Hombres – "Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out)" (1967)

Nobody knows what it's all about

It's too much, man

Let it all hang out

Truer words were never spoken . . . or sung.

  

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“Let it all hang out” is good advice for any situation.

Until now, the official motto of 2 or 3 lines has been MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS.  But as of today, LET IT ALL HANG OUT is also the official motto of 2 or 3 lines.

You don’t have a problem with gnomikogamy, do you?  (“Gnomikogamy: the practice or custom of having more than one motto at the same time.”)

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Speaking of having more than one of something at the same time, do you have a problem with polygamy?  

If so, do you have a problem with all forms of polygamy?  Or do you just have a problem with polygyny?

We commonly use polygamy to describe marriage between one male and two or more females.  Technically, that is polygyny, which is only one variety of polygamy.

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In contemporary society, polygyny is associated with the Muslim religion.

Polygyny

Polygyny is sanctioned by the Quran, and is legal in most Muslim-majority countries as long as the male has the means to support all his wives.  (In some Muslim countries, the male must get the permission of his existing wife or wives before marrying another one.)

India prohibited polygyny by Hindus (but not Muslims) in 1955.  Prior to that, lower-caste Hindus were allowed to have a second wife, but only if the first wife was unable to bear a son.  Hindus from the higher castes who wished to practice polygyny could do so relatively freely.

Many Old Testament figures had more than one wife, and polygyny continues to be practiced by at least some Jews.  But Israel has outlawed polygyny, and polygyny is almost unheard of among mainstream Jews.    

Mormons practiced polygyny for much of the 19th century, but the LDS Church president issued a manifesto prohibiting the practice in 1890.    

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Polyandry – which is marriage between one female and two or more males – is a form of polygamy that’s much rarer than polygyny.

The most common form of polyandry is fraternal polyandry, where two or more brothers marry the same wife.  Fraternal polyandry was most common in Tibet and other Himalayan societies, where arable land was scarce.  

Polyandry

When all the brothers in a family marry the same woman, the family’s land remains intact – it passes as one parcel to the male offspring of that marriage (who also presumably marry the same woman).  If each brother married a different woman and had children, the family’s land would be divided into smaller and smaller parcels.

Having multiple males marry the same woman also limits population growth.  (If seven brothers marry seven different women instead of sharing the same wife, there will likely be a lot more children produced.)

In much of Europe, the problem of keeping the family estate intact was handled not through polyandry, but through primogeniture – the eldest brother inherited the entire estate, while the younger brothers joined the army (and got killed in battle) or became priests or monks (who weren’t allowed to marry).

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By the way, “gnomikogamy” is a word that I personally invented – a “stunt word,” if you will.  But it’s based on real Greek roots, and is less ridiculous than neologisms like “consecotaleophobia” (which is the fear of chopsticks) or “gynotikolobomassophilia” (which is the love of biting a female’s earlobes).

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“Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out)” was released by the Hombres, a one-hit-wonder group from Memphis, in 1967.  

The song’s spoken introduction – “A preachment, dear friends, you are about to receive on John Barleycorn, nicotine and the temptations of Eve” – was borrowed from a 1947 novelty recording titled “Cigareets, Whuskey and Wild, Wild Women” by Red Ingle and His Natural Seven.

B. B. Cunningham, Jr., who was the lead singer of the Hombres, ended up working as a security guard in Memphis.  He was shot and killed while on the job in 2012.  

His brother, Bill Cunningham, was the bass player for the Box Tops, but left the group in 1969 to get a degree in music.  He eventually played bass violin in a number of classical orchestras, and also was a busy session musician.

Here’s “Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out)”:

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