 |
 |
On 4/28/2015 1:05 PM, Michael Biel wrote: > David Burnham brings up Old Man River and Paul Robeson. Yes the use of > the N word in the song in Show Boat was as an ANTI-racism comment, but > although Paul Robeson went on to sing the song so often that it was his > theme song he NEVER used the N word outside of the context of the show. > I am not sure if he ever used "Darkies" as others did, but it usually > was "The people" or "We all". Furthermore, to make the song a political > statement he changed the words of the final chorus in his later years "I > must keep fighting until I'm dyin'". I suppose that Oscar Hammerstein > let him go at that point with the changes, because it was not in the > context of the show. Robeson did record the word "darky" on at least one occasion, his 1920s (1925? Sorry, it's buried in a box) recording of "Li'l Gal", where he referred to himself as "dis darky". I remember being surprised at that. He recorded "Li'l Gal" again in the 1950s, but I don't know if he used that word. Must go check -- if I can find *that* CD.) Peace, Paul --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. http://www.avast.com