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Original poster

did everyone know this was a racist song? (am i the only one who didnt?)

146 replies

deakymom · 12/05/2014 00:39

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-27360884

okay so basically the sun has got his hat on has the n word in it i never knew that i spoke to someone about it and they gave me the look Hmm "everyone knows that don't they?" no i didnt Blush we used to sing it in school i really dont remember that word being there?

am i the only one who didnt know?

OP posts:
JakeBullet · 12/05/2014 07:52

I didn't know but then again I never really pay attention to words in a song...just the tune. Tbh I only know the first couple of lines of this, used to sing it to DS as a baby.

It sounds like this was handed badly and the presenter was not aware of the word in the song.

NoArmaniNoPunani · 12/05/2014 07:55

I know it from the musical Me and my Girl with Gary Wilmott, which I saw when I was a kid. I had no idea there was an older version of the song.

OwlCapone · 12/05/2014 07:56

The fact is, the song has genuinely racially offensive language.

It is more racially offensive than rap songs now though? As I understand it, the song contains one incidence of a word that is now racially offensive, simply used as a noun with no actual racism attached to it, as part of what was acceptable language in 1932.

Clearly it should have been spotted before it went to air but I do think a simple apology for the mistake should have been sufficient. There was no intended offense behind it and it is probably less offensive than many rap songs.

I'm not getting into any kind of debate about whether rap songs are Ok or not, just using them as a counter example.

0blio · 12/05/2014 07:56

So the BBC will sack someone for playing a song almost no-one knew was racist, but continue to play god save the queen.

UrbaneLandlord · 12/05/2014 08:00

How about we all move forward to the post-racism society; where Jeremy Clarkson, Prince Harry, me, and most people (apart from anxiety-ridden hand-wringing leftie liberals) already live?

In this post-racism society, we can all use whatever language we want; provided that the context is such that no offence is intended.

Wouldn't that be a great place to live?

OwlCapone · 12/05/2014 08:01

What is wrong with God Save the Queen?

NoArmaniNoPunani · 12/05/2014 08:05

How about we all move forward to the post-racism society; where Jeremy Clarkson, Prince Harry, me, and most people (apart from anxiety-ridden hand-wringing leftie liberals) already live?

We'd need to eradicate racism first

OwlCapone · 12/05/2014 08:05

There is a big difference between someone using the word now and it appearing in a song from over 70 years ago when the language was contemporary. Especially when it is not used on an offensive way in that paRticular song.

Which is not the same as saying it should have been broadcast, just that a simply apology for the mistake should have sufficed.

JennyPiccolo · 12/05/2014 08:09

Rap music is written by people who have reclaimed the word. I didn't think that's comparable.

God save the queen is xenophobic dirge, is what's wrong with it.

AintNobodyHereButUsKittens · 12/05/2014 08:12

Jeremy Clarkson is the opposite of living in a post-racism society - he's playing silly "ooh! I almost said a rude word, but not really, look at me aren't I naughty?" games. The "slope" case was a classic case in point. Deeply childish - and normally the childish streak in Top Gear is exactly why I love it, when they are letting down each other's tyres and putting horses heads in their tents or whatever, but not appropriate in this area because it's only banter if the subject of the joke is in on it.

PolkadotsAndMoonbeams · 12/05/2014 08:14

Oh I like it, the big swelling crescendo in the middle and then the brass come in

KittyandTeal · 12/05/2014 08:15

Ok so I totally understand and agree that modern use of the n word is appalling. However, surely these things need to been seen/read/listened to within the context of the time.

It's a little bit like the publisher who edited parts of Huckleberry Fin to remove the n word in books for schools. However, the word has an important historical context in the book that needs discussing.

I know that's slightly different but I do think that modern music using the n word is much much more offensive than very old music (and yes I do understand the idea of 'reclaiming' the word within black culture)

NotNewButNameChanged · 12/05/2014 08:18

Kitty - the modern use of the n word is only appalling in some songs or situations and only when used by certain sections of the population. Apparently.

Tweasels · 12/05/2014 08:18

I has no idea this song had a racist line in it. I used to have it on an LP of children's songs when I was little.

Come to think of it, that album also had Puff the Magic Dragon and Two Little Boys on Hmm

LarrytheCucumber · 12/05/2014 08:20

We had it on a children's record and used to play it in assembly sometimes and it was years before I realised that it conained the word 'darkies' presumably as a substitute for the n word. Didn't play it again.

Tweasels · 12/05/2014 08:26

Ha ha, you have to laugh at the sheer stupidity of some record company thinking it would be ok to use the word 'darkie' instead. Fucking idiots.

OwlCapone · 12/05/2014 08:32

Rap music is written by people who have reclaimed the word. I didn't think that's comparable.

And this song is written before the word was considered racially offensive.

TBH, I don't agree with the whole "reclaimed the word" thing. I feel it is either acceptable or not and it's difficult to claim it's offensive when you are using it yourself. However, as a white person, that's none of my business and up to the people using it. Personally, I simply don't use the word at all.

sarinka · 12/05/2014 08:37

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

YeGodsAndLittleFishes · 12/05/2014 08:38

I don't think it was necessarily a problem to broadcast the song, as a one off, but it needed a few words said before it played in case some people didn't want that language in their homes.

It's sad that so many people are taking the words out of context of the full lines of the song and the meaning there. All the song says is that black skin was the result of the human body's in built protection from the sun's affect. It's a joke that the sun will 'do the same to you'.

Sorry, but acceptance of different skin colour and discussion about all of us being equal under the same sun is considered a good thing within earshot of my radio. Hmm

JustPassingThru · 12/05/2014 08:42

Apparently the lyrics were rewritten, there are several versions, and only one with the n word in it. So he was unlucky to have picked that particular version, IME.

AintNobodyHereButUsKittens · 12/05/2014 08:43

Meditrina - the Dambusters is a U certificate film (despite the death count Hmm) and traditionally shown on telly on bank holiday afternoons. Pulp Fiction, not so much.

aermingers · 12/05/2014 08:43

I actually find this all really scary. Destroying people and their careers because you suspect they might have thoughts you disapprove of. It's akin to McCarthyism.

StealthPolarBear · 12/05/2014 08:49

"JennyPiccoloMon 12-May-14 08:09:43

Rap music is written by people who have reclaimed the word. I didn't think that's comparable."

Elvis costello then. I hear that one all the time.

OwlCapone · 12/05/2014 08:52

God save the queen is xenophobic dirge, is what's wrong with it.

So, like every other national anthem that bigs up the country concerned?

YeGodsAndLittleFishes · 12/05/2014 08:54

Are we going to ban ever book with a racist character now?
Not so long ago there was a BBC non news article about how scientists had published research showing that black skin was originally due to the development of the skin's natural defence systems over many generations of people living in very hot countries.

I don't remember there being any mention of any controversy over that. But it was basically the same thing, just different words.