Old Folks at Home

"Old Folks at Home" (also known as " Swanee River") is a folk song written by Stephen Foster in 1851. Since 1935, it has been the official state song of Florida, although in 2008 the original lyrics were revised. It is Roud Folk Song Index no. 13880.

Composition

"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.

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." 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".State Song: Old Folks At Home
Florida Department of State 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.

Antonín Dvořák's '' Humoresque No. 7'', written in the 1890s, is musically similar and is sometimes played along with "Old Folks at Home". Dvořák also made an arrangement of the song, for baritone, chorus and orchestra, in 1894. The Library of Congress's National Jukebox presents a version with soprano Alma Gluck and violinist Efrem Zimbalist Sr.
Jean Arthur and Gary Cooper sing a duet of "Old Folks at Home" combined with ''Humoresques (Dvořák), Humoresque No. 7'' in the 1936 film '' Mr. Deeds Goes to Town''.

Lyrics revisions

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", 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 in the Atlantic slave trade. 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. 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.

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.

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 black Floridian jazz musician Charles Atkins. Crist then encouraged state Senator Tony Hill, who was the leader of the legislature's Black Caucus, to find a new song. Hill joined forces with state Representative Ed Homan and the Florida Music Education Association to sponsor a contest for a new state song.

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. 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.

Lyrics

Notable recordings

Joel Whitburn identifies early successful recordings by Len Spencer (1892), Vess Ossman (1900), Haydn Quartet (1904), Louise Homer (1905),
Alma Gluck (1915), Taylor Trio (1916) and by Oscar Seagle and Columbia Stellar Quartet (1919).

The song enjoyed a revival in the 1930s with versions by Jimmie Lunceford and by Bunny Berigan. Bing Crosby sang the song in the 1935 movie ''Mississippi'' and also recorded the song commercially the same year.

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. The recording appeared on the B side of their 1963 single " Sukiyaki". Another swing version was recorded by Hugh Laurie (2011).

Tony Sheridan recorded it in 1962 on the Polydor label as a Rock 'n' roll song with his backing band The Beat Brothers issued on his album " My Bonnie". Another version was also done for him that same year by the Beatles but this recording was lost.Mark Lewisohn, '' The Beatles: All These Years, Volume 1 – Tune In'', Harmony Books, 2013, page 629.

The Beach Boys recorded it in 1963 with changed lyrics as "South Bay Surfer", after Brian Wilson had recorded it with The Honeys in yet another iteration, as "Surfin' Down the Swanee River". The Beach Boys would later revisit it as an instrumental intro to " Ol' Man River" during the recording sessions for their 1969 20/20 album, which wouldn't make the final cut.

Larry Groce sang the song on Disney Children's Favorite Songs 2 in 1979, omitting the second verse.

Other media appearances

*1930 '' Mammy'' – sung by minstrel chorus
*1935 ''Mississippi'' — sung by Bing Crosby
*1936 '' Mr. Deeds Goes to Town'' – 1st verse sung by Jean Arthur
*1939 '' Swanee River''
*1940 '' Remember the Night'' – performed by Fred MacMurray (piano and vocal)
*1941 '' Babes on Broadway'' – Eddie Peabody on banjo, dubbing for Mickey Rooney
*1941 '' Nice Girl?'' – sung by Deanna Durbin
*1942 '' The Palm Beach Story'' – sung by the Ale and Quail Club members
*1944 '' Ghost Catchers'' – danced by the Ghost
*1947 '' Road to Rio'' – a few lines sung by Bing Crosby and Bob Hope
* The song is featured in two 1956 episodes of ''The Honeymooners'' TV series. The beginning of Swanee River is played by Ed Norton (on the harmonica) before Ralph's apology in "A Matter of Record" (#1.15). In the episode, "The $99,000 Answer" (#1.19), 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.
*1961 '' The Alvin Show'' - sung by Alvin and the Chipmunks, originally from the album '' Sing Again with The Chipmunks''.
*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.
*2010 '' The King's Speech'' film - Sung a cappella by Lionel Logue ( Geoffrey Rush), the speech and language therapist of the future King George VI ( Colin Firth), during an impromptu session
*2018 '' BlacKkKlansman'' - An orchestral version of Swanee River plays over a clip from Gone With the Wind (film) during the opening scene.

See also

* List of best-selling sheet music

References

External links

Closeup of Foster's notebook page with first draft of "Old Folks at Home", including substitution of "Pedee" with "Swannee"

{{DEFAULTSORT:Old Folks At Home
1851 songs
American folk songs
Blackface minstrel songs
Songs written by Stephen Foster
Florida
Music of Florida
Symbols of Florida
Songs about old age
Songs about Florida
Songs about rivers
Songs of the American Civil War
Works subject to expurgation