[WARNING: This song contains antiquated racial stereotypes. It is presented here for historical and educational purposes only.]
A popular song from 1904.
Words and music by Alex Rogers.
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
1. I heard de ol’ folks talkin’
In our house de other night
Bout Adam in de Scripture long ago
De lady folks all bused him
Said he knowed it wusn’t right
An’ cose de men folks dey all said dat’s so
I felt sorry for Mistah Adam
An I felt like puttin’ in
Cause I knows mo’ dan dey do
All ’bout what made Adam sin
Chorus
Adam never had no Mammy
Fur to take him on her knee
And teach him right from wrong
An’ show him things he ought to see
I know down in my heart
Dat he’d a let dat apple be
But Adam never had no dear ole Mammy
2. Adam never had no childhood
Roun’ de ol’ log cabin do’
He never knowed no pickaninny life
He started in a great big
Grown up man, an’ what is mo’
He never had de right kind of a wife
Jes’ a s’pose he’d had a Mammy
When dat temptin did begin
An’ she had come an’ tol’ him Son
Don’t eat dat, it’s a sin
Sung here by Fred Feild: