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My Old Kentucky Home
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"My Old Kentucky Home" (originally titled "Poor Uncle Tom, Good Night!", and sometimes also titled "My Old Kentucky Home, Good-Night!") is the state song of Kentucky. It was published by Stephen Foster in 1853 and was adopted by the Kentucky General Assembly as the official state song on March 19, 1928.
The song describes a scene of life on a slave plantation. The abolitionist Frederick Douglass saw the song as sympathetic to slaves.
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Encyclopedia
"My Old Kentucky Home" (originally titled "Poor Uncle Tom, Good Night!", and sometimes also titled "My Old Kentucky Home, Good-Night!") is the state song of Kentucky. It was published by Stephen Foster in 1853 and was adopted by the Kentucky General Assembly as the official state song on March 19, 1928.
The song describes a scene of life on a slave plantation. The abolitionist Frederick Douglass saw the song as sympathetic to slaves. In 1986, the Kentucky General Assembly adopted a version unlikely to cause offence in which the original word "darkies" was changed to "people."
History
The first draft of "My Old Kentucky Home" appeared in Stephen Collins Foster's workbook under the title "Poor Uncle Tom, Good Night." It was published in 1853 by New York's Firth, Pound, and Company.
According to folklore, Foster was inspired to write the song when, while traveling from his home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to New Orleans, Louisiana, he stopped in Bardstown, Kentucky to visit his cousins, the Rowan family, and saw their magnificent Federal Hill mansion. However, while Foster's trip to New Orleans is well-documented, his stop in Kentucky has not been conclusively substantiated. Also problematic is that the lyrics refer not to a mansion, but a "little cabin". Also, Foster's trip took place in 1852, after the first draft of the song had already been written. Foster's only documented trip to Kentucky occurred in 1833 when his mother took him to visit relatives in Augusta and Louisville.
Another explanation holds that Foster was inspired by Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, which was published in 1851.
Lyrics
The lyrics, as originally composed by Foster, are:
Verse 1
The sun shines bright in the old Kentucky home,
'Tis summer, the darkies are gay;
The corn-top's ripe and the meadow's in the bloom,
While the birds make music all the day.
The young folks roll on the little cabin floor,
All merry, all happy and bright;
By 'n' by Hard Times comes a-knocking at the door,
Then my old Kentucky home, goodnight.
Chorus
Weep no more my lady
Oh! weep no more today!
We will sing one song for the old Kentucky home,
For the Old Kentucky Home far away.
Verse 2
They hunt no more for the possum and the coon,
On meadow, the hill and the shore,
They sing no more by the glimmer of the moon,
On the bench by the old cabin door.
The day goes by like a shadow o'er the heart,
With sorrow, where all was delight,
The time has come when the darkies have to part,
Then my old Kentucky home, goodnight.
Chorus
Verse 3
The head must bow and the back will have to bend,
Wherever the darky may go;
A few more days, and the trouble all will end,
In the field where the sugar-canes grow;
A few more days for to tote the weary load,
No matter, 'twill never be light;
A few more days till we totter on the road,
Then my old Kentucky home, goodnight.
Chorus
Revised lyrics
In 1986, the only black member of the Kentucky General Assembly at the time heard a performance by Japanese visitors in which they sang the word "darkies"; he said the lyrics "convey connotations of racial discrimination that are not acceptable." Soon thereafter, the Assembly made some changes to the first verse and chorus, particularly replacing "darkies" with "people."
The sun shines bright in My Old Kentucky home,
'Tis summer, and people are gay;
The corn-top's ripe and the meadow's in the bloom
While the birds make music all the day.
The young folks roll on the little cabin floor
All merry, all happy and bright;
By 'n' by hard times comes a knocking at the door
Then My Old Kentucky Home, good night!
Weep no more my lady
Oh! weep no more today!
We will sing one song
For My Old Kentucky Home
For My Old Kentucky Home, far away.
Tradition
"My Old Kentucky Home" is sung annually at the Kentucky Derby with the accompaniment of the University of Louisville marching band. The tradition began sometime between 1921 and 1930, by which time it was established as the music played while the horses are led to the post parade. Churchill Downs, home of the Derby, has, since 1982 held The Stephen Foster Handicap. The song is also played at all University of Louisville football and basketball games accompanied by the Call to the Post which signifies the City and University of Louisville's tie to Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby. In addition, the University of Kentucky band also plays the song at their college's basketball and football games following the conclusion of the game in lieu of the school's alma mater.
Trivia
*In 1970 Randy Newman wrote and recorded an adaptation of the song. Newman's version contains a much less sentimental view of Kentucky life.
- My Old Kentucky Home was recently sampled by Louisville, Kentucky Rapper KD. KD's version featured Demi Demaree and Derek "Child" Monyhan of the popular Louisville band, The Villebillies. The song was a hit in Indiana and Kentucky and helped both KD and The Villebillies land recording deals with Universal Motown Records.
- The Palmetto Bug Stompers', a band that hails from the vibrant New Orleans music scene, released the song with post-Katrina lyrics. Stephen Foster's classic was updated from "My Old Kentucky Home" to a "My Ol' New Orleans Home."
- In 2001, My Old Kentucky Home was incorporated in the design of the Kentucky state quarter.
External links
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