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Ruptured Brook

Posted:
4/22/2019 12:59:19 AM

Somebody's Gotta Pick the Cotton

This line, from one of the "Dear Dad" episodes (when they're black-facing the bigoted soldier in post-op), is from a song by Kate Smith called "That's Why Darkies Were Born." A statue of Kate Smith outside of the Philadelphia Flyers' arena is being removed because of some of her songs, probably including this one.

Some cursory reading tells me that the song was satirical, which I can believe, as the song apparently originated in a Broadwayesque Ziegfeld Follies sort of show. But I'm not an expert.

Thought that was interesting; this is one of the pop culture references that I hadn't figured out after all these years...I understand it now. And how perfect it is for that episode!

Motown Mike

Posted:
5/14/2019 5:53:35 PM

"My father was a little headstrong, my mother was a little Armstrong. The Headstrongs married the Armstrongs, and that's how darkies were born." - Groucho Marx as Rufus T. Firefly, "Duck Soup"

That the song in question is intended to be satirical is further evidenced by the fact that Paul Robeson did a recording of it.

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