Oh! Susanna (With Original Racist and Offensive Lyrics)
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- Опубликовано: 27 авг 2020
- A look at the Stephen Foster classic "Oh! Susanna". WARNING: THIS VERSION INCLUDES FOSTER'S RACIST AND OFFENSIVE ORIGINAL SECOND VERSE. This verse is included as a reminder of America's horrible racist past and present. Recorded by Tom Roush.
To completely judge Foster based on these lyrics, however, may be somewhat unfair. While many of his songs were written for minstrel shows and do include troubling lyrics, he was somewhat a product of his time and he made great efforts later in his career to remove any racist imagery and content from his music. He was also a strong proponent of abolition.
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 👁👄👁
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.
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
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…
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!
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:
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😂😂
0:59 most replayed 💀
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.
I am British and I can remember singing this a primary school in the 1980s. If any teacher had children sing this song now they would be serving a jail sentence!
It’s sad how times have changed in such a short time!😔
@@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
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!
Less offensive than most Rap music
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.
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
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.
I’m a black man (65) and all while I was growing up and old, I have sung the song and never heard the verses as sung in this video. My response? So what! I still wouldn’t know those verses if the social justice warrior who feels the need to right all wrongs of the past hadn’t posted this. There will be some that will vow never to sing this song again and that’s their choice. I’m not that thin skinned. If I should ever hear the song or sing it again, I will do so without the inclusion of the racial lyrics and just sing it as I was taught. By the way, I really detest troublemaking social justice warriors who through their efforts to expose past transgressions do so much damage to any existing peace and harmony.
Well said - form Old Rob in Australia.
Brilhante resposta voce deu amigo parabens
Still uses the N word 499 less times than your average rap lyric.
A 175 year old song reflective of it's time. In a way it'd be fun to go to the Year 2195 to see see how future social justice warriors judge today's filthy and talentless pop and rap music the way this song is judged.
difference is rap and pop isn’t racist. dummy
I mean if they (or you) look into the underground rap then it'll be hard to say rap was talentless.
There's more chance they'll still be playing this song than 95% of the crap produced today.
NWA was african americans until they wuz saved by BLM a largely white masked gruop of burners of sanctuary cities .. ah suure this america is great - and they killed billy the kid so henry mccarthy and his irish roots would be scottish ... be the hokoey
Rap is n crap......bye communist...
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.
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.
Foster had the same power in his rhythms as Beethoven, but he was able to access them in a simpler format.
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?
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.
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
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 !
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
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
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
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?
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
@@heythislookslikeakidsgamerobably was cut out
And you sang the altered version that tries to hide the racism of its history.
oh good lord, get over yourself, it's a song based in a time period that accepted every word, black or white.
You mean it's a song from a time period where racism was socially accepted.
Yes.
Huuuh???
Presenting it without the context given here would be giving undue weight to outdated and harmful ideas. And none of the song is censored. This is how it should be presented.
@@Persun_McPersonson This song is not racist, lol.
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 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.
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?
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.
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
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?
How is this racist ?
today everything is racist - history facts truths ...
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?
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
“This was the tunes back in my day 👴🏻”
It is pretty good tho
@@thenotoriousf-a-t4967 fr tho
who cares if its racist or offensive to anyone , don't listen to it if your weak mind has issues
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 . 🙏
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.
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.
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.
No one:
14 year olds in COD lobbies: 1:03
lol
real
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.
What exactly were the copies sold? Paper sheets with music and lyrics?
Yep, can not find a single copy of 'Song of the South'; may I borrow yours?
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.
The way I learned it, it had no offensive lyrics. I'm NOT offended.
We sang it in school, minus the second verse, along with Old Black Joe. Of course we also sang the National anthem and America the Beautiful and Christmas songs at Christmas time.
It's the walmart national anthem
So you’re just okay with racism, huh?
It wasn't "racist" then, and it's not now. Maybe there's a RACIST under your bed. Be careful...they bite.
@@MrCakewalker IT WAS RACIST BACK THEN. THEY JUST DIDNT CARE. YOU’RE LITERALLY RACIST IF YOU DONT THINK ITS RACIST!!!
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!
Is Polly Wolly Doodle from same opera (: ? Why so many people is go to Susanna (including Celentano)?
The demand for racism exceeds the supply, so dig up the past.
Racist alert.
That’s brilliant.
That was the vernacular of the day. Offensive to us, but not to a nineteenth century American.
