[bolding added]
I recently was listening to CCR and when I heard these words it made me question if there was a slight difference in how the phrase ‘the man’ is used in the south. I’ve always understood ‘The Man’ generally to be used in reference to a person in a position of authority; as in one’s boss, the Sheriff, the Governor, etc. (e.g. “The man says I gotta work this weekend”) Whereas I get the impression that in the south (although it could be the case elsewhere) the term is frequently used in a more general or even mythic sense, where the speaker intends ‘the man’ to refer to the established order of society, or possibly even all oppression. Almost in the way one might say ‘the devil’ when referring to all evil.
“the Man” refers to the establishment, as it exists in our society, i.e. the U.S., in this CCR case. Other societies probably have similar metaphors. For the most part it’s a term used to excuse your perceived oppression or troubles on forces beyond your control. Black people think “the man” is keeping them down. Unemployed think “the man” has taken their jobs. Trump is telling voter “the man” has ruined their country, in an oblique manner which I find particularly odd, since technically he “is” the man in this sense.
Yes, that’s how I understand it. I’m not from Down South, but to me, “The Man” is an abstract concept. To me, The Man doesn’t generally refer to a single person but rather the established order of society, as it’s been put. I don’t recall ever personalizing The Man to mean The Boss (as in a specific, actual person), but rather something more abstract and general than that.
I agree. When I refer to “the man”, I don’t mean my boss, Ted Davies, I mean the oppressive regime we live under. Of course, I don’t think we live under an oppressive regime so I rarely use the phrase.
I don’t think it refers to a repressive regime, either. It refers to a broad concept of an authority you don’t agree with. It can even refer to “the patriarchy” as used by feminists.
So you live a life devoid of opportunities to implore people to come and see the violence inherent in the system?
Seriously though, my understanding of the term The Man is that it can be a metaphor for The System, a collective group of Unseen Others in Authority who are working by accident or design to thwart the speaker, or it can sometimes mean an actual identifiable person in charge.
I’ve also rarely heard or used the phrase in any context besides an ironic one.
Yes, I’d say “The Man” is typically used in an abstract way to mean (as Martini Enfield said) basically “The System”. In my experience if it’s used to refer to a specific person it’s only because that person is seen as representing “The System”.
I don’t think this usage is limited to the South. I live in the South, although not what’s usually considered the “Deep South”, but I heard “The Man” used in this abstract way when I was living in the Midwest. And while CCR performed in the “Southern rock” style, the band was from Northern California.
It turns out Wikipedia has a brief entry on “The Man”, which suggests the term is of Southern origin but it seems to have spread beyond the South by the 1950s/60s. It defines the term as referring to the government/authority, although it notes that “The Man” was used to mean “the boss” in the early 20th century.
