Great song, both Music & lyrics, America at its best, it's good to have someone cleaning our own doorstep this way sometimes; irony is a double-edged weapon, some get it, some don't.I am a white non-american man, I am 42, I remember studying "I had a dream" famous speech by reverend martin Luther King jr at school in France.It touched me deep inside.Last year, I went to Memphis, TN. I met my wife there. She took me to the NCRM. I never was the same ever after.It's high-time you change America!
I know Randy Newman gets in trouble when people don't get his ironic humour. Blimey he even got acussed of being against short people.He is so on the side of the lovers, poets, thinkers and the righteteous, just while doing it in a very sarcastic manner and if you don't get it , well go and vote republican
It's disheartening to see so many people like a comment that completely misinterprets the meaning of this song.
Come on people, it's about the North's perception of Southerners and how it's completely hypocritical since there was racism all across America at the time.
Wow. I never realized how good Randy Newman work is! I've only heard "Short People" and his stuff from film soundtracks. I've been listening to a lot of his stuff recently and it's unbelievable! I love his satirical lyrics, usually with paino songs you just hear love songs. But Randy just brings those issues to the forefront and I guess that makes people uncomfortable. I know I was the first time I heard Rednecks, I was like "Did he just say the N-WORD?" lol. But its the context he uses it in!
BRILLIANT!! A (White) co-worker hipped me to Randy whom i've only known as "a voice" from the TV show Monk and of course throughout the years thru snatches from the radio. This is satire at its best and still current.
Randy Newman is a Jew. There used to be signs on hotel fronts in Miami Beach that stated: "No Jews." Certain neighborhoods were off-limits to them as well. This occurred in the 1960's. No doubt Newman encountered racism himself. I think that gives him the latitude to compose songs that bluntly address this ugly issue. Bet he got called "Jew Boy" himself ... and it wasn't meant as a term of endearment.
Rednecks do NOT keep nigs down, they along with govt. who continues to hand out food stamps & give them section 8 status etc. are keeping them down. As an individual it's up to you whether or not you want to be kept down. So, choose the life of food stamps, section 8 housing, & free utilities " which comes from taxpayer money "now tell me who is keeping who down ? or you can get a job, go to school, educate yourselves & become a productive member of society instead of living off others.
Racism doesn't come only from the south. Notice his reference to the cages in various cities...what do you suppose those cages are... jails. It isn't just the south but in every state which is what the song is saying, using satire. People accuse the southerners of being redneck and stupid but in essence, it's every part of the U.S.
as a Black American i can say that I am not offended by this song.. because it's part of american history..it's the way people thought back in day down south.. and new orleans is as far south as you can get before you're in the Gulf..it's a song about the ignorance of racism."Red necks don't know their A** from a hole in the ground but, we keepin da Ni**ers down"..it's sad but we are still a nation that has freedom of speach, at least he's honest and says it to your face. I respect that..
@MrJohnshopkins53 It's actually the opposite. The song is about the hypocrisy of the North as show in the last verse. After claiming "the northerner set the nigger free" he goes on to list northeren ghettos.
The opening verse also references this by using the infamous Lestor Maddox TV appearance from the 70's where he was drowned out by supposedly Liberal audience members shouting abuse at him.
@MrJohnshopkins53 As someone who's grown up in the South, but worked in the North as well. I like the dynamic that the North is just as bad to minorities as the South and he calls them on it.
@MrJohnshopkins53 Roght. He's amazing... showing how stupid racism is. He isn't bad-mouthing afro-americans, he is bad mouthing small minded bigots... I love Randy Newman!
@MrJohnshopkins53 this is a song by a guy from the north that stereotypes people from the south. racism isn't confined geographicaly. I think all racism is idiotic because it comes from ignorance and fear. I don't fear people that aren't like me because I know so many that i'm not ignorant of them. I am considered a redneck though.I lived with a racist girl and she would have flipped if she knew I had slept with black women.I see good things in all types. wish others would.
@yetitracker Randy Newman, the singer and songwriter, is from New Orleans. He's basically saying, especially in the last verse, that the northerners are no less racist than the rednecks, and probably no less dumb, either.
@platypusrex256 no he means what happened in the past was sad, but we have freedom of speech, so people (like Randy Newman) who are honest about it do have the right to talk about it. Basically people shouldn't be offended by this song, because he is only speaking honestly.
@jollypapaya I don't understand why you all are saying that he's talking about something that happened in the past. I think what he is singing about is still going on today and that's why he is singing about it. That's his style; he wants people to think about racism.
@jollypapaya I don't understand why you all are saying that he's talking about something that happened in the past. I think what he is singing about is still going on today and that's why he is singing about it. That's his style; he wants people to think about racism.
@jollypapaya oh Jesus christ NO! Newman isn't a southern redneck racist. This song is supposed to be ironic and hypocritical. Listen to the black ghettos he sings about in the song. They're all northern and midwestern ghettos. What he's saying is that Americans blame the South for racism against blacks but the entire country is guilty of it. Listen to it again. Newman isn't a racist. This is an anti-racist song.
@MrJohnshopkins53 He's not singing about being proud of being a redneck. He's being ironic. The point of the song is that America has the stereotype of "rednecks hating black people" but then goes on to sing about all these Northern cities with black ghettos. The point is that the white establishment in America as a whole is racist as shit, way more than some backwoods white redneck racist.
@MrJohnshopkins53 yeah - his song was about the way we can take offence at words - and retake ownership of them too - many Southerners use "rednecks" the way many black people use "nigger". (though that word has become even more taboo over the last few decades)
People who jump up and down about this sort of usage need to remember the importance of intent.
Fucking hate rednecks, I work and live around them and they are terrible terrible people. All they care about is their big ass stupid trucks and their football; plus they get all their news from Fox and are completely brainwashed to become even more mentally handicapped than they would have been otherwise.
