What songs do you know of, that are about any degree of mixed race people? No matter the mix

.

I'll start out with a few

.

Yellow Rose of Texas

Octoroon - Laura Love

At the Octoroon Balls - Winton Marsalis

Half Breed - Cher

At the Octoroon Balls - String Quartet No. 1; A Fiddler's Tale Suite

Texas Primer: The Yellow Rose of Texas

Her name was Emily Morgan, and she was the sweetest little rosebud that Texas ever knew. She was, in fact, the Yellow Rose of Texas. That song is not, as you may have thought, simply a celebration of a rather blah ideal of Lone Star womanhood. It is an homage to the accidental heroine of Texas independence.

Our story begins in April 1836, a panicky time for the nascent Republic of Texas. The Alamo had fallen, the garrison at Goliad had been massacred, and the newly elected government was in flight. Sam Houston, in command of a restive volunteer army heavily outnumbered by Santa Anna’s seasoned troops, was busily conducting a combination strategic retreat and basic training program.

There lived at that time, near a settlement called New Washington, at the mouth of the San Jacinto River, an indentured servant girl named Emily Morgan. She was, as Martha Anne Turner writes in her seminal work The Yellow Rose of Texas: Her Saga and Her Song, a “comely mulatto . . . exceptionally intelligent, as well as beautiful.” Emily was a member of the household staff of James Morgan, a North Carolina merchant who had made his fortune in Texas real estate and who, at the time of Santa Anna’s approach, was away commanding the rebel forces on Galveston.

From the handwritten transcript Stored in the archives at the University of Texas, Austin

There's a yellow rose in Texas, that I am going to see,
No other darky [sic] knows her, no darky only me
She cryed [sic] so when I left her it like to broke my heart,
And if I ever find her, we nevermore will part.

[Chorus]

She's the sweetest rose of color this darky ever knew,
Her eyes are bright as diamonds,they sparkle like the dew;
You may talk about your Dearest May, and sing of Rosa Lee,
But the Yellow Rose of Texas beats the belles of Tennessee.

When the Rio Grande is flowing, the starry skies are bright,
She walks along the river in the quite [sic] summer night:
She thinks if I remember, when we parted long ago,
I promised to come back again, and not to leave her so. [Chorus]

Oh now I'm going to find her, for my heart is full of woe,
And we'll sing the songs togeather [sic], that we sung so long ago
We'll play the bango gaily, and we'll sing the songs of yore,
And the Yellow Rose of Texas shall be mine forevermore. [Chorus]

More than 25 years later, the lyrics were changed. "Soldier" replaced "darky." And the first line of the chorus was also changed to read, "She's the sweetest little flower...."

In 1864 General Hood and the Texas Brigade fighting in Tennessee, were defeated. His men retreated in such confusion they thought the war was over. Many headed home, and a fourth stanza was added:

And now I'm going southward, for my heart is full of woe,
I'm going back to Georgia, to see my Uncle Joe.
You may talk about your Beauregard, and sing of Bobbie Lee,
But the gallant Hood of Texas played hell in Tennessee. [Chorus]

Some versions have the third line changed to read, "...and sing of General Lee," - an obvious reference to the Confederate General Robert E. Lee.

From the 1955 Mitch Miller rendition, the song now reads:

There's a yellow rose in Texas, That I am going to see,
Nobody else could miss her, Not half as much as me.
She cried so when I left her It like to broke my heart,
And if I ever find her, We nevermore will part.

[Chorus]

She's the sweetest little rosebud That Texas ever knew,
Her eyes are bright as diamonds, They sparkle like the dew;
You may talk about your Clementine, And sing of Rosalee,
But the YELLOW ROSE OF TEXAS Is the only girl for me.

When the Rio Grande is flowing, The starry skies are bright,
She walks along the river In the quiet summer night:
I know that she remembers, When we parted long ago,
I promise to return again, And not to leave her so. [Chorus]

Oh now I'm going to find her, For my heart is full of woe,
And we'll sing the songs together, That we sung so long ago
We'll play the bango gaily, And we'll sing the songs of yore,
And the Yellow Rose of Texas Shall be mine forevermore. [Chorus]

.

