|
"My Old Kentucky Home" (also titled "My Old Kentucky Home, Good-Night!") is the state song of Kentucky. It was published by Stephen Foster in 1853 and was adopted by the Kentucky General Assembly as the official state song on March 19, 1928. Forty-nine states of the United States (all except New Jersey) have one or more state songs, selected by the state legislature as a symbol of the state. ...
Official language(s) English[1] Capital Frankfort Largest city Louisville Area Ranked 37th - Total 40,444 sq mi (104,749 km²) - Width 140 miles (225 km) - Length 379 miles (610 km) - % water 1. ...
Stephen Foster Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826 – January 13, 1864), known as the father of American music, was the pre-eminent songwriter in the United States of the 19th century. ...
The Kentucky State Capitol Building in Frankfort, KY The Kentucky General Assembly, also called the Kentucky Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kentucky. ...
Although many believe that the song was inspired by Foster's visit to Federal Hill Mansion, the home of his cousins, the Rowans, in Bardstown, Kentucky, according to the Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives, "Historians have neither found clear evidence that Foster did visit the mansion, named Federal Hill, nor that he wrote the famous song in its parlor."[1]. Rowan's wife was given land by her father William Lytle, a member of the prominent Lytle family of Cincinnati, and there Rowan built his home. This house, now part of My Old Kentucky Home State Park, appears on the Kentucky state quarter. Bardstown is a city located in Nelson County, Kentucky. ...
The Lytle family of Cincinnati are considered to be Cincinnatis first family. ...
Cincinnati, Ohio viewed from the SW, across the Ohio River from Kentucky. ...
My Old Kentucky Home State Park is a state park in Kentucky. ...
Obverse of redesigned quarter The 50 State Quarters program is the release of a series of commemorative coins by the United States Mint. ...
The song describes a scene of life on a slave plantation. The abolitionist Frederick Douglass saw the song as sympathetic to slaves. [2] In 1986, the Kentucky General Assembly adopted a version unlikely to cause offence in which the original word "darkies" was changed to "people." This English poster depicting the horrific conditions on slave ships was influential in mobilizing public opinion against slavery. ...
Frederick Douglass, ca. ...
"My Old Kentucky Home" is sung annually at the Kentucky Derby with the accompaniment of the University of Louisville marching band. The tradition began sometime between 1921 and 1930, by which time it was established as the music played while the horses are led to the post parade. Churchill Downs, home of the Derby, has, since 1982 held The Stephen Foster Handicap. [3] The song is also played at all University of Louisville football and basketball games accompanied by the Call to the Post which signifies the City and University of Louisville's tie to Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby. In addition, the University of Kentucky band also plays the song at their college's basketball and football games following the conclusion of the game in lieu of the school's alma mater. The Kentucky Derby, the worlds preeminent horse race, is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old thoroughbred horses, staged annually in Louisville, Kentucky, on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. ...
The University of Louisville (also known as U of L) is a public, state-supported university located in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. ...
An American college marching band on the field (University of Texas) A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who generally perform outdoors, and who incorporate movement – usually some type of marching – with their musical performance. ...
Composite image of Churchill Downs on Derby Day, 1901 Churchill Downs, located on Central Avenue in Louisville, Kentucky, is a thoroughbred racetrack most famous for hosting the Kentucky Derby. ...
The University of Kentucky, also referred to as UK, is a public, co-educational university located in Lexington, Kentucky. ...
The song was originally called "Poor Uncle Tom, Good Night." However, a few years after Foster wrote is, Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin was released and became a best-seller. While the song and novel have a number of similar story elements, Stowe's novel is an abolitionist tract against slavery, a view Foster disagreed with. As a result, when Foster's song was published in 1853, he changed the title to "My Old Kentucky Home."[1] Harriet Elizabeth Beecher Stowe (June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was a white American abolitionist and novelist, whose Uncle Toms Cabin (1852) attacked the cruelty of slavery; it reached millions as a novel and play, and became influential as well in Britain. ...
Uncle Toms Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly is a novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe which treats slavery as a central theme. ...
This article is about the abolition of slavery. ...
Lyrics
The lyrics to the first verse and chorus are
The sun shines bright on my old Kentucky home,
Tis summer, and 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 my old Kentucky home, far away.
- * original words: "darkies"
Trivia - In 1970 Randy Newman wrote and recorded an adaptation of the song. Newman's version contains a much less sentimental view of Kentucky life.
My Old Kentucky Home was recently sampled by Louisville, Kentucky Rapper KD. KD's version was a hit in Indiana and Kentucky. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...
Bugs Bunny is a fictional animated rabbit who appears in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animated films produced by Warner Bros. ...
Southern Fried Rabbit is a Looney Tunes cartoon by Warner Brothers and was directed by Friz Freleng. ...
For the fictional character, see Mason Dixon (Rocky Balboa character). ...
KD abbreviates Kraft Dinner. ...
References
External links - My Old Kentucky Home as Played by one of the University of Kentucky Bands
|
Feeds |
Contact