Dear Friends,
Old Folks at Home
by Stephen Foster (July 4, 1826 – January 13, 1864)
Arranged and performed by Ishmael Wallace
Way down upon the Swannee River,
Far, far away,
There’s where my heart is turning ever,
There’s where the old folks stay.
All up and down the whole creation,
Sadly I roam,
Still longing for the old plantation,
And for the old folks at home.
Chorus:
All the world is sad and dreary
Everywhere I roam.
Oh, brothers, how my heart grows weary,
Far from the old folks at home.
All ‘round the little farm I wander’d,
When I was young;
Then many happy days I squander’d,
Many the songs I sung.
When I was playing with my brother,
Happy was I.
Oh, take me to my kind old mother,
There let me live and die.
One little hut among the bushes,
One that I love,
Still sadly to my memory rushes,
No matter where I rove.
When will I see the bees a-humming,
All ‘round the comb?
When shall I hear the banjo tumming,
Down in my good old home?
(Lyrics as I sing them, slightly Bowdlerized)
Stephen Foster (photograph circa 1860)
“Morning has broken
Like the first morning…”
Eleanor Farjeon
Into a morning of historical time has emerged the morning of original time — that time which was at the beginning, and always is; that time when the Ancestors roamed the Earth, laying down the patterns which we develop, the standards on which we improvise.
When we see the blue sky and feel, “This is a painting by Raphael”, we witness this interpenetration of times. We sense that the sky is a copy of that higher original to which the painting had introduced us. The more classic a work of art, the more it belongs to this original world, and the less to its creator.
In this regard, it is oddly fitting that Stephen Foster sold the rights to his song. It was published under the name of a famous bandleader and marketed as “a real plantation song.” Though obviously false, in a deeper sense the marketing told the truth: “Old Folks at Home” belongs to the original world, the world of the Ancestors.
Thank you so much.
With every good wish,
Ishmael
I offer lessons online in keyboard harmony; for a taste of the insights to which it may lead, please see my website: