"Hard Times Come Again No More" is an American folk song written by Stephen C. Foster as early as 1859. The song begins with "Let us pause in life's pleasures and count its many tears while we all sup sorrow with the poor." The singer describes sad people suffering from poverty, and begs, "Hard times, come again no more." According to Robert B. Waltz, it is the most popular Foster song with folk revival singers and wasn't especially popular at the time it was written. Sigmund Spaeth regards it as an "adequate potboiler."^[1] Folk music, in the original sense of the term, is music by and of the people. ... Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826 - January 13, 1864) was the pre-eminent songwriter in the United States of his era. ... A roots revival (folk revival) is a trend which includes young performers popularizing the traditional musical styles of their ancestors. ... Sigmund Spaeth Sigmund Gottfried Spaeth (April 10, 1885, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – November 12, 1965, New York City, New York) was a musicologist who traced the sources and origins of popular songs to their folk and classical roots. ...

Lyrics

Let us pause in life's pleasures and count its many tears,

While we all sup sorrow with the poor;

There's a song that will linger forever in our ears;

Oh Hard times come again no more.

Tis the song, the sigh of the weary,

Hard Times, hard times, come again no more

Many days you have lingered around my cabin door;

Oh hard times come again no more.

While we seek mirth and beauty and music light and gay,

There are frail forms fainting at the door;

Though their voices are silent, their pleading looks will say

Oh hard times come again no more.

There's a pale drooping maiden who toils her life away,

With a worn heart whose better days are o'er:

Though her voice would be merry, 'tis sighing all the day,

Oh hard times come again no more.

Tis a sigh that is wafted across the troubled wave,

Tis a wail that is heard upon the shore

Tis a dirge that is murmured around the lowly grave

Oh hard times come again no more.

Recordings

• L. M. Hilton, "Hard Times Come Again No More (Mormon version)" (on Mormon Folk Songs, 1952)
• Bob Dylan, "Hard Times" (on Good as I Been to You, 1992)
• Emmylou Harris also sings 'Hard Times Come Again No More' on her 1992 At the Ryman album.
• Seamus Kennedy, "Hard Times Come Again No More" (on Seamus Kennedy: In Concert, 1995)
• 2nd South Carolina String Band, "Hard Times Come Again No More" on "Southern Soldier" (1997)
• James Taylor, Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, and Mark O'Connor, "Hard Times Come Again No More" (on Appalachian Journey, 2000)
• Johnny Cash, "Hard Times" (on Unearthed, Volume Three, 2003)
• Mirah with the Black Cat Orchestra, "Hard Times" (on To All We Stretch The Open Arm, 2004)
• Nanci Griffith, on "Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful)"
• Renée Fleming (Haunted Heart, 2005)

James Taylor and Eastmountainsouth also have recorded the song. Jennifer Warnes, "Hard Times Come Again No More" on her (Arista 4127) 1979 "Shot Through The Heart" album. The version by Eastmountainsouth was used in the film Elizabethtown. This article is about the history and use of the word Mormon. For information about the religious beliefs and culture of Mormons, see Mormonism. ... This article is about the recording artist. ... Good as I Been to You is a traditional folk music album made by Bob Dylan in 1992. ... Emmylou Harris (b. ... Year 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar). ... At the Ryamn was a 1992 live album by Emmylou Harris, recorded at Nashvilles Ryman Auditorium (the original location of the Grand Old Opry), and featuring the then newly formed acoustic band, the Nash Ramblers. ... The 2nd South Carolina String Band The 2nd South Carolina String Band is a band of Civil War re-enactors who recreate American popular music of the 1820s to 1860s with authentic instruments and in period style. ... James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, born in Belmont, Massachusetts. ... This is a Chinese name; the family name is Ma Yo-Yo Ma (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Pinyin: ) (b. ... Edgar Meyer (born November 24, 1960) is a prominent contemporary bassist. ... Mark OConnor (born August 5, 1961 in Seattle, Washington) is widely considered to be the most prominent fiddler of his generation. ... Appalachian Journey is the second album from the string trio of bassist and composer Edgar Meyer, fiddler and composer Mark OConnor, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma. ... It has been suggested that Johnny Cash family be merged into this article or section. ... Unearthed is the name of a Triple J project to find and dig up (hence the name) hidden talent in regional Australia. ... Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn (Born September 17, 1974, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), is an American musician. ... Elizabethtown is a 2005 film written and directed by Cameron Crowe. ...

Songs with the same tune

• "Hard Crackers, Come Again No More" (cf. Spaeth^[1])

Further reading

References

External links

• "Hard Times Come Again No More" lyrics and score at a Digital Tradition mirror site
• "Hard Times Come Again No More" at the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library