[Warning: contains the N-word. No hatred is intended. This song is presented in its original form as a part of music history.]
a 1896 popular song
words and music by Barney Fagan
From the sheet music cover: “The new coon hit. A swell colored affair in verse and song.”
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The sheet music:
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Accompaniment:
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Lyrics
1. Thar’ is gwine to be a festival this evenin’
And a gatherin’ of color mighty rare
Thar’ll be noted individuals
Of prominent distinctiveness
To permeate the colored atmosphere
Sunny Africa’s Four Hundred’s gwine to be thar
To do honor to my lovely fiancee
Thar’ will be a grand ovation
Of especial ostentation
When the parson gives the dusky bride away
Chorus
My gal is a highborn lady
She’s black, but none too shady
Feather’d like a peacock, just as gay
She is not colored, she was born that way
I’m proud of my black Venus
No coon can come between us
‘Long the line they can’t outshine
This high born gal of mine
2. When the preacher man
Propounds the vital question
“Does ye’ take that gal for better or for wuss?”
I will feel as if my soul
Had left my body, gone to glory
And I know my heart will make an awful fuss
I anticipates a very funny feelin’
Nigger’s eyefall, like a diamond sure to shine
But I’ll bask in honeyed clover
When the ceremony’s over
And I press the ruby lips of baby mine
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Sung here by Fred Feild: