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Everyone knows the folk song “Jimmy Crack Corn” from their early nursery rhyme days, but, like many songs sung by children for their lyrical ease and rhymes, the song alludes to one of history’s darker themes – slavery. Published in the 1840s during the height of slavery, the song was written with a subversive meaning.
Using a catchy melody, the singer explains that as a slave, he was tasked with protecting his master – and his master’s horse – from insects while outdoors. Although an alternate title for this song is “De Blue Tail Fly,” indicating that this was probably the most problematic insect, it is thought that the singer is referring to a type of horsefly whose bite is quite painful. The singer is unsuccessful in safeguarding the master’s horse and the steed bucks, unseating his rider. The master is subsequently killed. The master’s death is ruled an accident due to the blue-tail fly and the slave is exonerated. So, where does the “cracking corn” part come in? It just so happens, that the idiom “to crack corn” was old slang meaning to sit around idly gossiping. And variations of the name “Jim” was given to slaves. Therefore, the final lines of the chorus imply that with the demise of his master, Jim – the slave – was able to sit back and relax. “Jim crack corn, I don’t care! Jim crack corn, I don’t care! For [master] me gave away.”
17 Comments
Pinky
2/10/2023 04:10:17 pm
Always thought this song’s chorus was literal - some guy was shucking corn or something? So this is good! One less thing to be ignorant about! Thank you!
Carl F. Oguss
7/11/2023 04:23:00 pm
Both. To crack corn meant to literally crack the seeds harvested from crops ("corn" was used for many crops before the introduction of "Indian Corn" from the Americas). This cracking of the seeds into a few smaller pieces breaks the protective shell and allows them to dehydrate more easily and thoroughly, therefore cracking corn was an essential part of the harvesting and food preservation process and was also one of the "lowliest" jobs as the least able were able to do it. One sits and rubs a grind stone over a container of seeds allowing it to rock and rolls and crush the seed shells with the weight of the stone, much the same as one would hand grind flour later for use. This cracked, dried corn was known as "scratch" because it was indeed very scratchy, and "to cook from scratch" literally means to grind some scratch to the right fineness for your recipe and then use the fresh flour. As cracking the corn was simple work done over a long time in the home it became associated with "idle conversation", i.e., the sort folks sharing kitchen chores might have throughout the day.
Winnie
10/15/2023 06:53:27 am
This was so interesting! Thank you. I enjoy reading about how certain phrases got started.
Jacqueline grace
4/5/2025 07:40:40 am
"The Masters gone away", tells me the slave master was not privy to the slave getting extra food. It was the slaves chance to have something extra to eat. My ancestors were the strongest and most malined ppl on earth. God bless their souls.
Al Hirsch
10/27/2023 08:11:20 am
Your opinion about this song is an interesting take on it, but I have another. The song was written by Abolitionists. It is really an anti slavery song. Taken out of the context of the times, you make it sound like a derogatory song. By taking some slang used by racists, you tag it as if that is the normal use of the song. Burl Ives, Leadbelly, Pete Seeger kept the song alive because of it’ true origins. The chorus was a ditty learned from African slave children, whose job it was to crack corn. Chickens can not eat whole corn. The lyrics tell the story of a slave and his duties, and despite his best efforts to protect his master, the blue tailed fly bites the horse and the master is thrown in a ditch and dies. It could be interpreted as a celebration of the demise of slavery. This was one of Abe Lincoln’s favorite songs. When you try to it so that a song is no longer appropriate, you are attempting to eliminate American culture. Songs like this give a glimpse into the past. Slavery was and still is evil. There is little besides the folk music of our country, that constitutes our culture. Unless you include McDonalds etc.
Richard Dunham
2/13/2024 02:30:48 pm
I disagree about McDonald’s being about the only thing to point to as American culture…The west and our expansion west that includes the American’s expansion westward and the conflicts with Native Americans is unique to our country and of course the western genre of movies is also a part of American culture that originated here…RIP John Wayne!
Jork
6/18/2024 04:41:55 pm
John Wayne was a pos and American colonization is nothing to celebrate. Unless of course you’re a racist.
norable
11/14/2024 11:42:03 pm
I'm sorry Mr Dunham, but when a person (you babe!) uses such an obvious "Straw Man" like this, it just kills their (YOUR) Credibility. 3/10/2024 10:37:19 am
You confuse me. It seems as though you read too much into it. Was it written by Abolitionists? To me, it's just an interesting song that amusingly depicts the simple life of a slave child. The demise of his Master was obviously not immediately problematic for him. Was it an Anti Slavery song? I think not.. Was Slavery Evil? It certainly can be but in Antebellum times it was not, generally speaking. The demise of Slavery as it occurred was nothing to sing about. Perhaps it would have been had things changed for the better instead of making it much worse for much longer for black people in this Country.
pete stee
6/2/2024 03:21:38 am
Slavery is better than freedom - interesting..
LJ Parker
8/16/2024 11:31:08 am
Slavery was just as wrong in the antebellum South as it is worldwide and always has been! Just because a majority accepts something does not make it right
Phosphorus
1/15/2025 11:37:49 pm
First of all, (okay maybe more than first) I don’t know anything about racist slang, but it doesn’t seem like it’s giving the message that it should be forgotten, just that it, well, alludes to a darker theme. And part of the context of the time that is NOT mentioned is minstrel shows and the stereotype speech…so…(and yes, I read did read that the guy in the original group was from an abolitionist family)
Phosphorus
1/16/2025 02:47:18 pm
By saying that it was not mentioned, I mean it wasn’t specific attention directed to it, or not highlighted, which would have been a more negative angle on it.
Mike Leonard
1/17/2024 03:53:49 pm
Cracked corn is also used as feed, both raw and as a cooked mash. Another reason to crack corn is boil it and extract the sugars (aka a wort) the wort is fermented and distilled. This was an inexpensive way to transport corn because the distilled product took up a lot less space and weight then the bushels of corn (1.5 bushels to a gallon of whiskey). I honestly thought that was the reason the corn was being cracked. Thank you for the explanation.
Robert M. Doolittle
3/6/2024 06:05:43 pm
Although I have no evidence, I always thought the "blue-tail fly" might refer to the blue uniforms of the Union Army that eliminated slavery. I guess the song predates the Civil War, so my theory is all wet, but perhaps the song was eerily prescient.... Leave a Reply. |
Kara WilsonOwner/Editor of Emerging Ink Solutions, avid YA/NA author, adamant supporter of the Oxford Comma, anime and music enthusiast. Archives
February 2024
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