Song of the Day 7/24: Harry Belafonte, “Cocoanut Woman”
The siloed existence of American political reporters is a wonder to behold. They talk confidently of how Kamala Harris is perceived by the public without ever acknowledging that, as countless person-on-the-street interviews demonstrate, most people cannot name the current vice president without prompting.
So when I read a story about how she’s a joke, I figure the joke’s on them. In PR terms she’s practically a blank slate – so much so that when I saw all these coconut tree memes about her I couldn’t tell whether it was praise or an insult.
As this AP story explains, it’s both. It started when Harris told a story about her mother at a White House ceremony last year. “She would say to us, ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with you young people. You think you just fell out of a coconut tree? You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.’”
MAGAts, incapable of understanding the idea of white privilege, called her either drunk or crazy, but Harris’ supporters, like the queer activists of an earlier time, embraced the insult as a badge of honor. Eight years ago they insulted Hillary by saying she’d welcome a taco truck on every corner, which just sealed my vote for her. Soon they’ll accuse Harris of handing out free coconuts.
“Cocoanut Woman” appeared on Harry Belafonte’s 1957 album, “Belafonte Sings of the Caribbean,” a follow-up to his smash “Calypso,” released the previous year. That LP was an unprecedented success – it topped Billboard’s album chart for an incredible 31 weeks and was the first long-player to sell a million copies. “Caribbean” wasn’t as successful, peaking at No. 17, but like its predecessor it featured a number of songs Belafonte co-wrote with Lord Burgess, the stage name of Brooklyn-born Irving Burgie. Burgie, considered one of calypso’s greatest songwriters, penned “Day-O” and 33 other tunes Belafonte recorded, including this one.
