Any member may request a reevaluation of an existing assessment decision. To do so, select the appropriate option in the SAT form and provide your rationale and research supporting the evaluation you believe is more appropriate. The SAT Subcommittee will consider all reevaluation requests.
Scroll past the list of songs below to find bold, blue song titles and a brief description of the reason for the reevaluation. The bold blue song titles link to the research document where you may find further details of the assessment decision.
Assessed: 05/03/2021 | Reevaluated: 12/19/2023
The rating has not changed, but an additional caution requirement has been added re: choreography.
Assessed: 11/19/2020 | Reevaluated: 03/02/2022
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that Megan Trainor, the original performer of this song, has often been called out for her use of AAE/ "blaccent"/ cultural appropriation, and advising performers to be be careful not to mimic that (e.g., “d” sound for “th”).
Medley with this song: Happy / All About That Bass medley
Assessed: 05/31/2021 | Reevaluated: 09/18/2023
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that that the movie in which it was featured, Singin' in the Rain, contains problematic elements.
Assessed: 4/12/2021 | Reevaluated: 12/19/2023
The rating has not changed, but an additional caution requirement has been added re: choreography.
Assessed: 11/04/2021 | Reevaluated: 07/02/2023
Changed from YES to YES: LYRICS and YES:CAUTION, alerting performers that the song is admissible only if verse 2, which speaks of pilgrims conquering "the wilderness", is omitted and that if verse 4, which mentions "alabaster cities", is sung, an appropriate MC-introduction must be used.
Assessed: 11/04/2021 | Reevaluated: 03/28/2023
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers to problematic elements from original source material and 1964 film that form the basis for Mary Poppins Musical, the show from which the song originates.
Assessed: 11/05/2020 | Reevaluated: 07/28/2023
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, informing performers that the original cast of 1967 rock musical for which it was written (Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical) was racially integrated and advising them to familiarize themselves with themes of the show, which was written to be controversial.
Assessed: 08/13/2020 | Reevaluated: 07/18/2023
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, encouraging a change in the "slave" lyric because it is a very charged word that conjures troublesome images of chattel slavery, even though the context/message of the song is unrelated.
Assessed: 11/16/2020 | Reevaluated: 10/10/2021
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers to the highly problematic racial issues with the originating movie, Dumbo. This reevaluation triggered further consideration of how to handle songs whose lyrics/message are not problematic, but for which the originating movie presents significant race/ethnic issues. This resulted in the precedent of YES: NOTE for otherwise innocuous songs from problematic movies.
Assessed: 09/23/2021 | Reevaluated: 08/22/2023
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that that the movie in which it was featured, Holiday Inn, has significant issues.
Assessed: 05/20/2021 | Reevaluated: 03/02/2022
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that Megan Trainor, the original performer of this song, has often been called out for her use of AAE/ "blaccent"/ cultural appropriation, and advising performers to be be careful not to mimic that (e.g., “d” sound for “th”).
Assessed: 01/20/2022 | Reevaluated: 09/16/2023
Changed from YES to YES: Lyrics, alerting performers that this song is admissible only with the omission of any references to “voodoo.”
Assessed: 10/06/2024 | Reevaluated: 11/25/2024
Changed from YES: Note to YES: Lyrics, alerting performers that this song is admissible only with the omission or change of the lyric "Jack we'll
soon have a Japanese derby / and beat it like a cymbal on a music rack."
Assessed: 08/01/2020 | Reevaluated: 03/27/2025
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that the song was likely performed in blackface by both Al Jolson and William Frawley.
Assessed: 06/25/2022 | Reevaluated: 09/27/2022
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that the notion of "highbrow" and "lowbrow" contained in the lyrics has racist origins based in the pseudoscience of phrenology.
Assessed: 08/04/2022 | Reevaluated: 09/19/2024
Changed from NO to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that it was written for one of the film adaptations of Roald Dahl's 1964 book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which presents racially problematic issues. Roald Dahl is also considered controversial because of his openly antisemitic views.
Assessed: 07/25/2021 | Reevaluated: 10/10/2021
Changed from NO to YES: NOTE, upon setting precedent re: otherwise innocuous songs from problematic movies.
Assessed: 01/18/2023 | Reevaluated: 04/09/2024
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that that the show from which it originates, Barnum, whitewashes and does not address the serious issues with its protagonist.
Assessed: 07/23/2021 | Reevaluated: 09/02/2023
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that that the movie in which it was featured, White Christmas, contains a disturbing homage to blackface minstrelsy.
Assessed: 03/21/2022 | Reevaluated: 09/27/2022
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that the notion of "highbrow" and "lowbrow" contained in the lyrics has racist origins based in the pseudoscience of phrenology.
Assessed: 05/19/2021 | Reevaluated: 03/06/2022
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that, while the music is not problematic in and of itself, traditional and some modern productions of the Nutcracker ballet traffic in blatant and offensive stereotypes.
Assessed: 10/13/2020 | Reevaluated: 01/02/2025
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers to the song's connection to the 1960s American Civil Rights Movement.
Assessed: 11/07/2022 | Reevaluated: 09/19/2024
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that although the 2015 musical Hamilton in which it appears has received well-deserved accolades, it has received criticism due to the way the story is told.
Assessed: 05/13/2022 | Reevaluated: 05/08/2023
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that L. Frank Baum, the author of the Oz books that were the original source material for this song from the musical Wicked, authorized two problematic editorials about indigenous people. While multifaceted and open to many interpretations, it has been pointed out that race is a central issue in Oz from historical and metaphysical viewpoints.
Assessed: 01/28/2022 | Reevaluated: 05/08/2023
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that L. Frank Baum, the author of the Oz books that were the source material for this song from The Wizard of Oz (1939) movie, authorized two problematic editorials about indigenous people. While multifaceted and open to many interpretations, it has been pointed out that race is a central issue in Oz from historical and metaphysical viewpoints.
Medley with this song: Wizard of Oz Medley
Assessed: 09/29/2020 | Reevaluated: 11/13/2023
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that it was written for the 1950 Walt Disney film Cinderella, which has been criticized for its color symbolism.
Assessed: 01/20/2023 | Reevaluated: 02/16/2025
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that that the movie in which it was featured, Kid Millions, contains problematic elements.
Assessed: 09/23/2021 | Reevaluated: 01/27/2025
Changed from YES to YES: CAUTION, alerting performers that presents a significant concern for predominantly White ensembles because it is from The Wiz, a 1974 musical that is a culturally specific reinterpretation, rooted in Black culture and experience of the early seventies.
Assessed: 01/10/2022 | Reevaluated: 07/16/2023
Changed from YES to YES: Lyrics, alerting performers that this medley arrangement is admissible only if “shake yo’ hand” is changed to “shake your hand.
Assessed: 09/02/2021 | Reevaluated: 08/16/2023
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that the 1965 musical from which the Feeling Good originates – The Roar of the Greasepaint, The Smell of the Crowd – has jarring elements, including a character called “the Negro” that has no name and is presented as a caricature in tattered clothes.
Assessed: 09/01/2020 | Reevaluated: 09/18/2023
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that that the movie in which it was featured, Singin' in the Rain, contains problematic elements.
Assessed: 02/01/2021 | Reevaluated: 05/08/2023
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that L. Frank Baum, the author of the Oz books that were the original source material for this song from the musical Wicked, authorized two problematic editorials about indigenous people. While multifaceted and open to many interpretations, it has been pointed out that race is a central issue in Oz from historical and metaphysical viewpoints.
Assessed: 02/08/2021 | Reevaluated: 09/22/2023
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that the the 1997 Disney animated film from which the song originates, Hercules, is problematic in that Disney took great liberties with actual Greek mythological figures and stories, going beyond “family-friendly” tweaks to gross mischaracterization.
Assessed: 01/09/2021 | Reevaluated: 02/09/2022
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that that the show from which it originates, The Greatest Showman, whitewashes and does not address the serious issues with its protagonist.
Assessed: 04/19/2021 | Reevaluated: 08/22/2023
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that that the movie in which it was featured, Holiday Inn, has significant issues.
Assessed: 04/15/2021 | Reevaluated: 07/12/2022
Changed from YES to YES: CAUTION, requiring an appropriate introduction explaining the song's history and why it it being performed before the song is sung in performance or at a rehearsal.
Assessed: 04/05/2021 | Reevaluated: 12/19/2023
The rating has not changed, but an additional caution requirement has been added re: choreography.
Assessed: 04/21/2021 | Reevaluated: 12/19/2023
The rating has not changed, but an additional caution requirement has been added re: choreography.
Assessed: 01/12/2021 | Reevaluated: 12/19/2023
The rating has not changed, but an additional caution requirement has been added re: choreography.
Assessed: 04/19/2021 | Reevaluated: 12/23/2023
Changed from YES to YES: CAUTION, adding requirements re costume/props and choreography.
Assessed: 01/07/2022 | Reevaluated: 09/18/2022
Changed from YES: NOTE to YES: LYRICS. This is a correction rather than reevaluation. The rating had inadvertently been noted incorrectly.
Assessed: 09/04/2020 | Reevaluated: 06/14/2021
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers to the song’s lyrical link to a mammy song by the same composer and explaining our decision to rate the song as admissible, despite this link.
Assessed: 08/29/2020 | Reevaluated: 05/14/2021
Changed from NO to YES: CAUTION, upon further consideration of the nature of the vernacular contained in the song.
Assessed: 12/07/2020 | Reevaluated: 11/03/2024
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that the the 1946 musical from which the song originates, Annie Get Your Gun, has been criticized for its portrayal of Native Americans.
Assessed: 01/01/2023 | Reevaluated: 09/22/2023
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that the 1997 Disney animated film from which the song originates, Hercules, is problematic in that Disney took great liberties with actual Greek mythological figures and stories, going beyond “family-friendly” tweaks to gross mischaracterization.
Assessed: 12/21/2022 | Reevaluated: 02/21/2025
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that the Broadway revue from which the song originates, the 1922 George White's Scandals, included blackface performances (though not of this song).
Assessed: 03/31/2021 | Reevaluated: 05/13/2022
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, encouraging that the lyric "he made me his slave" be changed because it conjures troublesome images of chattel slavery and raises problematic implications of a "slave" dynamic in a romantic relationship.
Assessed: 00/00/0000 | Reevaluated: 05/22/2023
Changed from YES to YES: CAUTION, alerting performers to proceed with caution and deliberation in the selection and performance of this song, whose lyrics are based on excerpts from Martin Luther King Jr's. speeches.
Assessed: 11/11/2022 | Reevaluated: 05/08/2023
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that L. Frank Baum, the author of the Oz books that were the source material for this song from The Wizard of Oz (1939) movie, authorized two problematic editorials about indigenous people. While multifaceted and open to many interpretations, it has been pointed out that race is a central issue in Oz from historical and metaphysical viewpoints.
Assessed: 00/00/2021 | Reevaluated: 09/03/2025
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that the musical from which this song originates, Anything Goes, has been criticized for racist language in its titular song and for racist characterizations of two Chinese characters.
Assessed: 09/28/2020 | Reevaluated: 07/23/2023
Changed from YES to YES: LYRICS and YES: NOTE, alerting performers that the song is admissible only if "Dixieland" and "Dixielanders" are omitted from the lyrics, and alerting performers that, contrary to what the song lyrics might suggest, the departure of Black musicians from New Orleans was part of the Great Migration.
Assessed: 07/25/2021 | Reevaluated: 04/09/2024
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that that the movie in which it was featured, Anastasia, been heavily criticized for taking excessive liberties in the retelling of Russian historical events and its representation / omission of historical characters.
Assessed: 06/15/2021 | Reevaluated: 09/18/2022
Changed from YES: NOTE to YES: LYRICS. This is a correction rather than reevaluation. The rating had inadvertently been noted incorrectly.
Assessed: 03/25/2024 | Reevaluated: 02/16/2025
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that that the movie in which it was featured, Whoopee!, contains problematic elements.
Assessed: 12/08/2020 | Reevaluated: 09/18/2023
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that that the movie in which it was featured, Singin' in the Rain, contains problematic elements.
Medley with this song: Make 'Em Laugh Medley
Assessed: 05/03/2021 | Reevaluated: 12/23/2023
Changed from YES: NOTE to YES: CAUTION, adding requirements re costume/props and choreography.
Assessed: 04/14/2022 | Reevaluated: 05/08/2023
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that L. Frank Baum, the author of the Oz books that were the source material for this song from The Wizard of Oz (1939) movie, authorized two problematic editorials about indigenous people. While multifaceted and open to many interpretations, it has been pointed out that race is a central issue in Oz from historical and metaphysical viewpoints.
Medley with this song: Wizard of Oz Medley
Assessed: 09/01/2020 | Reevaluated: 02/09/2022
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that that the show from which it originates, The Greatest Showman, whitewashes and does not address the serious issues with its protagonist.
Assessed: 06/20/2023 | Reevaluated: 09/16/2023
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that Megan Trainor, the original performer of this song, has often been called out for her use of AAE/ "blaccent"/ cultural appropriation, and advising performers to be be careful not to mimic that (e.g., “d” sound for “th”).
Assessed: 05/19/2021 | Reevaluated: 07/08/2022
Changed from YES to YES: LYRICS, upon determination that use of "gypsy" with lower case "g" might be offensive to some Romani people.
Assessed: 10/28/2021 | Reevaluated: 05/08/2023
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that L. Frank Baum, the author of the Oz books that were the source material for this song from The Wizard of Oz (1939) movie, authorized two problematic editorials about indigenous people. While multifaceted and open to many interpretations, it has been pointed out that race is a central issue in Oz from historical and metaphysical viewpoints.
Assessed: 05/04/2021 | Reevaluated: 02/09/2024
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers of the overlap between southern dialect and African American English if "was" is substituted for "were" in the song lyrics.
Assessed: 09/05/2022 | Reevaluated: 03/24/2023
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers to call-backs to problematic elements from original source material for Mary Poppins Returns, the movie from which the song originates.
Assessed: 08/08/2022 | Reevaluated: 05/08/2023
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that L. Frank Baum, the author of the Oz books that were the original source material for this song from the musical Wicked, authorized two problematic editorials about indigenous people. While multifaceted and open to many interpretations, it has been pointed out that race is a central issue in Oz from historical and metaphysical viewpoints.
Assessed: 04/13/2021 | Reevaluated: 09/19/2024
Changed from NO to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that it was written for one of the film adaptations of Roald Dahl's 1964 book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which presents racially problematic issues. Roald Dahl is also considered controversial because of his openly antisemitic views.
Assessed: 04/12/2021 | Reevaluated: 12/19/2023
The rating has not changed, but an additional caution requirement has been added re: choreography.
Assessed: 09/28/2020 | Reevaluated: 12/09/2021
Changed from NO to YES: NOTE, upon determination that the lyrics "ol man river" refer simply to the Mississippi River in that, thematically, there is no relation to the song, Ol’ Man River.
Assessed: 05/27/2021 | Reevaluated: 10/04/2023
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that the song remains admissible, but it is an example of a popular song written and marketed to capitalize on the popularity of racist c**n songs.
Assessed: 03/26/2023 | Reevaluated: 09/14/2023
Changed from YES to YES: CAUTION, alerting performers to carefully evaluate if it is appropriate to sing original AAE lyrics.
Assessed: 09/03/2022 | Reevaluated: 09/18/2023
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that that the movie in which it was featured, Singin' in the Rain, contains problematic elements.
Medley with this song: Singin' in the Rain/Isn't This a Lovely Day medley
Assessed: 06/26/2021 | Reevaluated: 08/22/2023
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that that the movie in which it was featured, White Christmas, contains a disturbing homage to blackface minstrelsy.
Assessed: 01/29/2021 | Reevaluated: 04/25/2022 | Reevaluated: 04/29/2024
Changed from YES to YES: CAUTION in 2022, alerting performers to be very careful not to use stereotypical gestures, accents, language, costuming, or characterization. Reevaluated in 2024 to provide additional notes and references.
Assessed: 03/24/2021 | Reevaluated: 12/24/2021
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers of issues in the show from which it it originates, South Pacific, and suggesting use of appropriate MC work..
Assessed: 12/18/2020 | Reevaluated: 03/21/2022
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers of issues in the show from which it it originates, West Side Story, and suggesting use of appropriate MC work..
Assessed: 09/03/2020 | Reevaluated: 05/08/2023
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that L. Frank Baum, the author of the Oz books that were the source material for this song from The Wizard of Oz (1939) movie, authorized two problematic editorials about indigenous people. While multifaceted and open to many interpretations, it has been pointed out that race is a central issue in Oz from historical and metaphysical viewpoints.
Assessed: 02/05/2022 | Reevaluated: 11/17/2023
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that it includes a section of scat singing, which originated with African Americans.
Assessed: 04/23/2021 | Reevaluated: 02/17/2022
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers of concerns raised about the movie from which it it originates, Mary Poppins.
Medley with this song: Trip a Little Light Fantastic/Step in Time medley
Assessed: 03/08/2021 | Reevaluated: 03/21/2021
Changed from YES to YES: LYRICS, upon further consideration of the Andrew Jackson lyric.
Assessed: 04/26/2021 | Reevaluated: 11/03/2024
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that the the 1946 musical from which the song originates, Annie Get Your Gun, has been criticized for its portrayal of Native Americans.
