"Old Folks at Home" was commissioned in 1851 by
E. P. Christy for use by
Christy's Minstrels, his minstrel troupe. Christy also asked to be credited as the song's creator, and was so credited on early
sheet music printings. As a result, while the song was a success, Foster did not directly profit much from it, though he continued to receive royalties for the song.[3]
Foster had composed most of the lyrics but was struggling to name the river of the opening line, and asked his brother, Morrison, to suggest one. Morrison wrote, “One day in 1851, Stephen came into my office, on the bank of the Monongahela, Pittsburgh, and said to me, ‘What is a good name of two syllables for a Southern river? I want to use it in this new song of Old Folks at Home.’ I asked him how Yazoo would do. ‘Oh,’ said he, ‘that has been used before.’ I then suggested Pedee. ‘Oh, pshaw,’ he replied ‘I won’t have that.’ I then took down an atlas from the top of my desk and opened the map of the United States. We both looked over it and my finger stopped at the ‘Swanee,’ a little river in Florida emptying into the Gulf of Mexico. ‘That’s it, that’s it exactly,’ exclaimed he delighted, as he wrote the name down; and the song was finished, commencing, ‘Way Down Upon de Swanee Ribber.’ He left the office, as was his custom, abruptly, without saying another word, and I resumed my work.” [4] Foster himself never saw the Suwannee, or even visited Florida, but nevertheless Florida made "Old Folks At Home" its state song in 1935, replacing "
Florida, My Florida".[5] Despite the song's popularity during the era, few people outside of Florida actually knew where the Suwannee River was, or that it was even a real place.[6]
Written in the first person from the perspective and in the dialect of an African slave (at a time when
slavery was legal in 15 of the states of the US), the song's narrator states "longing for
de old plantation",[9] which has been criticized as romanticizing slavery. On the other hand, a longing for the "old folks at home" has sometimes been interpreted, for example, by W. E. B. Du Bois in The Souls of Black Folk (1903), as a longing for the people and traditions of Africa, where most of the human beings enslaved in the New World had been free before they were kidnapped and shipped across the Atlantic Ocean. The word, "
darkies", used in Foster's lyrics, has been amended; for example, "brothers" was sung in place of "darkies" at the dedication of the new Florida state capitol building in 1978.[10] In general, at public performances another word like "lordy", "mama", "darling", "brothers", "children", or "dear ones" is typically substituted.
In practice, the pronunciation, as written in dialect, has long been disregarded in favor of the corresponding standard American English usage, as demonstrated by the song's performances at the 1955
Florida Folk Festival.[11]
State song of Florida
As the official
state song of Florida, "Old Folks at Home" has traditionally been sung as part of a
Florida governor's inauguration ceremony. However, over time, the lyrics were progressively altered to be less offensive; as
Diane Roberts observed:
Florida got enlightened in 1978; we substituted "brothers" for "darkies". There were subsequent revisions. At Jeb Bush's second inauguration as governor in 2003, a young black woman gave a moving, nondialect rendition of "Old Folks at Home", except "still longing for the old plantation" came out "still longing for my old connection". Perhaps someone confused Stephen Foster's lyrics with a cell phone commercial.[12]
In his 2007 inauguration ceremony,
Charlie Crist decided not to include the state song, but rather to use in its place, "The Florida Song", a composition written by a black Floridian
jazz musician, Charles Atkins.[13] Crist then encouraged state Senator
Tony Hill, who was the leader of the legislature's Black Caucus, to find a new song.[14] Hill joined forces with state Representative
Ed Homan and the
Florida Music Education Association to sponsor a contest for a new state song.[15]
On January 11, 2008, the song "
Florida (Where the Sawgrass Meets the Sky)" was selected as the winner. The
Florida Legislature considered the issue and ultimately adopted it as the state anthem while retaining "Old Folks at Home" as the state song, replacing its original lyrics with a revised version approved by scholars at the
Stephen Foster Memorial.[16][17] Governor Crist stated that he was not pleased by the "two songs" decision; but he signed the bill, creating a new state anthem and establishing the reworded version of the state song by
statute, rather than by resolution like the 1935 decision.[1][5]
Way down upon de Swanee ribber,
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! darkeys, 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.
3rd Verse
One little hut among de bushes,
One dat I love
Still sadly to my memory rushes,
No matter where I rove.
When will I see de bees a-humming
All round de comb?
When will I hear de banjo strumming,
Down in my good old home?
Way down upon the Suwannee River,
Far, far away,
There's where my heart is turning ever,
There's where the old folks stay.
All up and down the whole creation,
Sadly I roam,
Still longing for my childhood station,
And for the old folks at home.
Chorus
All the world is sad and dreary
Everywhere I roam.
O dear ones, how my heart grows weary,
Far from the old folks at home.
2nd verse
All ‘round the little farm I wander’d,
When I was young;
Then many happy days I squander’d,
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.
3rd Verse
One little hut among the bushes,
One that I love.
Still sadly to my memory rushes,
No matter where I rove.
When will I see the bees a humming,
All ‘round the comb?
When shall I hear the banjo strumming,
Down in my good old home.
Ray Charles used it as an inspiration for his 1957 remake of the song on the
Atlantic label, entitled: "Swanee River Rock (Talkin' 'Bout That River)".
Kenny Ball And His Jazzmen recorded a
swing version of the song (using only the first verse and chorus twice over and substituting "Lordy" for "darkies") in 1962 for
Pye Records.[22] The recording appeared on the B side of their 1963 single "
Sukiyaki". Another swing version was recorded by
Hugh Laurie (2011).[23]
1956 The Honeymooners – The beginning of Swanee River is played by Ed Norton (on the harmonica) before Ralph's apology in "A Matter of Record" (#1.15).
1956 The Honeymooners – In the episode, "The $99,000 Answer" (#1.19), Ed Norton has a strange habit that before he can play any song he always plays a few notes of "Old Folks at Home"/"Swanee River" to warm up. The first question for Ralph in the game show is "Who is the composer of Swanee River?" The first few notes, the same ones that Ed had played earlier, are played so that Ralph knows the song. With only a few seconds left, Ralph, recognizing the song, but panicking since he didn't care much about it, says "Ed Norton?"
1963 The Jack Benny Program – in Season 13 Episode 20, Jack Benny plays Stephen Foster as he tries to write some of his famous songs. The episode features Connie Francis as Foster's wife, who inadvertently helps Foster break his writer's block by commenting on unusual events around their home. She ends up singing "Old Folks at Home".
1982 Grease 2 - An instrumental xylophone version of Swanee River was played by Blanche (
Dody Goodman) as the first day of school welcoming jingle, before she was interrupted by Principal McGee (
Eve Arden) so she could make the welcoming announcement.
1987 Tales of Little Women - sung by the March Sisters (Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy) for Laurie Lawrence, Anthony Boone, John and Tom Brooke, and near the end of their outdoor picnic.
2004 Arrested Development - in Season 1 Episode 14, "Shock and Aww", an instrumental version of the song, plays over the scene prior to the end credits.
2005
Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix - The song "Frozen Pipes", used in stage 4-1 of Story Mode, is an instrumental dance arrangement of "Old Folks at Home".
2010 Good Luck Charlie - Residents at a nursing home demand Teddy and Ivy to perform the song for them repeatedly.
^
abCenter for American Music.
"Old Folks at Home". Center for American Music Library.
Archived from the original on January 16, 2009. Retrieved October 1, 2012.
^Becnel, Tom; Grimes, David (2006), Florida Curiosities, 2nd: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff,
Globe Pequot Press, p. 23,
ISBN0762741066
^Note several performances on the Florida Memory website, e.g.,
[1], Retrieved 2011-12-19
^Center for American Music.
"Old Folks at Home". Center for American Music Library. Archived from
the original on January 11, 2009. Retrieved October 1, 2012.