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How is this song racist?


Yes-Man

12,226 views

People keep saying this song is racist.

How is it? I don't see how.

Here are the lyrics, just so you can look through it.

 

 

 

Each morning, a missionary advertises neon sign

He tells the native population that civilization is fine

And three educated savages holler from a bamboo tree

That civilization is a thing for me to see So bongo, bongo, bongo, I don't wanna leave the Congo, oh no no no no no

Bingo, bangle, bungle, I'm so happy in the jungle, I refuse to go

Don't want no bright lights, false teeth, doorbells, landlords, I make it clear

That no matter how they coax him, I'll stay right here

 

I looked through a magazine the missionary's wife concealed (Magazine? What happens?)

I see how people who are civilized bung you with automobile (You know you can get hurt that way Daniel?)

At the movies they have got to pay many coconuts to see (What do they see, Darling?)

Uncivilized pictures that the newsreel takes of me So bongo, bongo, bongo, he don't wanna leave the Congo, oh no no no no no

Bingo, bangle, bungle, he's so happy in the jungle, he refuse to go

Don't want no penthouse, bathtub, streetcars, taxis, noise in my ear

So, no matter how they coax him, I'll stay right here

 

They hurry like savages to get aboard an iron train

And though it's smokey and it's crowded, they're too civilized to complain

When they've got two weeks vacation, they hurry to vacation ground (What do they do, Darling?)

They swim and they fish, but that's what I do all year round So bongo, bongo, bongo, I don't wanna leave the Congo, oh no no no no no

Bingo, bangle, bungle, I'm so happy in the jungle, I refuse to go

Don't want no jailhouse, shotgun, fish-hooks, golf clubs, I got my spears

So, no matter how they coax him, I'll stay right here

 

They have things like the atom bomb, so I think I'll stay where I "ahm"

Civilization, I'll stay right here!

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I think it's that first verse... "That civilization is a thing for me to see So bongo, bongo, bongo, I don't wanna leave the Congo, oh no no no no no

Bingo, bangle, bungle, I'm so happy in the jungle, I refuse to go
Don't want no bright lights, false teeth, doorbells, landlords, I make it clear
That no matter how they coax him, I'll stay right here" The Congo may be referring to what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country in the middle of Africa impoverished and in the middle of civil war. Also, referring to them as the "in the jungle" makes them sound like apes, since they don't want to move on to civilization. "No matter how much they coax him"... hm, can that possible be a reference to slaves and how they were taken out of where they lived before they became slaves?

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"Educated savages holler from a bamboo tree"

educated blacks, that's the first thing... the rest is pretty obvious.

They are fine with being filthy, wild, etc. Sounds racist to me.

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.

They are fine with being filthy, wild, etc. Sounds racist to me.

"They have things like the atom bomb, so I think I'll stay where I "ahm"

Civilization, I'll stay right here!"

Those words.

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Mostly the word savage.

But they did say it was better than living in a 1st World Nation, like ours.

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THE FOLLOWING IS A JOKE:

 

But they did say it was better than living in a 1st World Nation, like ours.

 

 

Hey, you're a cool guy, but seriously, go fuck yourself.

 

 

See? Doesn't make it any less insulting :)

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Alright, this song is unintentional racism.

But the main point of this song was to satricze our modern society, something almost no one did back in the 40's.

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