Hi all...at a session I hosted yesterday the tune Red Wing got played and a friend sang the original lyrics...which are at the end of this post...I have played this tune for decades...I think it fair to say that it is truly an Old War Horse of a tune...I learned the Woody Guthrie union maid lyrics and I usually sing those when this it played...but my friend likes to sing the original lyrics...and she definitely has the vocal chops to do so...and I very much enjoy hearing her sing them...ok...so after the tune someone commented that they preferred the union lyrics...ok, cool...and, one of the fiddlers at the session was/is a native american...now, that fiddler did not object or...as far as I could tell...express any discomfort with the "old" lyrics...but a different fiddler...after the session...sat with the native fiddler and looked at the lyrics on-line to discern if they could find any racism in the lyrics...and most definitely upset my friend that sang the original...I looked some on the Google machine and there seems to be some sentiment that the tune...with the original lyrics...is racist...as I read the lyrics I just cannot perceive any racism...just a rather mushy love song that happens to be about two native americans...some of the on-line notes complained about the original art work that accompanied the tune when it was first released in 1907-ish does not accurately depict how a native looks...but we don't see that artwork when we play...so I do not see that as germane
my dilemma is that I now have 4 people..who regularly come to these sessions...who appear to be at loggerheads...and I am stuck in the crossfire...and even with a figurative fully body kevlar suit...I am taking fire! I am just a wee bit native myself...1/32 is all...and no part of me is offended...all I can think to do is to approach each of the 4...individually and in private... and try to get them to just chill
the truly sad part of this is that I have worked for years to nurture these sessions...and just of late...the last few months... they have really taken off... a nice group of folks...plenty of talent...pretty much all the instruments are there and there in good quality...bass (two of them!), guitar, banjo (that's me of course), multiple fiddles (yesterday there were 4!) ...and we play at the senior facility where my wife lives and many of the residents attend our sessions and really do seem to enjoy them...and my wife, as one of the fiddlers, also really enjoys them
as my departed brother-in-law used to say..."why can't we all just get a bong?":)
thanks for letting me vent...suggestions are welcomed
There once lived an Indian maid,
A shy little prairie maid,
Who sang a lay, a love song gay,
As on the plain she’d while away the day;
She loved a warrior bold, this shy little maid of old,
But brave and gay, he rode one day to battle far away.
[Chorus]
Now, the moon shines tonight on pretty Red Wing,
The breeze is sighing, the night bird’s crying,
For afar ‘neath his star her brave is sleeping,
While Red Wing’s weeping her heart away.
Now, the moon shines tonight on pretty Red Wing,
the breeze is sighing, the night bird’s crying,
For a far ‘neath his star her brave is sleeping,
While red Wing’s weeping her heart away.
[Verse 2]
She watched for him day and night,
She kept all the campfires bright,
And under the sky, each night she would lie,
And dream about his coming by and by;
But when all the braves returned, the heart of Red Wing yearned,
For far, far away, her warrior of gay, fell bravely in the fray.
Just play Snow Deer instead......
I have a group that I play along with and the girls that head it up are teachers and they like and sing the union version. I also play with an old timey group that uses the original version. I like them but I prefer The Steel Wheels version. To each their own I guess.
My opinion is that D.E.I. accomplishes the exact opposite of what it purports to – it so hyper-focuses on race {etc.} such that everyone is either a racist or a victim of racism..... which is very divisive. I agree with Rodney King who also lamented, "Why can't we all just get along." I sure did not see anything denigrating in those lyrics. I hope you can find a way to patch things up with everyone. banjered
Tell your friends that whoever does the vocal on the song decides the lyrics and that should take care of that problem. In the case where the two factions each have a turn at the song, let one sing his lyrics and the other his/hers when the time comes. That way neither should be offended and if they are, they're looking for a reason to start an argument.
Since music comes from many different times & places, not all music will be loved by all.
“Intolerance will not be tolerated!”
If you really want to offend your friends you could learn the bawdy version or alternatively learn the "Charlie Chaplin" chorus to amuse them.
IMO rather than trying to figure out yourself whether anyone 'should' find the song offensive by one metric or another, a discussion could be had about song/lyric choice in general.
If this is a gathering of friends, avoiding a tune here or there that others dislike for whatever reason seems a small price to pay to keep group unity.
If other people don't like the music you play, they don't have to play with you, but they don't have a right to tell what you can and cannot play. In my judgement, this kind of crap is a significant part of the reason for the political mess we're in.
