tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20984086.post6238800189912621046..comments2024-01-10T14:58:00.833-07:00Comments on Nameless Cynic: Puttin' on the RitzNameless Cynichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17963921060024737712noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20984086.post-1857750769975725132016-04-30T14:48:23.088-06:002016-04-30T14:48:23.088-06:00Because it is demonstrably, undeniably racist? Goo...Because it is demonstrably, undeniably racist? Goofy moronAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20984086.post-61444267384241541402015-01-31T11:02:01.199-07:002015-01-31T11:02:01.199-07:00That's a question we don't have the answer...That's a question we don't have the answer to: different versions of the sheet music go different ways with it.<br /><br />Since the original lyrics read "colored collars," the initial intent was changed to make it mean "fashionable." And "Arrow Collars" would fit that concept.<br /><br />If you consider "HIGH hats and NARROW collars," it's contrasting size descriptions. Of course, he follows that up with "WHITE spats," so it's not a recurring theme.<br /><br />Essentially, we'll never know, so you can use whichever version makes you happy.Nameless Cynichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17963921060024737712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20984086.post-43325916146286016772015-01-28T10:33:05.830-07:002015-01-28T10:33:05.830-07:00It should be "Arrow" collars, not narrow...It should be "Arrow" collars, not narrow. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cluett_Peabody_%26_Company)bloggershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07617957286672860936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20984086.post-5133344260689722432014-07-07T14:37:31.874-06:002014-07-07T14:37:31.874-06:00In the rewrite, that would be correct. However, le...In the rewrite, that would be correct. However, let's go to a slightly more academic source:<br /><br />"In the original version it told of the ritzy airs of Harlemites parading up and down Lenox Avenue. For the 1946 film, the strutters became well-to-do whites on Park Avenue. The patronizing, yet admiring satire of the song is shifted, then, and mellowed in the process. The change may have had to do with changing attitudes towards race and with Hollywood's dawning wariness about offending blacks."<br /><br /><i>Astaire Dancing - The Musical Films.</i> page 267; John Mueller (1986) Nameless Cynichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17963921060024737712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20984086.post-79903127319572551092014-07-07T12:42:13.028-06:002014-07-07T12:42:13.028-06:00This song is indeed about racism and snobbery, but...This song is indeed about racism and snobbery, but not at all in the way the comments here take it. Berlin, a Jewish immigrant driven out of Belorussia in a pogrom with his family as a child and directly acquainted with racism and persecution, is mocking the white well-to-do who go slumming in Harlem in their costliest finery to show off and have a laugh at what they - the slumming rich - slurred as high browns and Lulu Belles putting on airs.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17320576473740541664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20984086.post-30736939771140300012013-12-12T19:37:04.615-07:002013-12-12T19:37:04.615-07:00Well, yes. In fact, if you check the comments abov...Well, yes. In fact, if you check the comments above, I said exactly that. I don't see why you think "people here" don't see that. I guess you just feel like <i>you</i> need someone to feel superior to...Nameless Cynichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17963921060024737712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20984086.post-85691638080308291992013-12-12T14:30:24.650-07:002013-12-12T14:30:24.650-07:00I find it laughable that people here don't rec...I find it laughable that people here don't recognize the racist lyrics inherent in the original song. Its lyrics were smug, elitist and condescending towards working class blacks in Harlem who wanted to dress well in public. Ramonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02528239867656830514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20984086.post-47820033930056175202012-03-10T14:17:29.931-07:002012-03-10T14:17:29.931-07:00Holy Christ, you're right! I completely missed...Holy Christ, you're right! I completely missed that one in the original lyrics. Good catch.<br /><br />I'm going to make that correction (now, two years down the road) in your honor.Nameless Cynichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17963921060024737712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20984086.post-64253262422078303812012-03-08T10:44:42.355-07:002012-03-08T10:44:42.355-07:00It's actually "bevy of high browns crom d...It's actually "bevy of high browns crom down the levy" in the original lyrics, referring to the light-skinned black women who were employed at the bigger Harlem nightclubs like the cotton club. This song keeps appearing on my pandora station in its original form and I couldn't believe how racist it was. Ah well.storeinchitownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15337580612740839445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20984086.post-66296842163881945752010-07-19T09:43:50.743-06:002010-07-19T09:43:50.743-06:00Good question. That depends entirely on where you ...Good question. That depends entirely on where you get your lyrics. I thought it sounded like "narrow," and that contrasts well with "high hats" in the first half of the line, so I went with it.<br /><br />And historically, the "Arrow collar" referred to the detachable collar. Arrow shirts with attached collars were started in the early 1920's, and the "Arrow Collar Man" ads were discontinued in 1930. And since the Berlin rewrite is from a decade and a half after <i>that,</i> I'm pretty comfortable with it.Nameless Cynichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17963921060024737712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20984086.post-29453009909856810922010-05-01T22:17:22.070-06:002010-05-01T22:17:22.070-06:00I love the Fred Astaire version, there is also a f...I love the Fred Astaire version, there is also a funny Bertie and Jeeves version if you are interested.<br /><br />Is it "Narrow collars" or "Arrow collars"? Don't know, just asking.Thetoymakershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405265800595978197noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20984086.post-260759730200052392010-04-19T18:10:24.222-06:002010-04-19T18:10:24.222-06:00The reply above contains two fallacies, a myriad o...The reply above contains two fallacies, a myriad of grammatical errors, and no real substance to the comment. Anonymous above was absolutely asinine. Why comment at all?Rebeccahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03305134262740831166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20984086.post-78605885340213970512010-04-19T15:17:49.956-06:002010-04-19T15:17:49.956-06:00You know, funny thing there. I specifically said &...You know, funny thing there. I specifically said "vaguely racist" for a reason. It's not straight-forward "yo, nigger" racism. It's more of a passive-aggressive, smug-superiority type of attitude - essentially coming out and saying "let's go watch the ashen-skinned folks pretend to have money and throw it all away." Somebody you can feel More Important Than.<br /><br />In the end, this isn't really "direct" racism, but classism. However, the societally-enforced classes of the participants are rooted in race, so it amounts to the same thing.Nameless Cynichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17963921060024737712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20984086.post-28957826652176738712010-04-19T10:10:55.806-06:002010-04-19T10:10:55.806-06:00typical. why do liberals go straigt to calling peo...typical. why do liberals go straigt to calling people racists every time?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com