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.”
2 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!
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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.
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Kara WilsonOwner/Editor of Emerging Ink Solutions, avid YA/NA author, adamant supporter of the Oxford Comma, anime and music enthusiast. Archives
July 2023
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