The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #10906   Message #78330
Posted By: SeanM
14-May-99 - 02:23 AM
Thread Name: Suggestions for 'Ole Timey 'American Songs
Subject: RE: Suggestions for 'Ole Timey 'American Songs
And now a futile attempt to calm things down...

CONTEXT, PEOPLE!

I think both sides are hitting the same general point... As the Song Appropriatness thread began to hint before another round of fuss 'n' feathers started, there's a time and place for these things. I wouldn't dream of going before a general audience and singing a lot of songs in their original format. Hell, we changed 'Paddy on the Railway' (which being Irish, Paddy could be taken wrong by me... but isn't) because it used the word 'bitches'. They were (and still are) loose freight cars in the railyard, but we altered it to avoid upsetting our audience.

However, I also wouldn't dream of changing the lyrics in a historic/educational setting. He who forgets the past is doomed to repeat it, ad nausea (and I do mean nausea). If the audience knows the wherefore and why, and are prepared to hear the 'offensive' lyrics in the proper setting (and no, KKK rallies are NOT appropriate), then these songs provide examples of a) why these songs were used, b) How the original lyrics fit the tune, and c) Why they aren't sung in public. At all.

To everything there is a season, and place. Let it rest at that, please?

M