"Brown Girl in the Ring" - offensive?

[greeny]

We borrowed a Rafi cd from the library, and there is a song called "Brown Girl in the Ring" on it. Very catchy tune. Is it offensive?

Apparently it has also been recorded by The Wiggles, and is based on a Jamaican ring game.

The lyrics are something like this:

Brown girl in the ring
tra la la la la
There's a brown girl in the ring
tra la la la la la
Brown girl in the ring
tra la la la la
She looks like a sugar in (and?) a plum
plum plum

Skip across the ocean
tra la la la la......

Show me your motion
tra la la la la....

And a few other verses like this

[vbactivist]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_G...ing_%28game%29

I don't think its offensive.

Its a jamaican song.

[sapphire_chan]

That's what they actually sing in Jamaica? Then it'd be more racist to change the lyrics just because it's now being sung in a culture where the child in question might not be brown.

It is sexist though since it the song clearly indicates that it's a game just for girls.

[Mavournin]

We have that song. It's a favorite in our house.

Dd has always sung that line as "she likes sugar and I like plum" but Magic Google says the line goes "she looks like a sugar in a plum"

[Mavournin]

*

[YummyYarnAddict]

Well, here's a bit more info on the song...

http://www.thebucknerhome.com/camp/songs/songsa.htm (the songs are listed in alpha order here)

Brown Girl in the Ring
Introduced in 1977 by a Jamaican visitor who told us that he was affiliated with the Organization of American States--Chip Buckner

Brown Girl in the Ring
Sha la la la la
Brown Girl in the Ring
Sha la la la la la
Brown Girl in the Ring
Sha la la la la
She look like a sugar and a plum, plum, plum

Sweet like a honey pie,
You and your big brown eyes
Sweet like a honey pie
You and your big brown eyes

I remember last Sat'day night
We had fish and johnnie cakes
I remember last Sat'day night
We had fish and johnnie cakes

Bom, bom, bom, Miss Lucy
Bom, bom, bom, Miss Lucy
Oh sweet mercy!

(Repeat the first verse)

I think when you put it in context -- i.e., a Jamaican song -- that it isn't at all offensive. Is that information in with the song lyrics? I don't have any of our Rafi cds handy to see if he usually includes that. But when take into consideration that many international song artists -- particularly those who sing songs that are family friendly -- sing lyrics from all over the world, once put in context, things that may seem a bit "off" or just not set right, make a bit more sense. I mean, look at how many renditions there are of various spirituals and how those play out.

ETA: If you Google this song title (sans Rafi) you will see that it's on several collections of children's songs; particularly Carribean ones.

[odenata]

Originally Posted by YummyYarnAddict

If you Google this song title (sans Rafi) you will see that it's on several collections of children's songs; particularly Carribean ones.

Yes, we have it on Taj Mahal's chidren's CD (one of my daughter's favorites) and he introduces it as a song from the Carribean, I think (can't remember if he specifies Jamaica or not).

[fek&fuzz]

Do they change the lyrics to "pink girl in the ring" (or other color) if the girl in the ring is not brown?

[SevenVeils]

I don't think this song is racist. I think there's a possibility that thinking it may be racist to refer to someone as brown, may be racist in itself though.

[neverdoingitagain]

I first heard that song on a Boney M record, back in the 70's(I was very little) I love that song, it would be weird to hear the Wiggles sing it.

[CallMeMommy]

Originally Posted by neverdoingitagain

I first heard that song on a Boney M record, back in the 70's(I was very little) I love that song, it would be weird to hear the Wiggles sing it.

The Wiggles do sing it :

When I saw the title of the thread it clicked that I had heard this song before, I thought it maybe was a Laurie Berkner clip they play in between shows on the Disney Channel, but now I'm pretty sure it was the Wiggles

[kmeyrick]

I work in a school that is mostly minorities. The littlest ones have this quirk. They often refer to each other as "brown." "The brown lady left you a message." It surprises me. I know they don't like the term black because...well....black people have brown skin. So there must be a mistake.

No, the song is a traditional Jamaican song and it is one of pride, not ridicule, so it isn't racist.

[beanma]

Dan Zanes does it, too.

[Pam_and_Abigail]

When I was little, my sister had a mini-pops tape with this song on it, but I always thought it was 'brown girl in the RAIN'

...until this thread.

when I was three, I remember feeling bad for the little girl stuck out in the rain and I wondered if she had an umbrella to keep her dry.

[ledzepplon]

We love this song at our house. We don't find it offensive.

[darien]

That was my older ds' fave song as a toddler. Memories.

[fiorio]

My DS loves the Wiggles version.

Thanks, now I'm going to have it in my head the rest of the night.

[~Mamaterra~]

I've always known it as sung by Boney M. A very delightful little ditty.

[zinemama]

It's also the title of a science fiction novel by Nalo Hopkinson.

[Stinkerbell]

it's origin is beautiful and in context, so is the song. There are LOTS of things that you can take from the past and they will be offensive is applied here. But if it is not deliberately and obviously offensive, I think it's much more important to recognize it as an old, cultural song. If you can keep it in it's place and see it as an old song, the possibility of being racist may not come into play.

just my 2 cents.