Lyr Add: Massa's In De Cold Ground (Foster)

Subject: Lyr Add: Massa's In De Cold Ground (Foster)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 27 Sep 13 - 03:33 PM

MASSA'S IN DE COLD GROUND
(Stephen Collins Foster, 1852)

1
Round de meadows am a ringing
De darkeys' mournful song,
While de mocking-bird am singing
Happy as de day is long.
Where de ivy am a-creeping,
O'er de grassy mound,
Dare old massa am a-sleeping,
Sleeping in de cold, cold ground.

CHORUS
Down in de cornfield
Hear dat mournful sound;
All de darkeys am a weeping
Massa's in de cold, cold ground.

2
When de autumn leaves were falling,
When de days were cold,
'Twas hard to hear old massa calling,
Cayse he was so weak and old.
Now de orange tree am blooming
On de sandy shore,
Now de summer days am coming,
Massa nebber calls no more.

3
Massa make the darkeys love him,
Cayse he was so kind,
Now dey sadly weep above him,
Mourning cayse he leave dem behind.
I cannot work before tomorrow,
Cayse de teardrops flow,
I try to drive away my sorrow
Pickin' on de old banjo.


One of the best Foster melodies. Sung by Tom Roush on his cd, Down Among the Cane Brakes.

http://www.stephen-foster-songs.de/foster015.htm
Midi and mp3 at this fine website.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Massa's In De Cold Ground (Foster)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 27 Sep 13 - 03:36 PM

Correction:
Chorus line 2
Hear dat mournful sound.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Massa's In De Cold Ground (Foster)
From: Paul Burke
Date: 27 Sep 13 - 07:20 PM

My mother sang this, beautifully and ironically. Beautifully: she always sang that way, day in, day out, promiscuous singing to accompany her drudgery, and I wish I had recorded her songs, because there was a lot of local tradition and music hall mixed in with the pops of 1025 onwards. Ironically, because she could see it was racist crap, and occasionally slipped in variations such as "all de darkies am a weepin', wishin' dat dere skins was white".

RIP Peggy (1927-2000).

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Massa's In De Cold Ground (Foster)
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 27 Sep 13 - 08:26 PM

Back in the 40's , I heard:

Fix me a julep and kick me a hound,
And we'll all shout " Yassah, Yassah Yassah!"
Gonna dig us a hole in the cold, cold ground
For Mistah an Missus Massa.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Massa's In De Cold Ground (Foster)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 27 Sep 13 - 08:49 PM

Stephen Foster often had a melancholy turn of mind. Imagine him composing these songs about himself, as I think he might.
It does not take much imagination to change a word here and there.

Old Folks At Home

All the world is sad and dreary
Everywhere I roam
Oh! mother, how my heart grows weary
Far from the old folks at home

All round the little farm I wandered
When I was young
Then many happy days I squandered
Many the songs I sung
When I was playing with my brother
Happy was I
Oh! take me to my kind old mother
There let me live and die.

His lyrics call up images with a simplicity that few have equaled.