stmmfsbasp, part tres

Yeah! And we're back for the third consecutive day of blogging, which I think is some kind of record for me.

We're getting controversial up in here today, which is just wonderful. Today's special song has just the right mix of social commentary, amazingly adept instumentalism, and extraordinarily clever lyricism. As a matter of fact, this song is so deep that some folks don't even understand the depths it reaches. Peoples, I bring you:

Big Black Buck, by Donnie
(Yes, it's here. Wait for the countdown, click box in the upper right...)

Now, the title may be throwing you off. It sounds racist, doesn't it? But what is so superb about this is that this title is supposed to raise your ire, to get you feeling indignant before Donnie starts to get in your head with the rest of the song. For proof of that, all you have to do is listen to the opening notes. Dixieland, ragtime trumpets greet your ear as Donnie gives his best impersonation of a turn-of-the-century circus master, "Hurry, hurry, hurry! Come one, come all!" The Dixie swing continues throughout the whole song, but before things dip too far into minstrelsy, the real lyrics begin. Check this out: "Mama's little baby is nothing but a consumer, never making a profit, rendering empty pockets." How about that? How about that that's genius? How about the genius of taking an old Black folk song (Mama's little baby loves short'nin bread...) and using it to immediately characterize his song and the people he's talking about? The decision to begin this modern indictment of Black consumerism with an allusion to the storied past of Black life in the 19th century is a very important one; it lends an immediate urgency to the whole, calling the listeners to consider the past in order to gain perspective on the present.

I'm with him all the way, until the bitter end. And the song does get bitter, oh yes it goes there. Shortly after he stresses the frivolity that is Black spending (On your town look around, it's the first of the month/U.S. economy will get its usual jump...) he delves into the cycle of social irresponsibility that keeps the wheel of oppression turning. This is the thesis, if you want, of the song, and he brings it up sharply during the refrain. So the refrain is disturbing, it's jarring; he sings: "Everytime we buy into this criminal society/we whip that big black buck again/bring him down to his knees/They're waiting 'round the auction block/they jock so hard to see the consistency of my spunk/breeding their monopoly." Now you look at that lyric and balk at it. What is he saying, how can he say that, it's horrible! He shouldn't bring up such a horrible image of slavery like that!

I know what the critics mean, but they're absolutely wrong. Why not bring up that image if it's the truth? The big buck of Black spending power is exploited and abused, whipped, in the same manner as a master whipping his slave. And what's worse, and what's really deserving of your outrage and indignation is the fact that we, us Black people are now contributing to the oppression. We "buy into" this system of exploitation, thus keeping ourselves down and heaping insult on the backs of those long-dead ancestors, further humiliating and debasing their lives with an unexamined and ignorant approach to spending our money in this country. We "breed the white folks' monopoly" by spending money on dumb things like spinning rims on car tires, then we teach our children to value those same dumb material things, and never give it a second thought. That's what's outrageous to me, not Donnie's appropriation of an apt metaphor that happens make people uncomfortable.

I should be uncomfortable. You should be uncomfortable. We ain't right. And far from just pointing fingers, Donnie highlights this damaging behavior and tells us what we could do: "If mama's little baby didn't buy or sell on the Sabbath/don't you know what would happen/Some economy backbone snappin/.../Mama's little baby is the backbone of that order/and no, not kinda sorta/making dough for the Man/whipping that big Black buck again." We could help ourselves, we could force our way into social and economic equality, if we used the collective power in our collective dollars. If we could get past all this material aspiration, this pointless idea of keeping up with the Joneses, if we could transcend our own petty disagreements to make a community of smart consumers, investors, and producers, why, the world would have to listen to us, would have to pay attention and address our concerns. Snap the backbone of that oppressive economy, and you've got all the power and agency you need to make changes in your world. That's all Donnie's saying. I'm listening. I'm inspired. Not only do I want to say "it," I want you to say "it" too, and go support your local Black business. That's the first baby step.

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Lyrics for You Today
"Big Black Buck" of course. You can buy the album here.

Mama's little baby is nothing but a consumer.
Never making a profit, rndering empty pockets.
Oh, mama's litle baby is trendy, on the rumor.
Buying, never investing, rather visit market testing.

On your town, look around it's the first of the month,
U.S. economy will get it's usual jump.
We're creatures of habit, modern slaves.
Guaranteed to spend it all in just one place.

Mama's little baby is a dancer, and a crooner,
making dough for the Man.
Whipping that big black buck again.

Oh, and everytime we buy into this criminal society,
we whip that big black buck again, bring him down to his knees.
They're waiting 'round the auction block, they jock so hard to see
the consistency of my spunk, breeding their monopoly.

Mama's little baby are pawns protecting the bishop.
Taking fish, never learning. They're keeping this whole thing turning.
If mama's little baby didn't buy or sell on the Sabbath,
don't you know what would happen? Some economy backbone snappin.

Can't you see illuminati wage a quiet war?
Put the blood upon the lentil and the post on your door.
We're waiting for new world water to come,
baby don't you know it's here and almost gone?

Mama's little baby is the backbone of that order,
and no, not kinda sorta!
Making dough for the Man,
whipping that big black buck again.