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Oh! Susanna

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Schissel (talk | contribs) at 20:20, 12 February 2014 (→Popularity and adaptations: the typeset at IMSLP does include the 4th verse with no explanation or critical commentary given, nor is it clear what version it's based on (the link to 1848 vers. I added, later, not the typesetter.) So, !IMSLPfor this). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

This article is about the folk song. For other uses, see Oh! Susanna (disambiguation).
For the 1936 film, see Banjo on My Knee (film).
"Oh! Susanna"
Original sheet music
Song
LanguageEnglish
PublishedCincinnati: W. C. Peters & Co. (1848)
Composer(s)Stephen Foster
Lyricist(s)Stephen Foster

"Oh! Susanna" is a minstrel song by Stephen Foster (1826–1864), first published in 1848. It is among the most popular American songs ever written.

Background

In 1846, Stephen Foster moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, and became a bookkeeper with his brother's steamship company. While in Cincinnati, Foster wrote "Oh! Susanna", possibly for his men's social club.[1][2] The song was first performed by a local quintet at a concert in Andrews' Eagle Ice Cream Saloon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on September 11, 1847.[3] It was first published by W. C. Peters & Co. in Cincinnati in 1848.[4] Other minstrel troupes performed the work, and, as was common at the time, many registered the song for copyright under their own names. As a result, it was copyrighted and published at least 21 times[5] from February 25, 1848, through February 14, 1851.[2] Foster earned just $100 ($2,653 in 2012 dollars[6]) for the song,[7] but its popularity led the publishing firm Firth, Pond & Company to offer him a royalty rate of two cents per copy of sheet music sold,[2] convincing him to become America's first fully professional songwriter.[8][9]

The name Susannah may refer to Foster's deceased sister Charlotte, whose middle name was Susannah.[10] There are however others that dispute that.[who?]

Song

"Oh! Susanna" (1848)
Stephen Foster's "Oh! Susanna" performed by the United States Navy Concert Band
Problems playing this file? See media help.

The song blends together a variety of musical traditions. The opening line refers to "a banjo on my knee", referring to a musical instrument with African origins, but the song takes its beat from the polka, which had just reached America from Europe.[3][11] Glenn Weiser suggests the song was influenced by an existing work, "Rose of Alabama" (1846), with which it shares some similarities in lyrical theme and musical structure.[12]

The first two phrases of the melody are based on the major pentatonic scale.[13] Playⓘ

The lyrics are largely nonsense,[2] as characterized by lines such as "It rain'd all night the day I left, The weather it was dry, The sun so hot I froze to death..." (first verse) and "I shut my eyes to hold my breath..." (second verse). It is one of the few songs by Foster that use the word "nigger" (others are "Old Uncle Ned" and "Oh! Lemuel", both also among Foster's early works), which appears in the second verse ("De lectric fluid magnified, And killed five hundred nigger.").

Popularity and adaptations

The song is not only one of Stephen Foster's best-known songs,[14] but also one of the best-known American songs.[15] No American song had sold more than 5,000 copies before; "Oh! Susanna" sold over 100,000.[16] After its publication, it quickly became known as an "unofficial theme of the Forty-Niners",[14] with new lyrics about traveling to California with a "washpan on my knee".[5] A traditional Pennsylvania Dutch version uses Foster's melody but replaces the lyrics entirely.[17]

Lyrics themselves:
1.
I come from Alabama with my Banjo on my knee—
I’se gwine to Lou’siana my true lub for to see.
It rain’d all night de day I left, de wedder it was dry;
The sun so hot I froze to def—Susanna, dont you cry.

Chorus:
Oh! Susanna, do not cry for me;
I come from Alabama, wid my Banjo on my knee.
 
2.
I jump’d aboard the telegraph and trabbeled down de ribber,
De lectrie fluid magnified, and kill’d five hundred Nigger.
De bullgine bust, de hoss ran off, I really thought I’d die;
I shut my eyes to hold my bref—Susanna, dont you cry.
Chorus:
 
3.
I had a dream de udder night, when ebry ting was still;
I thought I saw Susanna dear, a coming down de hill.
De buckweat cake was in her mouf, de tear was in her eye,
I says, I’se coming from de souf, -- Susanna, dont you cry.
Chorus:

An unauthorized fourth verse was added:[citation needed][18]

4.
I soon will be in New Orleans, and den I’ll look all round,
And when I find Susanna, I' fall upon the ground.
But if I do not find her, dis darkie 'I surely die,
And when I'm dead and buried, Susanna, dont you cry.

Notable recordings

A 1955 novelty recording of the song by The Singing Dogs reached #22 on the US Billboard Pop Singles chart.[19] A humorous recording of "Oh! Susanna" was the last track on the second album by The Byrds, Turn! Turn! Turn!, in 1965.[20][21] James Taylor also included a version of the song on his second album, Sweet Baby James, in 1970.[22] A recording of the song is also featured as the first track on Americana, an album by Neil Young and Crazy Horse released in June, 2012.[23]

In 1963, The Big Three recorded Tim Rose's new arrangement of the song as "The Banjo Song".[24] The Dutch band Shocking Blue, in turn, used the new arrangement with completely different lyrics for their 1969 hit "Venus",[citation needed] which has subsequently been covered by many other musicians.

