The Insane Story of "Cotton Eye Joe"
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You saying "What in the Skibidi Rizz is going on here" with a straight face while staring at the camera made me lose it. Absolutely iconic storytelling, and a fantastic Video Essay as always!
Since your comment is the top one, sitting directly under the video, the joke was ruined for me.
@@noneofyourbusiness4616on the contrary I read it and was waiting for that line the whole time. Still no idea what it means but my kids found it hilarious 😂
17:43 Well, the straight face was less so towards the end… 😅
Tbh, I still have no idea what that means
Yeah, I thought I was having a stroke.
Only Polyphonic can convince me that a chicken nugget singing "Ge da ga dee ge da go da do" is a contribution to the rich, centuries-old history of folk music and tradition
While also referencing brain rot in the same video.... let's not forget that little tidbit :P
😂
I’m sure the hoity toity of their time was bitching about the Brian rot that was 1920’s cotton eye Joe.
Are you fn kidding me? Calling someone brown on the outside and white on the inside? Assuming you're white on the outside and trash on the inside. Stellar human alert. #sarcasm
@@andersjjensenuhm actually 🤓👆Skibidi rizz mog sigma chungus is the peak of human evolution , our minds have reached a point so high that evolution itself has plateaued due to us reaching the peaks of evolution, Skibidi rizzlers 🤓👆
Gid Tanner and his skillet lickers has got to be the greatest band name in the last 96 years. Who would have thought 1928 was so epic
Only surpased by The Chief Tans 😂
@@kasperprindal-nielsen4983If chief means head, this implies
"Stick your head in the microwave and get yourself a tan."
-Weird Al, "Dare to Be Stupid"
I found a band called Oedipus and the Momma's Boys, and I think that might be the funniest names I'd ever heard
The best one I've thought of would be for a punk band. The Skeeter Tokens
Well the song their known for isn’t lmao its titled “run (hard r) run” and the lyrics are much worse sadly
Now do the song behind “the Hamster Dance.”
I always thought it was just that one opening song from Robin Hood😭
@@Lemieux_channel I mean yea, but that ain't enough for a you tubes!
This just sent me into a nostalgia spiral and had to immediately look up the original song. Thank you from this often pessimistic 30 something. It warmed my heart for a few mins
Oh Lord no! I had to suffer with that song for a decade. Small kids in the car will do it to you.
YES YES YES
Hey Noah, I know that it took a lot from you to leave your previous format behind, but I gotta say, while the visual component was amazing, most of the value of your essays is still very much present. Your genuine love for music, your keen eye for a good story, and your excellent writing are still shining through in this new format. Plus it has the added bonus of your personality and humor peeking through. I hope you find it much more manageable to keep making videos like this, and keep your channel alive, because it’s not just content to a lot of us. Cheers mate. Have a great day!
hear hear!
I did not know that a shift happened, did something go wrong with his channel?
Having only known the Euro dance version, hearing Cotton-Eyed Joe slowed down tittels my brain.
I didn't expect you to look like Vsauce
Hey, VSauce! Polyphonic here.
Chubby Vsauce
And yet I'm not overly surprised
theyre both just standard millenials lol, just go to a craft beer tasting or a Tame Impala concert and you'll see tons of Vsauces and Polyphonics
@@danielktdoranie the thicker the sauce... the sicker the toss?
If that dude played a fiddle made from his dead child's coffin.... what the hell is the kid buried in then?
Yeah, I wondered that too.
Maybe it was the wood left over from making a small coffin?
a cello, obviously
The ground.
Likely cremated. It isn't uncommon to buy a coffin for the veiwing but have the body burned in a cardboard box, or no box. He probably kept it, intending it to be a memento mori, and decided to make it into an instrument.
It is fictional though, so maybe it isn't that thought out.
It’s so crazy how I’ve made a character in my head based on your voice and you ACTUALLY look like a totally different character for real wow
Same here! I'm like, who's that guy with Polyphonic's voice??? 😅
@@Zzyzzyx right? I expected a wirey, pointy, clean shaven guy with black hair. Like a villain, now I think of it 😂
Hahaha same here
4:36 was the craziest thing I’ve ever heard or seen from a polyphonic video💀
Skibahdeerizz
In all actuality, I did indeed click for cotton eye joe lore, however now I'm much more interested in Karen dalton at 3:26
'50's-'70's folk musicians often led interesting, but frought, lives. Look up Tim Buckley, Nick Drake, Townes Van Zandt, Phil Ochs, and Connie Coverse if you ever feel like your day is going too well.
The switch from the chicken nugget singing nonsense to suddenly hearing Nina Simone a few minutes later gave me a coughing fit.
Nina Simone’s version of Cotton Eyed Joe is my favourite. It’s heartbreakingly gorgeous, and I was taken aback when I first heard it. Also I wasn’t familiar with Karen Dalton until now. What a beautiful voice. Thank you sharing part of her story with us.
I didn't know about Nina Simone's version until I saw this comment.....thank you 💚
Meanwhile here in Texas we just kept dancing this both black and white without anyone knowing anyone ever knew it was a thing. Big thing was Urban Cowboy having a version of this. Everyone knows that more than Rednex.
@@crysbrown80 You’re welcome, but they mention it in the video and play a snippet!
19:09 SHOW THE PUPPY 😭
SECONDED. WE NEED THE PUPPY.
It's internet rules. If the pet exists (or a random animal, it doesn't even need to be cute), it is shown.
The pet tax must be paid
I would like to see the puppy.
The tax must be paid!
As an Irish dancer, I grew up constantly listening and dancing to the Cheiftan's version. Always loved it, but love it even more knowing more about the history of the song
Their live version with Ricky Skaggs is one of my favorites. You can tell just how much fun he’s having.
This song dates back to the 1850's America where West African music met Irish immigrants. It was always a dance song. I have heard traditional versions. All were line and square dances with calls derived from French long after the English gave up French call dances. Kinda helped that there were French Creole and Cajun communities in parts of the South.
In 1980 I had to learn dances to this song along with 7th grade girls as both an athletic event and cultural education. The middle school band had to learn an Oohm Pah Pah waltz and mortify us again both as an athletic event and to respect cultural heritage. Note Cotton Eye Joe was considered to represent both white and black culture.
I was not expecting this to be an enlightening essay but I’ll be darned I am inspired by this. Folk has always been an interest of mine and this showed me that the culture is still alive, even if it has a different face. Thank you Polyphonic, thank you very much!
I had this realization the other day that the version of the song "Dirt Man" by Carter Vail where Vail sings a verse and chorus and then the screen flashes "Your turn" is another way digital technology and social media are revolutionizing folk music. So instead of someone else adding a verse to your song at the singalong or drum circle, now millions of people are doing it remotely, creating infinite versions of the song. And that's fucking awesome!
Thank you for spending some time covering Karen Dalton. She's unfortunately been relegated to "your musician's favorite artist" status, similarly to Blaze Foley and Townes Van Zandt.
And so many more ...
Dalton abandoned her children for a life of sex and drugs. Not someone to admire.
@@AderynBach42She also got married at 15. The world was, is, a wacky place.
RIP Drunken Angel
@@AderynBach42appreciating their music is different than admiring them as someone to aspire to be
"...and Ottawa Senators games"
I nearly spit my drink out laughing 😆
Holy smokes, is Polyphonic from Ottawa?
@@earlwashburn1002 dunno, not especially curious 😅
@@earlwashburn1002 Pretty obscure reference to drop otherwise, I'd say.
Todd in the Shadows is the GOAT, and been doing the TH-cam music essay thing for longer than pretty much anybody else.
can't believe the cotton eye joe video is 10 years old.. feels like a couple years ago i stg
How to tell if someone is a loser, they use the term GOAT
@@rocoe9019 I think we all know who the real loser here is.
@rocoe9019 yeah, they use it like you used it 😂 here take this L, you've earned it💯
Is it when someone needs to belittle others for no reason?? @@rocoe9019
My nine year old grandson was singing Cotton Eye Joe when he visited a few weeks ago. I pulled out my banjo and played it for him. We were both amazed that the other knew it. Then I showed him Rednex on TH-cam. Lol. He couldn't believe his eyes and ears.
I love Polyphonic so much that wasn't even thinking about Cotton Eye Joe until 2:57 despite clicking because of the title and thumbnail.
I called one of my impossibly fast tarantulas cotton eye Joe: ie where did you come from where did you go
If it hadn't been for him, would you have also "been married long time ago"?
@@NightsReign that is where the lyrics fail as I did get married a long time ago
@@minacarolina7671 Wait, I think the lyrics actually say "...I'd been married long time ago." not "I'd have/I'd've been".
So, I guess the lyrics would work. Right?
At 6:12, how badly did you want to say "The story of Cotton Eye Joe begins a long time ago"?
So nice to see you having fun in this more relaxed format. Humor is a welcomed addition to Poliphonic's deep dives in music history and the reflection about it's cultural, social and political meaning. And you keep on wax poetic'ing the hell out of any subject you want! That's the beauty of Poliphonic for me.
looking forward to the 20 minute follow up on Old Pop in an Oak
I just want to understand the fucking lyrics
2:49 Why am I looking at the midjourney result for “Anthony Fantano and Vsauce’s genetically engineered child” right now. And why is it speaking
DUDE I THOUGHT THE EXACT SAME THING
I'm giving this a like because the ad was at the end. Thank you sir
Strange, yet cool, how memes can introduce younger listeners to some classic stuff! Case in point- I was playing my album of Yes' "Fragile" and told my son to get a listen to this classic song, "Roundabout"- but he'd already heard it (and OF it) from a meme that I had no idea existed. His comment: "Cool! THAT'S where it originally came from!"
This video absolutely made me DIE laughing while also teaching me about something I'd never had known about otherwise
Thank u for what you do polyphonic
I'd always thought 'Cotton eyed Joe' was about someone with eyes that are soft like cotton, rather than the more literal interpretations presented in this video.
It's crazy to think there are other interpretations of the song I'd never considered!
I also wanted to say I saw your recent video, and I really like the new content style. It's really nice to see a blend of the wonderful polyphonic editing and your more simple and personal, filmed parts. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do in the future :)
I unironically did not know they were saying “if it hadn’t been for Cotton eyed Joe” I just kinda figured it was a vocal scat
Not that hard to hear.
@@Aeneiden hindsight…hind-hearing? Is 20/20
When I was a kid I thought they were saying "bit off a limb for Cotton Eye Joe" 😅
Lost it while he was trying to “say it in polyphonic” lmao
Millennials had hamster dance, it's the same nonsense as the chicken nugget lol
But then, who got Badger Mushroom?
Exactly. There is nothing new under the sun, just let the kids have their fun.
Years ago I read that cotton eyed joe was the backroads doctor who got girls out of trouble, often at their peril. A girl with complications might never be able to get married.
I remember the story was when the song came out was that "cotton-eyed Joe" was an... infected one-eyed trouser snake. "If it wasn't for the fact that I have pus coming out of the ... well, I'd be married."
I’m near the end of the video, and you cracking up at trying to say "gegagedigedageda-O" (I copied and pasted that from Wikipedia because I had no idea how to type it out) was so hilarious and joyful! 😂 Also I totally agree with your points about how remixes and memes like this introduce new generations to the origins of songs, and that’s a beautiful thing. I’m an older millennial, and I was really into hip hop and r&b as a kid in the 90s. When I realised that most of the songs I loved were sampled from older songs, I’d look up the originals. I’d study the liner notes on my CDs, find out where the samples came from, and go crate digging for the originals. 70s funk and soul are probably my favourite genres to this day, and 90s hip hop and r&b were my introduction to them. When gen Xers and millennials complain about gen z “ruining great music”, just remember the boomers said exactly the same thing about the songs we loved when we were kids.
I remember the Rednex version back in the 90s. I was still a kid and the song was pretty catchy. I had the whole album as a cassette later on
Same!
I respect your respect for Todd in the Shadows. He's an og for real. Skibidi.
On god
He's a truly skibidi sigma
No cap
This song was played through my middle to high school dances for at least six years straight. As a millennial.
I grew up dancing Cotton Eye Joe(usually the Asleep at the Wheel version) and that was traditionally followed by Frenchie’s Schottische
Asleep at the Wheel. Maybe that's why Rednex' version felt familiar when it came out - used to hear a fair bit of 'em on WSCP back in the late 80s/early 90s.
I live in Tennessee and wondered at the time "why is there a techno song about and old folk song from around here?" Never knew the meme existed until this second that I'm typing this comment...
Asleep at the Wheel also has the best version of Hot Rod Lincoln. lol
@@anthonyrowland9072 YES! I grew up on their version of Hot Rod Lincoln. Oh, and even though Brooks and Dunn wrote it, Asleep at the Wheel did Boot Scootin' Boogie first and better.
If there's a Nina Simone version of anything, that's the best version.
It brings me joy that the Nina Simone's version is the one that inspired you. Anything she does puts chills on my body. Her version of this song makes me tear up every time.
So a Swedish group took an Irish version of an American song and made it world famous
Love it
"Ol' pop in an oak.. Ol'pop in an oak... whytschigidilaerzshwuuu... "
This made me realize how few blind people you see today. There were many blind musicians in the 60’s and 70’s, but I can’t think of any now.
Stevie Wonder
Well, here you go. I’m not famous but still. I’m a blind guy who likes to make music lol
@@jeffreybollman6186 and Ray Charles. But yeah, OP makes a great point. Blind representation in modern music is pretty low
@@pensivepenguin3000Jeff Healey (RIP)
So basically the song has always been a viral two-minute ear worm with an associated dance… TikTok seems like a perfectly logical next step in its journey
Polyphonic defending meme culture as folk culture means that, logically, SiIvagunner is a hub of folk culture.
I like that.
Talking about the Sea Peoples on History forums and groups, this song comes up. No one knows where they came from for sure, no one knows where they went after they wrecked the Bronze age civilisations around the Mediterranean, much like Cotton Eye Joe...
On the note of folk. How come there are so many American folk songs that became an international sensation only after non-Americans covered them?
My two biggest examples are Cotton-Eye Joe and House of the Rising Sun, but there are others. It's a bit uncanny how Americans are not able to capitalize on their own folk music.
In other countries/cultures, folk music is traditional music. It is not meant to change or be adapted. It is passed down, unchanged from generation to generation. American music, including folk music, is always changing and always adapting. Considering the population of the world- more non-Americans love American music, than Americans love American music. (6 billion compared to 300 million?)
Nirvana did release "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?" on their Unplugged In New York album in 1994. This was based on "In The Pines" by Leadbelly which was likely adapted from an older folk song.
@@Redmenace96 I highly disagree. Folk music, by its very nature, is in continuous change. Instruments change and disappear. New music genres are introduced that change what's popular.
At least in my country, folk songs have as many interpretations as people alive here.
Let's take a simple example, Bella Ciao from Italy. The song is around 200 years old and has as many versions with different orchestrations and different lyrics.
The only thing folk songs seem to keep is the emotional tone of the piece. Similar to how Cotton Eye Joe was a dance song in the beginning and most reinterpretations are also dance songs. Or how Bella Ciao is a song for the people against oppressors. And even that can change for specific interprets.
Black Betty . It seems to be traditional to usurp culture with a modern viewpoint. However, isn't that progress, development and evolution? Without those things society would be stagnant. I think.
Sorry the end "I think" sounds a little arrogant. I should have said " in my opinion"
“We have been here before. “
The “ties that bind “
What a precious moment to acknowledge.
All are precious to me.
Jeremy
Michelle Shocked did a great version of Cotton Eyed Joe on her Arkansas Traveller, adding verses where Joe is a drunk doctor who performs a botched abortion in a cornfield. It is pretty powerful.
Thank you for mentioning this. When hearing the "Rednex" version for the first time I was pretty sure they had "borrowed" the idea from her. Great song, definitely worth checking out. "Arkansas Traveler" the song is called "prodigal daughter".
Which makes for an interesting meaning of “had not have been for Cotton Eyed Joe, I’d been married a long time ago”…
(Just wanted to comment on the same song. I really like Arkansas Traveller and it’s take in classical folk songs)
@@JaimeBuelta-yx5ej Exactly, I think that’s the line she riffed off in coming up with that interpretation.
Pausing at 7:10 and comparing the two, Seeing the ‘black language’ version next to the actual version orally kept from plantations makes the stereotyping and racism very plain
5:40 as a millennial myself, lets stop putting down the newer generations like the older generations have done. We all have our own brain rot. Remember Nyan Cat,Numa Numa, Peanut butter jelly time. Etc.
As Gen X myself, I need to sarcastically point out that you had to put down older generations to make your point about not putting down newer generations.
As a millennial myself just shut the fuck up and stop worrying about it 😘
No
I can remember learning to square dance in the mid 90's to this song and knowing some of the history on it is pretty cool.
When will we have an essay on Tom Waits? I feel like people been sleeping on Tommy The Cat for too long
Who is sleeping on Tom Waits? Any self-respecting music nerd knows and appreciates him. He’s widely praised and recognized
The ballad versions of the song don't work for me. It's the name - Cotton-Eyed Joe is too silly of a name for me to take the rest of the song seriously. It's like writing a heart-drenched love song about Spongebob Squarepants. The two things just don't go together.
What the Skibide rizz is unc talking about
Ok but this makes me think how it IS fascinating to consider what folk culture is in an hyperconnected era. Folk culture still exist irl, but analyzing what constitutes online folk culture from a sociological standpoint is relevant and interesting. There's so much to look for: memes, specific music trends, microcosms in forums, even folktales (maybe creepy pastas and fake tumblr posts?) And how all this interacts with previous/current offline folk culture
I find it hilarious that a song that I loved as a ten year old kid is making the rounds again.
Cotton eye Joe is the song that can bring together all generations.
Really appreciate this format and seeing you on camera.
"... and Ottawa Senators games"
This is the kind of depth I look for in music video essays
Dude it’s Vsauce
His tulpa.
Simon Whistler(!)
Vsauce after pigging out on ribs and tamales
What's a Vsauce?
You trying to... scat? gives the video a whole different twist. Gotta love it
As a huge fan of this channel and Todd in the Shadows, it is nice to see you reference him.
"Where did you come from, where did you go, where did you come from?" "Copperhead road."
Why are you making me cry at 7 am on a Saturday? I only became aware of this song cuz I'm a musician who plays day gig and suddenly kids were asking me to play this tune. And yep it fills the tip jar. But after your video I think I love this song. Thanks man! Great video.
The assertion that "meme culture is folk culture" is the most insightful idea I've heard in years
Where did you come from where did you go where did you come from cotton eye joe i really find cotton eye joe over played i was born in the 2000s i know a lot of modern Day music Noah i don't know what the jiberish is saying it is hard to understand and even in the song
Man. Burl Ives... the magnificent rolling narration of my childhood, good lord. Him and Thurl Ravenscroft, we'll never see their equal again.
I was honestly amazed by this. I came in expecting to laugh at someone who actually thought they had some idea what the song was about, and might have even been unaware that the 90s version was a cover of a folk song
something i love about this song is that it's still being reintroduced in new styles *even within folk music*. Listen to the version by Pawns or Kings, it's a radically different, potently dark version of the song and yet it still feels appropriate.
By the time I got to your poetic waxing interlude, I'd completely forgotten the subject of the video anyway. I was engrossed in Karen Dalton.
Interesting, never knew the origin of that Rednex song goes so far back. There's other pop/dance songs with a long history too. For example "Sabres of Paradise - Wilmot" (1994) is based on a 1931 (!!) calypso song "Black But Sweet" by Wilmoth Houdini. Also, the origin of "House Of The Rising Sun" by The Animals (1964) dates all the way back to at least the 19th-century.
Yeah didn't Polyphonic do a video on House of the Rising Sun some time back?
Last year I line danced to this song every month at my church dances, this song is still being celebrated and honored to this day.
As a mom of a 9 year old, I burst out laughing when you said "what the skibbidi rizz is going on here"😂😂😂
I love how nobody talks about the fact, that the Rednex-Song killed any ambition
on re-interpreting that song again.
I have a memory of being at a party when I was a kid and seeing two guys sitting under the DJ booth/table smoking with the intent of being human smoke machines while Cotton Eye Joe was playing.
Fascinating! I had no idea that the lore behind that song was so deep! I thought it was just the Rednex song and nothing else.
I had never heard of Karen Dalton, but I'm going to look up her albums now. Thank you.
Still can’t believe that the euro dance worked with the folk song.
Superlative analysis and history...
I always know I'm in for a special treat with your Vessays 🤗
It's rare for a TH-cam video to take me on a strongly emotional and fascinating journey about something I've completely discounted as trash many years ago. As much as I'll reject the Redneks (and the current) interpretation of the song, Cotton Eye Joe is legendary, and now I know that. Thank you.
She could resent the comparison with Holiday all she wanted, but come on! It’s uncanny. At least Dylan admits he began by imitating Guthrie.
Came over from Nebula to leave a comment. I appreciate the changes you're making in presentation style - while I don't want every video to be include bits like the gadagedgo at 17:45, it worked well here. Thanks for what you do, appreciate the interesting history!
This fellow Canadian felt so seen when you mentioned ‘Cotton Eye Joe’ being immortalized in elementary school gyms
This got me thinking about how folk music is one of the most obvious examples of a meme in the original sense of the word, as in an idea that moves from person to person mutating and evolving as it goes
I imagine the song appearing in the trailer for Speak No Evil which has seemingly been attached to every single theatrical release this past summer probably hasn't hurt its resurgence either.
i like that meme😩🤣 17:46 i don't know how you didn't break into laugh before!!! As a hispanic gen-z i only knew about the redneck and meme version, it sounded to me like some folk song when i was little and well, i was rigth. Thank you for talking about the other versions, interesting video
As a Hispanic Millennial ('94)I hadn't heard the meme version only the others, but it slaps frfr, now I'm going to listen to a 10-hour Loop while I play dead by daylight LOL
Someone says there’s a video about Cotton Eyed Joe that will make me tear up.
Me: “doubtful.”
They say it’s by Polyphonic.
Me: “oh, of course I will.”
this was way more lit than expected
also: "Hid'atenbinf'conttoneye jo"
Such a great interpretation of the connection between memes and folk
This song has a very specific place in my heart because while I don’t know of any line dances to it as you imply there are several circle dances to it and when I was in dance class our instructor picked an especially difficult one of them to teach us that involves switching from moving forward to rapidly running backwards while dancing and back every time the time signature changes(8 times) and whenever we were being unruly or goofing about too much nothing would be said but the song would be put on and we would have to run to form a circle and do the dance and it was exhausting but it was also such a playful light hearted memory for me of being young and silly and pushing limits until the music came on
No shot polyphonic just convinced me gadagadegadagadido is a folk song
Props for a poetic intro, but you know you're dealing with a whole generation of people with short atten.....
This is what I find so great about your channel, I would've never thought twice about Cotton Eye Joe and now I've discovered that there's a whole world to history of this song! I find the topics you cover to be genuinely fascinating!
Never regret clicking a Polyphonic video! Keep being you my guy!
And seeing you for the first time, you can ascend to the pantheon of bald, bearded, bespectacled TH-camrs!
Oh man, great video as usual but I got really excited to hear the Polyphonic intro 😢 I need it in my soul
Friendly tip from Europe: the s in "gravitas" does get pronounced. This is because it's a latin word, not French, though I understand it might look like it.
Ill retract my comment if I see what ur talking about but, in American English "gravitas" is it's own word and the "s" is definitely pronounced, lol. Nobody says "gravitas".
La-di-da Mr. Frenchman.
@@TheDiabeticGameMasterThat's what he said, my guy
@@dantedefault2331 huh.... Yea.... You are right. I guess I got Mandela'd cuz I could swear that OP said it was NOT pronounced. Oh well, no biggie, thanks for the correction! The both of you.
Friendly tip from America: we fought and won several wars not to gaf.
Freak me out!
We learned and sang a version of this song EVERY YEAR when I was grade school in the early 70s. For some reason, remembering our class singing it has been running through my head for a couple of weeks. And now you've done a whole thing about it.
Way more complicated history than I ever would have guessed.
Wow. Thank you so much for researching this. A cringy memory from elementary school, has morphed into a reverance for the art of folk music. This video opened my eyes to the cultural significance behind 'Cotton Eyed Joe,' turning something I once overlooked into something I truly appreciate