# Jimmy Crack Corn **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [December 6, 1999, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-crack-corn/325 "1999-12-06T01:43:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 1999, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-crack-corn/325/1 "1999-12-06T01:43:00Z")
(Sorry this is late, but I just read the Jimmy Crack Corn article on the internet.) Unca Cece posited a couple of theories on the meaning of “cracks corn” in the “Jimmy Cracks Corn” minstrel song, both of which were off the mark. The straight dope is that one who “cracks corn” is doing just that-- cracking corn. You see, that fine southern staple known as grits (yum!) is made by cracking dried corn. (Oh the mere thought of that tasty delicacy is making my mouth water!) So it seems to me that Jimmy is simply making grits as he sings to us his tale of woe. I’ve always thought this was a sly murder song. Maybe Jimmy didn’t like his Massa. That’s why he’s so happy his Massa is “gone away”. One of the verses says of the Massa, “He die, the jury they wonder why; the verdict was the blue-tail fly!” Why was a jury involved unless murder was suspected? Maybe when Jimmy was following his Massa’s pony with a hickory broom, he took a notion to swat that pony with it! And now he is singing joyfully about getting away with murder! ---
**Author:** ![JBENZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b77776/32.png) [@JBENZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBENZ)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 1999, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-crack-corn/325/2 "1999-12-06T03:47:00Z")
Could be a coroner’s jury which would decide on the cause of death. * * * JB Lex Non Favet Delicatorum Votis ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 1999, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-crack-corn/325/3 "1999-12-07T06:01:00Z")
The column being discussed would be: [Who is Jimmy, and why does he crack corn? (Week of: 30-Oct-98)](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/981030.html) * * * La franchise ne consiste pas à dire tout ce que l’on pense, mais à penser tout ce que l’on dit. H. de Livry ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 1999, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-crack-corn/325/4 "1999-12-07T03:32:00Z")
He could also be cracking corn for his mount. Corn husks are just as indigestible for a horse as for a person. Back in the old days (or even today, if you made your own feed), you would need to crack it so that the innards could be digested. ---
**Author:** ![WhiteNight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b38774/32.png) [@WhiteNight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhiteNight)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 1999, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-crack-corn/325/5 "1999-12-07T09:31:00Z")
For what it’s worth, I always understood it to mean something like what Spoke thinks. The cracks corn thing is all too plausible, I grew up on a farm and I can image being given that task. The rest of it did point to Jimmy either having indirectly caused the death, or at any rate, not caring too much about it. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 1999, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-crack-corn/325/6 "1999-12-07T13:36:00Z")
… and I don’t care. Sorry, couldn’t resist. ---
**Author:** ![Jomolungma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b2d939/32.png) [@Jomolungma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jomolungma)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 1999, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-crack-corn/325/7 "1999-12-07T15:09:00Z")
It is a little-known fact that the original title (rejected by the record label) of _Are You Experienced?_ was \* Jimi Crack Corn\*. ---
**Author:** ![Jomolungma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b2d939/32.png) [@Jomolungma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jomolungma)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 1999, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-crack-corn/325/8 "1999-12-07T15:09:00Z")
It is a little-known fact that the original title (rejected by the record label) of _Are You Experienced?_ was \* Jimi Crack Corn\*. ---
**Author:** ![mr\_john](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@mr\_john](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr_john)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 1999, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-crack-corn/325/9 "1999-12-07T20:34:00Z")
I gotta go along with Cecil on this one (!!!) The title is listed as “Blue Tailed Fly” not Jimmy (or JIM) Crack Corn. While he is correct in that the song was written as a minstrel song in the '40’s, the chorus is based on an older ditty. While massa is away the slaves had a chance to crack some corn after a while they ‘don’t care’ about anything. And after massa is “DEAD an gone away” there is even more cause for celebration. To further complicate things “Blue tail fly” is a word for moonshine, at least in parts of Texas. This may have come after the song, but I guarntee gettin bit by THAT blue tail fly can definately put you away. GRITS! grits with gravy, grits with honey, grits with sorghum, grits with bacon drippings, grits with grits! I done care.GRITS! GIMMEE GRITS OR GIMME GRITS SEE what dex gets up to when HIS massa gone away? * * * “Pardon me while I have a strange interlude.”-Marx