Continuing our theme of South African music of the past, here's one from the musical 'Wait A Minim!', which premiered on Broadway in 1966. The show caused a furore in South Africa by mocking the policies of apartheid, and this song in particular was rumored to have driven some particularly hard-line racists into apoplectic fits. (The last verse could not be performed in South Africa, as its support of inter-racial marriage would have contravened the Immorality Act and the Mixed Marriages Act.)
Here's the 'Black-White Calypso'. The lyrics may be found here if you can't follow the accent of the singer (Jeremy Taylor).
That brings back many memories . . . Thank Heaven my parents weren't racist at all, and brought up all of their children in the same way - including listening to parodies of racism like this one, to drive home the lesson that the color of one's skin didn't make the slightest bit of difference to one's value as a human being!
Peter
2 comments:
Interesting, and I DID need the lyrics... sigh... being half deaf SUCKS!
Did you get to hear the Kingston Trio's "Which Hat Shall I Wear?" My parents played that one, along with other Kingston Trio songs that were pretty eyebrow-raising at the time they were first written.
LittleRed1
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