[Warning: contains racial stereotypes. Original presented as part of music history.]
a 1920 popular song
words by Ernie Erdman
music by Benny Davis
The sheet music:
Accompaniment:
Lyrics
1. Shades of night are fallin’
Pickaninny’s callin’
Callin’ for his mammy soft and low
Mammy knows the reason
White folks have been teasin’
Pickaninny’s heart is hurtin’ so
Little pickaninny starts to cry
Mammy soothes him with this lullaby
Chorus
Mammy’s little Sugar Plum
Mammy’s little yum yum yum
Dry your chalky eyes it’s time to go to rest
Lay your little kinky head on mammy’s breast
Don’tcha mind what white folks say
They’ll be sorry some sweet day
And tho’ you may be black just like a crow
I couldn’t love you more if you were white as snow
So, go to sleep my Sugar Plum
You’re mammy’s little only one
Lord love yer, mammy’s little Sugar Plum
2. When the day is dawnin’
Early in the mornin’
Pickaninny starts right in to play
White kids won’t be near him
Nothin’ seems to cheer him
All he does is cry the livelong day
Soon his dear old mammy leaves a sigh
And again she sings this lullaby
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Sung here by Fred Feild: