View source for Jimmy Crack Corn

{{short description|American song}}
{{For|the song by Eminem|Jimmy Crack Corn (Eminem song)}}
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{{Infobox song
| name       = Jimmy Crack Corn (Blue-Tail Fly)
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| artist     = [[Virginia Minstrels]]
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| published  = 1840s<ref name=cite /><ref name=virmin />
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| genre      = [[Minstrel show|Minstrel]], [[American folk music|folk]]
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| writer     = Traditional
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}}"'''Jimmy Crack Corn'''" or "'''Blue-Tail Fly'''" is an American song which first became popular during the rise of [[blackface minstrelsy]] in the 1840s through performances by the [[Virginia Minstrels]]. It regained currency as a [[American folk music|folk song]] in the 1940s at the beginning of the [[American folk music revival]] and has since become a popular children's song. Over the years, several variants have appeared.

Most versions include some idiomatic [[African American Vernacular English|African American English]], although [[General American]] versions now predominate. The basic narrative remains intact. On the surface, the song is a [[African American|black]] [[slavery in the United States|slave]]'s lament over his white [[Plantations in the American South|master]]'s death in a horse-riding accident. The song, however, is also interpreted as having a subtext of celebration about that death and of the slave having contributed to it through deliberate negligence or even [[Plausible deniability|deniable action]].<ref name="wimahar">Mahar, William J. [[iarchive:behindburntcorkm00will/page/234|''Behind the Burnt Cork Mask: Early Blackface Minstrelsy and Antebellum American Popular Culture'', pp.&nbsp;234&nbsp;ff]]. University of Illinois Press ([[Champaign, Illinois|Champaign]]), 1999.</ref><ref name="bb">Harris, Middleton &&nbsp;al. [https://books.google.com/books?id=gW0MG0LH0nIC&pg=PA32 ''The Black Book'', 35th&nbsp;ann.&nbsp;ed., p.&nbsp;32]. Random House (New York), 2009.</ref><ref name="wholelottelove">Lott, Eric. ''Love and Theft: Blackface Minstrelsy and the American Working Class'', pp.&nbsp;199–200. Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1993. {{ISBN|0-19-509641-X}}.</ref><ref>Friedman, Alfred B. (ed.). ''The Viking Book of Folk Ballads of the English Speaking World'' cited in "[http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=25188 Jimmy Crack...]" at ''Mudcat.org''. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071212234502/http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=25188 |date=December 12, 2007 }}</ref>

== Lyrics ==
{{Too many examples|date=March 2017}}

=== "Jim Crack Corn, or the Blue tail Fly" (1846) ===

{{poem quote|When I was young I us'd to wait
On Massa and hand him de plate;
Pass down de bottle when he git dry,
And bresh away de blue tail fly.
{{spaces|3}}Jim crack corn I don't care,
{{spaces|3}}Jim crack corn I don't care,
{{spaces|3}}Jim crack corn I don't care,
{{spaces|3}}Ole Massa gone away.

Den arter dinner massa sleep,
He bid dis niggar vigil keep;
An' when he gwine to shut his eye,
He tell me watch de blue tail fly.
{{spaces|3}}Jim crack corn &c.

An' when he ride in de arternoon,
I foller wid a hickory broom;
De poney being berry shy
When bitten by de blue tail fly.
{{spaces|3}}Jim crack corn &c.

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<!--sic--> tail fly.
{{spaces|3}}Jim crack corn &c.

De poney run, he jump an' pitch,
An' tumble massa in de ditch;
He died, an' de jury wonder'd why<!--sic-->
De verdic was de blue tail fly.
{{spaces|3}}Jim crack corn &c.

Dey laid 'im under a 'simmon tree,
His epitaph am dar to see:
'Beneath this stone I'm forced to lie,
All by de means ob de blue tail fly.
{{spaces|3}}Jim crack corn &c.

Ole massa gone, now let 'im rest,
Dey say all tings am for de best;
I nebber forget till de day I die,
Ole massa an' dat blue tail fly.
{{spaces|3}}Jim crack corn &c.

De hornet gets in your eyes an nose,
De skeeter bites y'e<!--sic--> through your close,
De gallinipper sweeten high,
But wusser yet de blue tail fly.
{{spaces|3}}Jim crack corn &c.<ref name=virmin>The Virginia Minstrels, [http://digital.library.temple.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p15037coll1/id/7187 No.&nbsp;5. "Jim Crack Corn or the Blue tail Fly, Composed for the Piano Forte".<!--sic-->] F.D. Benteen ([[Baltimore]]), 1846. Hosted by the Temple Sheet Music Collections at the Temple University Libraries. Accessed July 1, 2014.</ref>}}

=== "De Blue Tail Fly, a Negro Song" (1846) ===

{{poem quote|O when you come in summer time,
To [[South Carolina|South Carlinar]]'s sultry clime,
If in de shade you chance to lie,
You'll soon find out de blue tail fly,
{{spaces|3}}An scratch 'im wid a brier too.

Dar's many kind ob dese here tings,
From diff'rent sort ob insects springs;
Some hatch in June, an some July,
But August fotches de blue tail fly,
{{spaces|3}}An scratch 'im wid a brier too.

When I was young, I used to wait
On Massa's table an hand de plate;
I'de pass de bottle when he dry,
An brush away de blue tail fly.
{{spaces|3}}An scratch 'im &c.

