If anyone missed this past week's rehearsal, something important came up! I found out from a choir member that there has been controversy about a word in the song "Turn the World Around". The word spelled in our score as "abateewah," (also spelled abatiwaha) which Harry Belafonte grew up hearing as a happy expression of joy in Jamaica, actually turns out to have a second, really negative connotation; it sounds the same as a slur. After looking up a couple of articles on the subject, I've decided that we should definitely still sing the song - its whole message is greatly positive, on top of being a terrific song musically - but we will remove the few spots where that word shows up. While I couldn't find any articles directly quoting Belafonte on the subject, it seems clear that he regretted including the word after finding out about its other meaning later in his life. His message has always been one of inclusion, welcome, and celebration, so I'd prefer to be true to that message as we sing.
This has always been a very tricky subject for singers, and by extension, for choir directors and teachers. When choosing music, lyrics add a whole other dimension in addition to the notes, rhythms, dynamics, style, difficulty level, etc. Passively listening to words in a song on the radio is very different from singing those words with your own mouth, or singing the words in front of an audience. We need to be really thoughtful about the music we sing.
I'll never forget the time I led about 90 first-graders in their first ever concert, as I did each year with first grade students while I taught elementary school. It was a lovely, successful experience, full of singing, dancing, playing instruments, and showing our music skills. At the end, as families came up to chat and collect their children, one grandfather complimented me on a terrific concert, and then said "Um, did you know that the singing game you did, 'Jump Jim Joe,' was named after Jim Crow? It was originally 'Jump Jim Crow." My answer, of course, was "NO, I most definitely did not know that!" I looked it up as soon as I got home, and oof, what a feeling to find out that the silly, seemingly benign singing game I'd been playing with children for years was originally based on a racist minstrel character which was later used to name segregationist laws in the post-civil war period!
In general, I tend very much to be in the "Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater" camp when it comes to art vs. artist or choosing music from a time period different from my own, but in that case, the very title of the song and words we sang were all tied in with a hugely racist part of our nation's history. I would find another singing game to teach steady beat and partner dancing. With "Turn the World Around," though, my personal feeling is that removal of the offensive word, which was included without the composer's knowledge of its second meaning, is sufficient. Bathwater tossed, baby stays in.
I hope you are all well and that you have a fantastic week!
All the best,
Katie