@TheHolyMongolEmpire Rednecks are not terrible people by any means. If your car is broken down on the side of the road, I guarantee that the person that pulls over and offers to help you out is a truck-driving, football-loving redneck. Everyone loves to hate rednecks until they need something from them: like someone to change their oil or fight their wars.
@TheHolyMongolEmpire Yeah it's so different up North. All I hear up there is football from guys too, except up there peoples' cars have no personality or customization because it's not a car culture like the South.
They brag up north about their mass transit pass... ha.
Maybe, just maybe it's a polemic intended to make people talk about it, not agree or disagree with the song ... because reading the first pages I can see that's happening ... did it have the same impact at the time or am I seeing/hearing this through post-modern times
good grief, its a tune and southerners DO talk real funny. There is a reason you don't hear Bubba on the national or even local news...........and yes, I am a southern gal
I love Randy Newman, but this song really pisses me off. I know it's supposed to be funny and I can take a joke, but I really feel like this is a bit much. It doesn't really make sense. Southern "rednecks" are stupid and they're always drunk (at least according to the lyrics) yet they somehow are organized and powerfull enough to "keep the niggers down." Really? The stereotypes just don't add up. That being said, I'm still a fan and think Newman is normally a great songwriter.
@twotimespecial You don't think stupid drunk people can hold power? Check out Boris Yeltsin, and he ran a country. So yes, stupid drunk people could control a portion of our country. It's all about numbers. If the majority of people in a given area fit the "drunk and stupid" stereotype, then it is entirely possible that they would have reflective representation. Is "drunk and stupid" a sweeping generalization? Sure, but has the south's history toward black people been guided by genius?
@MaxExcretion I'm going to assume you've never really spent much time in the South, because if you had you certainly wouldn't think that the majority of us fit the "drunk and stupid" stereotype. As for the South's history towards black people, you need only remember that blacks suffered discrimination and prejudice everywhere in the US. If you look up the history of race riots in America you'll find more in the Northeast and Midwest. And those places are far more segregated today than the South.
@twotimespecial The point of the song is: "Yes, Southerners limit the opportunities of blacks, but do Northerners really do any better? No, not really. They're just less blatant in the way they do it." The list of Northern ghettos is the point at which the satire should be obvious. He's telling the Northerners who are laughing at Southern racists that they should look at their own communities more carefully.
@angryzenbuddhist I understand the point about Northern hypocrisy over racism. The thing about the song that makes me angry is the language used to describe Southerners. Because we "talk real funny" we're inherently drunk and stupid. The fact of the matter is that we aren't any drunker or dumber than anyone else in the country. By saying these kinds of things, he (whether intentionally or not) is perpetuating a xenophobic stereotype of the South. That is what I object to.
@twotimespecial Randy grew up in the South, he's not attacking it. He was also brought up in a Jewish family, if anyone takes offence at the 'Jew' bit.
No, the song makes perfect sense. Whites still outnumber the blacks in the south by a long shot. Blacks are stupid, whites are stupid, everyones stupid. Its all a numbers game. Whichever retarded demographic holds the majority, than they will keep the other equally as dumb minority down.
I'm black and I found this song really god damn offensive! I see how theres a deeper meaning and stuff but did he really have to say "keepin the niggers down?" that's just fuckin ignorant
@MastaBalla23 His choice of using the word nigger may have been deliberately offensive, but it was not ignorant. To say it was ignorant means that he didn't know what the word actually represents, but this satirical song is based entirely around it. Yes, black Americans have faced extreme racism, and oppression, and this song is actually about how these still exist, people are just better at hiding them. (Example, "fixing" racism by making Nigger a bad word, but not addressing real issues.)
@MastaBalla23 yeah I woulda prefered he sang about doing crack, bustin caps, and fucking bitches. instead of a comical ironic song that's clearly a joke and not eve in a racist context. Or maybe niggers are just too damn dumb to get it.
@TheHolyMongolEmpire Actually no, it's more a commentary on how the North always looks down on the South but they do segregation of their own as the last of the song says, yet they love to tell the South how to live, what do to and how to be. In ways the South embraces black people ways the North never did, from our music to our cooking to cities always where races lived close like New Orleans. And it harkens to a line in the Dixe Flyer where he says the Jews were doing what the Gentile do.
It was something of a test by Newman to see how many people in 1975 would get hung up on the "N" word and miss what the song is really about and sure enough, they did.
this song caught me off guard at first, really I just laughed about him saying the N word cause I wouldn't expect him bust out in a song with him saying it but as I listen to it I saw that the song had a intelligent meaning to it. Man shit is just fuck up in the world when will the hate stop................... and yeah I am black but really that shouldn't matter unless you want it to
@EFISHANT Nonsense, this song appeals to a listener that is intelligent enough to listen to the whole song and understand the irony in it, not someone who hears the word "Nigger" and stops listening so they can scream "Racist" as loud as they can to anyone that will listen.
What about explosive "lyrics" from the hood? I've heard brothers repeat nigga a dozen times in about 10 seconds. Ain't nuttin wrong with that I guess.
What really intrigues me here is how newman creates a satirical Southern "redneck" in this song, but the satirical "redneck" still discusses something more meaningful than many northerners would overlook. This right here is good songwriting.
this is an anti white bigot tune..how could anyone miss it? unless all they hear is the 'n' word...then, they're no better than the bigots...hear what you want to only...
@willc854 you have no fucking idea in earth who the hell randy newman is if you don't understand that this song like most his songs are a joke or sang from a certain perspective (i.e. short people)
Though this song is dated and may be tongue in cheek, the danger is exactly what is going on TODAY. The flash mobs of black kids who have been taught to hate whites are attacking whites at places like state fairs.If you haven't seen that lately, you haven't been watching.
Good job of teaching asholes. It's all the evil white mans fault that "niggers" are kept down. Harlem Pastor Manning is correct. There must be "something deficient in your charector". Ouch.
