Jim Croce Gunga Din

[freeholdtacticalmed]

REMEMBER THIS POEM WAS WRITTEN BY RUDYARD KIPLING IN 1892 IMMORTALIZING LIFE AND DEATH IN THE BRITISH RAJ. HE IS REMEMBERED AFTER HIS DEATH BY A SURVIVOR WHO LIVED BECAUSE OF HIS DEDICATION AND HEROISM. A MAN WHO IS REMEMBERED AFTER HIS DEATH, LIVES FOREVER. YOU'RE A BETTER MAN THAN I AM GUNGA DIN.

[jeffzhorton]

This song and the way Croce sings it has lived with me for such a long time ever since I first heard it (over 30 years ago). It is done so perfectly, and even if one has never heard of Rudyard Kipling strikes a chord that goes deep! I think it will live on as simply a great song and story, done brilliantly.

[Nupetiet]

Gotta amend that'n. Croce sings it as though he lived it. The tone of mournful admiration comes through loud and clear. A life (and afterlife!) of charity makes the shabbiest, lowliest peasant a giant.

[Nupetiet]

Fantastic adaptation of a fantastic poem.

[fatibel42]

What is racism in a world where nearly everyone is racist? The British Colonials treated all non-whites (and often all non-English) as native wogs. They were fine for servants and small jobs, but they reserved any real authority, decision-making and power for the British. Most of them never questioned it, it's the way everyone around them was. Perhaps it's racist, but it was also the accepted way of doing things.

[FoEgaming]

im 32, i first heard Croce when i was only 8 or 9 and listened to some old LP's my father had. This song was on one of his records, I had'nt heard this song for nearly 15 yrs, but I remembered every word and every pick of his guitar. May this music and all of his one of a kind sounds never slip away. Miss you Jim

[roadrodent1952]

First heard this at ZAB air base in Spain in 1978. It has stuck with me ever since. Working on a short sci-fi (alternate universes theme) story where Gunga Din ends up as medic for a very futuristic military force.

[Xxprettygirl49xX]

SO MANY MEMORIES OF JIM EVERYONE SHOULD HEAR HIS MUSIS

[grandslam1998]

The finest man I knew was GD.

[grandslam1998]

Wikipedia has its view . My view is that it is not a racist poem it is a poem about racism. The point of this poem is to show that non whites can be honourable and that even a lowly water carrier can do heroic deeds and be a better man than a white man which in the late19th century was very radical. Jim Croce sing this poem in a way has feeling and empathy for GD

[kmaxian1]

@grandslam1998 Oh, completely agree, just replied to your post in general so other posters could understand the meaning of the poem. The poem is not racist in any sense at all in my mind, but just like you said, about a racist who sees the error in his view. You, wikipedia, and I all agree for the most part.

[grandslam1998]

Gunga Din is great poem! Jim does it justice.

[ColossalRofl]

what a racist asshole!

[jhimiisland]

@ColossalRofl You, sir, are an illiterate, moronic and ignorant jerk.

[ColossalRofl]

@jhimiisland at least im not racist and refer to african americans as "black face" like this douche!

Ps. I'm a super huge Jim croce fan, I've got his americana album where he recorded it in his kitchen, it's the shit...so is this song...so don't take me seriously.

[Sshelly34213]

@ColossalRofl None of them were African American, this is India...lol. I agree by the way, I don't think Jim Croce did it to be racist. 1. he could be referring to the fact that they were working in the hot sun, 2. It could be a racial term and that's probably how they were referred to back then.

[Sshelly34213]

@ColossalRofl The whole point of Gunga Din is racism actually, notice how he says, "I'll take a swig in hell from Gunga Din"

[grandslam1998]

@Sshelly34213 Gunga Din racist? It is a poem of its time.

[Sshelly34213]

@grandslam1998 No it's a poem about the injustice of racism, it's actually quite a rare poem for it's day.

[grandslam1998]

@Sshelly34213 The poem pays tribute to GD for his qualities.Kipling writes of the prevailing attitudes of the time. It is a stereotypical poem of the 1880s. JC sings the poem very well.

[grandslam1998]

@ColossalRofl . Why then does he pay tribute to GD for his qualities?

[kmaxian1]

@grandslam1998. From wikipedia...."Like several others among Kipling's poems, it celebrates the virtues of a non-European while revealing the racism of a colonial infantryman who views such people as being of a "lower order". But the last line suggests a deep-down unease of conscience about these racial feelings, both in the depicted soldier and in Kipling himself."

Tho' I've belted you and flayed you, By the livin' Gawd that made you, You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din!"

[shellback1978]

Jim Croce was the best - hands down.

[activist405]

Great rendition. Croce was so talented.

[bt51]

What a great voice Croce had. Great song. Thanks, Slappy.

[kayed15]

Any song Jim Croce sang will always bring a smile to my face and sooth my soul

[bugdiver641]

I love Kipling and Croce. What a great song.

[tvtimetravel]

Recorded in 1966.

[TheSilverfish2]

Hardly anyone talks of Jim Croce anymore... damn shame.

[Doctg100]

Love it!

[IPAWNMYQUEENS]

this song rocks..

[Largo64]

Thanks for posting this!