Jimmy crack corn origin

Warning: We are talking about racism in this article. There is some offensive language below. A little over a week ago, NPR had an illuminating and poignant report on the the racist beginnings of the ice cream truck song.

It regained currency as a folk song in the s at the beginning of the American folk music revival and has since become a popular children's song. Over the years, several variants have appeared. Most versions include some idiomatic African American English , although General American versions now predominate. The basic narrative remains intact. On the surface, the song is a black slave 's lament over his white master 's death in a horse-riding accident. The song, however, is also interpreted as having a subtext of celebration about that death and of the slave having contributed to it through deliberate negligence or even deniable action. When I was young I us'd to wait On Massa and hand him de plate; Pass down de bottle when he git dry, And bresh away de blue tail fly.

Jimmy crack corn origin

By Brett Campbell. The lucky few were handed tiny metal triangles or kazoos to add creative clinks and buzzes to the ensuing cacophany. The rest of us had to sing. Maybe it was. But at least we learned some great songs. We learned songs about the struggles of a tiny spider just trying to make it up a gutter downspout during the pouring rain; or about a twinkling little star that we wondered what it was … um, it was a star. Then we sang about the possible joys of adulthood in learning that our beloved had left us while we slept, only to love another. But the song that I most heavily associate with those days of choruses in the room flanked by miles of glass windows where the hot sun poured in is a song about a blue-tail fly. I always wondered who Jimmy was, why he was cracking corn and what it all had to do with a fly with a blue tail. But the song kind of answered it for me and put my mind at rest. It became popular during the s and has gone through some changes since — mainly in its use of exaggerated slang and racial epithets.

The Tennessee Conservationist. A little over a week ago, jimmy crack corn origin, NPR had an illuminating and poignant report on the the racist beginnings of the ice cream truck song. De poney run, he jump, an pitch, An tumble massa in de ditch; He died, an de Jury wonder why, De verdict was, de "blue tail fly.

.

It regained currency as a folk song in the s at the beginning of the American folk music revival and has since become a popular children's song. Over the years, several variants have appeared. Most versions include some idiomatic African American English , although General American versions now predominate. The basic narrative remains intact. On the surface, the song is a black slave 's lament over his white master 's death in a horse-riding accident.

Jimmy crack corn origin

Recorded by Burl Ives, Pete Seeger and others, Jimmy Crack Corn was certainly a blackface minstrel song, and dates from at least as far back as the s. Unlike many songs performed by blackface minstrels, however, Jimmy Crack Corn - or, 'The Blue Tail Fly' as it is sometimes known - was also popular among African Americans. Big Bill Broonzy recorded it for example. And this might point to a genuine African-American lineage. The lyrics tell the semi-humorous story of a slave-master's demise, told from the point of view of his slave. There is quite a lot of debate about the meaning of the line, 'Jimmy crack corn'. It could, for example, refer to the master cracking his head open, or to the slave being fed on a reduced diet of corn as punishment for his master's death. See this Wikipedia article for a fuller discussion. Jimmy Crack Corn remains a popular children's song. When I was young I used to wait On the master and hand him his plate, And Pass the bottle when he got dry, And brush away the blue tail fly.

Top hot 100

Please help improve this article if you can. Burke Macon , Please help improve the article by adding descriptive text and removing less pertinent examples. Should we change the songs if we know they're offensive? Robert Adams c. Dey laid 'im under a simmon tree, His epitaph am dar to see; Beneath dis stone I'm forced to lie, All by de means ob de blue tail fly. May Learn how and when to remove this template message. But one afternoon, the horse is bitten by a swarm of flies and bucks the master off into a ditch where he died. I don't care. Archived from the original on December 12,

It has been featured in songs, films, and literature, and has become a familiar part of American vernacular. Despite its popularity, however, the origin of the phrase remains a mystery to many.

List of works by Burl Ives. When I was young I us'd to wait On Massa and hand him de plate; Pass down de bottle when he git dry, And bresh away de blue tail fly. Click to share on Facebook Opens in new window Click to share on Twitter Opens in new window Click to print Opens in new window Click to email a link to a friend Opens in new window. By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice. A Time article averred that "instead of Oxford University Press Oxford , The song can be seen as glorifying and poking fun at slave conditions. Medical and Veterinary Entomology. Whose Line is it Anyway? For the most part, schools in the U. Foote Lantern Slide Collection. Scrubs : In the second season's eighth episode, Turk impersonates Neil Diamond singing the song. ISBN This section may contain excessive or irrelevant examples.