Jimmy Crack Corn
Written in 1846, the song is about a slave whose owner has just died. The slave, who is singing this song, is lamenting over the loss of his owner but is at the same time celebrating. The lyrics, however, portray him as one who is mentally inferior and uneducated. Here is an excerpt of the lyrics:
When I was young I us’d to wait
On Massa and hand him de plate;
Pass down de bottle when he git dry,
And bresh away de blue tail fly.
Jim crack corn I don’t care,
Jim crack corn I don’t care,
Jim crack corn I don’t care,
Ole Massa gone away.
