The song depicts a slave—a house servant at that—bowing and scraping and bemoaning the passing of “massa.” On the surface, this would seem to be an offensive use of a discredited stereotype.

We've had several threads discussing this song. In one of them, Jimmy Crack Corn and I Don't Care, Pete Peterson provides an interesting take on the meaning of the song. You can find other references using the search string “blue-tailed or bluetail or "crack corn"” in the super-search box.

I've always believed, as Pete suggests, that the song tells of how a slave found a sly way to “Off the pig!” as they say. Still, if it isn't seen in that context by the listener, it could easily offend.

      - Mark