Happy Thanksgiving! On this weekend’s show, I’m playing “Pilgrim’s Progress (Take an Indian to Lunch)” by Stan Freberg, from his brilliant 1961 satire, “Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America, Volume 1: The Early Years.“
“Pilgrim’s Progress” is a parody of the first Thanksgiving, as it was traditionally taught in American schools — and still is, in a lot of places.
You know, the humble Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620, and nearly starved to death — except that they made friends of the noble Native Americans who helped them through the winter. In solemn thanks to the natives and to God, the Pilgrims celebrated by inviting the indigenous tribes to a Thanksgiving feast in 1621.
As Roy Edroso points out today, almost no one still buys that story: “The kind of paternalistic bullshit you’d hear about it a couple of decades ago sounds ridiculous to everyone now; not even readers of the Wall Street Journal are buying it.”
Myself, I’m not so sure about that. I’ve heard from friends with kids in religious schools that the noble-savages-kindly-pilgrims myth is still taught.
But the Thanksgiving myth was definitely the dominant narrative in the early 1960s, when Freberg and a cast of the best talent from old-time radio (a veritable who’s who of early TV cartoon stars, too, including June Foray, Daws Butler, Peter Leeds, Paul Frees, Billy May’s orchestra and Jud Conlon’s chorus) recorded “Pilgrim’s Progress” and the rest of “United States of America” at the famous Capitol Records studios in Hollywood.
As a result, I’m not sure that listeners in 2023 appreciate just how vicious this satire was. In fact, I’m almost worried that some folks may think that Freberg was celebrating racism.
Listen closely. Church is open and Brother Freberg (his father was a Baptist minister) is about to testify. Here are the lyrics:
Take an Indian to lunch this week
Show him we’re a regular bunch this week
Show him we’re as liberal as can be
Let him know he’s almost as good as we
Make a feathered friend feel fed this week
Overlook the fact he’s red this week
Let him share our Quaker Oats
‘Cause he’s useful when he votes
Take an Indian to lunch
“Show him we’re as liberal as can be/Let him know he’s almost as good as we.”
Ouch.
Freberg (who was very liberal) isn’t lampooning conservatives — he’s aiming his rapier wit right at himself and his own fans.
“Let him share our Quaker Oats/’Cause he’s useful when he votes.”
He’s saying: We’re all for civil rights and equality … right up until the point when they’re no longer useful to us electorally. Now that’s cynicism, brother. Stan Freberg may have been the first Gen X’er.
Then, he’s got another jab at the hypocrisy of liberals — especially religious leaders:
“Let’s give in and all do the brotherhood bit/Just make sure we don’t make a habit of it”
In 1961, the civil-rights struggle in the United States was red-hot. That was the year of the Freedom Riders. Needless to say, Freberg wasn’t just talking about equality for Native Americans.
If you’re a bleeding-heart liberal like me, don’t despair, because conservatives (especially of the Daughters of the American Revolution type) don’t escape Freberg’s notice:
“We know everyone can’t be as American as we
(After all, we came over on the Mayflower)”
Damn, son.
Overlook the outdated use of “Indian” and the gendered language (“he” and “him”) and there’s nothing about that song that isn’t right up to date in 2023. Human nature hasn’t changed much. If anything, the rise of Trumpism has dragged a lot of our more retrograde attitudes — once hidden — back out into the daylight.
Not for nothing was “The United States of America, Volume One” selected for permanent preservation by the Library of Congress. Stan Freberg was a Noam Chomsky book set to big-band music.
Like I said, I’m playing it Saturday, but if you can’t wait so long, here it is…