# What does "Look away" mean in the song "Dixie"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [May 22, 2021, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-look-away-mean-in-the-song-dixie/942694 "2021-05-22T14:49:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Roger\_That](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roger_that/32/8505_2.png) [@Roger\_That](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roger_That)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2021, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-look-away-mean-in-the-song-dixie/942694/1 "2021-05-22T14:49:52Z")
I don’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2021, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-look-away-mean-in-the-song-dixie/942694/2 "2021-05-22T14:52:34Z")
“Look off into the distance – Dixie’s out there somewhere!” ---
**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:** [May 22, 2021, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-look-away-mean-in-the-song-dixie/942694/3 "2021-05-22T14:52:41Z")
Look off into the distance and maybe you’ll see your homeland of Dixie. ninja’d ---
**Author:** ![Roger\_That](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roger_that/32/8505_2.png) [@Roger\_That](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roger_That)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2021, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-look-away-mean-in-the-song-dixie/942694/4 "2021-05-22T16:14:39Z")
OK–I guess I keep hearing it in the context of “look away” as in “that’s a car wreck you’d be better off not seeing.” ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2021, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-look-away-mean-in-the-song-dixie/942694/5 "2021-05-23T02:57:20Z")
I just saw the word “Dixie” and needed to come here. I love my little Dixie Dog. But Jesus, does she smell BAD! ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2021, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-look-away-mean-in-the-song-dixie/942694/6 "2021-05-23T03:02:10Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > But Jesus, does she smell BAD! Maybe if you look away, when your face is pointed away from her, you won’t notice the stank so much. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2021, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-look-away-mean-in-the-song-dixie/942694/7 "2021-05-23T03:39:40Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Maybe if you look away, when your face is pointed away from her, you won’t notice the stank so much. And try not to smell down south of her, either. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2022, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-look-away-mean-in-the-song-dixie/942694/8 "2022-01-10T01:51:20Z")
“Away” is just an antiquated version of “way” as demonstrated in the earlier line, _Away, away, away down south in Dixie_ ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2022, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-look-away-mean-in-the-song-dixie/942694/9 "2022-01-11T18:59:49Z")
The song is about missing their homeland, I always took it as meaning “look away from where you are, towards Dixie.” Probably more figuratively than literally. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2022, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-look-away-mean-in-the-song-dixie/942694/10 "2022-01-11T23:04:12Z")
“Way down South, in the land of cotton Your feet stink and mine are rotten.” –Version sung by me and my grade-school classmates in Virginia, circa 1958. ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2022, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-look-away-mean-in-the-song-dixie/942694/11 "2022-01-12T04:24:26Z")
I’d long wondered the same thing, though I did guess it was an archaic/poetic usage, just as “passing fair” does not mean 5 or 6 on a scale of ten. ---
**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:** [January 12, 2022, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-look-away-mean-in-the-song-dixie/942694/12 "2022-01-12T06:24:56Z")
People still use “away” to mean “in the distance” in certain phrases. E.g. “far away”, “a long way away”. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2022, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-look-away-mean-in-the-song-dixie/942694/13 "2022-01-12T20:15:31Z")
I have seen it argued - but I can’t find a worthwhile cite just now - that Look away = Look back = Fondly remember As I understand it it’s a minstrel song, sung from the standpoint of a freed slave yearning for the good old times of slavery, and wishing he were enslaved still - so the interpretation makes sense. Post 5 in [this noticeboard thread](https://www.banjohangout.org/topic/362648) is along these lines - but this is just a random poster of course; it just serves to show that the argument is out there. j