Archive for September, 2010

Rednex: Cotton Eye Joe Dance

Just realized I haven’t posted this yet:

Rednex Cotton Eyed Joe

The original cotton eyed joe  video from Rednex. Little did they know what a world wide phenomenon this would become, taking American country line dancing around the globe.

Most people have been exposed to the term cotton eyed joe through this video. For most Americans this song and the Cotton Eye Joe Dance is just this song and that dance.

While the Cotton Eye Joe Dance is very well known,most of those dancing are not aware of the rich history of the song and the phrase.

Cotton Eyed Joe

So what does it mean? we know the song itself originated before the Civil War but the true meaning of the phrase seems to be disputed.

Some think the terms simply refers to an individual who was “cotton eyed”. Others think that the man lost his wife when she became “cotton eyed”.

The latter makes sense when you consider one of the meanings has been a whitening of eyes from syphilis. Another is blindness from drinking wood alcohol.

Like many folksy phrases, I believe the truth is lost to time.

Cotton Eye Joe Dance

The dance is a different story. We know the current popularity of the dance stems from the movie “Urban Cowboy” and was taken to new heights when Rednex released their song.

The dance has changed as much as the song it is done to. Originally Cotton Eyed Joe was a polka, then a spoke wheeled polka that later separated into a line dance.

The line dance version of the Cotton Eye Joe Dance is no doubt the most popular as it is now worldwide and, in my humble opinion, has permanently usurped any of the originals.

No matter what the history, we know that the current version is very easy to do and it’s just plain a lot of fun.

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