Editing Alexander's Ragtime Band (section)

== Lyrical implications ==
{{Listen|type=music|filename=Alexander's Ragtime Band - Billy Murray.ogg|title="Alexander's Ragtime Band" (1912)|description=A 1912 [[phonograph cylinder]] by [[vaudeville]] singer [[Billy Murray (singer)|Billy Murray]] which includes the oft-omitted second verse.|pos=right|start=0:03|format=[[Ogg]]}}
{{Wikisourcehas|full lyrics and sheet music}}
Although the 1911 sheet music cover drawn by artist John Frew depicts the band's musicians as either [[white people|white]] or [[biracial]],{{sfn|Hamm|2012|pp=47-48}} Berlin's "Alexander's Ragtime Band"—and his earlier 1910 composition "Alexander and His Clarinet"—employ certain [[idiom|idiomatic expressions]] ("oh, ma honey", "honey lamb") and [[African-American Vernacular English|vernacular English]] ("bestest band what am") in the lyrics to indicate to the listener that the characters in the song should be understood to be [[African-American]].{{sfnm|Furia|1992|1p=49|Hamm|2012|2p=47|Herder|1998|3p=6}}

For example, an often-omitted and [[Wiktionary:risqué|risqué]] second verse identifies the race of Alexander's clarinet player:{{sfnm|Kaplan|2020|1p=41|Herder|1998|2p=6}}

{{Quote|
:There's a [[Larynx|fiddle]] with notes that [[Orgasm|screeches]]
:Like a [[Girl|chicken]]—like a chicken—
:And the [[Phallus|clarinet]] is a [[colored]] [[Gigolo|pet]].{{sfn|Herder|1998|p=6}}}}