Den arter dinner massa sleep,
He bid me vigilance to keep;
An when he gwine to shut he eye,
He tell me watch de blue tail fly.
{{spaces|3}}An scratch 'im &c.

When he ride in de arternoon,
I foller wid a hickory broom;
De poney being berry shy,
When bitten by de blue tail fly.
{{spaces|3}}An scratch 'im &c.

One day he rode aroun de farm,
De flies so numerous did swarm;
One chance to bite 'im on de thigh,
De debble take dat blue tail fly.
{{spaces|3}}An scratch 'im &c.

De poney run, he jump, an pitch,
An tumble massa in de ditch;
He died, an de Jury wonder why,
De verdict was, de "blue tail fly."
{{spaces|3}}An scratch 'im &c.

Dey laid 'im under a simmon tree,
His epitaph am dar to see;
Beneath dis stone I'm forced to lie,
All by de means ob de blue tail fly.
{{spaces|3}}An scratch 'im &c.

Ole Massa's gone, now let him rest,
Dey say all tings am for de best;
I neber shall forget till de day I die,
Ole Massa an de blue tail fly.
{{spaces|3}}An scratch 'im &c.

De hornet gets in your eyes an nose,
De skeeter bites y'e<!--sic--> through your close,
De gallinipper sweeten high,
But wusser yet de blue tail fly.
{{spaces|3}}An scratch 'im &c.}}

"De Blue Tail Fly" was published by both Keith's Music House{{refn|name=keith|"De Blue Tail Fly." Keith's Music Publishing House (Boston), 1846. Reprinted in Mahar, pp.&nbsp;237&nbsp;f.<ref name=wimahar />}} and Oliver Ditson<ref name=ditson>"[http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/songs/bluetailf.html De Blue Tail Fly. A Negro Song.]" Oliver Ditson ([[Boston]]), 1846. Hosted in ''Pre-1852 Minstrel Songs'' at Uncle Tom's Cabin & American Culture at the University of Virginia. Accessed July 1, 2014.</ref> in Boston in 1846, but Eric Lott (citing Hans Nathan<ref name="Nathan, Hans pp. 429">Nathan, Hans. ''Dan Emmett and the Rise of Early Negro Minstrelsy'', pp.&nbsp;429–431. University of Oklahoma Press ([[Norman, Oklahoma|Norman]]), 1962.</ref>) gives the version a date of 1844.<ref name=wholelottelove /> This probably refers to [[Christy's Minstrels]]' ''Ethiopian Glee Book'', which has sometimes been mistakenly attributed to 1844; in fact, that series did not begin publishing until 1847 and did not include Christy's version of this song until its 1848 edition.<ref name=folkways /><ref name=fuld />

=== "Jim Crack Corn" (1847) ===

{{poem quote|I {{sc|sing}} about de long-tail blue,
So often you want someting new;
Wid your desire I'll now comply,
An' sing about de blue-tail fly.
{{spaces|3}}Jim Crack com', I don't care,
{{spaces|3}}Jim Crack com', I don't care,
{{spaces|3}}Jim Crack com', I don't care.
{{spaces|6}}Ole Massa well a-day.

When I was home, I used to wait
On Massa—han' him roun' de plate;
I pass'd de bottle when he was dry,
An' brush'd away de blue-tail fly.
{{spaces|9}}Jim Crack com', &c<!--sic-->

Ole Massa ride in de arternoon,
I follows him wid a kickeribroom;
De pony rear'd when he was dry,
An' bitten by de blue-tail fly.
{{spaces|9}}Jim Crack com', &c.

De pony jump'd, he rear'd, he pitch'd,
He tumbled Massa in a ditch;
De wonder was he didn't die,
When bitten by de blue-tail fly.
{{spaces|9}}Jim Crack com', &c.

Dey buried him 'neath a simmon tree;
His paragraph is dere, you'll see;
Beneath de shade he's forced to lie,
All by de means ob de blue-tail fly.
{{spaces|9}}Jim Crack com', &c.

Ole Massa's dead, so let him res';
Dey say all tings is for de bes'.
I shall neber forget to de day I die,
Ole Massa an' de blue-tail fly.
{{spaces|9}}Jim Crack com', &c.<ref name=jcc1847>[https://books.google.com/books?id=xhwEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA202 "Jim Crack com’" in ''The Vauxhall Comic Song-book'', pp.&nbsp;202–203].</ref>}}

==="Jim Crack Corn! I Don't Care." (1847)===
{{poem quote|I{{smallcaps|f}} you should go in summer time,
To [[South Carolina|Souf Carolina]] sultra clime,{{refn|[[Dorothy Scarborough]]'s 1925 ''On the Trail of Negro Folk-Songs'' records a variant replacing "[[South Carolina]]" with "old [[Virginia]]".<ref name=scarbo>[[Scarborough, Dorothy]]. [https://archive.org/stream/ontrailofnegrofo00scar#page/200/mode/2up ''On the Trail of Negro Folk-Songs'', pp.&nbsp;200&nbsp;ff.] Harvard University Press ([[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]]), 1925. Hosted at Archive.org. Accessed 3 July 2014.</ref>}}
And in de shade you chance to lie,
You'll soon find but dat blue tail fly.
{{spaces|3}}Jim crack corn I don't care!<!--sic-->
{{spaces|3}}Jim crack corn! I don't care.<!--sic-->
{{spaces|6}}For massa me gave away.<!--sic-->

When I was young I used to wait,
On massa's table and hand de plate,
I'd pass the bottle when he dry,
An brush away de blue tail fly.
{{spaces|9}}Jim crack, &c.

When ole massa take his sleep,
He bid dis nigga sight to keep,
And when he gows<!--sic--> to shut his eye,
He tell me watch dat blue tail fly.
{{spaces|9}}Jim crack, &c.

Ole massa ride in arternoon,
I follow arter wid a hickory broom,
De pony he is bery shy,
Kase he bitten by de blue tail fly.
{{spaces|9}}Jim crack, &c.

De pony run dar jump an pitch,
He trowed<!--sic--> ole massa in the<!--sic--> ditch,
He died an de Jury all did cry,
Dat de verdict was de blue tail fly.
{{spaces|9}}Jim crack, &c.

Ole massa's dead now let him rest,
Dey say all tings am for de best,
I nebber shall forget till the day I die,
Ole massa and de blue tail fly.
{{spaces|9}}Jim crack, &c.<ref name=eire>[https://books.google.com/books?id=yRkNAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA2-PA271 ''Songs of Ireland and Other Lands;<!--sic--> Being a Collection of the Most Popular Irish, Sentimental and<!--sic--> Comic Songs'', pp.&nbsp;271&nbsp;f]. D.&nbsp;& J. Sadlier &&nbsp;Co. (New York), 1847.</ref>}}

=== "Jim Crack Corn." (1848) ===
{{poem quote|When I was young I used to wait
On Massa and hand him de plate;
Pass down de bottle when he get dry,
And brush away de blue-tail fly.
{{spaces|3}}Jim crack corn I don't care,
{{spaces|3}}Jim crack corn I don't care,
{{spaces|3}}Jim crack corn I don't care,
{{spaces|3}}Ole Massa gone away.

Den arter dinner massa sleep,
He bid dis niggar vigil keep;
An' when he gwine to shut his eye,
He tell me watch de blue-tail fly.
{{spaces|3}}Jim crack corn, &c.

An' when he ride in de arternoon,
I foller wid a hickory broom;
De poney being berry shy,
When bitten by de blue-tail fly.
{{spaces|3}}Jim crack corn, &c.

One day he rode around de farm,
De flies so numerous dey did swarm;
One chance to bite him on the thigh<!--sic-->
De debble take dat blue-tail fly.
{{spaces|3}}Jim crack corn, &c.

De poney run, he jump an' pitch,<!--sic-->
An tumble massa in de ditc'<!--sic-->
He died, an' de jury wonder'd why
De verdic<!--sic--> was de blue-tail fly<!--sic-->
{{spaces|3}}Jim crack corn, &c.

Dey laid 'im under a 'simmon tree,
His epitaph am dar to see:
'Beneath dis stone I'm forced to lie,
All by de means ob de blue-tail fly.'
{{spaces|3}}Jim crack corn, &c.

Ole massa gone, now let 'im rest,
Dey say all tings am for de best;
I neber forget till de day I die,
Ole massa an' dat blue-tail fly<!--sic-->
{{spaces|3}}Jim crack corn, &c.<ref name=theup>'Chaff, Gumbo'. [https://archive.org/stream/ethiopiangleeboo1848howe#page/64/mode/2up ''The Ethiopian Glee Book: Containing the Songs Sung by the Christy Minstrels, with Many Other Popular Negro Melodies, in Four Parts, Arranged for Quartett<!--sic--> Clubs'', No.&nbsp;2, p.&nbsp;64]. Elias Howe (Boston), 1848.</ref>}}

Sometimes mistakenly attributed to 1844.{{refn|name=cite|"De Blue Tail Fly" was published by both Keith's Music House{{refn|name=keith}} and Oliver Ditson<ref name=ditson>"[http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/songs/bluetailf.html De Blue Tail Fly. A Negro Song.]" Oliver Ditson ([[Boston]]), 1846. Hosted in ''Pre-1852 Minstrel Songs'' at Uncle Tom's Cabin & American Culture at the University of Virginia. Accessed July 1, 2014.</ref> in Boston in 1846, but Eric Lott (citing Hans Nathan<ref name="Nathan, Hans pp. 429">Nathan, Hans. ''Dan Emmett and the Rise of Early Negro Minstrelsy'', pp.&nbsp;429–431. University of Oklahoma Press ([[Norman, Oklahoma|Norman]]), 1962.</ref>) gives the version a date of 1844.<ref name=wholelottelove /> This probably refers to [[Christy's Minstrels]]' ''Ethiopian Glee Book'', which has sometimes been mistakenly attributed to 1844; in fact, that series did not begin publishing until 1847 and did not include Christy's version of this song until its 1848 edition.<ref name=folkways /><ref name=fuld />}} With some minor change of punctuation, this is the version that was republished by [[Oliver Ditson]] in subsequent song books.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=is86AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA211 ''Minstrel Songs, Old and New, a Collection of World-Wide,<!--sic--> Famous Minstrel and Plantation Songs, Including the Most Popular of the Celebrated Foster Melodies;<!--sic--> Arranged with Piano-Forte Accompaniment'', p.&nbsp;211]. Oliver Ditson (Boston), 1882.</ref>

==="Blue Tailed Fly" (c.&nbsp;1850)===

{{poem quote|If you should go, in summer time,
To South Carolinar's sultry clime,
An' in de shade you chance to lie,
You'll soon find out de blue tail fly.
An' scratch 'um wid a briar too.