Yes indeed. If you disregard the racisim, the song actually sounds quite sympathetic towards the poor guy.
Yes, sure. The 19th century black Americans were probably absolutely happy to be regarded as subhumans.
@@aljoschalong625 Dang dog, excellent 150 year old virtue signaling!
Not to a white nineteenth century American. And if you weren't white, who gave a shit what you thought?
Well it wouldn’t offend white people and black people would’ve had bigger problems in the south than how they were labelled and hardly in a position to demand respect from these people
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.........
There's absolutely nothing "racist" about this song. Just because some people are overly sensitive about a word they deem offensive (thus giving it power over their internal state of mind and well-being), they deem it "racist". But its just a word - not a belief system. Its not a magic spell. Its not poisoning your mind - YOU are doing that to yourself.
It isn't evangelizing slavery or defending it, in fact it doesn't even mention it. I'd say that the freedom of the narrator to travel implies he is a free man, perhaps for the first time in his life able to travel freely, and using that freedom to find his lover from whom he has been separated (possibly by the machinations of the slave trade). Why not see it as an anthem to freedom instead of being so negative that you let one word inspire hatred and disgust? Music is to communicate, sing to, rejoice with, by illuminating the human condition, it was not written to help you modern racial sadomasochists punt yourself into an emotional spiral of anger.
Best comment
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."
Black lives matter but people need to stop getting offended by a song made in the 1800's
I disagree with you, I think only human lives matter. those people have too much melanin to be considered humans.
@@Gunslinger353 Melanin doesn't define if you are human or not
@@Gunslinger353 You are a such a sad person that you have to hate on black people for just existing to make yourself feel better about your pathetic excuse of a life.
@@Ar-xo2qt I agree with you logo frontier
@Manifest Destiny Because humans need to care about other human lives, its what is morally right, no matter what religion, race or creed you are from. Black, white, brown, we are all human.
Clearly your parents taught you neither manners, nor basic human decency. Yet you criticize the humanity of others.
'Those in glass houses, do not cast stones at others'.
Does anybody know what the second verse is based on?
I have a question that may be a bit stupid but I'm curious: So, in several parts of the song there are misspelled words such as "riber", and "realy" in the second verse, and in other verses not shown in the video "odder", and "ebery thing". Are these geniuane spelling mistakes made by Foster, are they intentional errors made for the context of the song, or were the words just spelled differently back then?
They are intentional misspellings meant to mock the African-American English of the time it was writen.
I would point out that it’s not that the song can be “reinterpreted” as frivolous, but that it’s original point WAS to be be frivolous.
It is, quite literally, a joke, not a dick, so don’t take it so hard XD
It was frivolous but that’s part of its mocking nature. It’s just benignly frivolous when you remove the verse that spoke about people getting killed.
The reason it’s frivolous is because it’s a common Minstrel trope called stump speech where you say nonsensical lines such as:
“The sun so hot I froze to death”
“I jumped aboard the telegraph and traveled down the river”
“I shut my eyes to hold my breath”
It’s a mockery of black people
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 💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀
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.
How can we grow if we're not allowed to know? I'd find it suspicious if suddenly this becomes someone's favorite version. But it's usual information.
When I listen to the way people talk to each other today, I find it offensive that they criticize one or two words in a 175 years old song. That oh so offensive word in the 2nd verse is used as a greeting among friends as often as it is used as an insult today! No matter how much the speech regulators scream at us, some words that they find offensive, including ain’t, are NOT going away. Too many people like talking the way THEY prefer, not how SOMEONE ELSE prefers.
@@FrugalGal --- REALLY!? | Have you ever heard of Donald Trump or of the Republican Party?
@@marianotorrespico2975
Have you ever heard of Hillary Clinton, and the Socialist Democratic Party?
I don't recall ever hearing Trump say that liberals should be imprisoned, or taken out and shot (well, except for some of the criminals that want to turn the USA into the new USSR), just because they are opposed to them.
Or conservatives say that Obama's, or Biden's, staff should be assaulted if they show their faces in public.
The Democrats have brought us closer to World War Three than at any time since the Cuban Missile Crisis (under another Democrat), but I suppose that's Trump's fault as well, right?
Since he gets the blame for everything back to the fall of the Roman Empire.
Grow up, and quit believing the leftist propaganda, you might actually find a little bit of humanity in yourself.