The website JibJab used the tune to create a song called "Big Box Mart", about big box stores.

References

  1. ^ Richard Jackson. 1974. Stephen Foster song book: original sheet music of 40 songs. Courier Dover Press. p. 177.
  2. ^ a b c d "Foster Stephen C(ollins)", Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, Gale via HighBeam Research, 2001, retrieved 2012-04-25(subscription required)
  3. ^ a b Zwerdling, Daniel (1997-09-13), "Stephen Foster", NPR Weekend All Things Considered, National Public Radio via HighBeam Research, retrieved 2012-04-25(subscription required)
  4. ^ "Oh! Susanna". 2008. Retrieved September 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  5. ^ a b Behe, Rege (2009-06-28), "Stephen Foster really did write songs the whole world sang.", Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Trib Total Media, Inc. via HighBeam Research, retrieved 2012-04-25(subscription required)
  6. ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  7. ^ Cahill, Greg (2008-11-14), "Oh! Stephen Foster", Pacific Sun, Pacific Sun via HighBeam Research, retrieved 2012-04-25, But popularity didn't translate into success. His ebullient "Oh! Susanna" became the theme song of the Gold Rush, but Foster earned just $100 for that hit because crooked publishers failed to pay his royalties.(subscription required)
  8. ^ Marks, Rusty (2001-04-22), "ON TELEVISION: Stephen Foster: Quintessential songwriter lived in music, died in ruin", Sunday Gazette-Mail, Gazette Daily Inc. via HighBeam Research, retrieved 2012-04-25, The song, written in 1847, soon spread throughout the country. Foster decided to become a full-time songwriter, a vocation no one had bothered to pursue until then.(subscription required)
  9. ^ PITTSBURGH NATIVE SON AND SONGWRITER STEPHEN FOSTER TO BE INDUCTED INTO NASHVILLE SONGWRITERS HALL OF FAME OCT. 17., US Fed News Service, Including US State News. The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd. via HighBeam Research, 2010-10-16, retrieved 2012-04-25(subscription required)
  10. ^ Michael Saffle. 2000. Perspectives on American music, 1900-1950 Taylor & Francis. p. 382.
  11. ^ Gross, Terry (2010-04-16), "The Lyrics And Legacy Of Stephen Foster", NPR Fresh Air, National Public Radio via HighBeam Research, retrieved 2012-04-25, Mr. EMERSON: I think that Stephen Foster really did create popular music as we still recognize it today. He did it because he took together all these strands of the American experience. That song is extremely Irish in its origins, just as other songs are extremely African-American, just as others are extremely Italian and operatic, or sometimes German, and even Czechoslovakian. For instance, the beat of "Oh! Susanna" is the beat of a polka. He's clearly effectively merged them into a single music. And I think he merged them in way that appeals to the multicultural mongrel experience of America in its history and culture.(subscription required)
  12. ^ "Oh! Susanna by Stephen Foster — Likely Origins". Celticguitarmusic.com. Retrieved 2011-07-01.
  13. ^ Benward & Saker (2003). Music: In Theory and Practice, Vol. I, p.37. Seventh Edition. ISBN 978-0-07-294262-0.
  14. ^ a b Tuleja, Tad (1994), "Oh, Susanna", The New York Public Library Book of Popular Americana, Macmillan Reference USA via HighBeam Research, retrieved 2012-04-25(subscription required)
  15. ^ "MEMORABILIA COLLECTION HONORS COMPOSER MUSICIAN WROTE 'OH, SUSANNA'", The Cincinnati Post, Dialog LLC via HighBeam Research, 2002-03-21, retrieved 2012-04-25(subscription required)
  16. ^ Stephen Foster, Meet the Musicians; accessed 2012.09.11.
  17. ^ Lieder der Pennsylvania Dutch (II), retrieved 2012-04-25
  18. ^ Not evidence of lack of authorization per se (so cit-needed tag should not be removed) but the 4th verse is -not- present in the first edition published as scanned by the Library of Congress- http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/sm1848.450780 - one does note.
  19. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2009), Top Pop Singles 1955-2008, Record Research, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
  20. ^ Interview with Roger McGuinn of the Byrds - February 1970, Vincent Flanders: His Personal Web Site, retrieved 2012-04-25
  21. ^ "Turn! Turn! Turn!", Allmusic, retrieved 2012-04-25
  22. ^ "Sweet Baby James", Allmusic, retrieved 2012-04-25
  23. ^ "Americana - Neil Young & Crazy Horse", Allmusic.com, retrieved 2012-05-09
  24. ^ "Oh Susanna (The Banjo Song)", Allmusic, retrieved 2012-04-25
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