Annotation:I'd Rather Be a Nigger Than a Poor White Man

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 I'D DRUTHER BE A NIGGER THAN A POOR WHITE MAN. AKA- "Nigger Take a Dram," "I'm an Old Nigger and I Will Take a Dram." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA, Oklahoma. E Major. BEbe or DDad tunings (fiddle). AABB. The song is not a traditional piece, but was rather composed in 1894 as a comic song by Harry Earle, and published with the note on the title page: "As sung by Miss Maude Huth." The poor white man, the poor white man, Livin' up north in a cold white land; Never seen a banjo or heard a nigger band, I druther be a nigger than a poor white man. The poor white man, the poor white man, Never seen a possum or a possun in the pan; never had a chicken or a razor in his hand, I druther be a nigger than a poor white man. I'm an old nigger and I'll take a dram, I druther be a nigger than a poor white man.  (Thede) This line is also sometimes heard sung: My name is Sam, I don't give a damn, I'd reather be a nigger 'n a po' white man. This last line, sometimes given as: My name is Sam, I was raised in the sand, I'd rather be a nigger than a poor white man. and, it may be that Earle fashioned his song around an older song. There is evidence that a song containing these latter lines was sung by slaves in the South in pre-Civil War days, although undoubtedly the singing was circumspect and careful. Some sources say it was a common expression in the antebellum South. A version of the black song can be found in Odum and Johnson's The Negro and His Songs (pp. 217-218). Georgia fiddler Fiddlin' John Carson recorded a song that contains some of the couplets in his "Hell Bound for Alabama" (OKeh 45159), recorded in 1927.  Source for notated version: Learned in Davis, Indian Territory [Thede].  Printed sources: Thede (The Fiddle Book), 1967; p. 62.  Recorded sources:

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