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Massa's in De Cold Ground (1852) is a song by
The Music of Stephen Collins Foster
{{Stephen Foster 1852 songs Songs written by Stephen Foster Blackface minstrel songs American folk songs
Massa's in De Cold Ground (1852) is a song by Stephen Foster
Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826January 13, 1864), known as "the father of American music", was an American composer known primarily for his parlour music, parlour and Folk music, folk music during the Romantic music, Romantic period. He wr ...
.
The song was included in the book 55 Songs and Choruses for Community Singing, published in 1917. According to the book, it is one of the most graceful of Stephen C. Foster's melodies. It also has a simple harmonic structure, characteristic of Foster's compositions. The lyrics voice the love of servants for their kind master.
Abolitionist Joshua McCarter Simpson
Joshua McCarter Simpson (ca. 1820 - April 20, 1877) was a store proprietor, herbalist, poet and lyricist in the United States. He lamented the enslavement of African Americans, called out the hypocrisy of white Christian abusers, and denounced the ...
rewrote the lyrics and retitled the song "To the White People of America".
The song has been used by many musicians and groups including as Massa's in the Cold, Cold Ground. A rendition sung by Marguerite Dunlap
Marguerite Dunlap (July 20, 1887 – January 7, 1959) was an American contralto opera singer. She is mainly remembered for her recordings for Victor Records from 1904 to 1928. She recorded a wide range of music from operas to Broadway musicals to ...
was recorded on Victor Records.
Al Jolson
Al Jolson (born Asa Yoelson, ; May 26, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-born American singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian.
Self-billed as "The World's Greatest Entertainer," Jolson was one of the United States' most famous and ...
recorded the song. Bewley's Chuck Wagon Gang recorded the song in 1936. Golden Gate Quartet
The Golden Gate Quartet (a.k.a. The Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet) is an American vocal group. It was formed in 1934 and, with changes in membership, remains active.
Origins and early career
The group was founded as the Golden Gate Jubilee Sing ...
recorded a rendition of it in 1937. A piano roll
A piano roll is a music storage medium used to operate a player piano, piano player or reproducing piano. Piano rolls, like other music rolls, are continuous rolls of paper with holes punched into them. These perforations represent note contro ...
was made for it by Charles Grobe with Colorized Music. Frederick J. Bacon
Frederick J. Bacon (1871-1948) was a late 19th to mid 20th century performer and recording artist on the five string banjo. He was also an inventor and entrepreneur, educator, composer, and designer and manufacturer of banjos.
At the height of h ...
was recorded playing the song on a banjo (instrumental). The Haydn Quartet
The Haydn Quartet, later known as the Hayden Quartet, was one of the most popular recording close harmony quartets in the early twentieth century. It was originally formed in 1896 as the Edison Quartet to record for Edison Records; it took its n ...
sung the song on a Gramophone recording #4253Y.
''Farewell My Lilly Dear'' and ''My Brother Gum'' by Stephen Foster are also from the perspective of field hands.
Lyrics
VERSE 1 :Round de meadows am a-ringing :De darkeys' mournful song, :While de mocking-bird am singing, :Happy as de day am long. :Where de ivy am a-creeping, :O'er de grassy mound, :Dere old massa am a-sleeping, :Sleeping in de cold, cold ground. CHORUS :Down in de corn-field :Hear dat mournful sound: :All de darkeys am a-weeping,— :Massa's in de cold, cold ground. VERSE 2 :When de autumn leaves were falling, :When de days were cold, :'T was hard to hear old massa calling, :Cayse he was so weak and old. :Now de orange tree am blooming :On de sandy shore, :Now de summer days am coming,— :Massa nebber calls no more. CHORUS VERSE 3 :Massa make de darkeys love him, :Cayse he was so kind; :Now dey sadly weep above him, :Mourning cayse he leave dem behind. :I cannot work before to-morrow, :Cayse de tear-drop flow; :I try to drive away my sorrow, :Pickin' on de old banjo. CHORUSSee also
* List of songs written by Stephen Foster *Coon song
Coon songs were a genre of music that presented a stereotype of black people. They were popular in the United States and Australia from around 1880 to 1920, though the earliest such songs date from minstrel shows as far back as 1848, when they we ...
* Minstrel show
The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of theater developed in the early 19th century. The shows were performed by mostly white actors wearing blackface makeup for the purpose of portraying racial stereotypes of Afr ...
* Blackface
Blackface is the practice of performers using burned cork, shoe polish, or theatrical makeup to portray a caricature of black people on stage or in entertainment. Scholarship on the origins or definition of blackface vary with some taking a glo ...
References
Further reading
* Emerson, Ken. 1997. ''Doo-dah! Stephen Foster and the rise of American popular culture''. Simon & Schuster. * ''Stephen Foster Song Book úsica Impresa original sheet music of 40 songs''. 1974. Courier Dover Publications.External links
The Music of Stephen Collins Foster
{{Stephen Foster 1852 songs Songs written by Stephen Foster Blackface minstrel songs American folk songs