Listen
to the song
Introduction: |
| Stephen Foster, the composer of this song, was born in Kentucky in 1826. |
| He wrote many songs about plantation life as he saw it. His words and |
| melodies give us glimpses of southern USA in the late 1800s. Foster's songs |
| were populadzed by banjo-playing singers who traveled from town to town. |
| Stephen Foster's songs have been known as American classics for over a |
| century. Now people in Korea, Poland and many other countries know |
| and love "Oh, Susanna!," "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair," and |
| other songs by Foster. |
Lyrics: |
| I come from Alabama with my banjo on my knee. |
| I'm going to Louisiana my true loved one to see. |
| It rained all night the day I left; the weather was so dry, |
| The sun so hot I froze to death.
Susanna, don't you cry!
|
| CHORUS: Oh, Susanna! Oh, don't you cry for me! |
|
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 comin' down the hill. |
| A buckwheat cake was in her mouth. A tear was in her eye. |
| I said to her, "I'm comin', girl.
Susanna, don't you cryl"
CHORUS
|
| Oh, I soon will be in New Orleans and then I'll look around. |
| And when I find Susanna, I'll fall upon the ground. |
| But if I do not find her, then I will surely die. |
| And when I'm dead and buried, Susanna, don't you cry! CHORUS |
Listen
to the song| Introduction:
|
| This song became popular when people rushed to California to find gold in 1849, |
| but the melody is probably much older. Toward the end of the 19th century, |
| "Clementine" was a favorite in the city of San Francisco. Then college and |
| community groups picked it up. Now people in Chile, China, and the Czech |
| Republic know about this famous woman named Clementine. Clementine was |
| the daughter of an old miner who went out to California during the Gold Rush. |
| In later years, university singers added on the last verse. |
| Lyrics:
|
| 1. In a cavern in a canyon, excavating for a mine, |
| Lived a miner, forty-niner, and
his daughter Clementine.
|
| CHORUS: Oh, my darlin', oh, my darlin', oh, my darlin' Clementine! |
|
You are lost and gone forever, dreadful 5 sorry, Clementine.
|
| 2. She was light and like a fairy and her shoes were number nine. |
| Herring boxes without topses were
sandals for Clementine.
CHORUS
|
| 3. She drove ducklings to the water every morning just at nine, |
| StubWd her toe against a splinter,
fe,16 into the foaming brine.
CHORUS
|
| 4. Ruby lips above the water blowing bubbles soft and fine |
| But, alas, I was no swimmer so
I lost' my clementine.
CHORUS
|
| 5. Then the miner, forty-niners soon began peak and pine, |
| Thought he ought to join his daughter.
Now he's with his Clementine. CHORUS
|
| 6. How I missed her, how I missed her, how I missed my Clementine! |
| Until I ldesed her baby sister
and forgat6 my Clementine.
CHORUS
|
Reference: |
| Grenough, M. (1994) Sing it ¡I London: McGRAW-HILI |
