A Brief History of Cotton-Eye Joe: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
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- Опубліковано 25 лис 2021
- literally every junior high dance i ever went to: "IF IT HADN'T BEEN FOR COTTON-EYE JOE, I'D BEEN MARRIED 'LONG TIME AGO-"
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honestly expected this video to have a shit ton of comments. i found this very informative. thank you.
Thank you for watching!!
Except this is a fabrication.
The version that sticks out to me is from a female perspective. "Don't you remember, don't you know? Daddy worked a man called Cotton Eye Joe. Daddy worked a man called Cotton Eye Joe..." (He was a slave.) "Had not have been for Cotton Eye Joe, I'd have been married a long time ago." "Down in the cotton patch, down below, Mama was singing to Cotton Eye Joe. Mama was singing to Cotton Eye Joe." Other verses say "Everybody singing to Cotton Eye Joe..." It's clearly a scandal, in which a slave has affairs with mother and daughter plantation owners, to start with - whether or not the scandal was exposed by a syphilis outbreak...
That’s a newer version though.
Looking at the oldest possible version it seems to be about a black man having his girlfriend taken away by cotton eyed joe.
Cotton Eye Joe is a guy blinded by wood alcohol making his eyes milky white
A couple of years ago, one night, I was about to propose to my girlfriend when my roommate Joseph barged into the room out of nowhere, tripped and fell over, breaking a glass table with his face. Totally ruined the mood. Now, I didn't know Joseph THAT well, don't even remember where he was from, but let' just say I put my plans on hold to help him through his injuries.
Joseph had gotten big glass shard in his eye, making him completely blind in that eye. He was walking around with one of those cotton pads on his eye for a couple of months. Then suddenly, he disappeared, along with my girlfriend
Apparently they'd bonded during the time after his injuries, and eloped together , left me behind without as much as a note. I tried to track them down, but never could.
In conclusion, if it hadn't been for cotton eye Joe, I'd have been married a long time ago. Where did you come from, where did you go? Where did you come from, cotton eye Joe?
(This is a stolen cotton eye joke)
GOD SPEEEEEDDDDD!!!!!
The thing about these old songs is that many have roots from the Scots Irish and tracking down the exact origins can be impossible. The melody is basic old time fiddle that is a simple A/B tune that sounds like a bunch of other tunes and lyrics for these old tunes get passed around and change regionally and over time. The STD thing is probably pure modern internet BS passed around by people with zero exposure to old time music. It's not an opera, it's an old dance song that had words tacked on.
I doubt this tune traces back to IRELAND -It is almost certainly of African-American origin.
@@MusicKit Most likely a blend of music. Most line dances are inspired by the format of an Irish jig. And while the banjo is definitely of African origin, the fiddle was not. The fact is that the American South from 1600-1900 was a collision of many Euro, African, Indigenous, and Latin cultures. The exchange of cultures led to numerous new culinary dishes, dances, music, dialect, and more. To attribute these to anyone one culture is misleading. It's probably one of the only positive things that can be observed from the American South in that time period.
@@everpassingpxpx Yes, but 'Cotton-Eyed Joe' was definitely of African American origin. Fact is the fiddle DOES have African antecedents AND African Americans were playing the European fiddle as early as the 17th century, and in the south enslaved African Americans both adapted Irish and other British Isles traditions AND evolved their own 'African American Jigs,' and were the major 'keepers' of the fiddle tradition on the plantations. African Americans invented the 'Square Dance' with and the idea of a caller improvising dance patterns. And tis tune is more akin to the Square Dance than line dancing. Here is the earliest known recording of the tune - But of course it predates ANY recording in the early 19th century. ua-cam.com/video/oAbGLW6MayA/v-deo.html
@@MusicKit That's essentially what I said... it was written by slaves who mashed up their own cultural background with that of European background. That doesn't change the fact that the fiddle was invented and popularized in Europe or that line dancing was most heavily inspired by Irish jigs. It's this cultural exchange that created bluegrass, blues, and eventually rock and roll. And we know these only resulted from cultural exchange because there was no other place in the world that had this music. It's one of the very few positive outcomes to come from such a horrendous time and place.
@@MusicKitsince when did America exist in the 17th century
Thank God a woke lesbian explained this to us
It’s all the racist White Man’s fault Don’t you know?!
LMAO
Savage ☠️
Would it blow your mind if I told you "black vernacular" is rooted in old British dialects. A lot of southern white people spoke that way back then. It faded from use as northerners associated the dialect with being uneducated or a criminal. So those writers may not have been trying to "sound black", there was no such thing.
P.S. thanks for answering my random curiosity with this video and the lol moment at the end 😄
Alot of white people today are born with what many would initially assume as 'black' dialect/black sounding voices. They arent being racist, however one might perceive it that way. A good example is Cartoonz, a creator I personally love here on youtube. He is, white. But you wouldn't know that listening to him. Just as well alot of black people are born with what many assume to be 'white' sounding voices. Its an intriguing fact of nature. And just goes to show skin color truly does not matter. You are given what you are given. Atoms, cells, they do not care about race. So why should we?
@@unironicallydel7527 because people lie, disrespect, and mistreat each other because of it. Most white people aren’t born with it anyway. That being said, race should be cared about since as humans we’re stuck with it, and there will always be animosity when it comes to different groups, or when there’s a majority of one and a minority of another. Sucks, but it is what it is. Also, culture plays a part
@@unironicallydel7527 can confirm as a white person. What most people think of as "black dialect" is actually just how most poor people talk. I honestly find it more racist that people associate the way many poor people talk with black people.
The dancing takes me out every time 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 love the video ❤️😭
LOLL thank you and thanks for watching!!
Why they/she and not she/her
i'm still going to jam to cotton eye joe. i'm also bringing the song back every 200 years.
Based
I rarely find exactly what I’m looking for. So thanks for providing me with this once in a lifetime experience.
Great informational video 👍
If it wasn't for that dahm cotton-eye joe id would be married a long time ago
But the real question is where did he come from?
@@TheRealMarriott where did he go
@@ggcreation1662 HEY IM ASKING QUESTION /j, where did he come from?
@@TheRealMarriott who, Cotton-eye Joe?
What if cotton eyed Joe is supposed to be a soft eyed attractive guy? Why does his cotton eye have to be tragic?
Cotton-Eyed most likely refers to the milky white color of a damaged or blinded person - very common among poor African Americans in the 18th and 19th century. Here is the earliest known recording of the tune - with some 'calling' as per square dancing. ua-cam.com/video/oAbGLW6MayA/v-deo.html
Thats pretty eye opening, no pin intended
You earned a sub for not making it a 5 part video. Soon you gon see them make a horror movie bout cotton eye Joe
Bro,no way that:
🧑🏿🌾🌿->🎻->🐮🤠->🍗
I can't get the image of per civil war Americans playing the rednex version out of my head its just too funny and probably better than what they would have actually sang
Do you know where, when and by whom the song Dixie was done?
The person I expected
We need somebody to do another cover it's been 30 years on average it seems to be like that
Although I am still confused about its meaning, thank your explaining.😮
IDK how this showed up in my recommended list but I'm glad it did. Great video!
Cotton eyes back then manly was symbolic for having blue eyes
I apologize for any perceived insult or insensitivity to any slaves present.
And we danced to this in the 2nd grade
Nah I thought we were dancing to hillbilly music but we were thugging it out not knowing the real meaning
That used to kill my knees
Nice of the algorithm to bring me here AFTER I made my video.😅 I'm glad you made this video. There were definitely some points you made that I left out in mine and some things I included in my video that were left out in yours.
