Re: Ping Sherry or Steve T. - OT



MaryL wrote:

"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" <evgmsop@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:bZGdnXx_cNad7qTUnZ2dnUVZ_rPinZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


hopitus wrote:
My home state has a
dumb state song about orange blossoms, since the original, "Swanee
River" was banned as
racist some years ago.....

"Racist"? Maybe I don't remember the lyrics correctly, but I only remember the protagonist "longing for the old plantation and for the old folks (race unspecified) at home".

Here are the lyrics to Stephen Foster's "Old Folks at Home" (more often called "Swanee River"). Notice the stereotypical "pronunciation" and reference to "darkeys."

Old Folks at Home

Way down upond de Swanee ribber,
Far, far away,
Dere's wha my heart is turning ebber,
Dere's wha de old folks stay.
All up and down de whole creation,
Sadly I roam,
Still longing for de old plantation,
And for de old folks at home.

chorus:
All de world am sad and dreary,
Ebry where I roam,
Oh! darkeys how my heart grows weary,
Far from de old folks at home.

All round de little farm I wandered
When I was young,
Den many happy days I squandered,
Many de songs I sung.
When I was playing wid my brudder
Happy was I
Oh! take me to my kind old mudder,
Dere let me live and die.

One little hut among de bushes,
One dat I love,
Still sadly to my mem'ry rushes,
No matter where I rove
When will I see de bees a humming
All round de comb?
When will I hear de banjo tumming
Down in my good old home?

--
MaryL

Well, I'll grant you I didn't remember the full chorus with its "darkies", although the "eubonics" pronunciation is pretty much "deep south America", so far as us northerners are concerned.

If they liked the music, why couldn't they simply change the lyrics slightly? Jerome Kern's "Showboat" is still revived from time-to time, with some of the dialogue and the lyrics to "Ole Man River" altered. (And the show itself is hardly "racist", given the plot.)

.

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