"The Turkey Song" or "Fo-link-a-tidy" is an example of a traditional song that serves as a historical time capsule. I explain to the students that this song comes from a time before there was a grocery store down the street, or the food delivery services that we have come accustomed to nowadays. Early settlers had to hunt for their food. The song is sung from the viewpoint of a hunter who went out to get the Thanksgiving turkey but came back empty handed. He then had to explain to his family why there will be no turkey this year. The refrain of "his feet looked awful dirty" is an attempt by the hunter to say that the family wouldn't have wanted it anyway. This, along with the verse that says the turkey had "a wife and children," adds that the hunter showed compassion by sparing the animal's life. This is the reason that his family shouldn't make him feel guilty as they are eating this year's meal without a turkey as the main course.
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September 2018
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