Posted on 07/01/2005 7:39:31 AM PDT by bourbon
Sunday, June 26, 2005
In his 1974 song "Rednecks," Randy Newman lays a trap for the listener. Calling up the most boorish images of white Southerners ("We talk real funny down here/ We drink too much and we laugh too loud/ We're too dumb to make it in no northern town"), Newman invites the superior laughter of northern white liberals, the folks who'd bristle at pickaninny dolls but smile at Bubba jokes.
And then he unsheathes his knife. His proclamation that good old boys are "too ignorant to realize" that the North has given blacks their freedom is followed by a litany of every major northern ghetto: "He's free to be put in a cage in Harlem in New York City/ And he's free to be put in a cage on the South Side of Chicago and the West Side ..." By then, any laughter has choked on itself; the final chorus, "We're rednecks, we're rednecks," has no takers.
Unfortunately, the complexity of those lines, and the rich tangle of pop culture in the American South then and now, are far too often lost on the Northeastern critical elite. For evidence, look no further than the recent New York Times essay on the TV hit "American Idol," in which critic Virginia Heffernan displays the same sense of superiority that Newman skewered.
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
Bump that.
Looks like he ran off....closets to build I guess
"Looks like he ran off....closets to build I guess"
LOL! Seems so...;o)
are you also a RED HATTER????
free dixie,sw
I'm not *officially* a Red Hatter.
I love their attitude, and the way they look at life, though.
One thing I refuse to do is to become *my grandmother*. ;o)
Click on my name and you will see what I mean.
Booker's is hard to beat. But Weller does it every time.
free dixie,sw
she said to tell you that the RHS is FILLED with SASSY ladies (mine is CERTAINLY sassy! trust me on that.), who are having a blast.
she also said that you do NOT have to be 50+ to join. if UNDER50, she said for you to get yourself a PINK hat & a LAVENDER outfit & join the FUN! (on your 50th, you get the RED hat & PURPLE dress.)
free dixie,sw
...only, more ladylike. ;o)
BTW, I qualify for the Red Hat, already.
free dixie,sw
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.