Here are 2 versions that illustrate how a song can be purged of its offensive elements without sacrificing any of its appeal.
1. Lyrics copied from http://www.fieldcamp.net/music.htm (a bunch of camp songs)THE WATERMELON SONG
CHO: Hambone is sweet. Chicken is good.
Possum meat is very, very fine.*
So bring me, oh, bring me (I really wish you would)
That watermelon hangin' on a vine.And when I went to fetch it, it was a rainy night
And the moon hadn't yet begun to shine, (begun to shine)
And when that fella shot me, he shot me in the oomph,
And I never got that melon on a vine (watermelon).There's a little girl who lives down the holler from me.
She wishes that she could be mine (could be mine).
But she doesn't know, though she is very cute,
Is all I really want is that melon on a vine (watermelon).My daddy made a livin' a-diggin' that coal,
Way down in that deep dark mine (deep dark mine).
So summer days I'd fetch him a sweet, sweet slice
Of that watermelon hangin' on a vine.Well, fall days are pristine, and winter ain't so bad,
And springtime can be just divine (just divine),
But give me that summer with those crickets in the field
And that watermelon hangin' on a vine (watermelon).[*This line is a lie, though. Poor people eat possum because they need the nourishment, not because they like it. –JD]
2. Lyrics copied from http://www.nsknet.or.jp/~motoya/W/Watermelon_on_the_vine.html
WATERMELON ON THE VINE
See that watermelon a-hanging on the fence.
How I wish that melon was mine!
Some folks are foolish. They just don't have no sense
Or they wouldn't leave that melon on the vine.CHO: Hambone it is sweet. Chicken it is good.
Rabbit is so very, very fine
But give me, oh, give me, oh, how I wish you would,
That watermelon hanging on the vine.You may talk about your peaches, your apples and your pears,
Simmons growing on the tree.
Folks have their favorites just most every where,
But that watermelon is the best for me. CHO.I went to get that melon. I thought I'd have some fun.
The stars they had just begun to shine,
But when I heard some moving, I left there on the run,
But I didn't leave that melon on the vine. CHO.