Oh! Susanna

"Oh! Susanna" is a song written by Stephen Foster in 1847. Popularly associated with the California Gold Rush, the song is occasionally (incorrectly) called "Banjo on My Knee".

In 1843, the year Dan Emmett established The Virginia Minstrels as the first blackface troupe in New York, Foster, 16, was working as a bookkeeper for his brother Morrison's business in Pittsburgh. Morrison was a friend of the early circus blackface clown, Dan Rice, and the young Stephen came under his influence.

Foster also became aware of the new fad of "Ethiopian" songs. He also met a member of the minstrel troupe, The Sable Harmonists, who performed his first attempt, "Old Uncle Ned." A contest in 1847 given by The Eagle Saloon stimulated the song called "Away Down Souf." His next attempt was titled "Susanna" – advertised at "A Grand Gala Concert" as "A new song, never before given to the public."

A local music store, Peters & Field bought the song for $100, but before they could publish it, it was pirated by a New York publisher who printed it with the name of E. P. Christy as author. Christy's Minstrels were rapidly becoming the most popular group in the Bowery theater district of Manhattan, and were to be the chief performers of Foster's minstrel songs in the 1850s.

Probably by fortuitous coincidence rather than design, the song appeared in the public eye at the same time as the new polka fad was arriving from Europe. While minstrel songs prior to this time were considered uncouth, "Oh! Susanna!" thus provided an entre to the middle-class market.

Chase, Gilbert. America's Music. New York. McGraw-Hill, Revised second edition, 1966. (pp. 289-90)

Lyrics

The traditional lyrics are, more or less,

Oh I come from Alabama with a banjo on my knee,

I'm going to Louisiana, my true love for to see

It rained all night the day I left, the weather it was dry

The sun so hot I froze to death; Susanna, don't you cry.

Oh, Susanna, don't you cry for me

For I come from Alabama,

With my banjo on my knee.

I had a dream the other night when everything was still,

I thought I saw Susanna coming up the hill,

The buckwheat cake was in her mouth, the tear was in her eye,

I said I'm coming from Dixieland, Susanna don't you cry.

I soon will be in New Orleans

And then I'll look around

And when I find my gal Susanne,

I'll fall upon the ground.

The actual original lyrics include good examples of nonsense verse:

I came from Alabama wid my banjo on my knee,

I'm g'wan to Louisiana, my true love for to see

It raind all night the day I left, the weather it was dry

The sun so hot I frose to death; Susanna, don't you cry.

Oh! Susanna Oh! don't you cry for me

I've come from Alabama

Wid mi banjo on my knee.

I had a dream de odder night, when ebery ting was still;

I thought I saw Susana, a coming down de hill.

The buckwheat cake war in her mouth, the tear was in her eye,

Says I, im coming from de South, Susana dont you cry.

I soon will be in New Orleans,and den I'll look around

And when I find Susana,I'll fall upon the ground.

But if I do not find her, Dis darkie 'l surely die,

And when I'm dead and buried,Susana, dont you cry.

Sheet music published by C. Holt Jr.. New York, [February] 1848.

The thick mock African-American dialect reflects the minstrel show tradition that Foster worked in. Foster's version included another verse that is rarely sung today because of its "violently racist" content:

I jump'd aboard the telegraph and trabbled down de ribber,

De lectrick fluid magnified, and kill'd five hundred Nigga.

De bulgine bust and de hoss ran off, I really thought I'd die;

I shut my eyes to hold my bref -- Susanna don't you cry.[1]

Instrumentation

Traditionally the song is sung by a tenor voice and accompanied by a guitar and a melody instrument, most often a harmonica. Other instruments used include piano, saxophone and other jazz and dixieland and bluegrass guitar instruments (http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=susana%C2%B4s+cho&search=Search ).

Cultural Reference

The 1936 film Banjo on My Knee starring Barbara Stanwyck and Joel McCrea takes its title from the first line of the song (also the last line of the chorus).
The Singing Dogs had a Top 40 hit in the U.S. with the song in 1955.
The tune of "Oh! Susanna" was used in the JibJab flash parody "Big Box Mart" which spoofed and criticized the large retailer Wal-Mart.
Snoopy, while dressed up like Santa Claus, plays "Oh! Susanna" on the accordion to raise money for charity in Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales
In the Viva Piñata episode "Soil and Green", Wendell Whirlm sings "D-d-dig dig dig d-dig dig dig d-dig dig dig dig dig!" to the tune of "Oh! Susanna", as he digs and plants his garden.
A soldier can be heard singing the song in the film Platoon.
It has appeared in at least two video games: Konami's Pooyan (after clearing the second level for the second time), and Midway's (Root Beer) Tapper as the background music of the first level.
James Taylor covered this song on his album Sweet Baby James. Apart from the intro and outro, it is played with vocals accompanied by solo guitar in a more jazzy feel, reminiscent of the solo guitar work of Bucky Pizzarelli. He includes slight variations on the traditional lyrics.

The song is frequently parodied when an ersatz folk song is needed. For example:

In the film Duck Soup, the Marx Brothers sing a quick verse, "Oh, Freedonia, oh don't you cry for me, 'cause I'm comin' round the mountain with a banjo on my knee."
In the cartoon The Wacky Wabbit, Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny sing a variation that ends, "Oh, Susanna, don't you cry for me, 'cause I'm going to dig up wots of gold, 'V for Victowy'!"
In the film Paint Your Wagon, part of the shivaree is the quick verse, "Oh, Susanna, he's happy as can be, for he's got him somethin' better than a banjo on his knee!"
Carly Simon included a version of Oh! Susanna on her 2007 album Into White.

In the novel, The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd, May regularly hums the song to herself when feeling troubled.

In Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen, the finale of M*A*S*H on TV, the Chinese musicians who meet Major Winchester play "Oh! Susanna" as they follow him back into the 4077th; when they approach Colonel Potter they finish.

In the video game Curse of Blackmoor Manor by Her Interactive gaining the easter egg then pressing the bottom number on the phone results in the chorus of this song being sung to music.

In theTwilight Zone episode A Stop at Willoughby the song can be heard when the protagonist of the story is getting off the train for the last time and entering the town of Willoughby.

In Army of Darkness when "Bad Ash" begins physically dividing from "Good Ash" and forcing the both to run into the forest, "Good Ash" asks "where are you taking me?!" and "Bad Ash" begins singing the second verse.

In the 2007 film "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford", on the day Jesse is shot, he is returning home with his son, and in the background a women is singing the song "Oh! Susanna". It is not identified who is singing it, but it may be presumed it might be someone on the street, but it's of undetermined origin.

Trivia

The melody of this song is so simple that it can be played on a touch-tone telephone. It is sufficient to use the following keys: 1, 2, 3, 6, 9 and #.
There are also at least two Pennsylvania Dutch versions of "Oh, Susanna" - one faithful translation and a variation. (See External Links)

External links

guitar-guides.com – free easy guitar arrangement of "Oh! Susanna"
Original scanned sheet music by Stephen Foster (from Duke University)
"Oh, California", sung to the same tune as "Oh! Susanna"
Pennsylvania-Dutch Version of "Oh, Susanna"