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Johnny Cuckoo
Game
Song
Group
What did you come for,
come for, come for?
What did you come for,
on a cold and stormy night?
Soloist #1
I come to be a soldier,
soldier, soldier.
I come to be a soldier,
on a cold an stormy night.
Group
You are too black and dirty,
dirty, dirty.
You are too black and dirty
on a cold and stormy night.
(repeat entire song with soloist #2 etc.)
“Johnny Cuckoo” is a traditional game song from
the Georgia Sea Isles. The
song is included in a four CD collection of Southern folk songs (Alan
Lomax, “Sounds of the South” Disc 4 Atlantic Recording Corp, 1993).
African American from the
Georgia Sea Isles and other parts of the South called their games songs
“plays”. This term
emphasizes the dramatic aspect of their leisure time efforts.
Games told stories and it was expected that children (and adults
who also joined in the plays) would act out their parts of the story with
their whole body, mind and spirit.
Picture the soloist marching back and forth and
the group asking him to explain why he is there. To his reply that he wants to be a soldier, they tell him
“Forget it, you’re too black and dirty”.
The soloist then models the affirming response “I’m just as
good as you are”. This song
probably dates from the Civil War era when people questioned African
Americans’ ability to be soldiers.
Thousands of African Americans did eventually fight in the Civil
War, as we have fought in all United States wars.
But “Johnny Cuckoo” is about more than soldiering.
The song uses dramatic play and song to teach African American
self-esteem and self-confidence. When
faced with opposition and rejection in mainstream society or African
American society, children and adults learn the positive response “I’m
just a good as you are.”
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