Dominique Duroseau’s thought recent provoking show at Gallery Aferro, titled Black Things in White Spaces, got me thinking about the songwriting of Randy Newman. For those who may not be that familiar with him, he is a white Jewish atheist whose first album was released nearly 50 years ago. His songs are often full of biting satire about past and current events including race, politics, and natural disasters. The melodies are beautiful as the lyrics are subtle, controversial, and thought provoking, not to mention easily prone to misunderstanding (and misuse). The list of artists who have covered his songs include Etta James, Harry Nilsson, Nina Simone, Ray Charles, Aaron Neville, and others. He is not racist (a statement you hear a lot these days) though his songs, upon superficial listening, appear to be. In fact, they are so subtle that the right at times fail to see the satire and adapt certain songs for their own purposes.
“Climb aboard little wog, sail away with me…” He is at his most subtle in the title song of his 1972 lp SAIL AWAY. The voice of Sail Away is a slave trader’s sales pitch to would be slaves in Africa to Remember, this is satire. And it’s dark. Click here to hear the great version song by Etta James in 1973. Randy’s version can be heard singing it here. Sail Away has been mistakenly thought of as being a patriotic song; it ain’t. The carefree, optimistic mood of the melody successfully masks the song’s content, adding to the irony.
In America you’ll get food to eat
Won’t have to run through the jungle
And scuff up your feet
You’ll just sing about Jesus and drink wine all day
It’s great to be an American
Ain’t no lions or tigers, ain’t no mamba snake
Just the sweet watermelon and the buckwheat cake
Ev’rybody is as happy as a man can be
Climb aboard, little wog, sail away with me
Sail away, sail away
We will cross the mighty ocean into Charleston Bay
Sail away, sail away
We will cross the mighty ocean into Charleston Bay
In America every man is free
To take care of his home and his family
You’ll be as happy as a monkey in a monkey tree
You’re all gonna be an American
Sail away, sail away
We will cross the mighty ocean into Charleston Bay
Sail away, sail away
We will cross the mighty ocean into Charleston Bay
With some smart ass New York Jew
And the Jew laughed at Lester Maddox
And the audience laughed at Lester Maddox too
Well he may be a fool but he’s our fool
If they think they’re better than him they’re wrong
So I went to the park and I took some paper along
And that’s where I made this song
We drink too much and we laugh too loud
We’re too dumb to make it in no Northern town
And we’re keepin’ the n*****s down
And good ol’ boys from Tennessee
And colleges men from LSU
Went in dumb. Come out dumb too
Hustlin’ ’round Atlanta in their alligator shoes
Gettin’ drunk every weekend at the barbecues
And they’re keepin’ the n*****s down
And we don’t know our ass from a hole in the ground
We’re rednecks, we’re rednecks
And we’re keeping the n*****s down
You see he’s got his dignity
Down here we’re too ignorant to realize
That the North has set the n****r free
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
And he’s free to be put in a cage in Hough in Cleveland
And he’s free to be put in a cage in East St. Louis
And he’s free to be put in a cage in Fillmore in San Francisco
And he’s free to be put in a cage in Roxbury in Boston
Keepin’ the n*****s down
And we don’t know our ass from a hole in the ground
We’re rednecks, we’re rednecks
And we’re keeping the n*****s down
We are keeping the n*****s down
For if the children of Israel were to multiply
Why must any of the children die?
So he asked the Lord
And the Lord said:
Than the lowliest cactus flower
Or the humblest Yucca tree
He chases round this desert
Cause he thinks that’s where I’ll be
That’s why I love mankind
From the squalor and the filth and the misery
How we laugh up here in heaven at the prayers you offer me
That’s why I love mankind
The Buddhists and the Hindus joined on satellite TV
They picked their four greatest priests
And they began to speak
They said, “Lord, a plague is on the world
Lord, no man is free
The temples that we built to you
Have tumbled into the sea
Lord, if you won’t take care of us
Won’t you please, please let us be?”
And the Lord said
I take from you your children and you say how blessed are we
You all must be crazy to put your faith in me
You really need me
That’s why I love mankind
Gallery Aferro Studio Residency 