Lyr Add: Arkansas (NOT from 'Big River')

Subject: Lyr Add: Arkansas (NOT from 'Big River')
From: GUEST,Dale
Date: 26 Sep 03 - 01:08 AM

Since Arkansas from Big River has its own thread, I figured I would give Arkansas (NOT from Big River) equal billing ~~ I had been meaning to post it sometime anyway.

Arkansas
Eva Ware Barnett (1881-1978)
Official State Song of Arkansas 1917-1963, and reinstated as one of several state songs in 1987.

I am thinking tonight of the Southland,
Of the home of my childhood days,
Where I roamed through the woods and the meadow,
By the mill and the brook that plays.

Where the roses are in bloom,
And the sweet magnolia too,
Where the jasmine is white,
And the fields are violet blue.

There a welcome awaits all her children,
Who have wandered afar from home.

Chorus
Arkansas, Arkansas, 'Tis a name dear,
'Tis a place I call "Home Sweet Home,"
Arkansas, Arkansas, I salute thee,
From thy shelter no more I'll roam.

'Tis a land full of joy and of sunshine,
Rich in pearls, and in diamonds rare,
Full of hope, faith, and love for the stranger,
Who may pass 'neath her portals fair.

Where the rice fields are full,
And the cotton, corn and hay,
Where the fruits of the fields,
Bloom in winter months and May.

'Tis the Land that I love most of all, dear,
And to her let us all give cheer.

Chorus

I heard this sung by a preteen duo who sang it from the stage of the Ozark Folk Center, Mountain View, Arkansas, in 1974.   In a couple of places I have given their version preference over several printed versions I have seen which substitute first of all for most of all in the chorus and in the last verse substitute There for the two occurrences of Where. I have never heard any version but theirs, and it sure sounds "right" to me. Take your pick.

I'll bet you're all dying to know what the other Arkansas State Songs are, aren't you? They are Oh, Arkansas by Terry Rose and Gary Klass, The Arkansas Traveler, and Arkansas (You Run Deep In Me) by Wayland Holyfield. That is the song that Arkansas Educational Television Network (AETN) signs off with each night and signs on again with each morning.