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Don't Fence Me In
Title: Don't Fence Me In
Artist: Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters
Year: 1944
Label: Decca
Genre: Western
Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies above,
Don't fence me in.
Let me ride through the wide open country that I love,
Don't fence me in.
Let me be by myself in the evenin' breeze,
And listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees,
Send me off forever but I ask you please,
Don't fence me in.
Just turn me loose, let me straddle my old saddle
Underneath the western skies.
On my Cayuse, let me wander over yonder
Till I see the mountains rise.
I want to ride to the ridge where the west commences
And gaze at the moon till I lose my senses
And I can't look at hobbles and I can't stand fences
Don't fence me in.
“Don’t Fence Me In,” written by Cole Porter and performed by Bing Crosby and the Andrew Sisters, relates to the experiences of both Grant and Jefferson. The overall theme of the song is the feeling of being trapped. From one perspective, the song can be interpreted as being literally fenced into an area, such as a jail or prison. The song references the sky and trees multiple times, as does Jefferson in his journal that he writes while awaiting the death penalty. From another perspective, the “fencing in” can be symbolic; the speaker might feel trapped in a particular town, career, social, routine. Grant Wiggins fits into this perspective as he longs to escape Bayonne and distance himself from the Plantation where he grew up. As in the song, he tried to find freedom in the West by moving to California. However, he returned to Louisiana only to feel trapped because his community—including Tante Lou, Miss Emma, Irene, and the rest of the schoolchildren—needs him. Additionally, Grant feels trapped by his race. As a Black man living in a racist society, Grant feels he has no control over his life. Even at the end of the novel he admits that he is not free. "I am a slave," he thinks to himself. At the same time, he hopes that his students will experience less constraint, both mentally and physically. At the moment of Jefferson's execution, he muses, "Only when the mind is free has the body a chance to be free" (251). Although he feels fenced in, he dedicates himself to helping the younger generation cultivate their freedom.
