YOU'VE GOT TO BE CAREFULLY TAUGHT

 

The classic musical SOUTH PACIFIC was having a bit of trouble during its out of town try-outs. It appears the show was running a bit long.  Consideration was given to how to trim a few minutes from the production.

 

Several people suggested that a little song in the 2nd Act be cut from the show. But Richard and Oscar would not have it – they were adamant in their support of this song. Their response was - if the song is cut, they might as well close the show out of town. Since R+H were the producers the song remained.

 

The song was “You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught”.

 

Even after SOUTH PACIFIC opened the song was highly criticized and, according to Wikipedia, was “judged by some to be too controversial or downright inappropriate for the musical stage”.

 

Wikipedia goes on –

 

“Rodgers and Hammerstein risked the entire South Pacific venture in light of legislative challenges to its decency or supposed Communist agenda. While on a tour of the Southern United States, lawmakers in Georgia introduced a bill outlawing entertainment containing ‘an underlying philosophy inspired by Moscow’. One legislator said that ‘a song justifying interracial marriage was implicitly a threat to the American way of life’.”

 

We have certainly come a long way.  Or, considering the current empowering, emboldening and “legitimizing” of racism and white supremacy by Trump and his Administration, have we?

 

James Michener, author “Tales of The South Pacific” upon which SOUTH PACIFIC was based, explained, "The authors replied stubbornly that this number represented why they had wanted to do this play, and that even if it meant the failure of the production, it was going to stay in."

 

In the show the song is sung by the character Lt Cable and is preceded by Cable saying racism is "not born in you! It happens after you’re born."

 

Here are the lyrics -

 

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 diff'rent 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!

 

I remember the song being used in an anti-racism tv ad back in the late 60s or early 70s.

Rodgers returned to the theme of interracial relationships in 1962 with NO STRINGS, his first musical after the death of Hammerstein.

 

(FYI - the above item is from my book BOBSERVATIONS)

 

BFN