Jimmy Crack Corn - History and Interpretation

History and Interpretation

Differing sources date "Jimmy Crack Corn" from 1844 or 1846 and differ as to who authored it. One early printing attributed it to Dan Emmett. However, at the time it was usual for the recorder of a folk song to take credit. It is also thought that it was not originally a blackface minstrel song, but rather of genuine African American origins. Unlike many minstrel songs, "Blue Tail Fly" was long popular among African Americans and was recorded by Big Bill Broonzy, among others. A celebrated live version was recorded by Burl Ives. Folk singer Pete Seeger also made the song popular. Ives and Seeger performed the song together at the 92nd Street Y in New York City in 1993, in what turned out to be Ives' last public performance.

There has been much debate over the meaning of "Jimmy Crack Corn." In the original version the lyrics read "jim crack corn." "Jim crack" or "gimcrack" means shoddily built. Additionally, "corn" is considered an American euphemism for "corn whiskey." Other possibilities include:

- That "crack-corn" refers to the master "cracking" open his skull/head (the "corn" or kernal) in the fall, but the slaves were not allowed to rejoice openly, so it was done in code, "and I don't care, my master's gone away," meaning he died;

– "Gimcrack corn," cheap corn whiskey;

– That it refers to "cracking" open a jug of corn whiskey;

– That "crack-corn" is related to the (still-current) slang "cracker" for a rural Southern white.

– That "crack-corn" originated from the old English term "crack," meaning gossip, and that "cracking corn" was a traditional Shenandoah expression for "sitting around chitchatting."

– 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 "corn-cracking." Also, "whipcracker" has no historical backing. This suggests that, in the chorus, the slaves may be making whiskey and celebrating.

It is also said that Pete Seeger once maintained that the true lyrics were "gimmie cracked corn; I don't care," referencing a punishment in which a slave's rations were reduced to cracked corn and nothing else. In this case, the author would seem to have decided that this severe punishment would be worth the outcome: the death of the master.

Another interpretation is that "jimmy" was slang for a crow and that the phrase refers to crows being allowed feed in the cornfields. Normally it would have been a boy slave's responsibility to keep crows out of the corn.

The minstrel song from the same era (1840) "Jim Along, Josey" by Edward Harper may be used as a reference. In it "Jim Along" was probably the equivalent of the phrase "Get a-long," which Harper employs in the chorus of this song "Hey, get a-long, get a-long, Josey."

Hey, get a-long, Jim a-long, Jo!

Hey, get a-long, get a-long Josey,

Hey, get a-long, Jim a-long Jo!