Subject: Song ADD: Down in Dixie (Mormon folksong)
From:
Jon W.
Date: 09 Sep 98 - 01:46 PM
Yet another song reflecting the hardships of colonizing southwestern Utah by the Mormon Pioneers. From a CD titled "The Beehive Band (Hymns, Songs, and Fiddle Tunes of the Utah Pioneers)." The liner notes indicate that the tune was adapted by the composer from a fiddle tune entitled "The Drunken Hiccups" which is played after the song, on the CD.
DOWN IN DIXIE
by Samuel (Doc) Kenner (1833-1907)
as played/sung by The Beehive Band
As I was a-walkin' on Main Street one day,
A comrade come to me and thus he did say,
"Prepare yourself, Doc, for the favor is thine,
To go down to Dixie, raise cotton, make wine."
So I packed up my blankets, my hopes they ran high,
To pay my first homage to fair Dixie sky
And oh, but the hardships, then did I see,
Pour in in plenty on Nancy and me.
Arriving in Dixie, the scenery was grand,
The lofty crowned cactus and rich sandy land.
The food we brought with us was just about gone,
But I said to Nancy, "We'll have to go on."
Now my wife she come to me one morning and said,
"I'll tell you the truth, Doc, we're quite out of bread."
"Just hand me a sack", I replied with a frown,
"I think I can borrow some corn in the town."
"Now, Doc, you well know, I took the last sack,
To patch up the holes in your sun-stricken back."
Yes, I tried one dark morning to lay down and die,
And pay my last homage to Dixie's fair sky.
But the bishop come 'long, and he told me quite flat,
"Come work on the ditch, Doc, there's no time for that."
Some years now have passed since the terrible day,
And scenes of our trials have faded away.
We'll now turn the pages and look for a while,
On the sight of the picture that beams with a smile.
Instead of the cactus, the snake, and the thorn,
We now have the grapevine, the cane and corn.
X:1
T:Down in Dixie
C:Samuel "Doc" Kenner
S:The Beehive Band
M:3/4
Q:1/4=80
K:G
N:Rhythm can vary freely from straight (as shown in 1st line)
N:to dotted (as shown in 2nd and 4th lines)
A/2B/2|c G G|E D D|G G A|B2
A/2B/2|c G3/2 G/2|E D D|G G3/2 A/2|G2 z/2
B/2|c d e|d z A/2B/2|c d e|d2
A/2B/2|c G G|E D D|G G3/2 A/2|G2
|
sj
