What is the song 'jimmy cracked corn' about??

Question

what is 'cracking corn'? and why should we care?

Answer 1

I don't care. OK, so it's obvious. Sue me.

As you know from this column's previous attempts, song interpretation is not a science, and the passage of time hasn't made things any easier. A hundred years from now God knows what they'll make of "Stairway to Heaven." "Jimmy Crack Corn" (originally "Jim Crack Corn") tells the story of a slave whose job is "to wait on Massa and hand him de plate / Pass down de bottle when he git dry / And bresh away de blue-tail fly." Among the things he's supposed to bresh away de blue-tail fly from is Massa's pony, using a hickory broom. One day when the flies are especially thick, one gets through and bites . . . well, either Massa or the pony, you can't quite tell. Anyway, the pony bolts, Massa pitches into the ditch and dies, and the coroner's jury blames the blue-tail fly. "Jim[my] crack corn, I don't care / Ole Massa gone away."

Scratch around and you'll find some interesting takes on this song. When we consulted Tom Miller, Straight Dope curator of music, he told us about an interpretation he'd picked up from Charlie Maddox, a musician in Shenandoah, Virginia. Maddox said "crack corn" came from the old English term "crack," meaning gossip, and that "cracking corn" was a traditional Shenandoah expression for "sitting around chitchatting." Maddox claimed "Jimmy Crack Corn" was an abolitionist song, and that "blue-tail fly" referred to federal troops in their blue uniforms overthrowing the slave owners.

A conspicuous defect of this theory is that "Jimmy Crack Corn," published in 1846, is attributed to an outfit called the Virginia Minstrels. The Virginia Minstrels helped originate the blackface minstrel show, not one of your prime vehicles for abolitionist sentiment. The author of the song, though not definitely known, was probably a Virginia Minstrel named Daniel Emmett, a popular songwriter and musician whose best-known composition was the southern anthem "Dixie" (1859). Like his contemporary Stephen Foster, Emmett was a northerner who wrote sentimental songs about the south in black dialect. So don't go looking for any deep social message.

Still, who is Jimmy and why did he crack corn? Maybe it's about gossip, like the man said. But an equally plausible theory I've heard is that "cracking corn" means cracking open a jug of corn liquor. Try it next time your Massa goes away, and after a half dozen verses you won't care either.

--CECIL ADAMS , the Straight Dope

Answer 2

I THINK that is an old slave song. The corn gets hard after a while - like the Thanksgiving decoration. And Jimmy dropped it and cracked it, but the master's gone away - so they didn't care!

Answer 3

the song is about jimmy cracking corn and no one is making you care

Answer 4

It's about a crack head named jimmy who ate a lot of corn.

Answer 5

It's about Jimmy cracked corn and I don't care
He worked hard in the field and know one cares . they get there corn

Answer 6

I've heard that the song is actually "Jimmy crapped corn, and I don't care."

Answer 7

"Blue Tail Fly", "De Blue Tail Fly", or "Jimmy Crack Corn" is a blackface minstrel song, first performed in the United States in the 1840s, which remains a popular children's song today.

Over the years, many variants of text have appeared, but the basic narrative remains intact. On the surface, the song is a black slave's lament over his master's death. The song, however, has a subtext of rejoicing over that death, and possibly having caused it by deliberate negligence.[1] Most versions at least nod to idiomatic African American English, though sanitized, grammatically "correct" versions predominate today.

The blue-tail fly of the song is probably a Southern variant of the horsefly, which feeds on the blood of animals such as horses and cattle, as well as humans, and thus constitute a prevalent pest in agricultural regions. Some horseflies have a blue-black abdomen, hence the name.

Lyrics

One early version set the idyllic (yet ironic) scene thus:

When I was young A us'd to wait
On Massa and hand him de plate;
Pass down the bottle when he git dry,
And bresh away de blue tail fly.

refrain (repeated each verse):
Jim crack corn — I don't care,
Jim crack corn — I don't care,
Jim crack corn — I don't care,
Old Massa gone away.

Two further verses show the singer being told to protect his master's horse from the bite of the blue-tail fly:

An' when he ride in de arternoon,
I foiler wid a hickory broom;
De poney being berry shy,
When bitten by de blue tail fly.

One day he rode aroun' de farm,
De flies so numerous dey did swarm;
One chance to bite 'im on the thigh,
De debble take dat blu tail fly.

The horse bucks and the master is killed. The slave then escapes culpability:

De poney run, he jump an' pitch,
An' tumble massa in de ditch;
He died, an' de jury wonder'd why
De verdic was de blue tail fly.

The reference to a "jury" and a "verdic[t]" indicates that the slave was at least suspected of culpability.
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History and interpretation

Differing sources date it from 1844 [2] or 1846 [3] and differ as to who wrote it; one early printing attributed it to Dan Emmett. [4] At the time, though, it was commonplace for the recorder of a folk song to take credit. It has also been conjectured that it might not have been originally a blackface minstrel song, and might have genuine African American origins. [5] Unlike many minstrel songs, "Blue Tail Fly" was long popular among African Americans, and was recorded by, among others, Big Bill Broonzy and a celebrated live version by Burl Ives. [6] Another popularizer was the folk singer Pete Seeger.

There has been much conjecture over the meaning of "Jimmy Crack Corn and I don't care". One possibility is "gimcrack corn", cheap corn whiskey; another related theory is that it refers to "cracking" open a jug of corn whisky; another is that "crack-corn" is related to the (still-current) slang "cracker" for a rural Southern white. [7] Another, and possibly the most popular, is that the chorus refers to an overseer who, without the master, has only his bullwhip to keep the slaves in line. Most etymologists support the first interpretation, as the term "cracker" appears to predate "corncracking", and "whipcracker" has no historical backing. [8] This suggests that the chorus means the slaves are making whiskey and celebrating.
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Notes
1. ↑ "The Viking Book of Folk Ballads of the English Speaking World", edited by Albert B. Friedman, cited at "Jimmy Crack…" on mudcat.org.
2. ↑ Lott, 1993, 177
3. ↑ Multiple citations on pdmusic.org, and at Mudcat.org. De Blue Tail Fly Jim Crack Corn… Lyr Add… Jimmy Crack…
4. ↑ "Lyr Add…", on Mudcat.org.
5. ↑ Ron Sweetman, Big Bill Broonzy in France and England on Jazzhouse.org. Accessed 10 Sept 2005.
6. ↑ "Jimmy Crack…" on Mudcat.org.
7. ↑ "Lyr Add…", "Jimmy Crack…", both on Mudcat.org.
8. ↑ Word Origins: Letter C.

Answer 8

"Jimmy Crack Corn" was slang for "gimme cracked corn" or corn liquor. "Jimcrack o' corn and I don't care" "Jimcrack" is a measure of whiskey.

Answer 9

JIMMY CRACKING CORN

Answer 10

Alien abduction.