@@chopholtz4950 Exactly back then they didn’t really know no better it’s wrong but all of human history not just white people every race and ethnic group of people and religion has done it to one another it’s even going on in China right now with Muslims it’s basically their holocaust
Ikr? It's always fascinating to see the prejudices of a previous time period. It's also funny to see the right-wing snowflakes get upset over the concept of someone performing their own version of these song that represents modern standards.
@@Zulf85 Which is hilarious because the same people do a 180 when you point out how their portrayal of native americans as bloodthirsty and primitive is not accurate, or how the founding fathers owned slaves. They're ok with that stuff being revised, but god forbid they can't sing the n-word in a verse.
Happy to learn, disappointed that it had to be this way. Not that you said this, but never be happy to see and hear how your people were called out of their names.
Of course we should learn about history to prevent it from happening. Should we glorify certain things then? No, but it should definitely not be hidden.
@@DeontjieExactly! Integration requires consideration from all sides involved. No one rolls over and gives up without anything in return and expect the relationship to last long.
As a person of color, not offended by the song at all ,i was very surprised to discover there more lyrics then I'd ever knew about!! Thanks for the story!!
@@KelpyGYT How does this song show history? It is just a racist song, with no purpose. What are we supposed to take away from it? Don't write racist songs?
Sang this in grade school in NYC in the 1950’s. The second verse, as you say, was omitted, and the rest of the song was carefully edited to remove any hint of the narrator’s race. No faux black dialect, no reference to “darkies”, etc. In fact, given what’s known about the attitudes of the day, it’s surprising how few words need to be changed to clean it up to suit modern sensibilities. I never knew the song was about a black man until later in life when I heard versions closer to the original.
@@chewy99. The glory hole thing was right off the Canadian CDC site. After so much controversy by people who actually pay attention, it got pulled. Apparently you limit your research to Candian Broadcast Co, CNN, MSNBC and other places tha selectively feed their sheep, I mean subjects, what strained information necessary to keep the blissfully obedient.
Yes, but not with pride. It must be exposed as something negative, always accompanied by a context explaining why it is something bad and that it should not be forgotten or appreciated.
I'm 70 yrs old and NEVER HEARD this song sung like this and I live in Louisiana. We sang this song always a child, sang to my babies as a put to sleep song. Never have I ever heard this version!!!!!!!
You just dug up a childhood memory I forgot existed, I'm from Poland and we had to learn this song on the recorder at school. The lyrics in the textbook were in Polish and completely innocent, now I feel weird
I'm brazilian and I identify with your comment. Lots of non north american people know this song based on local translations only. I never learnt it on school, but I recognize it from old cartoons and tv shows. In brazilian portuguese, the song even lost the verses about weather and all; it's literally just a man traveling by horse on a road full of bumps and holes.
Same here as a Norwegian. My mom used to sing this to me when I was a child, and it was always one of my favourites. The Norwegian version was written by one of Norway's most beloved (primarily children's) writers, Thorbjørn Egner, and tells the tale of a guy named Ferdinand who does nothing but play his guitar all day and ends up travelling the world trying to make some gold so he and his dear Susanne (with an e) can get married. He tries several different vocations without luck, but finally finds a place his knack for playing the guitar comes in handy: The radio, who happes to be in need of a guitarist. He finally starts making some gold and the two sweethearts can get married at last.
"(...) Jutro będę w Alabamie, no a tam najmilszą mam. O, Zuzanno! Nie płacz, no już dość. Ja jadę z banjo na kolanie, twój z Południa gość". I think it was in 60. - in Polish TV, there was a program with American country music with Polish lyrics.
My grandpa used to sing this to me when I was little, back in the 1960’s, I had no idea where the song came from, and he only ever sung the chorus, so really liked this explanation. And enjoyed hearing it again .
You know given the time, This could have been a lot worse, I was kind of expecting a progression where each verse got increasingly more racist in a comedic manner, but that might just be because I’ve watched too many key and Peele sketches.
Ikr lmao? As someone who isn't part of US culture (UK is close enough though), I'm glad to have heard this version and its story today. If we don't learn from history, we really are doomed to repeat it and make fools of ourselves. Also Key and Peele is some top-shelf stuff.
Ordeath; I agree that one would expect the natural progression of verses to include the “n” world used once or twice more. I think the reason the word was used so frugally is that it wasn’t considered as derogatory (if at all derogatory) as it is now. Thus there was no intent to be “edgy” when he wrote it, that’s just the way people spoke. The Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn books support that idea as well. When did this change occur? I could be wrong but it would seem that it happened post-Civil War during reconstruction when the klan became a real force. The word was coupled with anger and hate thus becoming the vitriolic slur as we know it today. But the initial anger and hate was actually directed towards the Federal government in the south who was trying to ensure the hard won freedoms (to vote) of the CW to which blacks were entitled. Thus it was the Federal Gov, of primarily Republicans (party of Lincoln), trying to ensure those rights, against the klan, primarily Democrats (anti-Lincoln, anti-Rep) who were trying to steal them away. In fact the CW was as much R vs D as it was N vs S (R-N vs D-S). Many people are unaware of all this because they’d rather burn books, tear down statues, block web sites, and silence Twitter accounts. This is the value of understanding history.
Thanks for posting this. I remember this song from watching Bugs Bunny, back in the 80's. I thought I knew all the lyrics. We should present history exactly as it was, without revising it(omitting the n-word, removing phrases, "cleaning" things up etc), to help show how far we've come as Americans over the generations. Unfortunately, too many people use history to dig up issues to divide us. But we need to teach children how to separate the past from the present and judge people on an individual bases (as opposed to judging strangers based on the actions of other people who look like them (who lived in the past and are no longer alive today)).
I understand why the second verse is removed when sung in modern day. But it is important to remember history and understand the true historical meaning of songs. This is a very informative video 👍
Sang this in grade school in the late 70s, never knew it was from a black perspective. As for the contrary lyrics such as so hot i froze to death, I remember a lot of old folk songs had similar absurd lyrics. I thought it was done for humor, not to depict someone as ignorant. But when you realize that black-face was wildly popular for 100 years in the USA, this song is par for the course.
black face was never racist. look at who is condemned for it and who is defended for it? it isn't about race, it is about who does it. creating racial problems by making stuff up.
I vaguely recall learning the censored version of this song in school, and I think the explanation my (Black) music teacher gave was that the "rain" on the night the day he left was a metaphor for the narrator's sorrow over having to leave Susanna to begin with. I don't remember how she explained the freezing hot sun though since that was over 20 years ago.
I always thought it being dry was because all the water had fallen, and been absorbed into he ground, and the "froze to death" was referring to heat shivers you get when too hot.
@@redbullsauberpetronas - it's in our DNA. We were safe in our clans, and everyone in our clan looked similar. Other clans were a threat and looked different. It is basic survival, hard to overcome.
It is art and history in a single song. Of course millions of people neglect the entire lyrics. Even in cartoons, movies, we hear only the nice and permitted lyrics. Thanks for publishing it.
Take a look around and have a think about whether they made mistakes back then compared to now. Attempts to impose equality and end disparate outcomes are leading to societal decline, based on not wanting to repeat "mistakes".
I find the glimpse into true history refreshing and educational, the song has power the way it was written, and it would be a shame to have anyone other than Stephen Foster tell me what I can and cannot hear.
Indeed. It should be shown or listened to in all it's splendor and glory. Everyone needs to know the true history of the dirty maggot-infested country we live in.
People perform the way they want. The author doesn't have sole authority on how a piece of music is to be performed, the performer has that right. You can seek out different performances, like this one, that are closer to the original if you want. Music is the art of giving your own spin to what has come before, no music is truly original
As I recall back in the 1950’s I sang this in music class in one of the many schools that I attended in the North! It was an abbreviated version This is the first time I’ve heard the whole lyrics!
Stephen Foster was a Northerner, living in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, & New York. His only time In the South was during his honeymoon. His music, though meant to depict Southern Culture, was written for Northern audiences who were strangely repelled and attracted to an almost mythical view of the South. This juxtaposition played itself out in Foster’s life as he wrote music for minstrel shows, but also supported abolitionists. I’m sure there’s things we don’t give a second thought to today which in 200 years folks will look back on us with the same confusion. And if we could look into the future, what would seem blatantly hypocritical to us, won’t cause people of the future any guilt at all.
