In een oude shanty komt het woord flashman voor. Hoe moet ik dat lezen?

Question

Het is een woord uit de shanty "Can't you dance the polka".

Answer 1

Can't You Dance The Polka   

Oh, shipmates, if you'll listen to me,
I'll tell you in my song,
Of things that lately happened wen I come home from Hong Kong.

To me, way, you Santy,
My dear Any,
Oh, you New York gals,
Can't you dance the polka?

As I walked down beside the docks,
A fair maid I did meet,
Who asked me for to see her home,
She lived in Bleecker Street.

Says I, "My dear young lady,
I'm a stranger here in town,
I left my ship just yesterday
And for Boston I am bound."

Says she, "Then come along with me
Aand you will have a treat,
For you will have some brand, dear,
And something good to eat."

When we got to Bleecker Street,
We stopped at forty-four,
Her twenty so-called sisters
Were a-waiting at the door.

They gave me wine that tasted fine
But went right to my head,
And then they threw their clothes away
And carried me to bed.

When I awoke next morning,
All naked in the dawn,
My clothes and all my money
And my lady friends were gone.

Lord, I don't miss the money
As some other sailors might,
But wish I could remember
If I had some fun that night.

Dit zijn de lyrics van jouw song maar ik kan er geen flashman in ontdekken! But anyway:
Flashman is een imaginair persoon die nogal ruw en onbesuisd door het leven gaat.

Comments

Dat hangt een beetje af van welke versie je hanteert, want er zijn er vele:

4. "My flash man he's a Yankee,
Wid his hair cut short behind,
He wears a pair of long seaboot,
An' he's bosun in the backbull line."
Refrain:

5. "He's homeward bound this evenin',
An' wid me he will stay.
So git a move on, sailor-boy,
Git crackin' on yer way."
Refrain:

6. So I kissed her hard an' proper,
Afore her flash man came,
An' fare-ye-well, me Bowery gal,
I know yer little game.
Refrain:

Maar bedankt voor de vertaling ...

---

Het zou best passen. Misschien anti-held of spookgedaante, je imaginaire tegenspeler.

Answer 2

oudere versie:

Can't You Dance the Polka?
Traditional shanty;
I came down to Bowery one evening in July;
I met a maid who asked my trade and a sailor John said
I then away you Santy, my dear Annie,
Oh, you New York girls, can't you dance the polka?

or
As I walked down on Broadway,
One evening in July,
I met a maid who asked me trade,
And a Sailor John says I.
Refrain:
And away, you santee, my dear Annie,
Oh, you New York girls,
Can't you dance the Polka?

2. To Tiffany's I took her,
I did not mind expense,
I bought her two gold earrings,
An' they cost me fifteen cents.
Refrain:

3. Sez she, "you limejuice sailor,
Now see me home you may."
But when we reached her cottage door,
She unto me did say:
Refrain:

4. "My flash man he's a Yankee,
Wid his hair cut short behind,
He wears a pair of long seaboot,
An' he's bosun in the backbull line."
Refrain:

5. "He's homeward bound this evenin',
An' wid me he will stay.
So git a move on, sailor-boy,
Git crackin' on yer way."
Refrain:

6. So I kissed her hard an' proper,
Afore her flash man came,
An' fare-ye-well, me Bowery gal,
I know yer little game.
Refrain:

7. I wrapped me glad rags round me,
An' to the docks did steer.
I'll never court another maid;
I'll stick to rum an' beer.
Refrain:

Flasman:
Flashman is a 1969 novel by George MacDonald Fraser. It is the first of the Flashman novels.

Plot introduction:
Presented within the frame of the supposedly discovered historical Flashman Papers, this book describes the bully Flashman from Tom Brown's School Days. The book begins with an explanatory note saying that the Flashman Papers were discovered in 1965 during a sale of household furniture in Ashby, Leicestershire. The papers are attributed to Harry Paget Flashman, who is not only the bully featured in Thomas Hughes' novel, but also a well-known Victorian military hero (in Fraser's fictional England). The papers were supposedly written between 1900 and 1905. The subsequent publishing of these papers, of which Flashman is the first, contrasts the previously believed exploits of a (fictional) hero with his own more scandalous account, which shows the life of a cowardly bully. Flashman begins with his own account of expulsion from Rugby and ends with his fame as "the Hector of Afghanistan", detailing his life from 1839 to 1842 and his travels to Scotland, India, and Afghanistan. It also contains a number of notes by the author, in the guise of a fictional editor, giving additional historical information on the events described. The history in these books is quite accurate; most of the people Flashman meets are real people.

flashman wordt naast het boek een "type", een nep-figuur. "As he admits in the Papers, Flashman is a coward, who will flee from danger if there was any way to do so, and on some occasions collapsed in funk. He has one great advantage in concealing this weakness: when he is frightened, his face turns red, rather than white, so that observers think he is excited, enraged, or exuberant - as a hero ought to be."
zie verder http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flashman_(novel)