@RonSafreed Redneck refered to neck scarf worn by union coal miners in West V..google "Battle of Blair Mountain." Redneck has become as confused a term as "racist". (that word now a joke). RN can mean several things depending on context. To a white in GA, it can me "good ole boy", Nothing more.Or can mean a trashy person. (Foxworthy) Similar to nigger. Newman seems to use both Nig. and RN. Ironic.. Blacks use RN as an insult to mean"racist". But blacks tend to be ignorant. They mean "biggot".
@notahemi So awesome how you decide to comment and enlighten people on racism and the meaning of this song, but I didn't give you a thumbs up for that. NOOOO! I gave it to you for the last 9 words....LMFAO! yada yada yada defend rednecks by explaining the origin of the word blah blah blah blacks tend to be ignorant....so funny
@notahemi in this context, Ron is right. Sunburned necks on WHITE farmers = rednecks. Southern farmers to be precise. the rednecks you reference were yes, union members. had nothing to do with race and bigotry, which this song and the southern rednecks, who are now synonymous with being racists, do.
this song is about white flight just so you know ... its a brash way of stating that after desegregation people still found ways to segregate and they moved to suburbs and denied African Americans the right to live there and this created "ghettos" like Harlem and east st Louis and south Chicago ... this song is all about white flight that happened "google" it before you bash this song
@bbqplatypus318 I do know alot of bigoted "northerners" however, i feel like the "bigot" isn't characterized by "north" or "south" it would be better if people just judged each other on character instead of geography.
Heard the term redneck came from the white southern farmer, years ago working out in the fields&that hot summer sun would beat down on their necks, especially the back making it red like a beet.-lol
I love this song so much. I love Randy Newman and his song writing so much. It always just makes me laugh. For the people who take this all to seriously and get all huffy puffy about it, you are missing out on a really great song.
@gospelkeys07 So these are not your words? {Now, they're poor, desperate, and angry because of what white people put them through since the 1600s till this moment.} Yes..this is taken out of context...so read the whole comment before you all open your mouths. This quote is just here to show gospel that I do know what he said and yes, I did read the whole comment.
@gospelkeys07 So these are not your words? {Now, they're poor, desperate, and angry because of what white people put them through since the 1600s till this moment.} Yes..this is taken out of context...so read the whole comment before you all open your mouths. This quite is just here to show gospel that I do know what he said and yes, I did read the whole comment.
@gospelkeys07 And just as you responded to someone saying something you didn't like about blacks...then I responded to someone saying something that I didn't like (YOU). Just because you were not directly talking to me doesn't mean there aren't thousands that hear you. With no negative response to what you said, then you or maybe even others would assume it true. It is not! The leading killer of blacks in America now is other blacks...guess that's the white man's fault too?
@gospelkeys07 I am a white woman from Mississippi. Now assume what you want. But my family, along with most of my state (believe it or not) has been fighting against the racist ideals for three generations now. The attitude of the average white person has changed, but the attitudes of the blacks still harbor hatred and resentment. There is not one man alive who actually enslaved blacks, but yet you still hold "the white man" responsible for blacks actions. Sorry dude..just don't fly anymore.
@gospelkeys07 oh I don't know if it was for any good reason... I read your comment quickly and it struck me as a little simplistic... plus you spelled "I know" incorrectly. Wouldn't be the first time I got on the internet and was too quick to bust out the big guns. My b.
You may want to brush up on your history of slavery: white men didn't enslave anyone, they bought people who were already enslaved by Islamic Arabians and their fellow Africans. A small point, but these people were already enslaved when they came into white hands and had they stayed in the hands of their original enslavers their opportunity to survive and procreate would have been low as male slaves in middle Asia and Africa were castrated and babies that were born were killed.
look race shouldnt matter. i think a goal for the upcoming generations and my generation should be to base the character of a person on how they should be treated. As for the kkk ive been on the page, i am mixed and i agree with the fact that black have black groups (some every race can join) and its ok for whites to have theres. thing is just dont go killing, or harrassing people. This song is 100% right too, times need to change.
@DankWin That is not the point of the song at all...........You are just another idiot in the world. And nothing is wrong with black people.......they are the same on the inside.......There is nothing wrong with any race. You deserve to die.
@acdcgnr100 Sure, they're the same on the inside. Is that why in any place where Negroes are over around 10% of the population, they bring murder, rape, chaos, and destruction? Tell me, if blacks are just like us, what is an example of a successful black-run country? Haiti? Anywhere in Africa? Please.
Blacks are not just like us. But I see you're in Canada, so the odds that you have ever even seen one in person are between slim and none.
its amazing how a man known widely for his children's songs can be so pollitcaly knowladgeble and capable of satire the way I've seen no one since the Greeks. the man is brilliant.
Why does no one seem to notice the last verse of this song, which makes it as clear as fucking day that he's pointing out the hypocrisy of the North, whose disguised bigotry is no more enlightened than the overt bigotry of people like Lester Maddox? Of all the commenters on this page, I've counted three or four who get it. Are there really that many idiots in the world?
@bbqplatypus318 I understand. It's a sociopolitical commentary about how the North, who automatically assume that all Southerners are stereotypical racist blockheads, when in reality the oppression lies in the urban jungles of the North, where minorities are hustled into "cages" in projects and ghettos.
@bbqplatypus318 The introduction and the last verse make it very very obvious but nobody actually pays attention to the lyrics. They just hear that one word and get angry.
The song from 1973,Good ol boys album, points out how dumb the red necks are.
kf6rcktheradioman 1 day ago
As a white person, I wish everyone understood that this wasnt a dig a "nigga's". but a dig at "rednecks".
Theres a reason this shit isnt banned and that's because it isnt racist.
