boxes as footwear, much less ones that formerly had fish in them. Herring do live in the North Pacific, so we are good on factual accuracy and the vision is unbroken. But, “without topses“? Why not cut a hole in the top of the box? I think I’d rather walk barefoot than shuffle around with a wooden box unsecured to the top. Maybe she has some rope or leather securing her in to make them sandals.
Source: https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/1800s-gortons-water-lily-cod-wood-dovetail-fish-box
Source: Wikipedia
It’s also unclear what “number nine“ refers to here. In context it sounds like a type of herring box, but a little research suggests it could be shoe size. Wanna know how long a Pacific Herring commonly is? 25 centimeters. Guess what shoe size is 25 cm? You nailed it, women's size 9.
[CHORUS]
Drove she ducklings to the water,
Every morning just at nine,
Hit her foot against a splinter,
Fell into the foaming brine.
Clementine is an animal lover, but a little clumsy. I guess its easy to trip when you are wrangling adorable little duckies. I blame the herring boxes more than any splinters. But surely she will be okay. She’s a woman of the American West. A pioneer girl. A regular Laura Engels Wilder. She may be slight, but even fairy-like girls were a tough breed back then. She can handle a little water. But then again, this is no little creek; its a raging stream.
[Chorus]
Ruby lips above the water,
Blowing bubbles soft and fine,
But, alas, I was no swimmer,
So I lost my Clementine.
Clementine is not fine. I repeat, she is not fine. Evidently she tripped deep into the current and she can’t swim. One might question why she is leading ducklings to rapid water, but now is no time to critique our Clementine.
Ruby lips, foaming brine, soft bubbles; the song paints a vivid picture for a nursery rhyme. We have such good details because apparently our singer is there too and watches this happen. I get you’re not a swimmer, dude, but you can’t do anything? Maybe there was nothing to be done. I can’t imagine he wanted to watch the love of his life drown. She can’t swim, he can’t swim, and she’s already underwater and presumably being whisked under and away by the current. The ducks can swim, but they are no help. In the end, Clementine’s dying breath is as delicate as she was.
[Chorus]
How I missed her, how I missed her,
How I missed my Clementine,
Till I kissed her little sister,
And forgot my Clementine.(3)
Oh.
I guess he moved on. I suppose he and the sister had something to bond over: “Remember your sister Clementine? Her ducklings were so cute. Remember how I watched her drown? Yeah, very sad. But now we sneak down to the same foaming brine so no one can hear us make out.” Except even this isn’t true because he’s forgotten her entirely!
Oh, my darling, oh, my darling,
Oh, my darling Clementine,
You are lost and gone forever,
Dreadful sorry, Clementine.(4)
Thus “Clementine” is a tale with a lesson as old as King David: Men are dicks. Or rather, men in the end are guided by their dicks. He(5) can love you, share your hobbies, call you his darling, and even share your last moments. But if your sister is hot…well, your man will move on.
It’s actually not a bad lesson for children. “I know you are only 18 months old my dear daughter, but men ain’t loyal. Also stay away from rivers. And wear proper footwear.“
Footnotes and Addendum
I love Bear McCreary’s rendition.. So haunting. Apparently the singers, Richard Rankin and Sophie Skelton, are actors from the show Outlander and the song appears in that show. A 1940s woman is transported back to 17th/18th century Scotland and participates and falls in love with a Scottish rebel.I watched one episode and didn’t get immediately grabbed, but it seems up my alley. The theme for the show is a rendition of the Skye Boat Song, which is another good folk tune.
This obviously refers to the literal 19th century gold diggers, not the football team. Though I don’t know much about their history either.
The final verse I included is not in the audio track/video that I linked and listen to most. But it’s a great verse and killer twist. There are apparently other verses too, but I haven’t come across a rendition that uses them.
With the added context that he’s already moved on, “dreadful sorry“ in the chorus sounds sarcastic and comes with an eye roll. Like, “Clementine? Oh, I remember her now. I was dreadfully sorry that she died. Anyway, have you met my wife Tangerine?”
Or women, this is an equal opportunity and LGBT-friendly blog. Women partners can be dicks too, presumably.
No idea is original. Doing my brief research I saw that one of my favorite authors, Neil Gaiman, has Clementine thoughts too! See here and here. I guess it’s not a huge surprise, he has a whole book series on American folklore.