Weird American moments. A friend in Brazil posts a picture of a yellow rose blooming in his garden. I think of the classic song "The Yellow Rose of Texas" and look for a link to this song to share with him. The first thing that comes up on YouTube is a fife and drum version, accompanied by a 19th century oil painting of a bloody battle on horseback. I had never thought much about the lyrics; I only know a few words of the chorus. I look up the words to the tune and learn that it was written as a minstrel tune, to be sung by a white man wearing blackface and in a caricature of African-American dialect. The " yellow rose" of the title refers to the light-skinned black woman the fake black man singing the song left back in Texas.
Looking at the comments to the song, it is clear that it is seen as a rallying cry for the far right, neo-Nazis, and white "identitarians." Reading a bit more on Wikipedia, I surmise that this is due more to the fact that the instrumental version of the song became a rallying cry for the Confederate Army during the Civil War. Fascists from Germany and Greece check into the comments section to offer their support to the American fascists commenting. I leave a couple pointed anti-fascist comments and exit the thread.
Our songs are like shards of pottery from an archaeological dig. They contain, in layers, the story of our history as a nation, as a culture. Mercifully, not all American songs carry such a demented backstory.
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