Posted by D on May 19, 2003 at 15:47:04:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: CBS TV is costing tuba players $ tonight posted by David Mills on May 19, 2003 at 13:26:23:
...and there's always the danger of forming our opinions with 20-20 hindsight. The tradition of the vulgar "coon" song continued right into the 20th century. When I was a boy, the church choir did a secular program with "Old Black Joe" and "Honeysuckle Babe" on it. Seemed perfectly natural at the time. Now we know better (?).
I wonder what sorts of acts we're committing now without a second thought will seem bigoted and stupid 100 years hence?
Perhaps Foster's songs ought to be performed as instrumental melodies from this point on--that way, there aren't any of those awful lyrics.
But when I'm testing a new horn, "Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair" is still one of the melodies I use--no problem with the lyrics there.