We learned this song in elementary school. The other day I
was playing it on guitar, getting ready to play it for my granddaughters Molly
and Julia, when I stopped as I realized the words and their full import. This
song was sung far and wide when I was growing up, and in some places it is
still a staple of childhood rhyme schemes. I have no problem with it, as the
children singing it usually have no idea of what the lyrics mean. Some folks even think that the lyrics are two separate songs.
The above live performance by Burl Ives is a bit out of
synch. I could have used another clip, but this one from 1964 shows just how
out of synch most of America was regarding race relations at the same time as the
country was experiencing massive racial unrest. The Civil Rights Act of 1964
had yet to be passed, and the events in Selma, Alabama were still a year away.
Some folks have objected to this songs continued use in
schools due to the racial overtones of the lyrics. The main character is a
slave who tends to his masters every need. Some find that offensive. But listen
more closely and you will realize that this song makes sport of the master’s
dependence upon his servant, which actually plays a small part in his own
unfortunate demise. The last verse is the best, and if you remove the quotation
marks from the epitaph the meaning is completely changed. Instead of an epitaph
it becomes a confession by the young servant.
As the world evolves, changes get made and things get lost.
I hope that the people who object to this song will stop and really hear it for
what it is; it’s a satire about the people who only think that they are in
charge, but haven’t got a clue. If they did, then the blue tail fly could never
hurt them.
“The Blue Tail Fly”
by Elie Siegmeister and Walter F. Kerr
When I was young I used to wait
On my master and hand him his plate
And Pass the bottle when he got dry
And brush away the blue-tail fly.
Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care
Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care
Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care
My master's gone away.
And when he'd ride in the afternoon
I'd follow after with my hickory broom
The pony being rather shy
When bitten by the blue-tail fly.
Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care
Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care
Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care
My master's gone away.
One day he ride around the farm
Flies so numerous they did swarm
One chanced to bite him on the thigh
The devil take the blue-tail fly.
Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care
Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care
Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care
My master's gone away.
The pony run, he jump, he pitch
He threw my master in the ditch
He died and the jury wondered why
The verdict was the blue-tail fly.
Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care
Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care
Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care
My master's gone away.
He lay under the 'simmon tree
His epitaph is there to see
"Beneath this stone I'm forced to lie
The victim of the blue-tail fly."
Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care
Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care
Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care
My master's gone away.
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