| Danny Kaye – Civilization Lyrics | 23 days ago |
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I think people have a knee jerk reaction to it without even reading the lyrics and seeing the context. Let's take the word "savage". Both times the word is used it is talking about white people or "civilized people" at least, could be any race. The context is clear, the people yelling at him like savages (not actual savages, it's a simile), are likely those same missionaries that are mentioned as advertising civilization trying to get him to leave his home. The next use of the word is "They hurry like savages to get aboard an iron train". This is not talking about any natives. The "they" is talking about people in civilization, which would be the so called white folk if we're assuming all whites are the civilized ones. And again it's a simile, not calling them savages either just saying they hurry LIKE savages. It's just to give us the idea of how they behave. It's not calling any particular group a savage. And the mention of the word spear, OMG they committed the cardinal sin of assuming every African has a spear? No, this particular one uses a spear to do fishing, which he just got done mentioning in the previous verse. A lot of people use spears when fishing. Not just stereotypes. And let's remember Danny Kaye was a famous comedian, and a lot of the wording is comedic and trying to force a rhyme in some places. And even when he's saying fake foreign language words, those words seem to be attributed to the "civilized" people in the story this song is telling. So, in my opinion, this song is not racist at all and is anti-civilization and pro staying in a remote area instead. and I agree, modern "civilization" is largely a prison for people who think the government loves them and has their best interest at heart. |
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