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Madame Jeneva

from The Green Eyed by Daisy Chapman

supported by
Oleg Sergeyev
Oleg Sergeyev thumbnail
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about

I was watching a documentary on the gin dens of London and it painted a wonderful picture.

After the fire of London, the moved to the west and those left behind in the wreckage became hooked on juniper berry gin imported from Europe - very potent. It was named Madame Jeneva as 'jeneva' is the Danish for juniper. Other names were 'Mother's Ruin' as there were accounts of mothers selling their babies' clothes in order to buy gin. Another account of such debauchery was that a mother and baby died in a house fire, she failed to wake because of her drunken state.

William Hogarth sketched two images called Gin Lane and Beer Street, which were the inspiration for this song.

lyrics

In the late 1730s the decandent ladies
Fled to the west leaving the rest
In the flame scarred frown of East London town
Where the hookers and bookers reside.

From the embers rose the rookeries
Housing vice and debauchery
And the name of this fever
Was Madame Jeneva


Oh drunk for a penny, dead drunk for two
Clean straw for nothing come celebrate your suffering
Madame Jeneva, she will deceive ya
Slappy Bonita, she will defeat ya


Her juniper berries set many a ladies'
Hearts a flutter, but their souls in the gutter
Back streets of St Giles played host to the smiles
Of the hags with their gin soaked rags.

Ms Eastwick and Miss Dafur
Ransom offspring for liquor
Escape the horrors of Gin Lane
For the labrynth of Mother's Ruin.

William Hogarth sketched the aftermath
Ink to paper some years later
Marking the pity and stench of the city
That the well-to-do left in their wake.

credits

from The Green Eyed, track released February 10, 2009
Daisy Chapman - vocals and piano
Percussion - Tim Smith
Strings - The Stringbeans Quartet

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Daisy Chapman Bristol, UK

Daisy Chapman is an incredibly well-travelled pianist and vocalist who draws influences from the anti-folk world. It’s hard to pinpoint Daisy’s unique style. Every song harbours a dark story of love, lust and loss told through her exquisite voice and piano, with Sue Lord on violin bringing the performance to harmonious ending transcending boundaries and genres. ... more

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