"It's mighty sweet, forbidden fruit..."

Kim Nalley

Jazz and Blues Vocalist

(Image from Kim Nally Website)

Two days ago, I posted a link to Oscar Brown's song "The Snake," performed by Al Wilson. Today, I present another Oscar Brown song, "Forbidden Fruit," performed by Kim Nalley. Here are the lyrics:

Forbidden Fruit

Oscar Brown, Jr.

Eve and Adam had a garden. Everything was jake,
Till one day a voice said, "Pardon, miss, my name is Snake.
You see that apple over yonder; if you'll take a bite,
You and Adam both are bound to have some fun tonight.
Go on and eat forbidden fruit.
It's quite a treat, forbidden fruit.
It's mighty sweet, forbidden fruit.
Go ahead and taste it. You don't wanna waste it."

The Lord had said in the beginning, "Everything here's free,
Except that apple. It leads to sinning. Leave that apple be."
But Eve got tempted so she tried it, and as chicks can do,
She teased her man till he decided he'd just try some too.
"Go on and eat forbidden fruit.
It's quite a treat, forbidden fruit.
It's mighty sweet, forbidden fruit.
Go ahead and bite it. Bet you'll be delighted."

I hate to tell you all what followed: the Lord was most upset.
Saw them making love and hollered, "What have you two et?"
And when they made a full confession, the Lord said, "Well, I see.
I'll just have to teach you a lesson about not minding me.
Go on and eat forbidden fruit.
It's quite a treat, forbidden fruit.
It's mighty sweet, forbidden fruit.
You all went and did it. Now you're gonna get it."

The Lord made Eve be Adam's madam, have his kids and all,
Laid some labor laws on Adam, and he made the snake to crawl.
And ever since the days of Eden, this world's been sinful, my!
Nowadays folks are even eating apples in their pie.
Go on and eat forbidden fruit.
It's quite a treat, forbidden fruit.
It's mighty sweet, forbidden fruit.
Go ahead and taste it. You don't wanna waste it.
Go ahead and bite it. Bet you'll be delighted.
You all went and did it, now you're gonna get it:
Forbidden fruit.

Nalley sings a slightly different version -- more or less what Nina Simone sang, I think -- but it's mostly the same words as the Brown original. Nalley, by the bye, is a very talented singer, so click on the link above (or here).

As for Oscar Brown, I know little about him other than what I've read in Wikipedia -- though I was from a very young age familiar with and enamored of "The Snake" -- but if he's truly written 1000 songs, and if they're anything like the quality of "The Snake" and "Forbidden Fruit," then the man is a musical artist comparable to Bob Dylan.

Incidentally, because the song "Forbidden Fruit" has some love-making follow immediately after the eating of the apple, I wondered about a possible debt to John Milton, whose poem Paradise Lost has the same sequence, I asked the opinion of scholars on the Milton List. So far, only Judith Scherer Herz, professor of English at Montreal's Concordia University, has directly replied to that specific question:

I have my doubts about influence. Anyway there was sex before that event if not quite as sexy...

Professor Herz means that Milton put sex in Paradise Lost even before the eating of the forbidden fruit, which is a pertinent point -- though she does acknowledge that the sex makes a stronger impression after the fall in Paradise Lost. Possibly counting for a Miltonic influence is the word "et," noted by John Leonard in the song above and also in Paradise Lost . . . sort of:

Interesting too that Brown uses the spelling "et" ("What have you two et?"). I wonder if there is some memory there of Milton's "she plucked, she eat", where "eat" (for "ate") was probably pronounced "et."

An intriguing point, but I noted that "et" is also Southern dialect for "ate," so we're perhaps no clearer to any strong evidence for influence.

I leave the query to my readers.