Especially for its time..
whateveryonewants143 5 days ago
Great song, both Music & lyrics, America at its best, it's good to have someone cleaning our own doorstep this way sometimes; irony is a double-edged weapon, some get it, some don't.I am a white non-american man, I am 42, I remember studying "I had a dream" famous speech by reverend martin Luther King jr at school in France.It touched me deep inside.Last year, I went to Memphis, TN. I met my wife there. She took me to the NCRM. I never was the same ever after.It's high-time you change America!
themaharadja 1 week ago
It's a smart thing that he doesn't sing this song anymore. It's not worth it, to make people angry.
alonzo9772 1 week ago
@alonzo9772 All the more reason why he should sing it. This song is gold.
MeganNashMusic 16 hours ago
There's nothing sad about the freedom of speech.
DetestProtest 2 weeks ago
I know Randy Newman gets in trouble when people don't get his ironic humour. Blimey he even got acussed of being against short people.He is so on the side of the lovers, poets, thinkers and the righteteous, just while doing it in a very sarcastic manner and if you don't get it , well go and vote republican
cprobert38 2 weeks ago 2
Yay he mentioned my college!! Oh wait....awwww
rwhit9351 3 weeks ago 3
Like im really going to listen to someone who sounds like the cat off open season to when he sin
gs.. :)
versatile451 3 weeks ago
OMG its Woody Allen
TheDom1231 3 weeks ago
@TheDom1231 no it's randy newman dickhead
jackjack2015 3 weeks ago
I am also not offended. Why? because its just a song. get over it.
ultrazman14 3 weeks ago
racist haha..anyone with an IQ below 100 dont look and listen because you dont get the message!
johroo 1 month ago 2
"short people" is also slyly making fun of rascism. I love this guy
MissAnkleBiter 1 month ago
He's making fun of racists also this man is a fucking genius!!
ZakkandtheJ 1 month ago
What are you guys talking about randy Newman is a racist asshole who makes songs for Disney f$@"ing brilliant.
ilikeevilnuns22 1 month ago
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MrAtishraja 1 month ago
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DRSxProductions 1 month ago
Lmfaoo its juss a song yu listen to n laugh why would yu get. mad at him for what his rich he dont care bout wat anybody thinkin bout this song
awondertomdl 1 month ago
Ignorance!
anyface21 1 month ago
It's disheartening to see so many people like a comment that completely misinterprets the meaning of this song.
Come on people, it's about the North's perception of Southerners and how it's completely hypocritical since there was racism all across America at the time.
jgood911 1 month ago 2
Wow. I never realized how good Randy Newman work is! I've only heard "Short People" and his stuff from film soundtracks. I've been listening to a lot of his stuff recently and it's unbelievable! I love his satirical lyrics, usually with paino songs you just hear love songs. But Randy just brings those issues to the forefront and I guess that makes people uncomfortable. I know I was the first time I heard Rednecks, I was like "Did he just say the N-WORD?" lol. But its the context he uses it in!
TheItalianStallion33 1 month ago 2
randy newman is probably the only white guy who can get away with using the n-word
giantsrock99 1 month ago 3
@Mrjohnshopkins53 Oh, you don't understand the song at all do you?
albinos1 1 month ago
BRILLIANT!! A (White) co-worker hipped me to Randy whom i've only known as "a voice" from the TV show Monk and of course throughout the years thru snatches from the radio. This is satire at its best and still current.
EbClectic 1 month ago
LSU rocks!
spatinco 1 month ago
Don't know our ass from a hole in the ground - never heard that expression before and I love it.
DeiseSkelly 2 months ago 2
Back when speech was a little freer, eh? Happy birthday, Randy.
alive1945 2 months ago
Randy Newman is a Jew. There used to be signs on hotel fronts in Miami Beach that stated: "No Jews." Certain neighborhoods were off-limits to them as well. This occurred in the 1960's. No doubt Newman encountered racism himself. I think that gives him the latitude to compose songs that bluntly address this ugly issue. Bet he got called "Jew Boy" himself ... and it wasn't meant as a term of endearment.
boogiebabe67 2 months ago
Rednecks do NOT keep nigs down, they along with govt. who continues to hand out food stamps & give them section 8 status etc. are keeping them down. As an individual it's up to you whether or not you want to be kept down. So, choose the life of food stamps, section 8 housing, & free utilities " which comes from taxpayer money "now tell me who is keeping who down ? or you can get a job, go to school, educate yourselves & become a productive member of society instead of living off others.
challenger7777777 2 months ago
@challenger7777777 well said
MuhammadsStillASissy 1 month ago
Racism doesn't come only from the south. Notice his reference to the cages in various cities...what do you suppose those cages are... jails. It isn't just the south but in every state which is what the song is saying, using satire. People accuse the southerners of being redneck and stupid but in essence, it's every part of the U.S.
Beybe3 2 months ago 2
@Beybe3 Not jails, ghettos.
rockermanmatt 2 months ago
hooray LSU gets raped by barack obama
awesomesauce012696 2 months ago
as a Black American i can say that I am not offended by this song.. because it's part of american history..it's the way people thought back in day down south.. and new orleans is as far south as you can get before you're in the Gulf..it's a song about the ignorance of racism."Red necks don't know their A** from a hole in the ground but, we keepin da Ni**ers down"..it's sad but we are still a nation that has freedom of speach, at least he's honest and says it to your face. I respect that..
MrJohnshopkins53 2 months ago 33
@MrJohnshopkins53 It's actually the opposite. The song is about the hypocrisy of the North as show in the last verse. After claiming "the northerner set the nigger free" he goes on to list northeren ghettos.
The opening verse also references this by using the infamous Lestor Maddox TV appearance from the 70's where he was drowned out by supposedly Liberal audience members shouting abuse at him.
rockermanmatt 1 month ago
@MrJohnshopkins53 As someone who's grown up in the South, but worked in the North as well. I like the dynamic that the North is just as bad to minorities as the South and he calls them on it.
nocaster52 1 month ago
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@MrJohnshopkins53 fuck you nigger
thelastpolishkid 1 month ago in playlist musix3
@MrJohnshopkins53 You are dumb. You have no clue what this song is about.
cancrusherify 1 month ago
@cancrusherify its misinterpretation, not stupidity...why are you so hateful?
DRSxProductions 1 month ago
@cancrusherify I agree. Dumb niggers lol
MrAtishraja 1 month ago
@MrJohnshopkins53 I like how you got one of the highest rated comments without actually knowing what the song is about.
acdcislaw 1 month ago
@acdcislaw What do you think the song is about?
antzzz111 1 month ago
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DRSxProductions 1 month ago
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DRSxProductions 1 month ago
@MrJohnshopkins53 Roght. He's amazing... showing how stupid racism is. He isn't bad-mouthing afro-americans, he is bad mouthing small minded bigots... I love Randy Newman!
joshuaholmgren 1 month ago
@MrJohnshopkins53 this is a song by a guy from the north that stereotypes people from the south. racism isn't confined geographicaly. I think all racism is idiotic because it comes from ignorance and fear. I don't fear people that aren't like me because I know so many that i'm not ignorant of them. I am considered a redneck though.I lived with a racist girl and she would have flipped if she knew I had slept with black women.I see good things in all types. wish others would.
yetitracker 1 month ago
@yetitracker Randy Newman, the singer and songwriter, is from New Orleans. He's basically saying, especially in the last verse, that the northerners are no less racist than the rednecks, and probably no less dumb, either.
SamBlob 1 month ago
@MrJohnshopkins53 you think freedom of speech is sad?
platypusrex256 1 month ago
@platypusrex256 its sad how alot of ppl use it
gamezonic 1 month ago
@platypusrex256 no he means what happened in the past was sad, but we have freedom of speech, so people (like Randy Newman) who are honest about it do have the right to talk about it. Basically people shouldn't be offended by this song, because he is only speaking honestly.
jollypapaya 4 weeks ago
@jollypapaya I don't understand why you all are saying that he's talking about something that happened in the past. I think what he is singing about is still going on today and that's why he is singing about it. That's his style; he wants people to think about racism.
laurams234 3 weeks ago
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@jollypapaya I don't understand why you all are saying that he's talking about something that happened in the past. I think what he is singing about is still going on today and that's why he is singing about it. That's his style; he wants people to think about racism.
laurams234 3 weeks ago
@jollypapaya oh Jesus christ NO! Newman isn't a southern redneck racist. This song is supposed to be ironic and hypocritical. Listen to the black ghettos he sings about in the song. They're all northern and midwestern ghettos. What he's saying is that Americans blame the South for racism against blacks but the entire country is guilty of it. Listen to it again. Newman isn't a racist. This is an anti-racist song.
JQuig1984 3 weeks ago 11
@JQuig1984 jolly papaya knows wtf is up. smart dude.
whateveryonewants143 5 days ago
@MrJohnshopkins53 He's not singing about being proud of being a redneck. He's being ironic. The point of the song is that America has the stereotype of "rednecks hating black people" but then goes on to sing about all these Northern cities with black ghettos. The point is that the white establishment in America as a whole is racist as shit, way more than some backwoods white redneck racist.
JQuig1984 3 weeks ago 2
@MrJohnshopkins53 yeah - his song was about the way we can take offence at words - and retake ownership of them too - many Southerners use "rednecks" the way many black people use "nigger". (though that word has become even more taboo over the last few decades)
People who jump up and down about this sort of usage need to remember the importance of intent.
offpatsmile 2 weeks ago
@MrJohnshopkins53 You sir made my day with this thoughtful comment. Thankyou.
WskOsc 2 weeks ago
@MrJohnshopkins53 it's spelled "speech", and stop overusing the ellipsis man
ma41094 2 weeks ago
Astonishing stupid reply. As Woody Allen once said in a famous movie "you know nothing of my work"
frazer9170 1 week ago
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FUCK YOU RANDY NEWMAN
versatile451 2 months ago
@versatile451 Why? This song isn't racist if you actually listen to the lyrics.
omgcowshaveudders 2 months ago
@versatile451 the song's about you versatile.
rbradaigh 2 months ago
Sarcasm is a powerful tool in the right hands.
gearoiddom 2 months ago
@gearoiddom ...in left hands too :)
johndecicco 2 months ago
@johndecicco Careful with the sarcasm John. It's powerful stuff.
gearoiddom 2 months ago
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@shawnconnry001 Nazis are Catholic? Nazis were German, right? The dominant religion in Germany was Lutheran Protestant, not Catholic.
ConservativePunkTV 2 months ago
This guy's got balls. Outstanding.
fiddlercrab3 3 months ago 3
A musical genius stepping on your toes? Still hurts. You A**hole....ummm Can I have your autograph?
MrKorik99 3 months ago
36 guys are not rednecks
69LordAkella69 3 months ago
im 15 and randy Newman is my favourite singer and all my friends favourites are like rizzle kicks etc.
pratface1928 3 months ago
@pratface1928
Okay then.
nikkisixxual 3 months ago
sum smart ass new york jew
BodgyHeats666 3 months ago 2
College boys from LSU..... went in dumb, come out dumb too.
paulczar 3 months ago 24
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paulczar 3 months ago
This is a pretty powerful song, I think. I like it a lot.
FancyLobotomist 3 months ago
I'm always surprised by how many people don't understand this song. At the same time, I'm not surprised at all.
CrikeyAlexNick 3 months ago 3
the Tea Party Anthem.
tsartodd 3 months ago
@tsartodd Aren't you so clever and cultured..... Idiot
NevadaWrangler 3 months ago
Fucking hate rednecks, I work and live around them and they are terrible terrible people. All they care about is their big ass stupid trucks and their football; plus they get all their news from Fox and are completely brainwashed to become even more mentally handicapped than they would have been otherwise.
TheHolyMongolEmpire 3 months ago 2
@TheHolyMongolEmpire Rednecks are not terrible people by any means. If your car is broken down on the side of the road, I guarantee that the person that pulls over and offers to help you out is a truck-driving, football-loving redneck. Everyone loves to hate rednecks until they need something from them: like someone to change their oil or fight their wars.
twotimespecial 3 months ago
@TheHolyMongolEmpire Yeah it's so different up North. All I hear up there is football from guys too, except up there peoples' cars have no personality or customization because it's not a car culture like the South.
They brag up north about their mass transit pass... ha.
Crovoltn 3 months ago
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Randy newman is jewish therefor he has an excuse to say nigger,a non jew white guy thats a different story lol
cb2k761 3 months ago
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cb2k761 3 months ago
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cb2k761 3 months ago
He sings what he sees!!!
ScapeSearch 3 months ago
Maybe, just maybe it's a polemic intended to make people talk about it, not agree or disagree with the song ... because reading the first pages I can see that's happening ... did it have the same impact at the time or am I seeing/hearing this through post-modern times
TipsterStu 3 months ago
good grief, its a tune and southerners DO talk real funny. There is a reason you don't hear Bubba on the national or even local news...........and yes, I am a southern gal
Derbydollful 3 months ago in playlist More videos from scofak
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BPECA1 3 months ago
I love this song! He's making fun of the idiot things idiots think and say. It's supposed to be offensive - but he's not on their side.
cpvon 4 months ago
I love Randy Newman, but this song really pisses me off. I know it's supposed to be funny and I can take a joke, but I really feel like this is a bit much. It doesn't really make sense. Southern "rednecks" are stupid and they're always drunk (at least according to the lyrics) yet they somehow are organized and powerfull enough to "keep the niggers down." Really? The stereotypes just don't add up. That being said, I'm still a fan and think Newman is normally a great songwriter.
twotimespecial 4 months ago
@twotimespecial You don't think stupid drunk people can hold power? Check out Boris Yeltsin, and he ran a country. So yes, stupid drunk people could control a portion of our country. It's all about numbers. If the majority of people in a given area fit the "drunk and stupid" stereotype, then it is entirely possible that they would have reflective representation. Is "drunk and stupid" a sweeping generalization? Sure, but has the south's history toward black people been guided by genius?
MaxExcretion 4 months ago
@MaxExcretion I'm going to assume you've never really spent much time in the South, because if you had you certainly wouldn't think that the majority of us fit the "drunk and stupid" stereotype. As for the South's history towards black people, you need only remember that blacks suffered discrimination and prejudice everywhere in the US. If you look up the history of race riots in America you'll find more in the Northeast and Midwest. And those places are far more segregated today than the South.
twotimespecial 4 months ago
@twotimespecial Those last two sentences are the point of this song.
angryzenbuddhist 3 months ago
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twotimespecial 4 months ago
@MaxExcretion Heck George Bush destroyed this country under the guise of running it. He was drunk most of the time.
Justanotherhuman2 4 months ago
@twotimespecial The point of the song is: "Yes, Southerners limit the opportunities of blacks, but do Northerners really do any better? No, not really. They're just less blatant in the way they do it." The list of Northern ghettos is the point at which the satire should be obvious. He's telling the Northerners who are laughing at Southern racists that they should look at their own communities more carefully.
angryzenbuddhist 3 months ago
@angryzenbuddhist I understand the point about Northern hypocrisy over racism. The thing about the song that makes me angry is the language used to describe Southerners. Because we "talk real funny" we're inherently drunk and stupid. The fact of the matter is that we aren't any drunker or dumber than anyone else in the country. By saying these kinds of things, he (whether intentionally or not) is perpetuating a xenophobic stereotype of the South. That is what I object to.
twotimespecial 3 months ago
@twotimespecial Randy grew up in the South, he's not attacking it. He was also brought up in a Jewish family, if anyone takes offence at the 'Jew' bit.
rockermanmatt 3 months ago
@twotimespecial
No, the song makes perfect sense. Whites still outnumber the blacks in the south by a long shot. Blacks are stupid, whites are stupid, everyones stupid. Its all a numbers game. Whichever retarded demographic holds the majority, than they will keep the other equally as dumb minority down.
TheHolyMongolEmpire 3 months ago
So its ok for rappers to say nigger but because Randy Newman said it its soooooooo bad, only niggers have a problem with this song.
fabbadabamoo 4 months ago
I'm black and I found this song really god damn offensive! I see how theres a deeper meaning and stuff but did he really have to say "keepin the niggers down?" that's just fuckin ignorant
MastaBalla23 4 months ago
@MastaBalla23 His choice of using the word nigger may have been deliberately offensive, but it was not ignorant. To say it was ignorant means that he didn't know what the word actually represents, but this satirical song is based entirely around it. Yes, black Americans have faced extreme racism, and oppression, and this song is actually about how these still exist, people are just better at hiding them. (Example, "fixing" racism by making Nigger a bad word, but not addressing real issues.)
Kawmun 4 months ago 2
@MastaBalla23 Context, context, context. PLEASE.
PhiloAmericana 4 months ago
@MastaBalla23 yeah I woulda prefered he sang about doing crack, bustin caps, and fucking bitches. instead of a comical ironic song that's clearly a joke and not eve in a racist context. Or maybe niggers are just too damn dumb to get it.
BPECA1 3 months ago
@MastaBalla23
Youre fucking ignorant, hes making a point about how racist the south was and still is to this day. Get over yourself.
TheHolyMongolEmpire 3 months ago
@TheHolyMongolEmpire No, you really don't understand this song.
rockermanmatt 3 months ago
@TheHolyMongolEmpire Actually no, it's more a commentary on how the North always looks down on the South but they do segregation of their own as the last of the song says, yet they love to tell the South how to live, what do to and how to be. In ways the South embraces black people ways the North never did, from our music to our cooking to cities always where races lived close like New Orleans. And it harkens to a line in the Dixe Flyer where he says the Jews were doing what the Gentile do.
Crovoltn 3 months ago 2
It was something of a test by Newman to see how many people in 1975 would get hung up on the "N" word and miss what the song is really about and sure enough, they did.
SFCBenny57 4 months ago 2
seeing this makes the family guy clip so much funnier
nathenism 4 months ago
Why are you people even listening to Randy newman, yous clearly dont get him , keep it up mann
claret1970 4 months ago
this song caught me off guard at first, really I just laughed about him saying the N word cause I wouldn't expect him bust out in a song with him saying it but as I listen to it I saw that the song had a intelligent meaning to it. Man shit is just fuck up in the world when will the hate stop................... and yeah I am black but really that shouldn't matter unless you want it to
BobMarleysBest 4 months ago 2
rhinos they scare little boys
MARKALANPALMER 4 months ago 7
bbqplatypus318 ; You can't sing a lyric that explosive and expect people to notice anything else in the song!
EFISHANT 4 months ago
@EFISHANT Nonsense, this song appeals to a listener that is intelligent enough to listen to the whole song and understand the irony in it, not someone who hears the word "Nigger" and stops listening so they can scream "Racist" as loud as they can to anyone that will listen.
asmodeon 4 months ago 2
@EFISHANT
What about explosive "lyrics" from the hood? I've heard brothers repeat nigga a dozen times in about 10 seconds. Ain't nuttin wrong with that I guess.
PianoGesang 4 months ago
What really intrigues me here is how newman creates a satirical Southern "redneck" in this song, but the satirical "redneck" still discusses something more meaningful than many northerners would overlook. This right here is good songwriting.
xanomage 4 months ago 4
@xanomage
*THAT many northerners
xanomage 4 months ago
Randy has no"sacred cows"and he calls it like he sees it,AND makes you See it too!
MsHedgewitch 4 months ago
Very clever song. A lot of his songs do this, they take meaning and they exploit/reverse it.
Seracinfinity 4 months ago
LOL. Oh Randy.
SBMPLYMA 4 months ago
dude is a gnius
blafiman 4 months ago
what a jew
therealdirkdiggler 4 months ago
We keepin' tha niggas down.
insanesweeps 5 months ago
@notahemi *Character
Pooppantsification 5 months ago
Hahah, you gotta love Randy Newman...
94NFK 5 months ago
this is an anti white bigot tune..how could anyone miss it? unless all they hear is the 'n' word...then, they're no better than the bigots...hear what you want to only...
willc854 5 months ago
@willc854 you have no fucking idea in earth who the hell randy newman is if you don't understand that this song like most his songs are a joke or sang from a certain perspective (i.e. short people)
calripken83 5 months ago
Jampotglazen O-O
D00MM3L 5 months ago
LSU: went in dumb, came out dumb too
Ardalla555 5 months ago
hey its just like AMERICAN HISTORY X..... its all right except the ending, think im wrong come to so cal
tjh9250 5 months ago
Though this song is dated and may be tongue in cheek, the danger is exactly what is going on TODAY. The flash mobs of black kids who have been taught to hate whites are attacking whites at places like state fairs.If you haven't seen that lately, you haven't been watching.
Good job of teaching asholes. It's all the evil white mans fault that "niggers" are kept down. Harlem Pastor Manning is correct. There must be "something deficient in your charector". Ouch.
notahemi 5 months ago
@RonSafreed Redneck refered to neck scarf worn by union coal miners in West V..google "Battle of Blair Mountain." Redneck has become as confused a term as "racist". (that word now a joke). RN can mean several things depending on context. To a white in GA, it can me "good ole boy", Nothing more.Or can mean a trashy person. (Foxworthy) Similar to nigger. Newman seems to use both Nig. and RN. Ironic.. Blacks use RN as an insult to mean"racist". But blacks tend to be ignorant. They mean "biggot".
notahemi 5 months ago
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@notahemi So awesome how you decide to comment and enlighten people on racism and the meaning of this song, but I didn't give you a thumbs up for that. NOOOO! I gave it to you for the last 9 words....LMFAO! yada yada yada defend rednecks by explaining the origin of the word blah blah blah blacks tend to be ignorant....so funny
davidsmurphy2 5 months ago
@notahemi in this context, Ron is right. Sunburned necks on WHITE farmers = rednecks. Southern farmers to be precise. the rednecks you reference were yes, union members. had nothing to do with race and bigotry, which this song and the southern rednecks, who are now synonymous with being racists, do.
wpbsadie 4 months ago
this song is about white flight just so you know ... its a brash way of stating that after desegregation people still found ways to segregate and they moved to suburbs and denied African Americans the right to live there and this created "ghettos" like Harlem and east st Louis and south Chicago ... this song is all about white flight that happened "google" it before you bash this song
heyho09 5 months ago
left foot right foot LMAO!!!!
brutus64 5 months ago 2
YESSSSSSSSSSSSUH! A white man said 'nigger' and got away with it!
ianmalachi 5 months ago
@ianmalachi Hahaha i had the exact same thought.
hybanks2000 5 months ago
@bbqplatypus318 I do know alot of bigoted "northerners" however, i feel like the "bigot" isn't characterized by "north" or "south" it would be better if people just judged each other on character instead of geography.
that1stupidkid613 5 months ago
Heard the term redneck came from the white southern farmer, years ago working out in the fields&that hot summer sun would beat down on their necks, especially the back making it red like a beet.-lol
RonSafreed 5 months ago
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notahemi 5 months ago
This is so great, just too bad some people can't see it as it really is ,but I'm not sweatin it. They never will.....
idranktodie 5 months ago
LOL!!!!
All this guys songs sounds exactly the same!!! :D
robonez 5 months ago
I love this song so much. I love Randy Newman and his song writing so much. It always just makes me laugh. For the people who take this all to seriously and get all huffy puffy about it, you are missing out on a really great song.
Katiecrescent1 5 months ago
Should've put it in Toy Story.
duncachinno 6 months ago 73
@gospelkeys07 So these are not your words? {Now, they're poor, desperate, and angry because of what white people put them through since the 1600s till this moment.} Yes..this is taken out of context...so read the whole comment before you all open your mouths. This quote is just here to show gospel that I do know what he said and yes, I did read the whole comment.
freakiestshayms 6 months ago
@gospelkeys07 So these are not your words? {Now, they're poor, desperate, and angry because of what white people put them through since the 1600s till this moment.} Yes..this is taken out of context...so read the whole comment before you all open your mouths. This quite is just here to show gospel that I do know what he said and yes, I did read the whole comment.
freakiestshayms 6 months ago
@gospelkeys07 And just as you responded to someone saying something you didn't like about blacks...then I responded to someone saying something that I didn't like (YOU). Just because you were not directly talking to me doesn't mean there aren't thousands that hear you. With no negative response to what you said, then you or maybe even others would assume it true. It is not! The leading killer of blacks in America now is other blacks...guess that's the white man's fault too?
freakiestshayms 6 months ago
@gospelkeys07 I am a white woman from Mississippi. Now assume what you want. But my family, along with most of my state (believe it or not) has been fighting against the racist ideals for three generations now. The attitude of the average white person has changed, but the attitudes of the blacks still harbor hatred and resentment. There is not one man alive who actually enslaved blacks, but yet you still hold "the white man" responsible for blacks actions. Sorry dude..just don't fly anymore.
freakiestshayms 6 months ago
@gospelkeys07 oh I don't know if it was for any good reason... I read your comment quickly and it struck me as a little simplistic... plus you spelled "I know" incorrectly. Wouldn't be the first time I got on the internet and was too quick to bust out the big guns. My b.
chrisbotron 6 months ago
@gospelkeys07 you're a dumb guy
chrisbotron 6 months ago
How does his lyrics differ from Cee Lo Green's "Fuck You?" Listen and then argue.
tom921172002 6 months ago
This should be the official song of the teabaggers.
joeyconservative 6 months ago
this song now describes the attitude of the new south towards anyone they've segregated themselves from....
Bastard471 6 months ago
@gospelkeys07
You may want to brush up on your history of slavery: white men didn't enslave anyone, they bought people who were already enslaved by Islamic Arabians and their fellow Africans. A small point, but these people were already enslaved when they came into white hands and had they stayed in the hands of their original enslavers their opportunity to survive and procreate would have been low as male slaves in middle Asia and Africa were castrated and babies that were born were killed.
lesterclaypool1 6 months ago
so many yanks don't get irony ,satire and a play on words. Mr Newman is very funny and insightful.
taariqtaariq 6 months ago
look race shouldnt matter. i think a goal for the upcoming generations and my generation should be to base the character of a person on how they should be treated. As for the kkk ive been on the page, i am mixed and i agree with the fact that black have black groups (some every race can join) and its ok for whites to have theres. thing is just dont go killing, or harrassing people. This song is 100% right too, times need to change.
amismiles2 6 months ago
@amismiles2 *theirs *harassing -needs to get sleep- x.x
amismiles2 6 months ago
niggers certainly do deserve to be in cages. on this point randy and I agree.
DankWin 6 months ago
@DankWin That is not the point of the song at all...........You are just another idiot in the world. And nothing is wrong with black people.......they are the same on the inside.......There is nothing wrong with any race. You deserve to die.
acdcgnr100 6 months ago
@acdcgnr100 Sure, they're the same on the inside. Is that why in any place where Negroes are over around 10% of the population, they bring murder, rape, chaos, and destruction? Tell me, if blacks are just like us, what is an example of a successful black-run country? Haiti? Anywhere in Africa? Please.
Blacks are not just like us. But I see you're in Canada, so the odds that you have ever even seen one in person are between slim and none.
DankWin 6 months ago
@DankWin you are as breath-takingly clueless about canada as you are about ...pretty much everything i guess.
dobbsiancant 6 months ago
its amazing how a man known widely for his children's songs can be so pollitcaly knowladgeble and capable of satire the way I've seen no one since the Greeks. the man is brilliant.
sydeshowschwab 6 months ago 2
@sydeshowschwab Ah, but don't forgot Dr. Seuss!
uberrawesomee 6 months ago
Randy Newman is clever, but he had nothing on Tom Lehrer, who was simply brilliant
royalcourtier 6 months ago
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XxSantuXx 6 months ago
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fuzzypear123 7 months ago
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fuzzypear123 7 months ago
Why does no one seem to notice the last verse of this song, which makes it as clear as fucking day that he's pointing out the hypocrisy of the North, whose disguised bigotry is no more enlightened than the overt bigotry of people like Lester Maddox? Of all the commenters on this page, I've counted three or four who get it. Are there really that many idiots in the world?
bbqplatypus318 7 months ago 76
@bbqplatypus318 I understand. It's a sociopolitical commentary about how the North, who automatically assume that all Southerners are stereotypical racist blockheads, when in reality the oppression lies in the urban jungles of the North, where minorities are hustled into "cages" in projects and ghettos.
Chamomileable 7 months ago
@bbqplatypus318 im guessing they are all american views, and 3 in 278,000 isn't bad by american standards?
justaRandomhero 6 months ago
@bbqplatypus318 id like to think that most smart people dont comment. there is no point to arguing with the dumb, they drag you down
royals1985brett 6 months ago
@bbqplatypus318 Who the fuck cares!? LOL It's a fucking song.
DeSilverware 6 months ago
@bbqplatypus318 The introduction and the last verse make it very very obvious but nobody actually pays attention to the lyrics. They just hear that one word and get angry.
sonicdeath10 6 months ago