I rather relate to Cher's song 'Half Breed' that you posted. I'm mixed race (Eurasian mother and Afro-Caribbean/Indian father), and while I've lived a 99% racism free life, I encounter prejudices every once in a while, from white people and POCs alike.

.

Teena Marie - High Yellow Girl

Lenny Kravtiz - Black And White America

Originally a B-side

20th Anniversary Edition bonus tracks

All songs written by Lenny Kravitz, except where noted.

14. "Let Love Rule" (Basic Rough Mix)

15. "Cold Turkey" (John Lennon)

16. "Light Skin Girl from London"

17. "Fear" (1987 demo)

18. "Mr. Cab Driver" (home demo)

19. "Let Love Rule" (home demo)

Light Skin Girl From London by lenny kravitz

She's unique and complete
And with the dog will sleep
She loves to read, she drew her feet
And she drew Jesus too

Oh yeah
Light skin girl from London
Light skin girl from London

She understands
She'll read your hands
And take the future right outta your plans
She'll let you in, but she won't take you where she lives

Oh no, light skin girl from London
Light skin girl from London
Yeah, yeah, yeah

She's got style but all the while
She dances to the beat out of time
She often cries, and she can speak to you
Through her mind

Oh, no, no, no, no
Light skin girl from London
Light skin girl from London, yeah

Light skin girl from London
She's a light skin girl from London
She's a

She's a light skin girl from London
She's a light skin girl from London, yeah, yeah
She's a light skin girl from London, oh, yeah, yeah
She's a

a little different, throwing it in because it's a Prince site

He did another song though about himself either from this period or in the

earlier days about being mixed

Mad Sex

Man, I ain't got time 4 that girl
Say what?
Yeah, she always want 2 talk 2 somebody
Believe me, I know her
Yeah

I see U at another party
Dancin' all over the place
Lookin' 4 the perfect body
2 go with the perfect face

Bushy head mulatto breakdown
And your lips got wet 2day (Lips got wet 2day)
Same damn bird from London (Same damn cuckoo)
Finally had the nerve 2 say (What'd she say?)
(I'll tell ya - listen)

CHORUS:
I used 2 have mad sex in the horny morning
I used 2 have mad sex in the afternoon
I used 2 have mad sex when me and this mulatto go down
2 dirty up another room

Do it till your tattoo's dizzy
And the stud in your mouth turns gold
Till the animal prints U flaunt so lovely
Is full of little bloody holes

Bushy head mulatto breakdown
And your lips got wet 2day
The same damn bird from London
Uh, finally had the nerve 2 say (What'd she say?)

CHORUS

Mad sex {x2}

Steppin' up on the others tryin' 2 make a jealous brotha
Get U nothin' but another night of vibration
One nation under your groove and still U can't break my cool

I see U at another party
Once again the talk of the town
Break another heart, U sorry... skench!
One day U're gonna tumble down, down, down, down
(Tumble down, down, down)

Bushy head mulatto breakup
And U never really knew my name (What good is time)
What good is time if U take up (What good is time if U take up)
Every day 2 complain? (Oh)

Outside - Mariah Carey

Georgio - "Tina Cherry"

Soraya/March of the Nignies by Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band

i was going to say "Mad Sex"

but someone beat me to it...

"Me and this mulatto girl........"

Nice to see pop songs tackle the subject. Highland Place Mobsters cut is the most surprising as it shows some depth on their only album.

The last one is a stretch though LOL. The movie wasn't about interacial relationships from what I can remember, but the song could still be interpreted that way LOL. It's so upbeat and fun and it's cool that such a bubblegum song could have a simple tolerence messsage for kids to dance to.

[Edited 11/10/14 15:39pm]

Nina Simone - "Four Women" (Woman 2 -- and possibly 3 -- is biracial)

Sade- "Tar Baby" from the Diamond Life album is a reference to that I believe.

UnderMySun said:

Sade- "Tar Baby" from the Diamond Life album is a reference to that I believe.

u mean the 'Promise" album right?

HuMpThAnG said:

UnderMySun said:

Sade- "Tar Baby" from the Diamond Life album is a reference to that I believe.

u mean the 'Promise" album right?

Yes, thank you for the correction.

UnderMySun said:

HuMpThAnG said:

u mean the 'Promise" album right?

Yes, thank you for the correction.

no problem