Difference between revisions of "Oh! Susanna"

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== Reference ==
 
== Reference ==
  
[[Category:Black Racism in Nursery Rhymes]]
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[[Category:Black-Targeted Racism in Nursery Rhymes]]

Latest revision as of 09:23, 15 March 2021

Oh! Susanna is a folk song by Stephen Foster (1826–1864), first published by W. C. Peters & Co. in Cincinnati in 1848.[1] It is among the most popular American songs ever written. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.[2]

Lyrics

The modern version of Oh! Susanna:


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

Going to Louisiana, my true love for to see

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

For I come from Alabama with a banjo on my knee

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! Oh don't you cry for me!

For I come from Alabama with a banjo on my knee!

Controversy

There are the first lyrics published upon release of the song in 1848. The original version is currently stored in the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.[3] Some part of the lyrics was written as below:

It rain’d all night de day I left, De wedder it was dry, The sun so hot I froze to def.

The protagonist of the song is an African-American slave who is portrayed as dumb and naive.[4] In the song, the singer can't grasp the ideas of temperature and geography. These original lyrics were actually recorded in the early 1900s. But there’s little evidence that the lyrics survived much longer due to multiple revisions.

Reference