Randy Newman puts himself in the shoes of a slave trader. He's coaxing black people from Africa to come to America in a sing-song type of voice.
"Wog" is a racial slur towards blacks.
The song is great because doesn't appear to be condescending at all, it just seems to be a song about how great America is, but then you realize that it's actually about slavery.
Someone who doesn't know what "wog" means might say "YEAH" when they hear this song and think about the goodness of America, but if you know what it means you can see that it's actually pretty grim. There are still people starving in America, everybody isn't happy, not everyone is free, and slaves certainty can't take care of their families.
Randy Newman puts himself in the shoes of a slave trader. He's coaxing black people from Africa to come to America in a sing-song type of voice.
"Wog" is a racial slur towards blacks.
The song is great because doesn't appear to be condescending at all, it just seems to be a song about how great America is, but then you realize that it's actually about slavery.
Someone who doesn't know what "wog" means might say "YEAH" when they hear this song and think about the goodness of America, but if you know what it means you can see that it's actually pretty grim. There are still people starving in America, everybody isn't happy, not everyone is free, and slaves certainty can't take care of their families.