Dar's many kind ob curious tings,
From different sort ob inseck springs;
Some hatch in June an' some July,
But Augus fotches de blue tail fly.
An' scratch 'um wid a briar too.

When I was young I used to wait
On massa table and hand de plate
I'd pass de bottle when he dry,
Den brush away de blue tail fly.
An' scratch 'um wid a briar too.

Den arter dinner massa sleeps,
He bid dis nigga vigils keeps;
An' when he gwine to shut his eye,
He tell me watch de blue tail fly.
An' scratch 'um wid a briar too.

When he ride in de arternoon,
I foller wid a hickory brom;
De pony being berry shy,
When bitten by de blue tail fly.
An' scratch 'um wid a briar too.

One day he rode aroun de farm,
De flies so numerous did swarm,
One chance to bite 'im on de thigh,
De debil take de blue tail fly.
An' scratch 'um wid a briar too.

De pony run he jump an' pitch,
An' tumbl'd massa in de ditch;
He died and de jury wondered why—
De verdic was de blue tail fly.
An' scratch 'um wid a briar too.

Dey laid him under a 'simmon tree,
His epitaph am dere to see
'Beneath this stone I'm forced to lie,
All by de means ob de blue tail fly.
An' scratch 'um wid a briar too.

Ole massa's gone, now let 'im rest,
Dey say all tings am for de best;
I neber shall forget till de day I die,
Ole massa an' dat blue tail fly.
An' scratch 'um wid a briar too.

De hornet gets in your eyes and nose,
De skeeter bite you troo your clothes;
De yalla nipper sweeten high,
But wusser yet de blue tail fly.
An' scratch 'um wid a briar too.<ref name=christys>"[http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/minstrel/misocat.html Blue Tailed Fly.]" in ''Christy's Nigga Songster, Containing Songs As Are Sung by Christy's, Pierce's, White's Sable Brothers, & Dumbleton's Band of Minstrels'', pp.&nbsp;45–47. T.W. Strong (New York), c.&nbsp;1850. Hosted in ''Pre-1852 Minstrel Songs'' at Uncle Tom's Cabin & American Culture at the University of Virginia. Accessed July 1, 2014.</ref>}}

===From ''Children of Destiny'' (1893)===
{{poem quote|When I was young, I useter to wait
Behine ole marster, han' he plate,
An' pass de bottle when he dry,
An' bresh away dat blue-tail fly.
{{spaces|3}}Jim, crack corn, I doan' keer,
{{spaces|3}}Jim, crack corn, I doan' keer,
{{spaces|3}}Jim, crack corn, I doan' keer,
{{spaces|6}}Ole—marster's—gone—away!<ref name=missmolly>Seawell, Molly E. [https://books.google.com/books?id=JH5TAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA2 ''Children of Destiny'', p.&nbsp;2]. D. Appleton & Company (New York), 1893.</ref>}}

== Melody ==
The melody is similar to "[[Miss Lucy Long]]" and was originally set for piano accompaniment,<ref name=wimahar /> although "De Blue Tail Fly" was marketed in Boston as one of "Emmett's Banjo Melodies".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=DL4PAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA62 ''The Boston Musical Gazette'', Vol.&nbsp;I: 1846, p.&nbsp;62: "New Music by C.H. Keith"]. A.N. Johnson (Boston), 1846.</ref> The four-part chorus favors a single bass and three tenors: the first and third tenors harmonize in thirds with the second completes the triads or doubles the root, sometimes crossing the melody line.<ref name=wimahar /> The versions published in 1846 differed rather markedly: "De Blue Tail Fly" is modal (although Lhamar emends its B♭ notation to C minor) and hexatonic; "Jim Crack Corn", meanwhile, is in G major and more easily singable.<ref name=wimahar /> Its simplicity has made it a common beginner's tune for acoustic guitar.<ref>John Pearse's 1963 ''Teach Yourself Folk Guitar'', e.g., uses the tune as its first two lessons, on tuning the guitar and performing basic scratch.</ref> The melody is a chain of thirds (G-B, F♯-A, G-B, [A]-C, B-D, C-E) harmonized a third above and below in the manner of the choruses in [[Italian opera]].<ref name=wimahar />

== Meaning ==
The first verses usually establish that the singer was initially a [[house slave]] charged with protecting the master and his horse from "the blue-tailed fly."<ref name=tbi>''The Traditional Ballad Index'': "[https://web.archive.org/web/20140714143001/http://www.fresnostate.edu/folklore/ballads/LI19.html] The Blue Tail Fly <nowiki>[</nowiki>Laws I19<nowiki>]</nowiki>]".</ref>  This is possibly the [[blue bottle fly]],{{refn|The blue-bottle fly now appears in British proverbs as the "blue-arsed fly" but this name does not seem to predate the 20th century.<ref>''Oxford English Dictionary''. "[http://public.oed.com/appeals/blue-arsed-fly/ Appeals: blue-arsed fly] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714170443/http://public.oed.com/appeals/blue-arsed-fly/ |date=July 14, 2014 }}" 27 Sept 2012. Accessed 8 Jul 2014.</ref>}} but probably the [[tabanus|mourning horsefly]], a bloodsucking pest found throughout the American South.<ref>{{Cite journal| volume = 72| issue = 4| last = Murphree| first = Steve.| title = Learn to live with and respect horse flies and deer flies| journal = The Tennessee Conservationist| year = 2006| url = http://www.tennessee.gov/environment/tn_consv/archive/flies.pdf| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090423044638/http://tennessee.gov/environment/tn_consv/archive/flies.pdf| archive-date = April 23, 2009| df = mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book| publisher=Academic Press| isbn = 978-0-12-372500-4| pages = 254–267 |editor=Gary Mullen | last = Mullens| first = Bradley A.|author2=Lance Durden | title = Medical and Veterinary Entomology| chapter = Horse flies and deer flies (Tabanidae)| year = 2009| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=6R1v9o-uaI4C&pg=PT272}}</ref> He is unsuccessful, the horse begins to buck, and the master is thrown and killed. A [[coroner's jury]] is convened to investigate the master's death, or the singer is criminally charged with that death{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}, but the death is blamed on "the blue-tail fly" and the slave escapes culpability.

The chorus can be mystifying to modern listeners, but its straightforward meaning is that someone is roughly milling ("cracking") the old master's corn in preparation for turning it into [[hominy]]{{refn|See, e.g., [[James Fenimore Cooper]]'s notes using the expression "cracked corn" to explain [[succotash]] in ''[[The Last of the Mohicans]]''<ref>[[Cooper, James Fenimore]]. [[s:The Last of the Mohicans/Chapter 28|''The Last of the Mohicans'', Ch.&nbsp;xxviii.]]</ref> and a [[hominy]]-mortar in ''[[The Prairie (novel)|The Prairie]]''.<ref>[[Cooper, James Fenimore]]. [[s:The Prairie/Chapter II|''The Prairie'', Ch.&nbsp;ii.]]</ref>}} or [[whiskey|liquor]].<ref>See, e.g, Foote, Elmer. ''Elmer L. Foote Lantern Slide Collection''. "[http://kdl.kyvl.org/catalog/xt7vhh6c374s_1_156/details Corn Cracking (Step in Moonshine)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714225403/http://kdl.kyvl.org/catalog/xt7vhh6c374s_1_156/details |date=July 14, 2014 }}". c.&nbsp;1915.</ref> There has been much debate, however, over the subtext. In the 19th century, the singer was often considered mournful and despondent at his master's death; in the 20th, celebratory: "Jimmy Crack Corn" has been called "the baldest, most loving account of the master's demise" in American song.<ref name=wholelottelove />

The debate has been further muddled by changes to the refrain over time. Throughout the 19th century, the lines referred to "Jim",<ref name=virmin /> "Jim Crack",<ref name=jcc1847 /> or "Jim Crack Corn"{{refn|As early as the next year (1847), a minstrel song devoted to the travails of Jim Crack Corn's wedding day appeared in the same London songbook as the first British version of "Jimmy Crack Corn",<ref name=jcc>Sharp, J.W. (ed.). [https://books.google.com/books?id=xhwEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA92 "Jim Crack Corn" in ''The Vauxhall Comic Song-book'', p.&nbsp;92]. Lewis & Son (London), 1847.</ref> which is given as "Jim Crack com{{'"}}.<ref name=jcc1847 /> Susan Eppes's diary of her [[American Civil War|Civil War]] years reports he also appeared as a figure in [[American South|Southern]] [[nursery rhyme]]s: "This dress, you must know, is 'made of Mammy's old one' like Jim Crack Corn's coat—Little Diary, I am afraid you do not know very much of [[Mother Goose]]."<ref>Eppes, Susan B. [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=moa;cc=moa;rgn=main;view=text;idno=AFJ8883.0001.001 ''Through Some Eventful Years'', p.&nbsp;205, "1 Sept 1863".] J.W. Burke ([[Macon, Georgia|Macon]]), 1926. Accessed 2 Jul 2014.</ref>}} and lacked any conjunction across the line's [[caesura]]; following the rise of highly-[[syncopation|syncopated]] [[musical genre]]s such as [[ragtime]] and [[jazz]], [[anaptyxis]] converted the name to "Jimmy" or "Jimmie" and the "and" appeared, both putting more stress on their measures' [[backbeat]]. This has obscured some of the possible original meanings: some have argued that—as "Jim" was a generic name for [[slavery in the United States|slaves]] in minstrel songs—the song's "Jim" was the same person as its blackface narrator: Speaking about himself in the [[Grammatical person|3rd person]] or repeating his new masters' commands in [[apostrophe (rhetoric)|apostrophe]], he has no concern with his demotion to a [[field slaves|field hand]] now that his old master is dead.

