Commercial recordings of the song began in the 1920s, many by white singers. In 1924, Fiddlin' John Carson recorded his version of the song. By the end of the decade at least another three recordings had been produced, by Uncle Dave Macon (1925), Gid Tanner and the Skillet Lickers (1927), and Dr. Humphrey Bate and His Possum Hunters (1928). In 2013 the song was used in "12 Years a Slave", Steve McQueen's film adaptation of the memoir by Solomon Northup. In the film, a white carpenter named John Tibeats (portrayed by Paul Dano) leads a group of slaves in a rendition of the song. Hermione Hoby of "The Guardian" described the scene as "nauseating", and Dana Stevens of "Slate" found it to be "hideous". Kristian Lin of the "Fort Worth Weekly" wrote that, though the song had initially been used by black slaves to encourage escapees and warn them of the dangers involved, when performed by the character of Tibeats it became a taunt, "like a prison guard who jingles the keys for the prisoners to hear, reminding them of what they don't have". Various versions of the song exist, though all focus on a (usually unnamed) black individual running away from, or to avoid, slave patrols (referred to as a "patter-rollers" or "patty-rollers" in the song). The "White's Serenaders' Song Book" version is presented as a narrative, with both sung and spoken parts. A slave, known as Mr. Bones, recounts the tale of his escape, interspersed with cries from the audience of "What, Mr. Bones?". In this version, the escapee is caught temporarily, but escapes at great speed after he "left my heel tied round de tree". Scarborough and Gulledge record a later version as follows:    Some versions of this song include events which occur to the slave during his escape. A version recorded in Louisiana, for instance, has the escapee losing his Sunday shoe while running, while another version has the black man lose his wedding shoe. In other versions, the runner is described as tearing his shirt in half. Still others have the runner point out another slave, one who is hiding behind a tree, in an effort to distract his pursuer. E.C. Perrow records the following verses, found in Virginia:    White finds parallels between "Run, Nigger, Run" and African-American spiritual songs, in which themes of a hunted person running, seeking a place of safety and asylum, were common.