[UA]: Stagger Lee

[Chad Eagleton]

I don't know if everyone is familiar with the song
Stagger Lee. A traditional song that's been covered
and reworked by everyone from Nick Cave to Lloyd
Price, it's about a guy named Stagger Lee (sometimes
Stagga Lee, Stacker Lee, Stagolee, Stack O'Lee)
shooting another guy over his hat.

To quote wikipedia
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stagger_Lee):
"Immortalized in song, Stagger Lee has become an
archetype, the embodiment of the 'bad nigger' -- a
black man who is cool, lawless, amoral, violent, and
who defies often white authority."

I've noticed versions of the song in two recent
movies: Black Snake Moan and Deathproof. In Black
Snake Moan it's sung by Samuel L Jackson. His version
is based on bluesman, R.L. Burnside's version which is
told from Stagger Lee's point of view.

So, Jackson singing that particular version, and then
Stagger Lee showing up again in another movie, was
this Jackson's attempt to cement his status as
godwalker of "the badass nigger"?

-Chad


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