I remember this tune from when I was a kid. While we hear this song and how offensive it is, for its time this song was nothing out of the norm. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone said the same about the rap music we play today in a hundred years.
The problem with leftist, democrats, media and black Americans is you always dig every little thing you can find in the past to use today for your hateful propaganda against the whites for the crimes of their great grand fathers and the few who remained ignorant. We Filipino Americans were enslaved by the Spaniards for over 300 years until 1898 and we as a people were treated perhaps 5 times worse than how black slaves are treated by whites. At that time the antagonism was so intense that it culminated in several very violent and brutal but failed rebellions. But in only less than a decade after the Spaniards left us in 1898 we have stopped hating them and the only evidence of their atrocities are contained in the documents and the books and the writing inside dark prison wall but no longer in our hearts. The Spaniards that stayed in the Philippines mingled with Filipinos and were not constantly assessed about their sins in the past. I know the stories because my great grandfather was a 30 years old Spanish soldier who used undue influence to intimidate and marry my 17 yrs. old great grandmother. We Filipinos surely have so many bad traits but seeking and promoting vengeance for crimes committed against us centuries ago is not one of them.
This is why I prefer contextual information over revision; revision can blind the audience of the actual "taste" of the past, while contextual information gives an understanding of it. I'm one of the few who assumes revision of a finished work as a censorship, no matter the intentions of the people revising it. This is the stance I hold adamantly.
i often speak about "iconic potential" in melody, when discussing music with friends. to me it seems the prevalence of this song, despite it's dark history, is due to the strength of it's melody. it is undeniably iconic. "iconic potential" is immediately palpable in a melody. you know it when you hear it. at least, that's my theory.
@@aljoschalong625 .... Yes, I agree the D/L's are hypocrites, that's so very true, and the D/L's are bad people too.... There are so many older, newer & current "RAP" noise songs with "THE SAME WORDS" as in the words in this fun Country/Folk song, so if the people of today can use the same words, why be sad, angry & miserable over this very old historical song???... So yes, I agree the D/L's are deplorable hypocrites, and very bad people.... and yes, that makes them the INSANE ones, not me... LOL
Yes. I'm 62 and in the gap between my primary schooldays and my son's, the well known nursery rhyme became "Catch a spider by his toe/If he squeals, let him go". About a third of my son's classmates were black or brown.
This song is part of history like many other things - no need to hide or destroy things like this, but use it as a stepping stone for how far we have come over the years.
The things some people say just so they can deflect historical reality that paints things they like in bad light. Crazy how you immediately jumped to "what about [insert]" If you have problems with rap, sure, there might be a discussion that could be had. But why are you bringing up here on this video? What compelled you to mention that? You don't have to become defensive just because a song you liked was found to promote racist stereotypes and make fun of black people. Pointing the finger at black music just make it look like you're looking for a reason to ignore the things presented in the video. Just accept and move on. No need to say this.
just dont forget that those writing and teaching history are fully aware of this fact... this is why history keeps repeating itself! the parts of history that you are not allowed to question are the most important to question!!!
@@ralphbooger4756everyone teaching history will tell u this is bullshit, history cant never be repeated because historical context its always different. Hitler, Napoleon, Caesar or Stalin, all are products of their era and they will never come back
Well I'm a Brit and in my 70's and know this song from way back. Just listened to Neil Young & Crazy Horse's version and bought the album with it on... It's a catch tune and I'm glad I did a search about it. Never knew the true meaning. Just goes to show, the expression "you learn something everyday" hold's true, even when you're 74. Thank you for posting and I've also enjoyed reading some of the comment's.
Every day, (each single) not everyday (which means ordinary, run of the mill), so I guess it's true. You learn something new every day! I am not just out to correct, and it's keeping me from going after all the comments who cry "snowflake" and prefer to bury our dark past.
@@embwee "Bury our dark past" yes, that is exactly what the cancel culture is trying to do! The past is just that, History!! Learn from it, or repeat it!
74 in 5 mths time, and this is the first time I've heard about the history of this song. Always thought it was about a guy headed west to make his fortune. Now they got me wondering about other songs from back then. Yeah, and we sung this in music class. The cleaned up version probably.
You would do better to clean up the current mess in society rather than critical to the point of changing history. It is easy to criticize the past, especially when you don’t hold yourself to the same level of accountability.
There's no point in trying to explain to you how a modern rap song using the word is different from a song from the 1800s using the word. You aren't going to listen, and I'm just happy virtually nobody here bothered engaging you.
@@LuznoLindothere isn't any difference, everyone has free will and are able to say it, no matter WHO or WHAT says it, it is still a hateful word. So you can't possibly prove anything, that word hasn't changed since the 1800s, so the meaning is the same, kinda funny how you say it's not worth it trying to explain so, (because you don't actually have good reasoning) but the fact you commented a comment, while saying it's useless to explain a point, you have that nobody in the comment section, seems to share.
That's always been the strategy, to become the victim of a word, not master it. Many Germans moved into the South in the 19th century. "Neger" is a German word that just means "black."
And also ,"I Dream Of Jeannie", which I think says more about this very sensitive man. Didn't he lose his girlfriend, wife,? and wrote beautifully about that in those two songs? I sing both songs in videos on my RUclips channel as background music for two reasons. One, they're beautiful, and two, they are public domain, meaning royalty free since they're so old, and belong to us all.
I'd argue that his two state songs ("My Old Kentucky Home" and "Old Folks at Home") are more popular than "Beautiful Dreamer," as is "Camptown Races" and "Old Black Joe." Regardless, "Oh! Susanna" is certainly one of his most recognizable tunes.
Stephen Foster was a genius songwriter and was not a racist at all. His songs are full of sympathy for the slaves and he was a northerner, and sympathetic to the abolitionist cause. He should be honored.
Correct, simultaneously we can condemn or morally analyse his earlier sentiments. As long as that's acknowledged, it's pretty simple. It's a product of the day and currently we understand better.
@@AshanBhatoa The word “nigger” was not used as a racial slur in those days. It comes from “negro”, the Spanish word for “black”. Most of the slaves from Africa went to South America, only around ten percent went to the USA. We should not think of Foster’s use of the word as a racial slur any more than we should think of Mark Twain’s use of the word as a racial slur.
Simply being a northerner does NOT make one sympathetic to the abolitionist cause. As a matter of FACT, there is an Ivy League school that is named for a slave trader (Brown University who paid the institution to change its name from Rhode Island College). he got his money shipping slaves and making hugh profits. To be fair, one of his sons, Moses Brown, knew how revolting the slave trade was and became an abolitionist.
@@MrChrisdube No one ever said that being a northerner made you an abolitionist sympathizer. I said that he was a northerner and was sympathetic to the cause of abolitionism. So what’s your point?
@@syourke3 inyour comment, you flippantly remarked he was a northerner; implying that because he was a northerner meant that he was an abolitionist. Fact is, Democrats in the north protected slavery -- for their own greedy reasons. Neither Steven Foster nor Francis Scott Key should necessarily be tarred with the racist label. They were simply products of their time.
I'm surprised this is still on RUclips considering that a lot of people these days want to actually alter history to their liking. Guess what? You can't because it's a total impossibility. Don't like this slice of musical Americana? It's your right not to listen to it.
@@tooleyheadbang4239 This is where its a bit more complex. I understand what youre trynna say but the n word was reclaimed by black people, They are allowed to say it. When they say it, the original intent is “wiped away”
@@owihinape It only becomes 'a bit more complex' if you are a racist trying to justify racism. The idea that it's OK to say 'the N-Word' if you are one, is nothing more than open, clear racism.
I don’t think it’s offensive. It is a piece of history. History isn’t offensive, it is just what it is - history. A musical picture of another time. Censoring does never any good.
@@HTJB60 doesn’t matter it’s history. And when black people call themselves their “bad n word” their hypocrites when they feel offended when other people do it or it appears in very old songs. They should take an example of the American Chinese people for example, they aren’t pussies about anything just because japanese or ya even the white California people treated them like dirt - they got the fuck over it and ya know why? Because every culture has dirt and blood on it’s hands. Just like black people who in fact alongside Arabs sold their own people into slavery and treated themselves much much worse. There aren’t innocent victims in any cultural history. The one who play the innocent victim card are hypocrites- nothing more.
History should not be destroyed and I’m a free speech absolutist. However, I completely understand why they play the edited version for kids in school and on N.P.R. and such.
This is amazing. Thanks for elucidating that. I prefer to understand the racist past and original meanings, and not look away or bury it. Home on the range also has some horrific original lyrics about slaughtering Native Americans. It’s heartbreaking and disgusting, but eyes wide open, we need to understand these things. Thank you.
finally someone acknowledges that we need to explain the meaning behind these kinds of song instead of just censoring the lyrics, not just going "this song isn't offensive wdym i see nothing wrong with it 😡😡". yeah i get you guys' frustration when people are "offended" by a piece of history, but surely you also see a problem with going around saying that this song is completely fine
As a grown up, it has always puzzled me why so many people are "offended" by name calling. If your kid comes to you and says "Freddie called me names"!... what do we say? We say "ignore him"...and yes, that's the best advice. Since when did "sticks and stones" stop being relevant?
No man's an island. This comment may offend you, so don't read it. If you don't mind spreading your hate around, expect some right back at you. If offensive words are said in public, how does someone not hear it? You're a bright one... aren't you?
Yeah, I can remember singing it at primary school on the Isle of Wight in the early sixties. I never realised there was a "troublesome" verse that had been excised.
To translate, as best I can figure out, he seems to be talking about using the telegraph to tell someone he's coming (or else getting on a steamship named the Telegraph). He then observes or causes the electricity to go up in magnitude (sees primitive electric lights get brighter as pressure is building up in the boiler more, generating more electricity, or else he is using a primitive electric control to make the pressure higher in the steam engine). This he says killed 500 people as the steam engine boiler (bullgine) will then catastrophically burst, presumably the thing that does the killing of 500 as in other steam ship accidents. And a horse ran off and he figured he'd die. Presumably as this was for minstrel shows it was intended to be an indication he caused this as he was in a hurry to see the woman, or else the ship was incompetently run, and it was carrying 500+ black people.
Good to hear this. Never knew what it actually was suppose to be. Cancel Culture is destroying history and it should never be forgotten so we don't repeat it.
How is "cancel culture" destroying history when people changed these lyrics at least half a century ago? You can record the past and educate about the past without choosing to repeat the racist lyrics every time you sing the song.
I love all the context you give to the song through the video. Acknowledging how thing were but giving context to it and not glorifying the racism in it
We sang this in primary school in Scotland in the ‘50s. The full lyrics with no redactions. Likewise a song that I think was called Polly Wolly Doodle or something similar where the singer states he “jumped upon a n….. for I thought he was a hoss” I don’t think we became a nation of racists because of it, we were intelligent kids and knew the references were historic. Scotland is a very tolerant multi cultural society these days despite what the Woke Brigade would have us believe.
well scotland did participate in the transatlantic slave trade too so, if anyone considers your nation racists i'm pretty sure it wasn't just because of the songs
@@env0x Yet many Scottish (and English, Welsh and Irish) men served in the Royal Navy--often giving their their lives--in order to suppress the West African slave trade in the 19th Century at a time when the American constitution still protected the 'peculiar institution' and African rulers were more than willing to sell their own people into bondage. Let us also not forget that for centuries before the Atlantic slave trade was established, East Africa had been similarly used to supply slaves to the Arab states, a trade that was not ended in some states until the 1960s (eg Saudi Arabia) with the Mauretania being the final country to criminalise slavery as recently as 2005! Moreover, Britons were themselves frequent targets of slavers being regularly raided by North African traders (the so called Barbary Coast pirates) up to the 19th century. Some estimates put the total number of white Europeans taken as slaves by African traders during this period at well over million. Slavery, as an institution, existed in virtually all societies, whether European, African, Asian or American (including pre-Columbian societies), and at all times. To identify one group as profiting and another as victims one needs to carefully select an historical and geographical window otherwise the results can easily be reversed--victims become oppressors and vice versa. History is rarely as black and white as some might care to paint it...
Fascinating story on this song! Thank you for sharing it with us. When we sang it in elementary school I thought it was trying to make people from the south look stupid, like my mother said they were. Nothing racial. (My mother was prejudiced against the south after being stationed there in the 1940's and observing its racism).
Wow, that was... interesting. But man, I wonder if Foster wanted to omit the second verse or if like it said in the presentation people who sang it wanted to be more lighthearted. Really interesting how songs change like that over time. Very informative video thank you!
We tend to forget that presentism is a modern woke attitude being applied, in this case to a song written almost 200 years ago. I remember playing golf with a dark skinned guy that I had never met before. Setting the tone for the rest of the day he pushed his way to the front of the tee, and announcing he was first by simply saying "N"s up! So the question has to be asked - if blacks can use the word about blacks.........
I see that the title of this says with original racist and offensive lyrics. I hadnt realised I had given someone else authority to decide on my behalf what I should be finding offensive.
I've never heard this version until now, and I don't think most people have. History is meant to be offensive, it's not a pleasant sight or for the people with weak stomachs, history is an offensive piece of human nature, and the only way we learn from it is by knowing it in its likely truth. People against all these things from that time need to realize that, yes, it wasn't right, but it's a part of history, and what's done is done, and cannot be undone. All we can do is learn from its raw offensive form, and try to do better. We shouldn't tear it down or censor all of it just because it's bad, that's how people become weak, when they don't learn about the bad things and that they are bad to begin with, they need to learn, and see it for what it is.
We are flawed creatures and our descendants will judge us for our shortcomings just as we judge those before us. As it should be, but we must have the humility to understand that no one plays life with a stacked deck.
@@josephahner3031 their brain capacity was the same as yours and if you can see it’s wrong then they were way more capable of seeing it as wrong than you are.
@@CavinLee brain capacity yes, but their access to information was vastly inferior. Print newspapers, books ordered by catalogs, and AM radio are vastly inferior to the internet.
do the lyrics reflect any ill treatment/ It is about a man trying to find his woman. Written before the war by a man from Pennsylvania whose only trip to the south was to New Orleans.
I notice that Foster minstrel songs are similar in these ways: They evoke a nostalgia of the South that could be shared by individuals of any color, but then he uses rather broad black dialect to firmly place the singer as a rural southern black. He cements this by usually once in the song by a first-person reference using one of the common terms used to describe blacks of that bygone era, e.g. "Darky" or worse.
The second verse is not “ racist “ . People continue to misuse that word . It may be “ prejudice “ or foul but not racist it the true sense of the word. Nor is it “ indefensible “ . Get out of your safe place . 🙏
If you've ever thought about the lyrics of any number of songs, that this song would stand the test of time is not surprising at all. There's a ridiculous number of songs that have been popular with lyrics that weren't really even appropriate in their own time. If the tune is catchy enough, it doesn't matter much what the lyrics are. Heck, people forget or mishear lyrics so often, it's common to no idea what a song is about. What's really fun is that this phenomenon goes both ways. There's songs that have been about all sorts of regrettable behaviors which were popular in spite of that, and songs that were popular because people thought they were about regrettable behavior. It is what it is.
I was unsure in the second verse what the old word Bullgine was referring to. So I asked ChatGPT if I could translate the second verse to “modern tongue”. I thought you all might like to see what it said: Sure, here's a modernized version of those lyrics: I hopped on the train, went down the river, The electric power surged, caused a fatal shiver. The engine broke, the horse bolted away, I thought it was my last day; Closed my eyes, held my breath tight, Susanna, keep calm, everything's alright. Pretty interesting! Thank you for posting the unfiltered, Unwashed, unsanitized historic version! I was born in 1999 and I’m glad I got a chance to receive this information as it is a part of my oldest memories. Thank you
which is insane considering the time it was written in which would have validated said words a lot more. a lot of humor nowadays is built on shock value in my opinion
Stephen foster is was one of the really great American song writers, may his writings, songs, music be around long after the political correct are earth worms
Growing up in Ohio in the 1960’s-70’s, I’m familiar with the song but never realized the subject of the song was a black man. This is news to me and I don’t have a problem with forgetting it. I don’t want to deny the past but I see no benefit in reveling in it either.
So you’re racist and think people being enslaved and murdered is the same as people rapping about a culture they’re in because of slavery and racism. You don’t have to try to convince everyone you’re not racist. The gig is already up.
@@auburnfan4life589 Racism has nothing to do with this I will have you know the singer was a abolitionist and most comments from Poc I've seen is not being offended
When people carry their feelings on their shoulders is when they become offended ! I was taught not to carry my feeling on my shoulders and to shrug off someone comments that might hurt my feelings ! Foster meant no harm by the lyrics of this song it's just a tune to pass the time of day with ! Let's grow up why don't we !
The hysteria about racism is mostly a white thing. Go anywhere else in the world and you will get racist and xenophobic treatment. Seriously. Racism isn't the biggest problem in the world.
@@ReasonAboveEverything 50 yrs ago I'd agree that racism was mainly a white thing but not today there's as many racist black people as there are whites whoopi is a good example that woman is racists ! But you travel around an listen to some black folk from big cities ! I was taught to love everyone equally an treat everyone equally an I've did that my entire life an and have several black friends I've always respected everyone an treated everyone like I would like to be treated ! But at the same time I don't be walked on either as I don't walk on someone else !
You're obviously white, meaning you don't have sheet to shrug off. Stop pretending that your racial-sadism and satanic-indoctrination (built and NURTURED over a 400 year period) and everything you gained from it and deprived others of, isn't still affecting this country to this very day in a most despicable fashion.
Foster loved the musical style of the southern negro and brought it to the nation, most his music was based on music he learned on southern plantations and a fair bit of his traveling minstrel show was simply songs he had learned from southern blacks (though this one was an original composition). To accuse such a man of racism is really quite absurd, he was probably one of the least racist people of his day.
That line is very reminiscent of a scene from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn where someone was talking about an explosion on a steamship and one character asks "was anyone hurt?" and the answer is "No, ma'am a n--- was killed."
History should be shown as it is, not as how people want it to be.
Exactly
Yeah I agree manigga
@@neon_mossstone9246 you have to use a hard "er" with it to be historically accurate...
Yeah but it's art man it's good melody and it could be a good song only if it's not racists as it was so why not changing for audiences
@@aleksatorbica2890 imagine being a liberal 👁👄👁
This is a perfect example of how music really can really tell a story of a time period.
@@chopholtz4950 Exactly back then they didn’t really know no better it’s wrong but all of human history not just white people every race and ethnic group of people and religion has done it to one another it’s even going on in China right now with Muslims it’s basically their holocaust
Ikr? It's always fascinating to see the prejudices of a previous time period. It's also funny to see the right-wing snowflakes get upset over the concept of someone performing their own version of these song that represents modern standards.
@@Zulf85 Which is hilarious because the same people do a 180 when you point out how their portrayal of native americans as bloodthirsty and primitive is not accurate, or how the founding fathers owned slaves. They're ok with that stuff being revised, but god forbid they can't sing the n-word in a verse.
@kay van oof, some little baby snowflake got upset I see. Hope someone kisses your boo-boos better
You can say that again!
As a black man I am happy to learn the original lyrics, history should be shown to all and not hidden.
Happy to learn, disappointed that it had to be this way. Not that you said this, but never be happy to see and hear how your people were called out of their names.
Of course we should learn about history to prevent it from happening. Should we glorify certain things then? No, but it should definitely not be hidden.
Amen!🙏
Great. I don't mind you calling me names. Sometimes it is a joke, other times I deserve it.
@@DeontjieExactly! Integration requires consideration from all sides involved. No one rolls over and gives up without anything in return and expect the relationship to last long.
As a person of color, not offended by the song at all ,i was very surprised to discover there more lyrics then I'd ever knew about!!
Thanks for the story!!
How is this not offensive? I’ve read dumb comments but this takes the cake. Uncle Tom would be proud of you
i learnt it on piano in like 10 mins lol
You're not even Black
So, you dont get offended by someone trying to offend you. Great, lol. $100 says you think you are a Republican too
“As a person of color” Oh brother…
Thank you for this original version. History should not be wiped out.
it's DECEPTION, not wiped out, but hidden on purpose.
@@francesrude3007 not a good idea even the most evil vile history should be shown as a reminder of what never to repeat
Hiding the TRUTH about the past can only result in repeating it. Tell it, show it. You don't have to agree with it, but don't hide it or lie about it.
@@KelpyGYT How does this song show history? It is just a racist song, with no purpose. What are we supposed to take away from it? Don't write racist songs?
@@krokuke meanwhile Gangsta rap nigga:
Sang this in grade school in NYC in the 1950’s. The second verse, as you say, was omitted, and the rest of the song was carefully edited to remove any hint of the narrator’s race. No faux black dialect, no reference to “darkies”, etc. In fact, given what’s known about the attitudes of the day, it’s surprising how few words need to be changed to clean it up to suit modern sensibilities. I never knew the song was about a black man until later in life when I heard versions closer to the original.
@@wix7657 Go to Canda, where this song will still get you jailed, byt at least current Canadian CDC is promoting 'glory holes'.
@@doraran2138 Wow I just researched that and that is absolutely the one of if not the stupidest thing I’ve heard about…
@@chewy99. The glory hole thing was right off the Canadian CDC site. After so much controversy by people who actually pay attention, it got pulled. Apparently you limit your research to Candian Broadcast Co, CNN, MSNBC and other places tha selectively feed their sheep, I mean subjects, what strained information necessary to keep the blissfully obedient.
Hmm, sounds like northern bigotry against the southern accent to me. For shame, NYC
@@wix7657 Children sing this song all the time even now. The question is, did you sing the original lyrics?
History should never be erased. Even the worst part of history should always be shown.
@derekvanderwoude3407 The problem is... that on the whole, " history is written by the victors". Captain John Price, 22 SAS.
derekvanderwoude3407- Yes, just like Roots the Mini series was an important thing to show.
Yes, but not with pride. It must be exposed as something negative, always accompanied by a context explaining why it is something bad and that it should not be forgotten or appreciated.
@@gus.1997Absolutely
Even though this song may be racist, it’s very catchy, sounds better than most modern music to me
I'm 70 yrs old and NEVER HEARD this song sung like this and I live in Louisiana. We sang this song always a child, sang to my babies as a put to sleep song. Never have I ever heard this version!!!!!!!
I live in Texas and I've heard the original plenty of times
you lived on the moon all your life apparently
You just dug up a childhood memory I forgot existed, I'm from Poland and we had to learn this song on the recorder at school. The lyrics in the textbook were in Polish and completely innocent, now I feel weird
I'm brazilian and I identify with your comment. Lots of non north american people know this song based on local translations only. I never learnt it on school, but I recognize it from old cartoons and tv shows.
In brazilian portuguese, the song even lost the verses about weather and all; it's literally just a man traveling by horse on a road full of bumps and holes.
Same as an Italian
Same here as a Norwegian. My mom used to sing this to me when I was a child, and it was always one of my favourites. The Norwegian version was written by one of Norway's most beloved (primarily children's) writers, Thorbjørn Egner, and tells the tale of a guy named Ferdinand who does nothing but play his guitar all day and ends up travelling the world trying to make some gold so he and his dear Susanne (with an e) can get married. He tries several different vocations without luck, but finally finds a place his knack for playing the guitar comes in handy: The radio, who happes to be in need of a guitarist. He finally starts making some gold and the two sweethearts can get married at last.
Im quite surprised on the global reach this song had. Poland, Brazil, Italy, Norway? Pretty different places. I wonder why honestly
"(...) Jutro będę w Alabamie, no a tam najmilszą mam. O, Zuzanno! Nie płacz, no już dość. Ja jadę z banjo na kolanie, twój z Południa gość". I think it was in 60. - in Polish TV, there was a program with American country music with Polish lyrics.
My grandpa used to sing this to me when I was little, back in the 1960’s, I had no idea where the song came from, and he only ever sung the chorus, so really liked this explanation. And enjoyed hearing it again .
@@theflipbook1280 cry more wokie kid
@@theflipbook1280😂😂
You know given the time, This could have been a lot worse, I was kind of expecting a progression where each verse got increasingly more racist in a comedic manner, but that might just be because I’ve watched too many key and Peele sketches.
Ikr lmao? As someone who isn't part of US culture (UK is close enough though), I'm glad to have heard this version and its story today. If we don't learn from history, we really are doomed to repeat it and make fools of ourselves. Also Key and Peele is some top-shelf stuff.
@Emmanuel Goldstein So nothing wrong with the part where it says he kills 500 black people. Okay.
Ordeath; I agree that one would expect the natural progression of verses to include the “n” world used once or twice more. I think the reason the word was used so frugally is that it wasn’t considered as derogatory (if at all derogatory) as it is now. Thus there was no intent to be “edgy” when he wrote it, that’s just the way people spoke. The Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn books support that idea as well. When did this change occur? I could be wrong but it would seem that it happened post-Civil War during reconstruction when the klan became a real force. The word was coupled with anger and hate thus becoming the vitriolic slur as we know it today. But the initial anger and hate was actually directed towards the Federal government in the south who was trying to ensure the hard won freedoms (to vote) of the CW to which blacks were entitled. Thus it was the Federal Gov, of primarily Republicans (party of Lincoln), trying to ensure those rights, against the klan, primarily Democrats (anti-Lincoln, anti-Rep) who were trying to steal them away. In fact the CW was as much R vs D as it was N vs S (R-N vs D-S). Many people are unaware of all this because they’d rather burn books, tear down statues, block web sites, and silence Twitter accounts. This is the value of understanding history.
The banjos are a-strumming and the drums are a-banging, let's get the boys together and have ourselfs a han....
@@michalC92 WHAT?! IM TALKING ABOUT TIRES!
Thanks for posting this. I remember this song from watching Bugs Bunny, back in the 80's. I thought I knew all the lyrics. We should present history exactly as it was, without revising it(omitting the n-word, removing phrases, "cleaning" things up etc), to help show how far we've come as Americans over the generations.
Unfortunately, too many people use history to dig up issues to divide us. But we need to teach children how to separate the past from the present and judge people on an individual bases (as opposed to judging strangers based on the actions of other people who look like them (who lived in the past and are no longer alive today)).
I understand why the second verse is removed when sung in modern day. But it is important to remember history and understand the true historical meaning of songs. This is a very informative video 👍
yes
Exactly. While I don't think that the original lyrics should be hidden, it makes sense that there is a modern version
I’m not offended or horrified. It’s of its time and still a great tune.
I'd just as soon not hear the full song.
You aren't even of your time
As it was stolen from a Hungarian/Austrian called Josef Gung'l, but of course!
@@dansheffield4021 rude
Sorry, Sister
Sang this in grade school in the late 70s, never knew it was from a black perspective.
As for the contrary lyrics such as so hot i froze to death, I remember a lot of old folk songs had similar absurd lyrics. I thought it was done for humor, not to depict someone as ignorant.
But when you realize that black-face was wildly popular for 100 years in the USA, this song is par for the course.
black face was never racist. look at who is condemned for it and who is defended for it? it isn't about race, it is about who does it. creating racial problems by making stuff up.
I vaguely recall learning the censored version of this song in school, and I think the explanation my (Black) music teacher gave was that the "rain" on the night the day he left was a metaphor for the narrator's sorrow over having to leave Susanna to begin with. I don't remember how she explained the freezing hot sun though since that was over 20 years ago.
I always thought it being dry was because all the water had fallen, and been absorbed into he ground, and the "froze to death" was referring to heat shivers you get when too hot.
Majority of people who are alive today and who have ever lived are racist, it's just natural in-group preference
@@redbullsauberpetronas - it's in our DNA. We were safe in our clans, and everyone in our clan looked similar. Other clans were a threat and looked different. It is basic survival, hard to overcome.
It is art and history in a single song. Of course millions of people neglect the entire lyrics. Even in cartoons, movies, we hear only the nice and permitted lyrics. Thanks for publishing it.
It’s a catchy tune and is very historical, but the second verse can offend many. It is interesting to learn about the real and raw lyrics.
If one erases the past they are doomed to make the same mistakes.
Don't even got to erase it to make the same mistakes
@@oppressormk2op547 but erasing it makes it 100 times easier to make those mistakes
@@oppressormk2op547 noob
Take a look around and have a think about whether they made mistakes back then compared to now. Attempts to impose equality and end disparate outcomes are leading to societal decline, based on not wanting to repeat "mistakes".
@@shaunpatrick8345 oof, some little boy got triggered today
Wow. 48 years old and a history buff and this is the first I've ever heard this version.
I don't think it's original, but was actually inserted later to cause outrage.
What outrage it's a nice song and there is nothing racist about it
@@janicem9225 Actually it is the 1848 original lyrics
@@randymerlo4070 idiot it’s racist
that's why our education system is so screwed lol
Less offensive than 99% of rap music....
Agreed
True this is
I find the glimpse into true history refreshing and educational, the song has power the way it was written, and it would be a shame to have anyone other than Stephen Foster tell me what I can and cannot hear.
This.
Indeed. It should be shown or listened to in all it's splendor and glory. Everyone needs to know the true history of the dirty maggot-infested country we live in.
- 👴🏻
People perform the way they want. The author doesn't have sole authority on how a piece of music is to be performed, the performer has that right. You can seek out different performances, like this one, that are closer to the original if you want. Music is the art of giving your own spin to what has come before, no music is truly original
I agree. We shouldn't forget that these people were horrible racists and omitting the facts doesn't change the truth
I remember singing this as a child. I learned it in elementary school. It's part of history.
what you do when n word part
@@Thorowitzrobably was cut out
And you sang the altered version that tries to hide the racism of its history.
@@Thorowitz
Just sing it?? Lol
It's fine to say nword in songs
The whole point of the song... @@Thorowitz
As I recall back in the 1950’s I sang this in music class in one of the many schools that I attended in the North! It was an abbreviated version This is the first time I’ve heard the whole lyrics!
Stephen Foster was a Northerner, living in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, & New York. His only time In the South was during his honeymoon.
His music, though meant to depict Southern Culture, was written for Northern audiences who were strangely repelled and attracted to an almost mythical view of the South. This juxtaposition played itself out in Foster’s life as he wrote music for minstrel shows, but also supported abolitionists.
I’m sure there’s things we don’t give a second thought to today which in 200 years folks will look back on us with the same confusion. And if we could look into the future, what would seem blatantly hypocritical to us, won’t cause people of the future any guilt at all.
bro how old are you 80??
71 💀
@@ojmikey ageist.
1:01 "uh sir the line was pain was growing bigger"
I remember this tune from when I was a kid. While we hear this song and how offensive it is, for its time this song was nothing out of the norm. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone said the same about the rap music we play today in a hundred years.
drugs gangbanging and murder is fine, but a song about old dan tucker
The problem with leftist, democrats, media and black Americans is you always dig every little thing you can find in the past to use today for your hateful propaganda against the whites for the crimes of their great grand fathers and the few who remained ignorant.
We Filipino Americans were enslaved by the Spaniards for over 300 years until 1898 and we as a people were treated perhaps 5 times worse than how black slaves are treated by whites. At that time the antagonism was so intense that it culminated in several very violent and brutal but failed rebellions. But in only less than a decade after the Spaniards left us in 1898 we have stopped hating them and the only evidence of their atrocities are contained in the documents and the books and the writing inside dark prison wall but no longer in our hearts. The Spaniards that stayed in the Philippines mingled with Filipinos and were not constantly assessed about their sins in the past. I know the stories because my great grandfather was a 30 years old Spanish soldier who used undue influence to intimidate and marry my 17 yrs. old great grandmother.
We Filipinos surely have so many bad traits but seeking and promoting vengeance for crimes committed against us centuries ago is not one of them.
I don't consider "rap," music.
@@masondixon2675 line
Nobody is gonna give a rat's ass about rap 100 years from now.
This is why I prefer contextual information over revision; revision can blind the audience of the actual "taste" of the past, while contextual information gives an understanding of it.
I'm one of the few who assumes revision of a finished work as a censorship, no matter the intentions of the people revising it. This is the stance I hold adamantly.
There is nothing to be gained and much to be lost by sanitizing history to avoid hurting feelings.
Fuck feelings
Yep. Last time i checked the Constitution guaranteed free speech. Not one word, however, about having the right not to have your feelings hurt.
@@TheBrooklynbodine spoken like a man who's never received any injustice for his race
@@a.verosa8228 but... but muh feelins
@@a.verosa8228 hey I'm black and have experienced racism and I agree with Gary plus this song is really funny and nice
i often speak about "iconic potential" in melody, when discussing music with friends.
to me it seems the prevalence of this song, despite it's dark history, is due to the strength of it's melody.
it is undeniably iconic. "iconic potential" is immediately palpable in a melody. you know it when you hear it. at least, that's my theory.
that's my theory... a Music Theory
@@signbear999 thanks for reading
I can remember singing this in elementary school, but I’m sure they removed that second verse - at least I hope - it was the 70’s…
The second verse was cute... Why remove anything? You must be a Dem/Lib... LOL
@@fkthedemlibscum7026 I'm sorry to hear you're insane.
@@aljoschalong625 .... Yes, I agree the D/L's are hypocrites, that's so very true, and the D/L's are bad people too.... There are so many older, newer & current "RAP" noise songs with "THE SAME WORDS" as in the words in this fun Country/Folk song, so if the people of today can use the same words, why be sad, angry & miserable over this very old historical song???... So yes, I agree the D/L's are deplorable hypocrites, and very bad people.... and yes, that makes them the INSANE ones, not me... LOL
Yes. I'm 62 and in the gap between my primary schooldays and my son's, the well known nursery rhyme became "Catch a spider by his toe/If he squeals, let him go". About a third of my son's classmates were black or brown.
@@Oprey22 I'm 59, and it was "Catch a TIGER by the toe."
OMG!! I am 80 yrs old( in Nov.) this is the 1st time I ever heard these lyrics. I actually brought tears to my eyes. Thank you for posting this.
Happy birthday to you... Happy birthday to you...
Why did it bring tears to your eyes
@@Hclann1 because i sang this to my children when they were little, and the lyrics were hidden, and it's racial.
@@Hclann1 and also it's PURPOSELY HIDDEN to DECEIVE, as I stated in another comment.
@@francesrude3007 well that’s your opinion, you may be right, but you may also be wrong and should consider that.
This is a good representation of how music can tell a story. There can be so much history behind a song.
This song is part of history like many other things - no need to hide or destroy things like this, but use it as a stepping stone for how far we have come over the years.
Heard a modern rap far more offensive than this.
Every single rap song is more 'offensive' than this yet the traitors call it all normal
Certain people today: *insert cookie cutter song about murdering friends and family for drug money and abusing women* “wow this is a banger”
The things some people say just so they can deflect historical reality that paints things they like in bad light. Crazy how you immediately jumped to "what about [insert]"
If you have problems with rap, sure, there might be a discussion that could be had. But why are you bringing up here on this video? What compelled you to mention that? You don't have to become defensive just because a song you liked was found to promote racist stereotypes and make fun of black people. Pointing the finger at black music just make it look like you're looking for a reason to ignore the things presented in the video. Just accept and move on. No need to say this.
@@vanity1602 why are you soo salty?
FR real this sings says words but dies''t glorify drug idealizing and murder, America is a joke nowadays
Those who forget history tend to repeat it there's nothing wrong with learning the past
i'm not as worried about the past, as i am, the future
just dont forget that those writing and teaching history are fully aware of this fact... this is why history keeps repeating itself!
the parts of history that you are not allowed to question are the most important to question!!!
history is getting banned@@ralphbooger4756
@@ralphbooger4756everyone teaching history will tell u this is bullshit, history cant never be repeated because historical context its always different.
Hitler, Napoleon, Caesar or Stalin, all are products of their era and they will never come back
Invest in America and vote this November, this will secure our future.
How many songs has the N-word been used in over the past 30 years? Honestly, this is probably the least offensive use of it in a song.
Try being a man first
@@mictianabsterges1313 - Good one.
absolutely not
Facts
Thank you for presenting the original. I had no idea. You can't learn from history if you wipe it out.
Well I'm a Brit and in my 70's and know this song from way back. Just listened to Neil Young & Crazy Horse's version and bought the album with it on... It's a catch tune and I'm glad I did a search about it. Never knew the true meaning. Just goes to show, the expression "you learn something everyday" hold's true, even when you're 74. Thank you for posting and I've also enjoyed reading some of the comment's.
Every day, (each single) not everyday (which means ordinary, run of the mill), so I guess it's true. You learn something new every day! I am not just out to correct, and it's keeping me from going after all the comments who cry "snowflake" and prefer to bury our dark past.
@@embwee "Bury our dark past" yes, that is exactly what the cancel culture is trying to do! The past is just that, History!! Learn from it, or repeat it!
So what's the true meaning.
please explain.
74 in 5 mths time, and this is the first time I've heard about the history of this song. Always thought it was about a guy headed west to make his fortune. Now they got me wondering about other songs from back then. Yeah, and we sung this in music class. The cleaned up version probably.
You would do better to clean up the current mess in society rather than critical to the point of changing history. It is easy to criticize the past, especially when you don’t hold yourself to the same level of accountability.
Still uses the N word 499 less times than your average rap lyric.
There's no point in trying to explain to you how a modern rap song using the word is different from a song from the 1800s using the word. You aren't going to listen, and I'm just happy virtually nobody here bothered engaging you.
@@LuznoLindo Congratulations - You are "virtually nobody." Still just happy smarty-pants?
@@LuznoLindo You screwed up that wordin' pretty bad. You just admitted you're "virtually nobody".
Oh wait 74 people agreed with him
Never met an educated black person who uses the word 'N'.
Real Africans are embarrassed by blacks in the USA.
@@LuznoLindothere isn't any difference, everyone has free will and are able to say it, no matter WHO or WHAT says it, it is still a hateful word. So you can't possibly prove anything, that word hasn't changed since the 1800s, so the meaning is the same, kinda funny how you say it's not worth it trying to explain so, (because you don't actually have good reasoning) but the fact you commented a comment, while saying it's useless to explain a point, you have that nobody in the comment section, seems to share.
This is how you present this stuff. Not hiding anything, but providing a lot of context.
I don't hear anything racist
💯
The trick, when listening to this song, is to remember that "offense" is *_taken,_* not *_given..._*
That's always been the strategy, to become the victim of a word, not master it. Many Germans moved into the South in the 19th century. "Neger" is a German word that just means "black."
An interesting perspective.
An enlightened comment
You are a true philosopher!
We need to take that Obama Nobel peace prize back and give it to you , which is well deserved !
“This was the tunes back in my day 👴🏻”
It is pretty good tho
@@thenotoriousf-a-t4967 fr tho
As popular as this song was, I’d argue that “Beautiful Dreamer “ was his most popular.
And also ,"I Dream Of Jeannie", which I think says more about this very sensitive man. Didn't he lose his girlfriend, wife,? and wrote beautifully about that in those two songs? I sing both songs in videos on my RUclips channel as background music for two reasons. One, they're beautiful, and two, they are public domain, meaning royalty free since they're so old, and belong to us all.
I'd argue that his two state songs ("My Old Kentucky Home" and "Old Folks at Home") are more popular than "Beautiful Dreamer," as is "Camptown Races" and "Old Black Joe." Regardless, "Oh! Susanna" is certainly one of his most recognizable tunes.
Less offensive than most Rap music
"art disturbs the comforted" applies to you.
@@holyfool5605 By your idiot logic you must view this song as an artistic masterpiece.
@@holyfool5605 Lol "art"
@@victorcalleros6347 your restrictive definitions of art is what keeps you from enjoying and creating things.
@@holyfool5605 if you wanna make a point use the full quote "Art disturbs the comforted and comforts the disturbed" rap only does one of those things
I have heard this beat before, never knowing the actual meaning. After learning about it it is very sad.
Rip Tom Roush you and your voice will be missed the best hidden folk singer wished I'd heard of you sooner
“This is my jam” 👴🏻, no but seriously this is good that history is shown as it truly is
Cringe tik tok meme
Thanks for uploading, we love you 💞
Stephen Foster was a genius songwriter and was not a racist at all. His songs are full of sympathy for the slaves and he was a northerner, and sympathetic to the abolitionist cause. He should be honored.
Correct, simultaneously we can condemn or morally analyse his earlier sentiments. As long as that's acknowledged, it's pretty simple. It's a product of the day and currently we understand better.
