Louis Armstrong, Mills Bros - Carry me back to old Virginny

[camking88]

If this were a song by a woman singing about how she misses her abusive ex and can't wait to go back to him no one would be defending it. If this were a song by a Jew singing about how he misses the Nazi regime no one would be defending it. It is okay to enjoy the musicianship of Louis Armstrong and the Mills Brothers, but make no mistake about the lyrical content.

[PooPoo2U]

I just don't see how this is racist. Not only are there plenty of African Americans here defending it, but look how many African Americans gladly performed it. It was even written by an African American for pete's sake!

Long live the Commonwealth!

[chasosak]

The first recording I bought around 1936 For35cents. Old Folks at home was on the opposite side. I've collected many recordings during my lifetime of 87 years and counting.Thanks for the memory. -Chuck

[bgibso94]

I'm a native of Virginia, and I'm Black. I love my home. I have no problem with the song. It's a pretty accurate description of how a Black Virginian feels about their home. History's lessons are hard, but we're all here TODAY. Just like everything else, we've taken something that might have been meant to hurt and harm us, and turned it into an even more beautiful rendition of the original.

[moosicnerd]

Awesome historic song, it's a shame they changed it.

[CHNOPSXXY]

Why not just enjoy the good music? This is a great state song, and Virginia should have kept it as the official state song of Virginia. On Jan 28, 1997 the Virginia Senate voted 24 -15 to designate Carry Me Back as state song "emeritus" in a bow to political propaganda; specifically because the lyrics use the slang term (popular back in those days) "darkey." "There's where this old darkey's heart am long'd to go."

The PC worshipers hate the depiction of a slave who loves and misses, "massa."

[twstdelf]

Holy crap! That's an awesome rendition! Thanks for posting! :)

[BigBingFan]

Getting back to the point of this posting.....the song. The muscianship. Such great harmony in the Mills Brothers...such great scat-singing with Louis....on a great and traditional American folk song. Great tempo, swinging sweetly. Thank you for posting. Leave the political out and look at the musicianship.

[jmeintn]

What a genius Louis was! Mills Bros sound mighty good too, of course.

[jazzakely]

So beautiful

[Starkiller69x]

What is wrong with you....you sound like a house  N***er you should be ashamed of yourself....you should be in line protesting to change the states song not agreeing with something from the past that is wrong just because it happened

[Marchawc]

A beautiful old song (James A. Bland, 1878). Check out Alma Gluck's 1914 version; this was the first celebrity recording by a classical musician to sell one million copies.

[PonDK]

I love this song and I love Virginia. Beautiful!

[otharris]

I am from Virginia, and I am black. I love Virginia's State song. I don't understand the need to whitewash history. Northerners tend to over-simplify the Old South. My family loves the South. Slavery happened, and there were some slaves that felt affection towards there owners. Some slave and black free man fought in the Confederate Army. My grandmother feels cautious about the North just as many white Southerners. I have a great affinity for Virginia and all the South.

[georgsim]

@otharris

That is so true! Thank you for saying that.

[ellisdrummond]

@otharris Wow you're an idiot. People of color from/in the South often have a deep affection for it. There is history (bad and good) and investment that is intricately intertwined. Even the sorrow, pain and struggle create a bond. But slavery was evil! EVIL. The song is satirical blackface minstrelsy, written by a college educated NYC black man who never set foot in Virginia. Less Northerners feel smug, he lived in exile in London because of inescapable racism he experienced in the North.

[otharris]

@ellisdrummond I won't response with insults; they aren't necessary or civil. As a history major in undergrad, I discovered Bland traveled to Virginia. At Howard U., Bland met Mannie Friend who became a girl friend. She was from Tidewater, Virginia. On a trip w/ Mannie to her home in Tidewater, Virginia, which he developed an affinity for, Bland composed "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny, " on the banks of the James River. Mannie wrote the words down on paper while Bland played and sang to her.

[ellisdrummond]

@otharris That is a story that was trafficked sadly by the Lions Club of Virginia with absolutely no factual evidence whatsoever. The reason was obvious. If you can show one independent and published biography that supports this I'd love to hear it.

[DoctorScrumpy]

@otharris Some negroes owned other negroes in servitude. So it is not just a whites only problem.

[kerm123]

@otharris

i doubt you are really black. anyone can post something here and claim they are. I was drawn to searching for this song after reading an article in the washington post today about the history of lynchings in VA. I actually am black. you could not possibly be ok with this song as a state song if you are black and listen to the lyrics.

[otharris]

@kerm123 You are questioning my blackness because we disagree? Your logic is frustrating, i.e., blacks complaining when others suggest all blacks are the same, but those same blacks criticize other blacks for being different or not being black enough. This can kill individualism and creativity in blacks. The irony: you probably encourage black children to ignore negative things they see in black culture. How do I need to prove my blackness agree with you? Argue the issue; don't attack the man.

[PooPoo2U]

@kerm123: Louis Armstrong gives this song quite a bit of reverence and is he not black? Ray Charles?

And of course you read about the lynchings in Virginia, the term "lynch" comes from the name of a Virginia colonist who hung British loyalists in the Revolutionary War, who were WHITE.

[bdemare00]

@otharris

not a field nigga...

[agrahamt]

@otharris Since it's a very urban take on the song, and the coolest Louis ever sang, I choose to look at it as both genuine and ironic. Hard to believe they never (?) performed together, such a perfect fit. Obviously the lyrics of the song are an idyllic fantasy with a "simple" narrator who misses the good ol' days.. neither of these artists focused on the bad side of life. At the very top of my list of Armstrong recordings, but I have to admit I feel a little guilty about that.

[AmySplitt]

It's a pretty tune, and these are great musicians, legendary even; but it's pretty ironic and painful that the lyrics sentimentalize slavery. I mean, read it. The song is from the point of view of an old slave who misses the cotton field!

[SuperNosfe1994]

Louis Armstrong and Mills Bros recorded also with this a song called Marie, it is in Louis Armstrong's Ken Burns Jazz cd

[jcfromfrance]

wonderfulllllllllllll

[GinKirk7256]

Yes, my home state where I belong! How desperately I NEED to get back there! Lovely rendition of the song written by James Bland. :)

[ericaalexrich11]

I need to get back to Va too,its the best state ever

[crazycuntryboy2]

Soooooooooooooooooo sweet. ooooooaaaaa. Nie song dude. thanks for postin'