Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 4, 1994 TAG: 9403040147
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETSY BIESENBACH STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The House of Delegates, on the other hand, voted Thursday to scrap "Carry Me Back to Old Virginia" To hear Betsy singing the state song, dial 981-0100 or 382-0200 and enter code 7664 (S-O-N-G). altogether, so the song's fate is uncertain.
If you call our InfoLine service, you can hear someone warbling Marye's version.
In case you're wondering, I'm that singing someone. (If you're wondering why me, you're not alone. The only thing I think I haven't been asked to do around the newspaper is change the tires on the route trucks. Yet.)
But I think I did pretty well at singing a song I never heard, considering that after 25 years of playing music, I'm still very confused about what the flags on the ends of those little black golf clubs mean.
Having sung the song, I think I now qualify as an expert, and I have a few things to say about it.
First of all, the word changes - "Old Darkey" was replaced by "Old Dreamer" and "Massa and missus" was changed to "Papa and Mama" - were absolutely necessary.
Despite the racist references, the song was written by a black man, James Bland. But Bland was no dummy. Even though he was a Northerner - and there is doubt about whether he'd ever set foot in Virginia - he knew what would sell in the Old Dominion, and he was right. The song was very popular with the white folks for generations.
But even on the off chance that Bland really was pining for the old days on the plantation, we still don't need a state song that glorifies slavery.
If we're going to update some of the words, however, shouldn't we update them all? What are schoolchildren in Northern Virginia, Richmond and even Roanoke going to think when they sing about the "cotton and the corn and 'tatoes"? The produce section at Kroger's probably will come to mind.
I also didn't like the reference to the "Old Dismal Swamp." What about our mountains? What about Monticello? Shouldn't we mention the Beltway somewhere in there?
I'm not sure I like the "Old Dreamer" phrase, either. How many people in our youth-conscious society are going to like referring to themselves as "Old Dreamer" or "Old" anything, for that matter? Not many, I'd bet.
I think it should be "there's where my poor, homesick heart does long to go." But nobody asked me.
About the melody: I like it. It's a homesick, plaintive tune that sounds just as good when sung by a 200-voice choir as by one guy and a glass of Jack Daniels. (It sounds pretty good in the shower, too, by the way.)
But it's also a melody that brings up painful memories for some people, former Gov. Douglas Wilder among them. We shouldn't have a state song that a significant portion of the population won't sing.
But what other tune would we use? I think a state song, like a school song, should be mushy and corny and singable, but they just don't write them like that any more.
Maybe we should steal another tune like it, say, "Bye-Bye Blackbird" or "Beautiful Dreamer" or "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree," and steal some new words from somewhere else, such as a campaign speech from the upcoming Senate race.
Although I'm now an "expert" on the subject, I'm more confused than ever about it. And when it came time to register my vote on InfoLine, I simply hung up.
But somehow, the song has got a hold on me. I find myself humming it at odd moments, and feeling glad that I'm a Virginian. Until I remind myself that I'm really a Texan.
I think Marye is on the right track here, but I also think the time isn't right yet for this song. Maybe we should set it aside for 30 or 40 more years. Maybe, if we're lucky, the negative memories surrounding it will have faded and the next generation can judge the song on its merits alone.
Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1994: INFOLINE
by CNB