@@marianotorrespico2975 Donald Trump's staff was more diverse than Ruth Bader Ginsberg's and likely at least as diverse if not more so than others in the office before him. He's not known for being a racist, and wasn't known to be one before the election. Joe Biden was known to be a racist before the election and continues to be one after the election. He's an overt racist, and makes it clear regularly that he is one. The Republican party in general is not any more racist than they ever were, and the Republican party voted for the voting rights act, the desegregation acts and other civil rights acts in more numbers than the Democrats did. The Democrats today assume minorities are dumb, incapable half-wits who can't figure out how to get an ID, let alone which candidate has their best interests at heart.
@tecumseh g -- THE VOLCANO ERUPTED and THEY DID NOT SEE IT. | Correct, but Trump's glorious gutting and destruction and voiding of white supremacy has left the Herrenvolk adrift, without a squad leader.
Don't you see irony in telling people what to be critical of?
a lot of white old people saying stuff like "this song its ok for its time"
Cry about it.
I mean It was a Okay thing in The south at this time it's not okay anymore of course
@@Anonymity038 Why? Because it said The N-Word once? Dude listen to modern music, even white rappers say that word way more then necessary.
@@Anonymity038 read the history the southerners banned this song, the song was written by a northerner who visited the south only once. and the whole song is supposed to mock southerners for their 'stupidity' and poverty. the n word here is only used as a descriptor and holds little meaning to the song.
Hey there, son. Stephen Foster was America's first great songwriter. By performing "Oh! Susanna," you are -- in a musical sense -- cashing in on his talent. It does not reflect well on you that you then turn around and indulge in moral exhibitionism by proclaiming one of his verses to be "racist and offensive."
I would have no problem with it if you simply didn't perform that verse. That's what almost all players do today. (So would I.) But to deliberately include the offensive words and then put a curse on them (and by extension, Stephen Foster) is just virtue signaling.
As a European I often wonder why such lyrics are considered so extremely horrible in America. Sure, if the lyrics actually advocated for violence against an ethnic group, I'd understand. But this? It has no "fighting words" or anything enticing hatred. Here in Europe, we often makes even stronger jabs and jokes about neighboring ethnic groups and their stereotypes, and we are not offended when they make similar jabs on us. Often we ridicule our own ethnic group and our own stereotypes just as well as those of others.
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.
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.
The Romanian language version says something like "Oh! Susanna, I'm a famous cowboy, / I've got three guns and a knife / And I've gone to fight". Basically it's a funny song about a cowboy that always ends up in fights. And he's from Arizona.
Somehow the world just saw this song and made their own versions. I know France and Italy (I saw a children's version of O Susanna in Italian, no racist lyrics, the animation showed a White person!) have a version of this, heck we have a version or two of the song in Bulgaria.
Love to Romania from Bulgaria btw
@@cerebrummaximus3762 love Bulgaria from Romania, too
hmmm was that even a state yet when this song came out ? o,0
Yeah I just check That wasn't even a state yet where the hell you people get Arizona. The song was made the 1848. Arizona wasn't a state tell 1912.
@redlander. Irving, the 142nd fastest gun (pow!) in the west.
The people who find this song "racist and offensive" are the same types of people who celebrate cartoons and children's books teaching kids about transgenderism or gay pride.
But the song IS racist and offensive? Not to say that it’s not valuable as a piece of historical context, but the lyrics literally sing of killing black people
"With Original Racist and Offensive Lyrics"
Ah, just my kind of music
gotta respect that title lol
Stop this politically correct
Idc how racist this song is it goes hard
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
This is how you present this stuff. Not hiding anything, but providing a lot of context.
The guy in the story/song is black
He referred to himself as "darkie"
So he has the n-word pass
I'm really sorry if it sounds offensive, it's absolutely not my intencion. I'm not from north america and english isn't my first language, so I don't understand well the lyrics and what are the racists parts. Especially the events narrated in the second verse I did not understand. Neither understand which are the racists parts (besides de "n"). Could someone explain? Again, I'm sorry if I sound disrespectful.
The whole thing is written from the point of view of a black man and is overwhelmingly nonsensical, implying he is so stupid he tried to "close his eyes to hold his breath", or that he tried to "jump on a telegraph to travel down a river" despite the fact a telegraph travels through a small thing wire
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)).
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.
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.
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
It is interesting that the second verse seems to refer to the Carrington Event 1858 when telegraph lines burst in flames because of a solar storm. But the lyrics was published 1848?
Thats just a coincidence,................. Or is it *vsauce theme*
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.
The true meaning of this song is sadder than you’d think. It’s a tale of a black man from the south, seeking his love “Susanna”. On the way he faces many hardships and nearly dies multiple times. But “Susanna” is not real, she is just a representation of the free life he yearns for, his hopes and dreams embodied in this one name, and the black man is escaping a life of slavery to reach her. We can see this when he sees “Susanna” in a dream, a vision, and from how he repeatedly asks Susanna not to cry for him, it is very likely that he is near death. He asks “Susanna” not to cry for him, but in reality, he‘s trying not to cry for “Susanna”, who he now knows he will never reach.
Why does it say 5 hundred "n-word" were killed though? Shows lack of sensitivity
I’ve never looked at the song this way, ty for sharing this
Some people say it was written to be sung by a African Americans but I call bull shite, its a racist song written by a white man during the time whites were crazy and thought of themselves too highly.
@@pern1044 'Though of themselves too highly of themselves'
You sound like you're coming for Alabama with a banjo on your knee.
ScholaroftheWorld - Alternate History back in those days that’s the word that was used over time and years words change meaning something 100 years ago that was taboo aint today and Vice versa.
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.
We were singing this version up until the 90's in California, We had an ancient music teacher who had a mimeograph of an original draft of the song. Mrs KIng made sure to tell us all about the antebellum south, and why these songs were important, so long as we understood the context of the music.
I have heard this beat before, never knowing the actual meaning. After learning about it it is very sad.
It was sung " matter of factly ", without malice. Just a word in a song. Words easily change their meaning over time.
Anyone who has read much 19th-century literature knows this. Do you know that Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn" was removed from school libraries because it used that word as the vernacular speech of the time" And "Huckleberry Finn" was a humanitarian story about the cruelty of slavery. In the end, Huckleberry Finn promises to "be good,. go to school, and not run away" if his aunt will free his friend, Jim. As she does it, she says that she should have done it long before.
This whole song is malicious.
As far as the offensive word is concerned, the real tragedy is the black community's enforcing the negative stereotypes associated with it. Any black person trying to improve his image is called a race traitor for it.
@@ladymacbethofmtensk896 The word was dead for a while, and those were good times.
@@ahkwyatt8174 ?
It's like a god damn jumpscare
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.
“This is my jam” 👴🏻, no but seriously this is good that history is shown as it truly is
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
So who is singing this and in what year?
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
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 had to look up "bullgine." It's another word for locomotive engine. The engine exploded and the horse ran off. So, he was riding a train and a horse at the same time. Inconsistency is the song's point.
"De 'lectric fluid magnified and killed 500 [proud African-Americans who are your equal]" is so bizarre that I can't even visualize what it's supposed to mean. I guess that this somehow made sense to people completely inexperienced with electricity. Anyway, it's supposed to be a blatant lie.
"Bulgine" = "bull engine". A rather poetic designation of a locomotive. At the time the song was written and for long after electricity was considered to be some type of fluid. In a way we still do by describing it as waves, without going into the physics.
The sun so hot I froze to death, the weather was so dry I drowned. It's a bit like Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky ". American literature and speech is full of this from Mike Fink's boasting "I'm a rip tailed bull roarer!!; etc." in Washington Irving's account of the Rocky Mountain fur trading days to Saul Bellow's opening lines in "Augie March" "I am Chicago born ..." and Carl Sandburg's "Chicago" " City of the big shoulders ...". Trump does this and while ordinary Americans understand him perfectly it drives the elites and foreigners crazy. As it's intended to.
@@brianmccarthy5557 Well yeah, the word current is a kind of metaphor, but I still don't get the concept of spontaneous deadly electrical magnification.
I would more explanation about what Trump says.
@@noncounterproductive4596 in the context of it being minstrel music, being inconsistent or lacking sense appears to be part of the trope of the minstrel of stump speech with the phonetics included to indicate that it is meant to be spoken how these people perceived the black people they were creating caricatures of talking like
@@beaglaoich4418 Yeah, obviously.
Thanks for explaining "bullgine".
Superb time capsule. The captions really dont need the apologetic tone.
Its a song of its time being listened to 170 years on. Anyone upset by its lyrics needs to have a word with themselves.
I think it's ok to be upset by the lyrics in a "damn, history sucks" kind of way. I do however agree that expecting a song that's almost 2 centuries old to meet today's standards of correct / interprating it with the context of today's society is absolutly illogical, and that it shouldn't be censored.
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?