"Old Folks at Home" is a song, sometimes also known by the first line of the lyrics, "(Way Down Upon the) Swanee River". The words and melody were originally written in 1851 by composer Stephen Foster, to be performed by a New York performing troupe, Christy's Minstrels . The name of E.P. Christy, the troupe's leader, appears on early printings of the music as the song's creator, as shown in the illustration; Christy had paid Foster to be credited, something Foster himself had suggested. Though Foster later regretted this, the deal stood.

The inspiration for the song was the Suwannee River, which runs in northern Florida. Foster never saw the Suwannee River and picked it from a map because its name fit the music (the original draft referred to the "Pedee River"), but though Foster himself never visited, the song is said to have jump-started the Florida tourism industry as travelers came to visit the river. It has been the official state song of Florida since 1935.

This song is often seen as offensive to African Americans for its imitation of black dialect (the song is intended to be from the perspective of a black man), and its references to "darkies" and "a-longin' for the old plantation". Foster himself is said to have been progressive for his time in his views about racial equality, and W.E.B. DuBois considered it "an authentic song of the Negro race". However, "Old Folks At Home" has stirred up controversy in Florida about its appropriateness as a state symbol for such usages. In 1997, former state representative Willy Logan attempted to have it replaced with something more politically neutral on the grounds that "Old Folks At Home" was racist, but he was unsuccessful. However, Florida now substitutes words like "darling", "brothers" or "dear ones" for "darkies" for official use.

The song was recorded by boogie woogie pianist Albert Ammons as "Swanee River Boogie" and by Ray Charles as "Swanee River Rock".

Lyrics

Way down upon the Swanee River,

Far, far away.

That's where my heart is yearning ever,

Home where the old folks stay.

Way down upon the Swanee River,

Far, far away-hey.

Wo, that's where my heart is yearning ever,

Home where the old folks stay.

All up and down the whole creation,

Sadly I roam.

I'm a still a-longin' for the old plantation,

Oh, for the old folks at home.

Ah-oh-oh!

Oh, my my!

Well, way down upon the Swanee River,

Far, far away-hey.

Wo, that's where my heart is yearning ever,

Home where the old folks stay,

All up and down the whole creation,

Sadly I roam.

I'm still a-longin' for the old plantation,

And for the old folks at home.

All the world is sad and dreary,

Ev'rywhere I roam,

Oh, darkies, how my heart grows weary,

Far from the old folks at home

Far from the old folks at home

Far from the old folks at home

Far from the old folks at home.

External links

• Old Folks At Home, from the Center for American Music, home of the Foster Hall Collection
• New York Times article on Foster mentioning "Old Folks at Home"
• www.negrophile.com article on lyrics, alternate state songs