TWICE AS NICE AS PARADISE? Changing Representations of the Imagined American South in Barbershop Music Repertoire
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TWICE AS NICE AS PARADISE? Changing Representations of the Imagined American South in Barbershop Music Repertoire Atte Heikkinen Syventävien opintojen tutkielma Pohjois-Amerikan tutkimus Alue- ja Kulttuurintutkimuksen maisteriohjelma Humanistinen tiedekunta Helsingin yliopisto Syksy/2020 Tiedekunta – Fakultet – Faculty Koulutusohjelma – Utbildningsprogram – Degree Programme Humanistinen tiedekunta Alue- ja kulttuurintutkimuksen maisteriohjelma Opintosuunta – Studieinriktning – Study Track Pohjois-Amerikan tutkimus Tekijä – Författare – Author Atte Uolevi Heikkinen Työn nimi – Arbetets titel – Title Twice As Nice As Paradise?: Changing Representations of the Imagined American South in Barbershop Music Repertoire Työn laji – Arbetets art – Level Aika – Datum – Month and Sivumäärä– Sidoantal – Number of pages Maisterintutkielma year 68 09/2020 Tiivistelmä – Referat – Abstract This thesis explores the tropes through which the American South is represented in American popular music from the 1910s and 1920s. During the early 20th century, the music publishing industry based in New York City—often referred to as “Tin Pan Alley”—produced hundreds of popular songs whose lyrics romanticized the South as a harmonious paradise free from the troubles associated with living in the urban North. Although popular at the time, these so called “Dixie tunes” have faded into obscurity from the mainstream but continue to be performed in barbershop singing contests around the world. Rather than performing the songs as written in the early 20th century, Barbershop quartets and choruses present audiences with modernized arrangements that often include alterations to song lyrics. The dataset for this thesis consists of 18 “Dixie tunes” that have been used as repertoire by male barbershop groups competing in regional and international contests held by the Barbershop Harmony Society in recent decades. By categorizing the songs thematically, we discuss the most prominent cultural representations they depict. By using copies of original sheet music, we compare the original song lyrics with modern barbershop arrangements in order to understand what types of changes, additions or reductions have been made when these particular songs have been adapted into the barbershop style. We conclude that these songs portray the South through myths and archetypes like the “mammy”, the “happy darkie” and activities such as musical celebrations and performances, while the reality of racial tension in the region is not adressed. These depictions are often preserved in barbershop arrangements. However, lyrics are often altered in order to bowdlerize the racial stereotypes that are present in the original texts. Avainsanat – Nyckelord – Keywords Dixie, Dixieland, American South, Old South, barbershop, Tin Pan Alley, representation, collective memory, antebellum south, minstrelsy, plantation, myths, mammy, nostalgia Säilytyspaikka – Förvaringställe – Where deposited Muita tietoja – Övriga uppgifter – Additional information Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................. 1 2. BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................................ 7 2.1 Dixie and the Old South ................................................................................................................ 7 2.2 Dixie as a Theme in Early Popular Music .................................................................................. 10 2.3 Barbershop Music ....................................................................................................................... 12 2.4 Barbershop Harmony Society and Sweet Adelines International Contests ................................ 15 3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK, METHODS and CATEGORIZATION .................................... 18 3.1 Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................................... 18 3.2 Song Selection ............................................................................................................................ 19 3.3 Song Themes and Categorization ............................................................................................... 21 3.4 Analyzing popular lyrics ............................................................................................................. 23 3.5 Content analysis of popular lyrics ............................................................................................... 24 4. SONGS OF PRAISE ......................................................................................................................... 26 4.1 And they called it Dixieland ....................................................................................................... 26 4.2 How’s Every Little Thing in Dixie ............................................................................................. 28 4.3 Are you from Dixie? ................................................................................................................... 29 4.4 When it’s Night Time Down in Dixie Land................................................................................ 30 CHAPTER SUMMARY ................................................................................................................... 32 5. SONGS OF PLACE .......................................................................................................................... 34 5.1 Swanee ........................................................................................................................................ 34 5.2 Down Where the Swanee River Flows ....................................................................................... 35 5.3 Carolina in the Morning .............................................................................................................. 36 CHAPTER SUMMARY ................................................................................................................... 38 6. SONGS OF ACTIVITY ................................................................................................................... 39 6.1 Alexander’s Ragtime Band ......................................................................................................... 39 6.2 Alexander’s Band is Back in Dixieland ...................................................................................... 42 6.3 Mississippi Mud .......................................................................................................................... 43 6.4 Waiting for the Robert E. Lee ..................................................................................................... 44 6.5 Alabama Jubilee .......................................................................................................................... 46 6.6 Listen to that Dixie Band ............................................................................................................ 47 6.7 All Aboard for Dixieland ............................................................................................................ 48 6.8 When that Midnight Choo, Choo, Leaves for Alabam’ .............................................................. 50 CHAPTER SUMMARY ................................................................................................................... 52 7. SONGS OF MAMMY ...................................................................................................................... 53 7.1 Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With A Dixie Melody ......................................................................... 53 7.2 No One Loves You Any Better Than Your M-A-DOUBLE-M-Y ............................................. 54 7.3 Mammy o’ Mine ......................................................................................................................... 55 CHAPTER SUMMARY: .................................................................................................................. 56 8. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................. 57 Primary sources:.................................................................................................................................... 59 References ............................................................................................................................................. 64 APPENDIX 1 – Songs Omitted from Final Analysis ........................................................................... 67 1 1. INTRODUCTION Since I began working on this project in the late summer of 2019, the United States has seen an unprecedented awakening of awareness about structural racism and racial injustice manifested perhaps most obviously in the form of police brutality, but also ever-present in the racial representations propagated by works of popular culture and consumer brands. In mid- 2020, the ubiquitous pancake brand, Aunt Jemima, as well as the rice brand Uncle Ben’s announced their plans to rename and overhaul their logos in order to stop perpetuating harmful racial stereotypes1. This thesis explores the ways in which the American South is—and has been—represented in popular music from the early 20th century. Similarly to the aforementioned food brands, the appropriateness of certain songs from the great