You've Got To Be Carefully Taught ....

[Trajan]

You've Got To Be Carefully Taught

You've got to be taught to hate and fear

You've got to be taught from year to year

It's got to be drummed in your dear little ear

You've got to be carefully taught


You've got to be taught to be afraid

Of people whose eyes are oddly made

And people whose skin is a different shade

You've got to be carefully taught


You've got to be taught before it's too late

Before you are six or seven or eight

To hate all the people your relatives hate

You've got to be carefully taught



Rodgers And Hammerstein - South Pacific

Just a passing thought this morning ....

[Cyrano]

1. When the film "South Pacific" was made, the producers tried to persuade

Hammerstein to remove "You've Got To Be Taught" from the score.

The fear was that it would alienate Southerners and bigots in other parts of the country.

Although Oscar Hammerstein had more class than to say "Fuck 'em," he refused to remove the song which he believed to be the core "message" of the film.

When Oscar Hammerstein died, the lights on Times Square (the theater district of NY), were turned off for five minutes in tribute to him. IMO, those lights should stay out until the last vestiges of human racism are gone forever.

[calico1]

2. "South Pacific" was ahead of its time.

Always liked it. I have that movie and want to see the Broadway version which I understand is coming soon. When you hear the lyrics you know they were thinking things ahead of their time. I am so glad they got through back then. I remember growing up in NY and seeing a public ad with those lyrics but never realized until years later where they came from.

[Trajan]

3. I first heard it sang on a PBS special

A tribute to Hammerstein, which was a wonderful pastiche of his work throughout his life ...

'You've Got To Be Carefully Taught' was sang by Mandy Patinkin, whom I had no idea was such a great singer of decent range and power: He brought down the house with his powerful rendition, and I recognized just how great a man Oscar was .... It is such an easy simple piece, but with a smart lyric that cuts to the core of what hatred is: Learned behavior ....