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Reading an old thread at Digital Tradition, I stumbled across the claim that the following lyrics are racist:
COTTON-EYED JOE
Way back yonder a long time ago
Daddy had a man called cotton-eyed joe
Blew into town on a travelin' show
Nobody danced like the Cotton eyed Joe.
CHORUS:
Cotton-eyed Joe, Cotton-eyed Joe
where did you come from?
Where did you go?
Where did you come from?
Where did you go?
Where did you come from Cotton-eyed Joe?
Mama's at the window
Mama's at the door
She can't see nothin' but the Cotton-eyed Joe
Daddy held the fiddle,
held the bow
He beat the hell out of Cotton-eyed Joe
Made himself a fiddle,
Made himself a bow
Made a little tune called the Cotton-Eyed Joe
Hadn't oughta been
For Cotton-eyed Joe
I'da been married some forty years ago.
Whenever there's a dance
All the women want to go
And they all want to dance with Cotton-Eyed Joe
Daddy won't say
But I think he know
Whatever happened to Cotton-eyed Joe !
Way back yonder a long time ago
Daddy had a man called cotton-eyed joe
Blew into town on a travelin' show
Nobody danced like the Cotton eyed Joe.
CHORUS:
Cotton-eyed Joe, Cotton-eyed Joe
where did you come from?
Where did you go?
Where did you come from?
Where did you go?
Where did you come from Cotton-eyed Joe?
Mama's at the window
Mama's at the door
She can't see nothin' but the Cotton-eyed Joe
Daddy held the fiddle,
held the bow
He beat the hell out of Cotton-eyed Joe
Made himself a fiddle,
Made himself a bow
Made a little tune called the Cotton-Eyed Joe
Hadn't oughta been
For Cotton-eyed Joe
I'da been married some forty years ago.
Whenever there's a dance
All the women want to go
And they all want to dance with Cotton-Eyed Joe
Daddy won't say
But I think he know
Whatever happened to Cotton-eyed Joe !
I don't see it. Nobody in the thread challenged this claim, and nowit is two years old so I'm certainly not going to. The lyrics "hadn't oughta been" are certainly wrong, by the way: they ought to be "[If it]had not been for Cotton-eyed Joe" which is how they're sung and written elsewhere. This version is a bit different from whichever version lives so deep in my memory that I don't remember where it came from, and also a bit different from the three or so other versions I've noticed in my life: I'm not complaining about that. It is interesting that some versions seem to be the voice of a woman wronged by Cotton-Eyed Joe and some seem to be the voice of a man whose sweetie dumped him for Cotton-Eyed Joe. That point of view switch happens sometimes in these songs.
Anyway, if you can tell me what's racist about this version f this song, I'd be grateful. Of maybe just more uncomfortable. I don't know.
Anyway, if you can tell me what's racist about this version f this song, I'd be grateful. Of maybe just more uncomfortable. I don't know.
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