My Old Kentucky Home
My Old Kentucky Home, written by Stephen Foster in 1853, is the official anthem of the US state of Kentucky .
On March 19, 1928, the state legislature adopted it as the official Kentucky song.
Forster's visit to Federal Hill Mansion, home of his cousins of the Rowans family in Bardstown , had inspired him to write the song. Senator John Rowan's wife had brought the surrounding land into the marriage as a dowry from her father William Lytle, a member of Cincinnati's high society , and Senator Rowan built the “famous home” in the West at that time, following her claims . This building is now part of My Old Kentucky Home State Park as a museum .
The song originally describes an everyday scene on a slave plantation and was a popular song in racist minstrel shows . Opinions were always divided on this description. While some saw the song as a racist description of the pseudo-idyll of slavery in the United States , others - in agreement with the famous abolitionist Frederick Douglass - interpreted the lyrics as an expression of sympathy for the African American slaves, who, however, stereotypically and romanticized as always cheerful singing fools who love their owners are depicted.
Since this question of interpretation could never be clarified with certainty, the state parliament ( Kentucky General Assembly ) decided in 1986 to defuse the song by replacing the word "darkies" (German: " Neger ") with "people" (German: "Menschen") replaced.
My Old Kentucky Home is the traditional Kentucky Derby song . There it is sung by the “University of Louisville” marching band. The University of Kentucky also has the anthem play in their basketball and football tournaments.
In 1970 Randy Newman wrote a revised version of the song. The shot contains a less sentimental take on Kentucky life.
Text (1st verse and chorus)
- The sun shines bright in the old Kentucky home,
- This summer, the people * are gay;
- The corn-top's ripe and the meadow's in the bloom
- While the birds make music all the day.
- The young folks roll on the little cabin floor
- All merry, all happy and bright;
- By'n by hard times comes a knocking at the door
- Then my old Kentucky home, good night!
- Weep no more my lady. Oh! Weep no more today!
- We will sing one song for my old Kentucky home
- For the old Kentucky home, far away.
- in the original: "darkies"
Web links
- My Old Kentucky Home played by the University of Kentucky Band (MP3; 1.4 MB)
- http://www.jochenscheytt.de/minstrelshow/minstrelshowdeutsch/minliedtexte.html