# Daniel Boone **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 11, 2014, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daniel-boone/704354 "2014-11-11T17:12:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daniel-boone/704354/1 "2014-11-11T17:12:42Z")
I like to have the TV on when I work from home. But I don’t want to watch it. Northwest Cable News repeats every five minutes (OK, it might be half hour) and it starts getting into my consciousness. I don’t want anything playing I’m actually interested in, and movies on TCM can sometimes be too invasive by virtue of being ones I really _don’t_ want to have on the periphery. So I’ll play some old TV shows on MeTV. I can ignore them and they make adequate background noise. Except _Daniel Boone_… No, I don’t get sucked into watching it. But the _theme song!_ Every time I hear it I think of (in order): [ul][li]The racist version I heard as a child[/li][li]_Rippin’est, roarin’est, fightin’est man The frontier ever knew_ makes me think he had severe flatulence[/li][li]The version that popped into my head after a certain beheading[/li]Why does _this particular_ theme song make me go whacky?[/ul] ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daniel-boone/704354/2 "2014-11-11T17:34:42Z")
[quote=“Johnny\_L.A, post:1, topic:704354”] I like to have the TV on when I work from home. But I don’t want to watch it. Northwest Cable News repeats every five minutes (OK, it might be half hour) and it starts getting into my consciousness. I don’t want anything playing I’m actually interested in, and movies on TCM can sometimes be too invasive by virtue of being ones I really _don’t_ want to have on the periphery. So I’ll play some old TV shows on MeTV. I can ignore them and they make adequate background noise. Except _Daniel Boone_… No, I don’t get sucked into watching it. But the _theme song!_ Every time I hear it I think of (in order): [ul][li]The racist version I heard as a child[/li][li]_Rippin’est, roarin’est, fightin’est man The frontier ever knew_ makes me think he had severe flatulence[/li][li]The version that popped into my head after a certain beheading[/li][li]Why does _this particular_ theme song make me go whacky?[/ul][/li][/QUOTE] Theme songs from your youth are very Proustian. There are no racist lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daniel-boone/704354/3 "2014-11-11T17:40:33Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Why does _this particular_ theme song make me go whacky? Maybe because it’s so easily parodied? :dubious: If you do a search here, you should find the version I wrote in high school, lurking in a zombie raunchy humor thread. (No, I’m not going to repeat it here.) I sang my version for a kid at summer camp in 1972. Imagine my shock when I heard another guy singing it at the same camp a year later!\* **ME:** Y’know, I wrote that! **HIM:** No, you didn’t! A guy at my school, S\_\_\_\_ [The kid I taught it to the year before], did! \*Proof that things were going viral long before the Internet! ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daniel-boone/704354/4 "2014-11-11T17:42:52Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > There are no racist lyrics. You’re _sure_ of that? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daniel-boone/704354/5 "2014-11-11T17:50:35Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > You’re _sure_ of that? :dubious: Quote me them, then. I checked, the lyrics werent racist. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daniel-boone/704354/6 "2014-11-11T17:54:21Z")
The potty-mouthed Canadian comedy group Maclean & Maclean had their own version of the Daniel Boone song: Daniel Boone was a goon, he was an aaaaasshole With an eye for a beaver, yes, an Indian preevert was he… Etc. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daniel-boone/704354/7 "2014-11-11T18:53:41Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Quote me them, then. I checked, the lyrics werent racist. You do understand he’s not talking about the official version of the song? ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daniel-boone/704354/8 "2014-11-11T18:58:09Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Theme songs from your youth are very Proustian. > > There are no racist lyrics. When I was a kid we sang a _very_ racist version of the theme. I won’t post it here, but just Google “But the bear was bigger.” We also sang, “Daniel Boone was a man. Yes, a big man. With an eye like an eagle and a nose like a beagle was he.” ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daniel-boone/704354/9 "2014-11-11T19:00:11Z")
I wonder if I’m the only one who’s always getting Daniel Boone confused with Davy Crockett. I just now had to Google to see if Daniel Boone died at the Alamo. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daniel-boone/704354/10 "2014-11-11T19:04:49Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > I wonder if I’m the only one who’s always getting Daniel Boone confused with Davy Crockett. I just now had to Google to see if Daniel Boone died at the Alamo. It was before my time, but Fess Parker portrayed Davy Crockett in the '50s. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daniel-boone/704354/11 "2014-11-11T19:10:37Z")
The producers of “Daniel Boone” originally wanted to make a series based on Disney’s version of Davy Crockett, but couldn’t get permission from Disney. They had Fess Parker signed up, so since they couldn’t do Davy Crockett, they settled on another American frontier hero who was equally legendary, Daniel Boone. So Parker was essentially playing the same character. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daniel-boone/704354/12 "2014-11-11T19:11:09Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > I wonder if I’m the only one who’s always getting Daniel Boone confused with Davy Crockett. I just now had to Google to see if Daniel Boone died at the Alamo. Davy, Davy Crockett…King of the wild frontier. At least, that’s what my memory is telling me. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daniel-boone/704354/13 "2014-11-11T19:15:58Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Davy, Davy Crockett…King of the wild frontier. Davy, Davy Crewcut! The cat with the coonskin cap! (The way dad sang it.) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daniel-boone/704354/14 "2014-11-11T19:17:13Z")
It’s somewhat deliberate. Fess Parker played Daniel Boone in the 1960s _because_ he had played Davy Crockett on Disney in the 1950s. TV likes to re-use folks identified with a role. As a result, Boomers have the two men – who were sorta contemporaries (although Daniel was born half a century before Davy) and had very different histories – frequently confused. They were both frontiersmen and folk heroes. I suspect that Buddy Ebsen got to be “Jed” Clampett on The Beverly Hillbillies in large part because he’d played Davy’s buddy Bob Russel, also a backwoodsman. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daniel-boone/704354/15 "2014-11-11T19:24:39Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > When I was a kid we sang a _very_ racist version of the theme. I won’t post it here, but just Google “But the bear was bigger.” If you don’t mind my asking, where did you grow up? I’ve actually wondered before how regional that “variation” was. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daniel-boone/704354/16 "2014-11-11T19:30:53Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > If you don’t mind my asking, where did you grow up? I’ve actually wondered before how regional that “variation” was. I grew up in San Diego (as, I believe, did the OP), and heard that version in the schoolyard. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daniel-boone/704354/17 "2014-11-11T19:33:15Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > If you don’t mind my asking, where did you grow up? I’ve actually wondered before how regional that “variation” was. For me, San Diego. Race was a non-issue in my house. I was taught that people are to be treated equally, and that The N-Word™ was a Bad Word. Other than that, race was never brought up. But being in San Diego, one is exposed to it nonetheless. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daniel-boone/704354/18 "2014-11-11T19:42:37Z")
I love the OP. I am so in tune with that. I actually hate the program, it is excruciatingly bad. _Daniel Boone was a man Yes a big man But the coon was smaller so he killed it and he put it on his head…_ One of my many versions ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daniel-boone/704354/19 "2014-11-11T19:43:24Z")
Pre-internet memes are interesting. I wonder how long it took to travel from coast to coast back then. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/daniel-boone/704354/20 "2014-11-11T19:44:43Z")
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