Ol' Man River - Parodies and References

Parodies and References

• A parody version was performed on CBS Radio by Stan Freberg and Daws Butler in 1957, entitled "Elderly Man River." The parody lampooned what would today be termed "political correctness" by featuring a prudish censor from the "Citizen's Radio Board" who repeatedly interrupts Freberg's performance of the song to criticize (and insist on changes to) the grammar and appropriateness of the song's lyrics.

• Stan Daniels, producer of the long-running sitcom Mary Tyler Moore, performed the song in a Hassidic accent (with slightly altered lyrics) as a comic spoken monologue.

• In an episode of the TV situation comedy Maude, the housekeeper Florida (played by Esther Rolle) sings "Darkies all work while de white folks play" as she does housework. Her politically correct and liberal employer Maude (Bea Arthur) scolds her and says that the words have changed, to which Florida sings "Coloured folks work on the Mississippi". Maude explains that the proper new lyrics to the song are "Here we all work on the Mississippi, here we all work while the straw boss plays." Florida replies that those may be the new lyrics, but the only problem is that "y'all still playing and we're still working".

• In The Simpsons episode "Simpsons Tall Tales", Doctor Julius Hibbert is featured as a steamboat captain singing "Ol' Man River".

• In The Jackson Five cartoon episode "Rasho-Jackson", all five brothers depict Jackie Jackson as a whip-wielding tyrant yelling "Tote that barge, lift that bale!". Jackie sees himself saying the same thing, but in a genteel, British accent.

• In an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond, Robert mentions that he sang this song in his high school chorus days.

• The Australian oddball pop group TISM produced in 1996 a hit single about River Phoenix and his death, entitled "(He'll Never Be An) Ol' Man River".

• Jimmy Velvit recorded a version titled "Old Man River Boogie" for his 1995 CD Jimmy Velvit - The Original (Collectables Records COL-5530).

• A popular, up-tempo British ballad of 1933, "Old Father Thames," mirrored some of the strains of "Ol' Man River" but celebrated stoicism over despair and resignation: Old Father Thames keeps rolling along, / Down to the mighty sea. / What does he know? What does he care? / Nothing for you or me.... (Words and music by Raymond Wallace & "Betsy O'Hogan" ).

• In the animated short Mississippi Hare, some of which takes place on a Mississippi riverboat, a riverboat gambler named Colonel Shuffle threatens to throw Bugs Bunny into "Ol' Man River".

• In the 1947 film version of James Thurber's The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Danny Kaye, during one of Mitty's fantasies, performs a number called "Fashions by Anatol", which contains the parodistic (and somewhat irrelevant) line "Tote dat barge! Lift dat veil!", referring of course, to a woman's veil. The film also contains a reference to Show Boat's Gaylord Ravenal, by including a Mississippi riverboat sequence in which Mitty (Kaye) imagines himself as riverboat gambler Gaylord Mitty.

• In a Daffy Duck cartoon, Daffy suddenly appears as an old black slave, and in dialect, speaks the line "Tote dat barge! Lift dat bale!".

• In a Snagglepuss cartoon, Snagglepuss also says the line for no real reason (but not in dialect).

• In the Family Guy episode "Brian Goes Back to College", Ashlee Simpson is about to start miming a song when the song changes to "Ol' Man River".

• Singer Patti LuPone sang this song in her concert Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda stating "There were only two things standing between me and this role".

• In the Futurama episode "Fear of a Bot Planet", Bender complains about the amount of work he has to do, saying "Yes Miss Leela, no Miss Leela, tote that space barge, lift that space pail."

• In an episode of The Golden Girls, it is revealed that Dorothy (Bea Arthur) sang this song in high school. When prompted, she delivers the famous half-octave drop on the line, "Get a little drunk, and you land in jail".

• Tunis born and usually German language Singer Roberto Blanco sang it on the 70th anniversary of his birthday live on TV.

• On an episode of Martin entitled "Dead Men Don't Flush", the cast sings Ol' Man River around the supposedly dead plumber's body as he sits on the couch.

• In the first episode of Boys from the Blackstuff, Loggo (Alan Igbon) is seen walking down the street wearing fishing gear singing a few lines from the song.

• Mad Magazine published a parody about Hollywood movie stars and MGM studio boss Louis B. Mayer who went to great lengths to "collect more stars than the heavens".

• On an episode on the second season of the BBC sitcom Grace & Favour, Miss Brahms (Wendy Richard) and Mr. Humphries (John Inman) sing a version of the song while planting potatoes, featuring the lyrics "Planting taters/Bake my bottom/And poor old Rumbold/Is soon forgotten/He just keeps plantin'/He just keeps plantin' along".

• Heath Ledger had the song title tattooed on his arm.

• In the 76th Academy Awards, Billy Crystal sang a parody of "Ol' Man River" about Mystic River and its director, Clint Eastwood.

• During Michael Jordan's brief return to professional basketball playing for the Washington Wizards, the political satire group The Capitol Steps released a parody called "Old Man Wizard".

• In 1998, the political satire group The Capitol Steps released a parody about Bill Clinton called "Old Man Zipper".

• In Olaf Stapledon's 1932 novel Last Men in London, the narrator, a human descendant from two billion years in the future, and his mate, sing a rough duet of "Ol' Man River" to better understand the minds of 20th Century humans.

• In Leonard Bernstein's musical West Side Story, the character of Anybodys remarks "Whatta bunch of ol' man rivers; they don't know nothin', and they don't say nothin'."

• In The Honeymooners lost episode "Christmas Party", which first aired December 19, 1953, Frances Langford asks Ed Norton if there is a song that he would like her to sing to which he replies "How about that number that was always good for you, Ol' Man River."

• In Wolf Whistle by Lewis Nordan, reporters ask locals in Arrow Catcher, Mississippi if they would be willing to play "Old Man River," and they reply that "they couldn't recollect ever having heard that song."

• In episode 43 of the Australian TV drama series Prisoner (aka Prisoner:Cell Block H), when Officer Jim Fletcher orders the women to work in the prison laundry, top dog "Queen" Bea Smith sings the lines: "Tote that barge, lift that bale" to the tune of Ol' Man River.

• On the live CD A Night in San Francisco, Van Morrison sings "Lif' dat bale! Tote dat barge!" during "See Me Through."

• The movie Joe Versus the Volcano released in 1990 features the Ray Charles version. The song is introduced after the lead character, Joe Banks (played by Tom Hanks), hears from his doctor that he is terminally ill.

• In Mad Men episode "A Little Kiss", Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce receives an African figurine with a resume attached as a prank. The resume reads, "1960-1965: Toted 'dat barge, lifted 'dat bale."