@@AshanBhatoa The word “nigger” was not used as a racial slur in those days. It comes from “negro”, the Spanish word for “black”. Most of the slaves from Africa went to South America, only around ten percent went to the USA. We should not think of Foster’s use of the word as a racial slur any more than we should think of Mark Twain’s use of the word as a racial slur.
Simply being a northerner does NOT make one sympathetic to the abolitionist cause.
As a matter of FACT, there is an Ivy League school that is named for a slave trader (Brown University who paid the institution to change its name from Rhode Island College). he got his money shipping slaves and making hugh profits.
To be fair, one of his sons, Moses Brown, knew how revolting the slave trade was and became an abolitionist.
@@MrChrisdube No one ever said that being a northerner made you an abolitionist sympathizer. I said that he was a northerner and was sympathetic to the cause of abolitionism. So what’s your point?
@@syourke3 inyour comment, you flippantly remarked he was a northerner; implying that because he was a northerner meant that he was an abolitionist. Fact is, Democrats in the north protected slavery -- for their own greedy reasons.
Neither Steven Foster nor Francis Scott Key should necessarily be tarred with the racist label. They were simply products of their time.
Thank you, been searching original lyrics of famous childrens song.
I'm surprised this is still on RUclips considering that a lot of people these days want to actually alter history to their liking. Guess what? You can't because it's a total impossibility. Don't like this slice of musical Americana? It's your right not to listen to it.
The edited version of this song was and still is everywhere on most of the kid song cds and cassettes i own and in stores
Rap says stuff worse than that on every line
yeah but those arent sung by whites
@@owihinape An offensive term is an offensive term, no matter who uses it.
@@tooleyheadbang4239 This is where its a bit more complex. I understand what youre trynna say but the n word was reclaimed by black people, They are allowed to say it. When they say it, the original intent is “wiped away”
@@owihinape It only becomes 'a bit more complex' if you are a racist trying to justify racism.
The idea that it's OK to say 'the N-Word' if you are one, is nothing more than open, clear racism.
@@tooleyheadbang4239 no it isnt bruh😭
I don’t think it’s offensive. It is a piece of history. History isn’t offensive, it is just what it is - history. A musical picture of another time. Censoring does never any good.
I agree in part because I'm white. I can see why it's offensive to other's. I'm also a Brit, so American History, is just that, American History.
@@HTJB60 doesn’t matter it’s history. And when black people call themselves their “bad n word” their hypocrites when they feel offended when other people do it or it appears in very old songs.
They should take an example of the American Chinese people for example, they aren’t pussies about anything just because japanese or ya even the white California people treated them like dirt - they got the fuck over it and ya know why? Because every culture has dirt and blood on it’s hands. Just like black people who in fact alongside Arabs sold their own people into slavery and treated themselves much much worse.
There aren’t innocent victims in any cultural history. The one who play the innocent victim card are hypocrites- nothing more.
People who feel history isn't offensive are usually not the people who have experienced the sharp end of it.
@@Oprey22 People who do not feel history, both good and bad, are unlikely to truly feel anything real.
As long as you apply the same standards of freedom of choice without censorship to violent or sexually explicit imagery. Do you?
I played Steven Foster in a 1960 fifth grade musical and sang "Oh Susanna" for the entire school but never heard the second verse until now.
My English not very good, but this is my favorite American song. I still try to learn all of the words.
You have great taste
History should not be destroyed and I’m a free speech absolutist. However, I completely understand why they play the edited version for kids in school and on N.P.R. and such.
This is amazing. Thanks for elucidating that. I prefer to understand the racist past and original meanings, and not look away or bury it.
Home on the range also has some horrific original lyrics about slaughtering Native Americans.
It’s heartbreaking and disgusting, but eyes wide open, we need to understand these things.
Thank you.
finally someone acknowledges that we need to explain the meaning behind these kinds of song instead of just censoring the lyrics, not just going "this song isn't offensive wdym i see nothing wrong with it 😡😡". yeah i get you guys' frustration when people are "offended" by a piece of history, but surely you also see a problem with going around saying that this song is completely fine
I hate the word disgusting.
I wanted this history though.
@@deezkacang4713Someone is actually echoing the perspective of a academic. Refreshing.
As a grown up, it has always puzzled me why so many people are "offended" by name calling. If your kid comes to you and says "Freddie called me names"!... what do we say? We say "ignore him"...and yes, that's the best advice.
Since when did "sticks and stones" stop being relevant?
I've been known as German, Schizo and Asian at the same time in school and I don't have neither ancestries nor am I schizophrenic
who cares if its racist or offensive to anyone , don't listen to it if your weak mind has issues
No man's an island. This comment may offend you, so don't read it. If you don't mind spreading your hate around, expect some right back at you. If offensive words are said in public, how does someone not hear it? You're a bright one... aren't you?
My Granddad used to sing this to me as a little girl in 1960s England.
Yeah, I can remember singing it at primary school on the Isle of Wight in the early sixties. I never realised there was a "troublesome" verse that had been excised.
Shit I’ma nigga and this song hot as shit 😂😂😂.. Ain’t no worse than our music today
You aren't a thug, right?
@@TexanChristianConservativelmao
Except the part where this was a white man making fun of black people?
@@TexanChristianConservativethank you for proving that people like you are racist rednecks. Good job!
@@Persun_McPersonson , you don't think that is a two-way street?
They could never make a movie like Blazing Susanna today!
To translate, as best I can figure out, he seems to be talking about using the telegraph to tell someone he's coming (or else getting on a steamship named the Telegraph). He then observes or causes the electricity to go up in magnitude (sees primitive electric lights get brighter as pressure is building up in the boiler more, generating more electricity, or else he is using a primitive electric control to make the pressure higher in the steam engine). This he says killed 500 people as the steam engine boiler (bullgine) will then catastrophically burst, presumably the thing that does the killing of 500 as in other steam ship accidents. And a horse ran off and he figured he'd die. Presumably as this was for minstrel shows it was intended to be an indication he caused this as he was in a hurry to see the woman, or else the ship was incompetently run, and it was carrying 500+ black people.
If you don’t like the song don’t listen to it.. leave history the way it is ..
I’m fine with this song being available. But if it’s something you enjoy, you’re racist.
Good to hear this. Never knew what it actually was suppose to be. Cancel Culture is destroying history and it should never be forgotten so we don't repeat it.
How is "cancel culture" destroying history when people changed these lyrics at least half a century ago? You can record the past and educate about the past without choosing to repeat the racist lyrics every time you sing the song.
@@one_smol_duck stop asking soo many questions, converse with us instead and you''ll recieve answers.
It's like a god damn jumpscare
I love all the context you give to the song through the video. Acknowledging how thing were but giving context to it and not glorifying the racism in it
Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
If you live in a glass house you shouldn’t be throwing stones.
And if you mix metaphors you shouldn’t be varying euphemisms.
I remember Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny singing this song 🎶
Some of the people who left comments here are kinda sus.
It's weird how they seem to only be interested in protecting racist history and nothing else isn't it?
So this is a hate filled song against who exactly?? It's a testament to the human spirit; great song and version!!
Greg
We sang this in primary school in Scotland in the ‘50s. The full lyrics with no redactions. Likewise a song that I think was called Polly Wolly Doodle or something similar where the singer states he “jumped upon a n….. for I thought he was a hoss”
I don’t think we became a nation of racists because of it, we were intelligent kids and knew the references were historic.
Scotland is a very tolerant multi cultural society these days despite what the Woke Brigade would have us believe.
well scotland did participate in the transatlantic slave trade too so, if anyone considers your nation racists i'm pretty sure it wasn't just because of the songs
@@env0x Yet many Scottish (and English, Welsh and Irish) men served in the Royal Navy--often giving their their lives--in order to suppress the West African slave trade in the 19th Century at a time when the American constitution still protected the 'peculiar institution' and African rulers were more than willing to sell their own people into bondage.
Let us also not forget that for centuries before the Atlantic slave trade was established, East Africa had been similarly used to supply slaves to the Arab states, a trade that was not ended in some states until the 1960s (eg Saudi Arabia) with the Mauretania being the final country to criminalise slavery as recently as 2005!
Moreover, Britons were themselves frequent targets of slavers being regularly raided by North African traders (the so called Barbary Coast pirates) up to the 19th century. Some estimates put the total number of white Europeans taken as slaves by African traders during this period at well over million.
Slavery, as an institution, existed in virtually all societies, whether European, African, Asian or American (including pre-Columbian societies), and at all times. To identify one group as profiting and another as victims one needs to carefully select an historical and geographical window otherwise the results can easily be reversed--victims become oppressors and vice versa.
History is rarely as black and white as some might care to paint it...
Think the west is racist? Go to Liberia. You will be happier there they have the American constitution and diversity
Why the hell would you even want to be multicultural? What's wrong with your own culture?
In the USA we aren't multicultural. Just one culture with lots of flavors.
racist and offensive lyris ? hahahahhahahaha
Fascinating story on this song! Thank you for sharing it with us. When we sang it in elementary school I thought it was trying to make people from the south look stupid, like my mother said they were. Nothing racial. (My mother was prejudiced against the south after being stationed there in the 1940's and observing its racism).
Ur joking 💀
Wow, that was... interesting. But man, I wonder if Foster wanted to omit the second verse or if like it said in the presentation people who sang it wanted to be more lighthearted. Really interesting how songs change like that over time. Very informative video thank you!
No one:
14 year olds in COD lobbies: 1:03
lol
real
We tend to forget that presentism is a modern woke attitude being applied, in this case to a song written almost 200 years ago.
I remember playing golf with a dark skinned guy that I had never met before. Setting the tone for the rest of the day he pushed his way to the front of the tee, and announcing he was first by simply saying "N"s up!
So the question has to be asked - if blacks can use the word about blacks.........
I see that the title of this says with original racist and offensive lyrics. I hadnt realised I had given someone else authority to decide on my behalf what I should be finding offensive.
Thanks for posting the original lyrics.
"Oh, Susanna, don't you cry for me
I'll dig n dig for lots of gold- V for Victory!" -Elmer Fudd c.1943
I've never heard this version until now, and I don't think most people have. History is meant to be offensive, it's not a pleasant sight or for the people with weak stomachs, history is an offensive piece of human nature, and the only way we learn from it is by knowing it in its likely truth. People against all these things from that time need to realize that, yes, it wasn't right, but it's a part of history, and what's done is done, and cannot be undone. All we can do is learn from its raw offensive form, and try to do better. We shouldn't tear it down or censor all of it just because it's bad, that's how people become weak, when they don't learn about the bad things and that they are bad to begin with, they need to learn, and see it for what it is.
We are flawed creatures and our descendants will judge us for our shortcomings just as we judge those before us. As it should be, but we must have the humility to understand that no one plays life with a stacked deck.
wonder how 2020----202? will be viewed in a hundred years. A time of destruction.
@@josephahner3031 their brain capacity was the same as yours and if you can see it’s wrong then they were way more capable of seeing it as wrong than you are.
@@CavinLee brain capacity yes, but their access to information was vastly inferior. Print newspapers, books ordered by catalogs, and AM radio are vastly inferior to the internet.
I like how people ‘defending’ this song can’t decide if it’s I) not offensive so it’s fine, or II) offensive and that’s fine
The song is a great reflection of how badly Africans were treated. Don't try to erase. One should know history to not let it repeat again
do the lyrics reflect any ill treatment/ It is about a man trying to find his woman. Written before the war by a man from Pennsylvania whose only trip to the south was to New Orleans.
I notice that Foster minstrel songs are similar in these ways: They evoke a nostalgia of the South that could be shared by individuals of any color, but then he uses rather broad black dialect to firmly place the singer as a rural southern black. He cements this by usually once in the song by a first-person reference using one of the common terms used to describe blacks of that bygone era, e.g. "Darky" or worse.
The second verse is not “ racist “ . People continue to misuse that word . It may be “ prejudice “ or foul but not racist it the true sense of the word. Nor is it “ indefensible “ . Get out of your safe place . 🙏
Guy has great voice
Well that escalated quickly
Oh Susanna, don't you cry.
killed five hundred what?
@@jrexx2841 reduced the crime rate by half
@@Jcaeser187 💀 good dark humour
@@Jcaeser187 💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀
HI , Im from Nepal. When i was child i hear this song first time in he tom and jerry . And still its my one of the best song ever. ❤❤❤
If you've ever thought about the lyrics of any number of songs, that this song would stand the test of time is not surprising at all. There's a ridiculous number of songs that have been popular with lyrics that weren't really even appropriate in their own time. If the tune is catchy enough, it doesn't matter much what the lyrics are. Heck, people forget or mishear lyrics so often, it's common to no idea what a song is about. What's really fun is that this phenomenon goes both ways. There's songs that have been about all sorts of regrettable behaviors which were popular in spite of that, and songs that were popular because people thought they were about regrettable behavior. It is what it is.
The guy in the story/song is black
He referred to himself as "darkie"
So he has the n-word pass
Thankyou for playing this beautiful tune in its original form.
I was unsure in the second verse what the old word Bullgine was referring to. So I asked ChatGPT if I could translate the second verse to “modern tongue”. I thought you all might like to see what it said:
Sure, here's a modernized version of those lyrics:
I hopped on the train, went down the river,
The electric power surged, caused a fatal shiver.
The engine broke, the horse bolted away,
I thought it was my last day;
Closed my eyes, held my breath tight,
Susanna, keep calm, everything's alright.
Pretty interesting!
Thank you for posting the unfiltered, Unwashed, unsanitized historic version! I was born in 1999 and I’m glad I got a chance to receive this information as it is a part of my oldest memories. Thank you
This was quite mild compared to rap music and today's comedians
which is insane considering the time it was written in which would have validated said words a lot more. a lot of humor nowadays is built on shock value in my opinion
Stephen foster is was one of the really great American song writers, may his writings, songs, music be around long after the political correct are earth worms
Racist alert.
May they join the worms sooner rather than later...
"With Original Racist and Offensive Lyrics"
Ah, just my kind of music
gotta respect that title lol
I may German American and a Minnesota yankee but you earned my sub sir.
Growing up in Ohio in the 1960’s-70’s, I’m familiar with the song but never realized the subject of the song was a black man. This is news to me and I don’t have a problem with forgetting it. I don’t want to deny the past but I see no benefit in reveling in it either.
Exactly what I was thinking.
It just baffles me how this song is considered offensive in this day and age and not the modern day hip-hop/rap songs
So you’re racist and think people being enslaved and murdered is the same as people rapping about a culture they’re in because of slavery and racism.
You don’t have to try to convince everyone you’re not racist. The gig is already up.
@@CavinLee 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
@@floriaxonasaphroxilanthopo4904 I mean what did he say that was wrong
@@auburnfan4life589 😂😂 you people are soo brainwashed
@@auburnfan4life589 Racism has nothing to do with this I will have you know the singer was a abolitionist and most comments from Poc I've seen is not being offended
When people carry their feelings on their shoulders is when they become offended ! I was taught not to carry my feeling on my shoulders and to shrug off someone comments that might hurt my feelings ! Foster meant no harm by the lyrics of this song it's just a tune to pass the time of day with ! Let's grow up why don't we !
Racist alert.
The hysteria about racism is mostly a white thing. Go anywhere else in the world and you will get racist and xenophobic treatment.
Seriously. Racism isn't the biggest problem in the world.
@@ReasonAboveEverything 50 yrs ago I'd agree that racism was mainly a white thing but not today there's as many racist black people as there are whites whoopi is a good example that woman is racists ! But you travel around an listen to some black folk from big cities ! I was taught to love everyone equally an treat everyone equally an I've did that my entire life an and have several black friends I've always respected everyone an treated everyone like I would like to be treated ! But at the same time I don't be walked on either as I don't walk on someone else !
You're obviously white, meaning you don't have sheet to shrug off. Stop pretending that your racial-sadism and satanic-indoctrination (built and NURTURED over a 400 year period) and everything you gained from it and deprived others of, isn't still affecting this country to this very day in a most despicable fashion.
Foster loved the musical style of the southern negro and brought it to the nation, most his music was based on music he learned on southern plantations and a fair bit of his traveling minstrel show was simply songs he had learned from southern blacks (though this one was an original composition). To accuse such a man of racism is really quite absurd, he was probably one of the least racist people of his day.
That line is very reminiscent of a scene from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn where someone was talking about an explosion on a steamship and one character asks "was anyone hurt?" and the answer is "No, ma'am a n--- was killed."