text: if jimmy cracked corn and nobody cared, then why did they write a song about it?   cause he's an alchoholic  the connection with corn liquor produced in the south, since corn is "cracked" before being mixed with other ingredients and fermented into alcohol. in the us, this industry is strongly associated with southern states, especially the illegal "moonshine" corn whiskey that was produced secretly to avoid government taxation in the 1800s. on a recent visit to my parents, who live down in north carolina, we visited a cultural museum where one of the featured exhibits was a still (the equipment for producing corn whiskey.) to the best of my knowledge, there are no stills in museums up here in boston. most sources that believe this to be the root of the word point to song the blue tail fly (more popularly known as jimmy crack corn) which tells the story of a slave who escapes punishment when his master is killed in a riding accident - even though it happened because he failed to keep flies from biting the master's nervous horse.