A popular song from 1924.
Words by Jack Yellen.
Music by Milton Ager.
Sheet music provided by Laurence Rubenstein:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
- I saw a bee the other day
Buzzin’ away on a rose
A bee can be where he wants to be
And he can see what he wants to see
I’d like to be a little be
Happy and free, Goodness knows!
You’d see me make a beeline for
The place I want to see once more
Chorus
Gee! I wanna and I’m gonna see my Tennessee
Ne’er forgotten fields of cotton beckon there to me
I could lay for hours under the skies
‘Mong the flowers and butterflies
I know that when I see Tennessee
Then I see Paradise
If I had to, I’d be glad to
Walk those weary miles
Just to be in Tennessee an’
See my sweetie’s smiles
Tenn-E double S double E
Is Tennessee to you, but Heaven to me
Lordy gee I want to see my Tennessee
Patter
One I see the sun that woke me up each morn
Two I see the dew upon the waving corn
Three A shady tree; Four A cabin door
Five A honey hive; and wait I see some more
Six The little chicks a-peckin’ on the ground
Seven I see Heaven when I look around
Eight The golden gate opens up for me
Nine I see a sign; what’s on it? Tennessee
- I met an aviator who
Recently flew ‘Round the globe
In all his travels, he said to me
He saw no country like Tennessee
Gardens and meadows all around
Cover the ground, Like a robe
Wait ’till you see it, you’ll know why
I keep a-looking south, and cry
Sung here by Fred Feild: