Oh! Susanna (With Original Racist and Offensive Lyrics)

A look at the Stephen Foster classic "Oh! Susanna". WARNING: THIS VERSION INCLUDES FOSTER'S RACIST AND OFFENSIVE ORIGINAL SECOND VERSE. This verse is included as a reminder of America's horrible racist past and present. Recorded by Tom Roush.

To completely judge Foster based on these lyrics, however, may be somewhat unfair. While many of his songs were written for minstrel shows and do include troubling lyrics, he was somewhat a product of his time and he made great efforts later in his career to remove any racist imagery and content from his music. He was also a strong proponent of abolition.

[Mahdi-ugqy]

History should be shown as it is, not as how people want it to be.

[kevinbotwinick]

This is a perfect example of how music really can really tell a story of a time period.

[ch]

As a black man I am happy to learn the original lyrics, history should be shown to all and not hidden.

[teencykizmitt]

I'm 70 yrs old and NEVER HEARD this song sung like this and I live in Louisiana. We sang this song always a child, sang to my babies as a put to sleep song. Never have I ever heard this

[marycahill]

Thank you for this original version. History should not be wiped out.

[DouglasJWilkening]

Sang this in grade school in NYC in the 1950’s. The second verse, as you say, was omitted, and the rest of the song was carefully edited to remove any hint of the narrator’s race. No faux black dialect, no reference to “darkies”, etc. In fact, given what’s known about the attitudes of the day, it’s surprising how few words need to be changed to clean it up to suit modern sensibilities. I never knew the song was about a black man until later in life when I heard versions closer to the original.

[derekvanderwoude]

History should never be erased. Even the worst part of history should always be shown.

[josephmatthews]

As a person of color, not offended by the song at all, i was very surprised to discover there more lyrics then I'd ever knew about!!
Thanks for the story!!

[astero]

You just dug up a childhood memory I forgot existed, I'm from Poland and we had to learn this song on the recorder at school. The lyrics in the textbook were in Polish and completely innocent, now I feel weird

[allthenewsordeath]

You know given the time, This could have been a lot worse, I was kind of expecting a progression where each verse got increasingly more racist in a comedic manner, but that might just be because I’ve watched too many key and Peele sketches.

[suehamilton]

My grandpa used to sing this to me when I was little, back in the 1960’s, I had no idea where the song came from, and he only ever sung the chorus, so really liked this explanation. And enjoyed hearing it again .

[jayleeds]

Thanks for posting this. I remember this song from watching Bugs Bunny, back in the 80's. I thought I knew all the lyrics. We should present history exactly as it was, without revising it(omitting the n-word, removing phrases, "cleaning" things up etc), to help show how far we've come as Americans over the generations.

Unfortunately, too many people use history to dig up issues to divide us. But we need to teach children how to separate the past from the present and judge people on an individual bases (as opposed to judging strangers based on the actions of other people who look like them (who lived in the past and are no longer alive today)).

[ggpowerwashing]

I understand why the second verse is removed when sung in modern day. But it is important to remember history and understand the true historical meaning of songs. This is a very informative video 👍

[mickeyscott]

If one erases the past they are doomed to make the same mistakes.

[emptyhand]

Sang this in grade school in the late 70s, never knew it was from a black perspective.

As for the contrary lyrics such as so hot i froze to death, I remember a lot of old folk songs had similar absurd lyrics. I thought it was done for humor, not to depict someone as ignorant.

But when you realize that black-face was wildly popular for 100 years in the USA, this song is par for the course.

[valdirbergamobergamo]

It is art and history in a single song. Of course millions of people neglect the entire lyrics. Even in cartoons, movies, we hear only the nice and permitted lyrics. Thanks for publishing it.

[Quillons]

Wow. 48 years old and a history buff and this is the first I've ever heard this version.

[chrisbrowne]

I find the glimpse into true history refreshing and educational, the song has power the way it was written, and it would be a shame to have anyone other than Stephen Foster tell me what I can and cannot hear.

[BrookeKwortnik]

It’s a catchy tune and is very historical, but the second verse can offend many. It is interesting to learn about the real and raw lyrics.

[ent]

Less offensive than 99% of rap music....