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Apr 24, 2011
Notice the subtle difference in wording. Baby's "mama" is good-looking, meaning the master's wife. But the well-being, until death arrives, will come from daddy's power and wealth, and from protection and love by "mammy" - not mama. Mammy is the black female who's singing the song, and who loves the child whose mama can't be bothered to take much time for it. As my friend who was raised in the South reports, that was sometimes the Southern way, as it was for him.