The song was originally from the 1930s look it up
The country sisters group really have many views to their live performances to cotton eye joe
Gedagadigidagadao abinmaridalontamago wediducomfom wedidugo wediducomefom buckulajo
In 1861 cotton eye joe was wiriten but sang in no one heard t execpt 3 people in 1929 we got a grown man with a kid singing it in 1963 jfk death year and martin matching a band sang the 1861 ver with their country accent in 1994 he had the rednexcs one
So cotton eye Joe is like the house of the rising sun no body knows when or who written it
Imagine taking a university course about cotton eye joe
gedagadigidagidago i be married long tim ago
i was wondering wtf cotton eyed joe meant, thanks
I totally enjoyed looking at your video, live the fact that you've actually researched first... bright smiles
Wtf simp
Yes vernacular is old english - from england 😂
i think i may have found it out
...my friend Laura was telling me about this .. curiosity brought me here. You are cool! very intresting. Regards from Italy👨🌾🧑🌾
2:24 bro violated my skin tone 😭
Thanks!
I never knew a song would be racist
This is an important historical expose 😁
Nope just people looking for attention 😂
Please so me the racism xD cotton eye back then is coal miners with blue eyes of just anyone with blue eyes.......
Also, apparently, "news".
Source : “I made it tf up” - a woke lesbian
Wait no way some stuff apart but I guessed the song was 30 years old bro and I got it right u said song was made in 1994 of the one u mentioned not the others.
ummm i think some links to your sources would be good as most people actually know "cotton eyed-joe" as an STD.
Sounds like a lot of built up self hatred...
Most historians believe the song was written by slaves, so I'm not sure how the song itself can be deemed racist. The way the lyrics were scribed is nothing more than accounting for regional dialect, much in the same way crik = creek. In the American south, this dialect is not exclusive to any race. It's actually the result of several groups of poor people interacting, including Scots, Irish, English, Indigenous, and Blacks. The wealthy whites were the only ones in the south during that time who spoke with a more "formal" English dialect. Now, there's a case that can be made for appropriation of this song, but the song itself is no more racist than Billie Holiday's Strange Fruit.
Dw I’ll just time travel to pre-civil war to find out
OMG this is interesting and very bizarre
It went back to the 1800s
Not quite sure what the description of your middle school had to do with anything...?
Dr demento lol
Video interaction
Girl sees everything through the eyes of race, definitely a raging progressive
How
Possibly over 150 years old
Can u do the hillbilly dance again?❤😅
I heard somewhere that the song was about STDs
Gedagedegedageda o🤑
i may know what it means
ratio-ed
Idc racism and black , i like cotton eye joe
I personally use this song to blame Biden for my poor life choices.
I’ve only heard the rednex version😢
Are you Steve-o in disguise
I should’ve known by the hair you were going to try and make it about racism.
Yeah I’ve heard lately that that’s what it’s about syphilis lol do you know what it ain’t that deep - It’s a song and it’s fun and I’m gonna continue to dance to it whenever I hear it.
Cotton eyes back then basically meant you have blue eyes..,... I don't see the racism
Very random recommended but hey, I had a great time. Have you seen the video of the guy cracking a whip to the tune of cotton eye Joe? That’s my definitive CEJ, personally
Pre civil war + cotton...oh noooo
Youre a grown woman act like it
It's about an std not racism.
👍
Goooooodoooooooo!
1847
Of course it’s racist! How could I have been so silly to think otherwise…
Jsm
What is your pronoun?
Dang... I tried... but this was a rabbit hole into the woke brain and it is a really messed up place that makes no sense.
racism
eurobeat
brainrot
Booooo
Ain't that a girl
🤮🤮🤮
cringe
This is an educational video 💀
I’m a 74yr-old black,grandmother visiting Colorado. When I first heard, “Cotton Eyed Joe,” I knew right away that it was a racist song with its roots coming from slavery. Watching my grandkids dance to it yesterday at a day-camp in, Fort Collins, Co, upset me. So I investigated the origin of this song on the internet. I found out that it’s roots came from slavery beginning in the 18th century. Although the song has a catchy-beat the lyrics represent a horrific and undeniable time in our nation’s history. And it’s an insult to many American citizens. So please, Think Twice, before you introduce the song,”Cotton Eye Joe,” to your children! We must put this song to rest, now and forever! 🙄🤔😕
WHITEEE