Another now-obscured possible meaning derives from ''jim crack'' being [[eye dialect]]{{refn|The [[British English|British]] ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' dates the variant spelling to the 17th century<ref name=oed /> but the [[American English|American]] ''[[Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary]]'' still included it as a separate entry as late as 1908.<ref>''[[s:Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary 1908|Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary]]''. "[[s:Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary 1908/J Jymold|Jimcrack]]". W. & R. Chambers (London), 1908.</ref>}} for ''{{linktext|gimcrack}}'' ("worthless"<ref name=oed>''Oxford English Dictionary'', 1st&nbsp;ed. "gimcrack, ''n.'' and ''adj.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1899.</ref><ref name=farmerjohn>Farmer, John &&nbsp;al. [https://archive.org/details/slangitsanalogue03farmuoft ''Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present'', Vol.&nbsp;III: Fla–Hyps]. 1893.</ref>):{{refn|In its noun sense of "trinket" or "bauble", it appears in [[Mark Twain]]'s ''[[Huckleberry Finn]]'': "There was an old hair trunk in one corner, and a guitar-box in another, and all sorts of little knickknacks and '''jimcracks''' around, like girls brisken up a room with.<ref>Clemens, Samuel ([[Mark Twain]]). [[s:The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn/Chapter XXVI|''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'', Ch.&nbsp;xxvi]]. Chatto & Windus (London), 1884.</ref>}} The narrator is so overcome with emotion (be it pleasure or sorrow) that he has no concern at all about his gimcrack cracked corn, his substandard rations.<ref name=wimahar /> Since "corn" was also a common rural [[American English|American]] [[ellipsis (linguistics)|ellipsis]] and [[euphemism]] for "[[maize|corn]] [[whiskey]]",{{refn|Attested by the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' as occurring by 1820.<ref>''Oxford English Dictionary'', 1st ed. "corn, ''n.¹'' Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1893.</ref>}} it could also refer to the slave being so overcome that he has no concern about his rotgut alcohol.<ref>Kroes, John. ''Cracked''. "[http://www.cracked.com/article_20032_5-terrifying-origin-stories-behind-popular-childrens-songs.html 5 Terrifying Origin Stories Behind Popular Children's Songs]". 21 Sept 2012. Accessed 6 Jul 2014.</ref> The 1811 Dictionary of Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose defines a jimcrack as a "spruce woman", so perhaps the lyric refers to the slave being so sad he doesn't have interest in an approaching beautiful woman.

Other suppositions include that "cracking" or "cracking corn" referred to the now-obsolete [[British English|English]] and [[Appalachian English|Appalachian]] slang meaning "to gossip" or "to sit around chitchatting";<ref>Adams, Cecil. ''The Straight Dope''. "[http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1288/who-is-jimmy-and-why-does-he-crack-corn Who is Jimmy, and why does he crack corn?]" 30 Oct 1998. Accessed 6 Jul 2014.</ref> that the singer is resting from his oversight duties and allowing Jim to steal corn or corn liquor; that "Jim Crack" is simply a synonym for "[[Jim Crow]]" by means of the dialectical "crack" to reference the [[crake]]; or that it is all code for the old master "Jim" cracking his "corn" ([[skull]]) open during his fall. The 1847 version of the song published in London singularly has the lyrics "Jim Crack com{{'"}}, which could refer to a poor [[cracker (pejorative)|Southern cracker]]{{refn|A usage attested as early as the 18th century.}} (presumably an overseer or new owner) or a [[minced oath]] for [[Jesus Christ]] (thus referencing indifference at the [[Judgment Day]]); the same version explicitly makes the fly's name a wordplay on the earlier minstrel hit "[[Long Tail Blue]]", about a horse. A number of [[racehorse]]s have been named "Jim Crack" or "Blue Tail Fly" and, in at least one early-20th century variant of the song, it's given as the name of the horse that killed the master,{{refn|From [[Dorothy Scarborough]]'s ''On the Trail of Negro Folk-Songs'', credited to Garnett Eskew of [[West Virginia]]:<ref name=scarbo />
<blockquote>I won't forgit till de day I die
{{spaces|6}}How Master rode de blue-tail fly.
Dat pony r'ar, dat pony kick,
{{spaces|6}}An' flinged old Master in de ditch.</blockquote>}}
but that is not a common element of the song. (Another uncommon variant appeared in the 1847 ''Songs of Ireland'' published in New York: it has the slave being given away by the master.<ref name=eire />)

Explanations of the song based upon "jimmy" or "jimmie" being [[African American Vernacular English|slaves' slang]] for [[crow]]s or [[mule]]s (here being allowed into the old master's corn fields instead of being chased away) or deriving "jimmy" from "gimme" are unsupported by the existing records. [[Pete Seeger]], for instance, is said to have maintained that the original lyrics were "gimme cracked corn" and referred to a punishment in which a slave's [[Slave health on plantations in the United States|bacon rations were curtailed]], leaving him chickenfeed;<ref name=pp>Peterson, Pete. "[http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=10459#72729 RE: Jimmy Crack Corn and I Don't Care]" on ''Mudcat''. Accessed January 2, 2006.</ref>{{refn|In fact, cracked corn in the form of [[hominy]] or [[grits]] was (and remains) a [[American Southern cuisine|Southern staple]],<ref>Atkinson, Edward. [[s:Popular Science Monthly/Volume 59/October 1901/Food and Land Tenure|"Food and Land Tenure" in ''Popular Science Monthly'', Vol.&nbsp;59]]. Oct 1901.</ref> but the rougher milling involved in its production has associated it with livestock in other regions.<ref>As, for instance, in Mabel Hawley's [[s:Four Little Blossoms at Brookside Farm/Chapter 8|''Four Little Blossoms at Brookside Farm'' (Ch.&nbsp;viii, p.&nbsp;84)]].</ref>}} the same lines could also just be asking for the whiskey jug to be passed around. The idea that Jim or Jimmy is "cracking open" a jug of whiskey is similarly unsupported: that [[phrasal verb]] is attested at least as early as 1803<ref>Mitchill, Samuel &&nbsp;al. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Ma4WAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA413 ''The Medical Repository, and Review of American Publications on Medicine, Surgery, and the Auxiliary Branches of Science'', Vol.&nbsp;VI.] T. & Y. Swords (New York), 1803.</ref> but initially applied to literal ruptures; its application to opening the cap or cork of a bottle of alcohol was a later development.

