[Disclaimer: the racial terms and images in this song do not represent the attitude of sheet music singer. They are from the time when slavery was practiced in the United States. This recording is presented in original form as a part of musical history.]
a 1853 popular song
words and music by Stephen C. Foster
This song was inspired by a visit to extended family in Bardstown, Kentucky. They had slaves and slave children there. Minstrel songs like this, and the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin, presented a slave’s viewpoint. This put a human face on slavery which made the condition of slavery real for many who did not live in a slave state. It probably had the effect of increasing sympathy for the slave, leading to emancipation ten years later. It is the official song of the state of Kentucky.
The sheet music:
Accompaniment:
Lyrics
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, good night!
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
2. They hunt no more for the possum and the coon
On the 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, good night!
3. The head must bow and the back will have to bend
Wherever the darkey 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, good night!
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Sung here by Fred Feild: