You may not know who Ram Jam are.
But just a few seconds of their best-known song will remind you.
Ok, it’s their only song most people know.
But Black Betty was a huge hit for them.
Despite it not even being their song.
It existed long before the band did and their version of it generated a lot of controversy.
It still generates controversy to this day.
Let’s take a look at the Black Betty lyrics meaning, to see what they mean and from where the controversy stems.
Table of Contents
Black Betty Lyrics And Meaning
Ram Jam was a short-lived American hard rock band in the 1970s. They were basically a one-hit wonder, although they do not usually appear on compilations of one-hit wonders. The reason for that is the controversy behind their one hit.
When we say short-lived, we mean it. The band’s short career lasted from 1977 to 1978. They only released two studio albums and one single. That single was their only hit Black Betty.
But their biggest success was not an original song. It was a controversial new take on a very old song. Let’s take a quick look at the lyrics, before diving right in to our analysis of their meaning.
Black Betty Lyrics
Verse 1
Whoa, Black Betty (bam-ba-lam)
Whoa, Black Betty (bam-ba-lam)
Black Betty had a child (bam-ba-lam)
The damn thing gone wild (bam-ba-lam)
She said “I’m worryin’ outta mind” (bam-ba-lam)
The damn thing gone blind (bam-ba-lam)
I said oh, Black Betty (bam-ba-lam)
Whoa, Black Betty (bam-ba-lam)
Verse 2
Whoa, Black Betty (bam-ba-lam)
Whoa, Black Betty (bam-ba-lam)
She really gets me high (bam-ba-lam)
You know that’s no lie (bam-ba-lam)
She’s so rock steady (bam-ba-lam)
And she’s always ready (bam-ba-lam)
Whoa, Black Betty (bam-ba-lam)
Whoa, Black Betty (bam-ba-lam)
Get it!
Verse 3
Whoa, Black Betty (bam-ba-lam)
Whoa, Black Betty (bam-ba-lam)
She’s from Birmingham (bam-ba-lam)
Way down in Alabam’ (bam-ba-lam)
Well, she’s shakin’ that thing (bam-ba-lam)
Boy, she makes me sing (bam-ba-lam)
Whoa, Black Betty (bam-ba-lam)
Whoa, Black Betty
Bam-ba-laaam, yeah, yeah
Black Betty Meaning
To trace the origins of this song, we have to go back long before the moment Ram Jam was created. The first recording of this song took place in 1939. The musician was Lead Belly, who has traditionally been attributed as the author.
However, there are many references to the song that allude to its existence before that recording.
Given the difficulties of tracing the song, the different investigations have focused on the term “Black Betty” to which the lyrics allude. They were able to go back to the 18th century when Benjamin Franklin himself included in his The Drinker’s Dictionary.
The expression “being kissed by black Betty” was listed as a synonym for getting drunk.
Many explain that it goes back to a song used by soldiers to march. “Black Betty” was the name of the British carabinier used in the 18th century, and the “bam-ba-lam” in the lyrics referred to the sound of the shots.
Others think that it was the term used to refer to a bottle of whiskey, or that it was the whip with which slaves were forced to work.
The most widespread theory, especially among historians, is that it stems from the end of the 19th century, when it was a work song for slaves in the American cotton fields
Musicologists and folklorists scoured the USA from end to end collecting traditional music sung by the elderly, and in 1934 they described the origins of Black Betty, providing us with another version:
“Black Betty is the whip that was and is used in some prisons in the South. A convict at the Darrington State Farm in Texas, where, by the way, the practice of whipping has been virtually uninterrupted, laughed at Black Betty and turned the conversation from him into the following song.”
In this case, the song was used as a work song when the prisoners were doing forced labor in the chain gangs and “bam-ba-lam” referred to the sound of whipping.
The original meaning of the song is yet to be discovered, but all the research seems to conclude that it is a song of popular origin linked to the African-American population.
And even the very fact that the recording by Lead Belly was made a cappella with an accompaniment of claps, has lead several authors to confirm the hypothesis that it was a work song of black slaves in the United States.
The Controversy
The Lead Belly recording was not a problem at all. The truth is that it went unnoticed, although it did revitalize the song. But it was Ram Jam who launched the song to stardom, although they were going by that name at the time.
The origins of Ram Jam are completely linked to Black Betty. Bill Bartlett originally founded a band under the name Starstruck. As Starstruck, he picked up the popular song, which barely lasted a minute, and he lengthened it and instrumented it, until he got the result we all know today, at just over two minutes.
The success of the song led producers Jerry Kasenetz and Jeffry Katz to create a new group for Bartlett with which to relaunch the single and an album nationally with “Black Betty” as their flag, and that’s how Ram Jam and the band’s self-titled album were born.
The issue with Ram Jam performing the song is that they were white, while Lead Belly was black. That raised some sensitivities. The group faced criticism for turning an African-American lament or work song into a rock hit.
There was even talk of cultural appropriation by the group, even though this term “cultural appropriation” did not actually exist yet. But obviously, the act existed and Ram Jam was accused of doing it.
Although there was no intention on the part of the group to make fun of black Americans, the criticism did not stop at bar counter comments.
It became a subject for the NAACP, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and CORE, the Congress of Racial Equality, who denounced the song and even encouraged a boycott of it.
However, these complaints led to more talk about the song and, far from achieving their goal, resulted in popularizing it even more. It reached a position among the ten most listened to songs in the United Kingdom, Europe, and Australia, and among the top twenty in the United States (18th position on Billboard).
The success was huge for such a newly created band. But just as they achieved some fame, they lost it just a few months later, in 1978. That year, Ram Jam released their second album Portrait of the Artist as a Young Ram.
But it was far from the level of the first and the band dissolved that same year. Few groups fit the definition of a one-hit wonder so well.
But the controversy has not been left behind. The cultural appropriation debate keeps returning to focus on the song every so often. There have been several recent cases in which the song has been censored by certain institutions, like sports federations or universities in the US.
Black Betty Lyrics Meaning: Final Thoughts
Surely when you heard this catchy song you did not think that there could be so much controversy behind it. I’m sure you will never hear it the same again.
But that’s ok. Honestly, knowing the history behind the song is important, but it should not change your enjoyment of the song. If you enjoyed the version of Black Betty by Ram Jam, then you should continue to enjoy it and not feel bad about that.
And if you always hated the song, nothing you read here will have changed that. Keep hating the song.
For a song whose title is a word used to describe lighter skinned black people that was frowned upon for a while, but has now come back into favor, check out our article breaking down the lyrics to Redbone and their meaning.
For another southern song, check out our post on the lyrics to Fancy Like and their meaning.
We also have a song with completely nonsensical lyrics. Or are they? Read our article on the lyrics and meaning of Come Together from The Beatles to learn more.
Finally, we have a song that is actually about a black woman (or girl). It is also from The Beatles. See our breakdown of the Blackbird lyrics meaning for more.
Angela Garner says
I’ve always thought that “Black Betty” was about a black woman and a white man having an affair.
Kelli Speichinger says
Just a historical aside, that rock song,” Black Betty” was lifted from a early 18th century marching song of the British infantry. Black Betty is what they called their issue musket which had its stock painted black. In the rock version, Black Betty was from Birmingham “way down in Alabam” and in the original song she was from Birmingham, but in England because that was the location of the Royal Armory. Later in that century the British were issued new muskets that had oiled wood stocks that were affectionately called “Brown Bess” thought you might enjoy the CORRECT tale.
All the way back to 1700s. “the bam-ba-lam becomes the noise of the gunshot. The musket would have been a flint-lock musket with a black painted stock. The prison guards or soldiers were ‘hugging Black Betty’. And when a updated model of the gun came out, known as ‘Brown Bess’, with an unpainted wooden stock, it was seen as the ‘child’ of the flint-lock musket. Black Betty had a baby, bam-ba-lam. Damn thing went crazy. An interesting side note which is mostly unrelated: John A. Lomax married a woman called Bess Brown. Mad stuff.”
Camila says
Thank you so much for the additional info! It’s amazing the history this song has.
Ensrick says
Do you happen to have a source that shows Black Betty was an 18th-century British infantry marching song?
When I look it up, all I can find is a British reenactment actor on YouTube explaining that this is a most likely a myth and I really can’t find any old literature referencing Black Betty besides Benjamin Franklin’s Drunkard’s Dictionary here:
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-02-02-0029
All I can find are some user comments alluding to Black Betty being older, it sure would be nice to know more.
BENITA APPLEBAUM says
Any chance it’s about a made up woman named black betty? By which i mean: any chance its about what its about?
Camila says
They do say that the simplest explanation is usually the right one…