== History ==
The present song is generally credited to [[Dan Emmett]]'s [[Virginia Minstrels]],<ref name=folkways>Place, Jeff &&nbsp;al. [http://aln2.albumlinernotes.com/AFB_Vol_1.html "Blue Tail Fly" (liner notes).] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101204011949/http://aln2.albumlinernotes.com/AFB_Vol_1.html |date=December 4, 2010 }} ''American Favorite Ballads'', Vol.&nbsp;1. Smithsonian Folkways, 2002.</ref> whose shows in New York City in the mid-1840s helped raise [[blackface minstrelsy|minstrelsy]] to national attention.<ref name=nyc>[https://books.google.com/books?id=lI5ERUmHf3YC&pg=PT1969 "Dan Emmett" in ''The Encyclopedia of New York City''], 2nd&nbsp;ed.</ref> Along with "[[Old Dan Tucker]]", the tune was one of the breakout hits of the genre<ref>''Hi Fi/Stereo Review'', Vol.&nbsp;18, p.&nbsp;55. Ziff-Davis, 1967.</ref> and continued to headline Emmett's acts with [[Bryant's Minstrels]] into the 1860s.<ref name=nyc /> It was also a common song of [[Thomas D. Rice|Tom Rice]].<ref name=lhammy>Lhamon<!--sic-->, W.T. Jr. [https://books.google.com/books?id=FzyVFnp3Sc0C&pg=PA21 ''Jump Jim Crow: Lost Plays, Lyrics, and Street Prose of the First Atlantic Popular Culture'', p. 21]. Harvard University Press ([[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]]), 2003.</ref> The song was first published (with two distinct sets of lyrics) in [[Baltimore]] and [[Boston]] in 1846, although it is sometimes mistakenly dated to 1844.<ref name=cite /> However, as with later [[rockabilly]] hits, it is quite possible Emmett simply received credit for arranging and publishing an existing African-American song.<ref name=fuld /> The song was certainly picked up by slaves and became widely popular among them.<ref>Adler, Mortimer&nbsp;J. ''The Negro in American History'', Vol.&nbsp;III: "Slaves and Masters, 1567—1854", p.&nbsp;52. Encyclopædia Britannica, 1969.</ref> The chorus of the song not uncommonly appeared in the middle of other African-American folk songs, one of which may have been its original source.{{refn|See, e.g., [https://archive.org/stream/ontrailofnegrofo00scar#page/224/mode/2up/ Scarborough, p.&nbsp; 224], where it appears in "My Ole Mistis":

<blockquote>My ol' master promised me
{{spaces|6}}When he died he'd set me free.
Now ol' master dead and gone
{{spaces|6}}An' lef' dis Nigger a-hoein' up corn.
{{spaces|9}}Jim crack corn, I don't care ...</blockquote>}}

The song differed from other minstrel tunes in long remaining popular among African Americans: it was recorded by both [[Big Bill Broonzy]] and [[Lead Belly]]<!--sic--> after [[World War II]].

[[Abraham Lincoln]] was an admirer of the tune, calling it "that buzzing song". Throughout the 19th century, it was usually accompanied by the harmonica or by [[humming]] which mimicked the buzzing of the fly (which on at least one occasion was noted disrupting the [[parliament of Victoria]], Australia.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Qyk-AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1961 ''Victoria. Parliamentary Debates,'' Vol.&nbsp;XXXII: ''Session 1879–80,'' p.&nbsp;.1961: "November 25, 1879".] John Ferres (Melbourne), 1880.</ref>). Lincoln would ask his friend [[Ward Hill Lamon|Ward Lamon]] to sing and play it on his [[banjo]]<ref name=langcivwar>Wright, John. [https://books.google.com/books?id=3aEJZRIxjDAC&pg=PA35 ''The Language of the Civil War'', p.&nbsp;35: "Blue Tail Fly"]. Greenwood Publishing.</ref> and likely played along on his harmonica.<ref>Erbsen, Wayne. [https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0962932795&pg=PA10 ''Front Porch Songs, Jokes, & Stories: 48 Great Southern Sing-Along Favorites'', p.&nbsp;10]. 1993.</ref> It is said that he asked for it to be played as the lead-in to his [[Gettysburg Address|address at Gettysburg]].<ref name=folkways /><ref name=fuld>Fuld, James J. [https://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0486414752&pg=PA312 ''The Book of World-Famous Music: Classical, Popular, and Folk'', 5th&nbsp;ed., p.&nbsp;312]. Dover Publications (New York), 2000.</ref>

Following [[World War II]], the "Blue Tail Fly" was repopularized by the [[Andrews Sisters]]' 1947 recording with the [[folk musician|folk singer]] [[Burl Ives]]. It then became part of the general [[American folk music revival|Folk Revival]] through the '50s and early '60s before losing favor to more politically charged fare, as parodied by [[Tom Lehrer]]'s "[[#Lehrer|Folk Song Army]]". A 1963 ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' article averred that "instead of ... chronicling the life cycle of the blue-tailed fly", the "most sought-after folk singers in the business"—including [[Pete Seeger]], [[Theodore Bikel]], and [[Bob Dylan]]—were "singing with hot-eyed fervor about police dogs and racial murder".<ref>"[http://peteseeger.net/wp/?page_id=1052 They Hear America Singing] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714181251/http://peteseeger.net/wp/?page_id=1052 |date=July 14, 2014 }}" in ''Time''. July 19, 1963. Accessed July 2, 2014.</ref> All the same, Seeger claimed to have been present when [[Alan Lomax]]{{refn|Seeger related that Lomax claimed to have learnt the song from [[Dorothy Scarborough]]'s collection<ref name=seegrr /> ''On the Trail of Negro Folk-songs''.<ref name=scarbo />}} first taught the song to Burl Ives for a [[CBS]] radio show<ref name=seegrr>Seeger, Peter. ''American Favorite Ballads''. Music Sales (New York), 1961.</ref> and their duet at the [[92nd Street Y]] in New York City in 1993 was Ives' last public performance.<ref>Holden, Stephen. "The Cream of Folk, Reunited for a Cause" in ''The New York Times'', C&nbsp;15. May 19, 1993.</ref>

The song has also occurred as [[instrumental]]s:
* An instrumental rock & roll rendition, "Beatnik Fly", was recorded by [[Johnny and the Hurricanes]] in 1959, and released on [[Warwick Records (United States)|Warwick Records]], catalog number M-520.  It charted on the Billboard [[Hot 100]] at number 15 in the US,<ref>{{cite book |title=  Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 14th Edition: 1955-2012 |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |authorlink=Joel Whitburn |year=2013 |publisher=Record Research |page=438}}</ref> and number 8 in the UK.<ref>{{cite web|title=officialcharts.com|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/7653/johnny-and-the-hurricanes/|website=officialcharts.com|accessdate=August 10, 2022}}</ref>
* A surf version (inspired by "Beatnik Fly"), "Foam And Fiberglass", was recorded by [[Mike Adams and the Red Jackets]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reverbcentral.com/reviews/comp/surfers7183.html|title=Reverb Central .:. Review .:.|website=www.reverbcentral.com}}</ref> on the album ''Surfers Beat'' by [[Crown Records]] in 1963.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Mike-Adams-And-The-Red-Jackets-Surfers-Beat/release/3041832|title=Mike Adams And The Red Jackets – Surfer's Beat|website=Discogs|year=1963 }}</ref>

Seeger maintained that the song's subtext gave it a [[social justice]] element<ref name=pp /> but began (with 1953's ''American Folksongs for Children'') to perform and market the work as a children's sing-along. Usually under the name "Jimmy Crack Corn", it remains common at campfires and [[summer camp]]s.<ref name=lhammy /> It is also sampled in a number of rap songs—including [[Tuff Crew]] and [[Eminem]]'s compositions (both titled "Jimmy Crack Corn")—playing on the present usage of "[[crack (drug)|crack]]".

== In popular culture ==
A commercial for [[Cingular Wireless]] in December 2006 raised some controversy when a character having a conversation with "Jim" begins referring to him by every nickname he can think of including Jimmy Crack Corn. Following "a half dozen complaints", Cingular edited out the sequence.<ref>{{cite news|title=Cingular Pulls Ad After Racism Complaints |url=http://cbs13.com/national/Cingular.Ads.Complaints.2.474603.html |publisher=CBS Broadcasting Inc. |date=December 16, 2006 |access-date=November 16, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081212103413/http://cbs13.com/national/Cingular.Ads.Complaints.2.474603.html |archive-date=December 12, 2008 }}</ref>

== See also ==
* "[[Shoo, Fly, Don't Bother Me]]!"
* "[[Polly Wolly Doodle]]", another minstrel song still sung by American children
* ''[[Slave Songs of the United States]]''
* [[Songs of the Underground Railroad]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
* [https://archive.org/stream/ontrailofnegrofo00scar#page/200/mode/2up/ Full lyrics of Dorothy Scarborough's 1925 account] in ''On the Trail of Negro Folk-Songs'' at Archive.org
* "[https://books.google.com/books?id=KKhSvDCDzOsC&pg=PA127 Jimmy Crack Corn]", a modern version recorded in ''From My People: 400 Years of African American Folklore'' (Google Books)
* "[https://web.archive.org/web/20140714143001/http://www.fresnostate.edu/folklore/ballads/LI19.html] Blue-Tail Fly, The <nowiki>[</nowiki>Laws I19<nowiki>]</nowiki>] at the ''Traditional Ballad Index'' {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714143001/http://www.fresnostate.edu/folklore/ballads/LI19.html |date=July 14, 2014}}
* [http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=40458 Lyr Add: (De) Blue Tail Fly] discussion on Mudcat.org gives several variants of title and lyrics, early publication information; its links include numerous other discussions of the song. Accessed September 10, 2005.
* [http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=25188 Jimmy Crack Corn – Man or Myth] discussion on Mudcat.org includes discussion of lyrics, cites further sources. Accessed September 10, 2005. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071212234502/http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=25188 |date=December 12, 2007 }}

{{Slave narrative|state=collapsed}}
{{Burl Ives}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1840s songs]]
[[Category:American folk songs]]
[[Category:American poems]]
[[Category:Big Bill Broonzy songs|Blue Tail Fly]]
[[Category:Blackface minstrel songs]]
[[Category:Burl Ives songs|Blue Tail Fly, The]]
[[Category:Lead Belly songs|Blue Tail Fly]]
[[Category:Pete Seeger songs]]
[[Category:Songs about death]]
[[Category:Songs about fictional male characters]]
[[Category:Songs about insects]]
[[Category:Songs of the American Civil War]]