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Zora and the Crow Dance
Zora traveled to Florida in 1935 to collect folklore for the Library of Congress. The following is a transcription of her comments on the Crow Dance, a song she heard in Jacksonville, Florida (Archives of American Folk Song, Library of Congress, 3139-B2):
"...the crow in some way seems to be sacred in Africa. But what they're talking about is what we know in the United States as a buzzard. And the buzzard comes to get something [to] eat, and they are talking about it, and they dance it. And one person gets in the center and imitates the buzzard. And they say... and the rest of 'em form the background.
Oh my Mama come see that crow, see how he fly! (repeat)
This crow this crow gonna fly tonight, see how he fly! (repeat)
Oh my Mama come see that crow, see how he fly! (repeat)
This crow this crow gonna fly tonight, see how he fly! (repeat)
Oh my Mama come see that crow, CAAAH! (repeat)
Oh my Mama come see that crow, see how he fly! (repeat)You can hear a Library of Congress recording from 1939 of Zora singing the Crow Dance song. Click here to download.
(You can see Zora performing "The Crow Dance" on p. 40 of Sorrow's Kitchen.)
