[WARNING: This song contains antiquated racial stereotypes. It is presented here for historical and educational purposes only.]
A popular song of 1850
Words and music by Stephen C. Foster
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by Werner Tomaschewski:
Lyrics
1. Oh! Lemuel my lark
Oh! Lemuel my beau
I’s guine to gib a ball tonight
I’d hab you for to know
But if you want to dance
Just dance outside de door
Becayse your feet so berry large
Dey’ll cover all de floor
Refrain
Oh! Lem! Lem! Lem! Lemuel I say
Go down to de cotton field and bring de boys away
Chorus
Go down to de cotton field
Go down, I say
Go down and call de Nigga boys all
We’ll work no more to day
2. Oh! Lemuel my hope
Oh! Lemuel my joy
I’ll tell you who’ll be at de ball
My woolly headed boy
Dere’s Nelly Bly, you know
And Juliana Snow
Dere’s cane-brake Kitty likes de boys
And she’ll be sure to go
3. Oh! Lemuel is tall
Oh! Lemuel is fair
Oh Lemuel has gone to day
To take de morning air
He makes de fiddle hum
He makes de banjo tum
He rattles on de old jaw bone
And beats upon de drum
My vocal was destroyed by YouTube before I had a chance to recover it. They gave my channel a strike for “hate speech” for this song. Go figure!