Assessed: 04/12/2021 | Reevaluated: 12/24/2021 | Reevaluated 12/19/2023
2021: Changed from YES to YES: CAUTION, alerting performers to be sensitive to how this popular Hawaiian song celebrating the islands' charms is presented and performed.
2023: The rating has not changed, but an additional caution requirement has been added re: choreography.
Assessed: 09/02/2021 | Reevaluated: 11/03/2024
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that the the 1946 musical from which the song originates, Annie Get Your Gun, has been criticized for its portrayal of Native Americans.
Assessed: 01/09/2021 | Reevaluated: 02/09/2022
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that that the show from which it originates, The Greatest Showman, whitewashes and does not address the serious issues with its protagonist.
Assessed: 09/29/2020 | Reevaluated: 04/25/2022
Changed from YES to YES: CAUTION, alerting performers to treat the song with the same caution as Negro spirituals even though there is no evidence of this song having originated among the American enslaved.
Assessed: 07/31/2020 | Reevaluated: 08/18/2021
Changed from NO to YES: NOTE upon further consideration of the history of the song and the fact that there are several variations of the 19th century rhyme upon which it is based.
Assessed: 09/9/2021 | Reevaluated: 03/21/2022
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers of issues in the show from which it it originates, West Side Story, and suggesting use of appropriate MC work..
Assessed: 02/05/2022 | Reevaluated: 03/24/2023
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers to call-backs to problematic elements from original source material for Mary Poppins Returns, the movie from which the song originates.
Medley with this song: Trip a Little Light Fantastic/Step in Time medley
Assessed: 01/15/2021 | Reevaluated: 12/24/2021
Changed from YES to YES: CAUTION, alerting performers to the racial and musical history of the actual two-block area known as Tuxedo Junction that should be understood and elucidated in thoughtful MC work.
Assessed: 05/02/2021 | Reevaluated: 12/19/2023
The rating has not changed, but an additional caution requirement has been added re: choreography.
Assessed: 05/19/2021 | Reevaluated: 12/23/2023
Changed from YES to YES: CAUTION, adding requirements re costume/props and choreography.
Assessed: 09/10/2021 | Reevaluated: 07/09/2022
Changed from YES to YES: CAUTION, alerting performers to take care to ensure that all words in a foreign language - in this case te reo Moari - are pronounced correctly.
Assessed: 04/14/2022 | Reevaluated: 05/08/2023
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that L. Frank Baum, the author of the Oz books that were the source material for this song from The Wizard of Oz (1939) movie, authorized two problematic editorials about indigenous people. While multifaceted and open to many interpretations, it has been pointed out that race is a central issue in Oz from historical and metaphysical viewpoints.
Medley with this song: Wizard of Oz Medley
Assessed: 03/10/2021 | Reevaluated: 12/23/2023
Changed from YES to YES: CAUTION, adding requirements re costume/props and choreography.
Assessed: 04/21/2021 | Reevaluated: 12/26/2021
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers to problematic history of the musical from which it originates, The King and I, and suggesting use of thoughtful MC work.
Assessed: 09/28/2020 | Reevaluated: 04/25/2022
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that the movie from which it originates, Holiday Inn, is problematic.
Assessed: 07/21/2020 | Reevaluated: 08/16/2023
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that the 1965 musical from which the A Wonderful Day Like Today originates – The Roar of the Greasepaint, The Smell of the Crowd – has jarring elements, including a character called “the Negro” that has no name and is presented as a caricature in tattered clothes.
Assessed: 06/19/2021 | Reevaluated: 11/18/2024
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that the 2002 musical from which the song originates - Hairspray - has been commended for addressing racial segregation and integration in 1960s America but has also been criticized.
Assessed: 06/12/2021 | Reevaluated: 09/18/2023
Changed from YES to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that that the movie in which it was featured, Singin' in the Rain, contains problematic elements.
Medley with this song: I Never Knew/You Were Meant For Me Medley
Assessed: 02/06/2024 | Reevaluated: 02/21/2025
Changed to add YES: NOTE to the YES: LYRICS rating, alerting performers that the song was introduced in the Zeigfeld Follies of 1919, in which Eddie Cantor and others performed in blackface.
Assessed: 12/07/2020 | Reevaluated: 09/19/2024
Changed from NO to YES: NOTE, alerting performers that the song appears in the 1982 movie Annie, which includes racist stereotyping in the characters Punjab and The Asp.