"Old Folks at Home"

[Joel S. Berson]

Tom, see the Wikipedia article for discussion and the original
lyrics, as first adopted by Florida and not changed until 2008:

     1st verse
     Way down upon de Swanee ribber (river)
     Far, far away,
     Dere's wha my heart is turning ebber,
     Dere's wha de old folks stay.

     All up and down de whole creation
     Sadly I roam,
     Still longing for de old plantation
     And for de old folks at home.

         Chorus
         All de world am sad and dreary,
         Ebry where I roam,
         Oh! darkies how my heart grows weary,
         Far from de old folks at home.

     2nd verse
     All round de little farm I wandered
     When I was young,
     Den many happy days I squandered,
     Many de songs I sung.

     When I was playing wid my brudder
     Happy was I
     Oh! take me to my kind old mudder,
     Dere let me live and die.

         Chorus

     3rd verse
     One little hut amond de bushes,
     One dat I love,
     Still sadly to my mem'ry rushes,
     No matter where I rove

     When will I see de bees a humming
     All round de comb?
     When will I hear de banjo tumming
     Down in my good old home?

(I imagine it's still offensive as the Florida state song to the "darkies".)

Joel

At 1/19/2010 10:19 AM, Tom Zurinskas wrote:
>It seems like this song is from a "darkie" singing to his fellow
>darkies.  It was written by a whitie.
>
>Official Song of the State of Florida
>The Swanee River (Old Folks at Home)
>
>Stephen Foster, 1851
>
>Way down upon the Swanee River,
>Far, far away
>That's where my heart is turning ever
>That's where the old folks stay
>All up and down the whole creation,
>Sadly I roam
>Still longing for the old plantation
>And for the old folks at home
>
>Chorus:
>All the world is sad and dreary everywhere I roam
>Oh darkies, how my heart grows weary
>Far from the old folks at home
>
>2. All 'round the little farm I wandered,
>When I was young
>Then many happy days I squandered,
>Many the songs I sung
>When I was playing with my brother,
>Happy was I
>Oh, take me to my kind old mother,
>There let me live and die
>Chorus:
>
>2. One little hut among the bushes,
>One that I love
>Still sadly to my mem'ry rushes,
>No matter where I rove
>When shall I see the bees a humming,
>All 'round the comb
>When shall I hear the banjo strumming,
>Down by my good old home
>Chorus:

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