Hey

[antnee]

When I was young I used to wait
On master and hand him his plate
Pass him the bottle when he got dry
And brush away the blue-tail fly

Chorus

Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care
Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care
Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care
My master's gone away

When he would ride in the afternoon
I'd follow him with my hickory broom
The pony being rather shy
When bitten by the blue-tail fly

Chorus

One day he rode around the farm
Flies so numerous that they did swarm
One chanced to bite him on the thigh
The devil take the blue-tail fly

Chorus

Well the pony jumped, he start, he pitch
He threw my master in the ditch
He died and the jury wondered why
The verdict was the blue-tail fly

Chorus

Now he lies beneath the 'simmon tree
His epitaph is there to see
"Beneath this stone I'm forced to lie
The victim of the blue-tail fly"

 

[Ricola]

What does that song MEAN, exactly? :comfused:

 

[kinlaw6450]

It has more words than just the chorus! LOL

 

[antnee]

it means I don't care

 

[JohnTBap]

WA-HOO!!!! BURL IVES!!!

 

[RoutemanDan]

I'm sure Ant didn't know the real meaning when he posted it.
This is an old racist song,but the slave is the one who kind of wins in the end.
It's the story of a slave whose job is "to wait on his Master and hand him the plate / Pass down the bottle when he gets dry / And brush away the blue-tail fly." He's supposed to brush away the blue-tail fly from is Master's pony, using a hickory broom. One day when the flies are especially thick, one gets through and bites the pony, and the pony bolts, Master pitches into the ditch and dies, and the coroner's jury blames the blue-tail fly. "Jimmy crack corn, I don't care / My Masters gone away."

 

[JohnTBap]

PS Southerners know what it means.......

 

[Ricola]

Who is "Jimmy" and why is he cracking corn?

The "singer" witnessed the death of his "master". Was it REALLY the blue-tail fly that bit the horse? Or did the "hickory broom" cause the horse to "Jump, start and pitch"???

Lucky for him, methinks, that the jury bought the "blue-tail fly" defense!

 

[antnee]

the important part of this song to me is

Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care
Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care
Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care
My master's gone away

 

[JohnTBap]

The "blue tail fly" defense never would have worked had it not been for the leather glove.

Cracking corn means snoring.

Those of us who sleep know aboot that.

 

[JulesMom]

I never knew this song had more words than the chorus