Oh! Susanna

Background

In 1846, Stephen Foster moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, and became a bookkeeper with his brother's steamship company. While in Cincinnati, Foster wrote "Oh! Susanna", possibly for his men's social club. The song was first performed by a local quintet at a concert in Andrews' Eagle Ice Cream Saloon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on September 11, 1847. It was first published by W. C. Peters & Co. in Cincinnati in 1848. Other minstrel troupes performed the work, and, as was common at the time, many registered the song for copyright under their own names. As a result, it was copyrighted and published at least 21 times from February 25, 1848, through February 14, 1851. Foster earned just $100 ($2,653 in 2012 dollars) for the song, but its popularity led the publishing firm Firth, Pond & Company to offer him a royalty rate of two cents per copy of sheet music sold, convincing him to become America's first fully professional songwriter.

The name Susanna may refer to Foster's deceased sister Charlotte, whose middle name was Susannah.

Song

The song blends together a variety of musical traditions. The opening line refers to "a banjo on my knee", but the song takes its beat from the polka, which had just reached the U.S. from Europe. Glenn Weiser suggests the song was influenced by an existing work, "Rose of Alabama" (1846), with which it shares some similarities in lyrical theme and musical structure.

The first two phrases of the melody are based on the major pentatonic scale.  Play 

The lyrics are largely nonsense, as characterized by lines such as "It rain'd all night the day I left, The weather it was dry, The sun so hot I froze to death..." (first verse) and "I shut my eyes to hold my breath..." (second verse). It is one of the few songs by Foster that use the word "nigger" (others are "Old Uncle Ned" and "Oh! Lemuel", both also among Foster's early works), which appears in the second verse ("De lectric fluid magnified, And killed five hundred nigger.").

Popularity and adaptations

The song is not only one of Stephen Foster's best-known songs, but also one of the best-known American songs. No American song had sold more than 5,000 copies before; "Oh! Susanna" sold over 100,000. After its publication, it quickly became known as an "unofficial theme of the Forty-Niners", with new lyrics about traveling to California with a "washpan on my knee". A traditional Pennsylvania Dutch version uses Foster's melody but replaces the lyrics entirely.

Modern version

Oh, I come from Alabama with a banjo on my knee!
Going to Louisiana, my true love for to see
Oh Susannah! Oh don't you cry for me!
For I come from Alabama with a banjo on my knee
It rained all night the day I left, the weather it was dry
The sun so hot I froze to death, Susannah don't you cry
Oh Susannah! Oh don't you cry for me!
For I come from Alabama with a banjo on my knee!

Optional third verse

I had a dream the other night, when everything was still
I thought I saw Susannah dear a-comin' down the hill
A red red rose was in her hand, a tear was in her eye
I said I come from dixieland, Susannah don't you cry!
Oh Susannah! Oh, don't you cry for me!
For I come from Alabama with a banjo on my knee
I soon will be in New Orleans, and then I'll look all around,
And when I find Susanna, I'll fall upon the ground.
But if I do not find her,then surely about to die,
And when I'm dead and buried—Susanna, don't you cry.
Oh Susannah! Oh, don't you cry for me!
For I come from Alabama with a banjo on my knee

Notable recordings

One of the earliest recordings, using the original "killed five hundred Nigger" lyrics, was released by Harry Clinton Browne in 1916 (Columbia COL A-2218). Browne also released other openly racist songs that same year, including Nigger Love a Watermelon Ha! Ha! Ha!. A 1955 novelty recording of the song by The Singing Dogs reached #22 on the US Billboard Pop Singles chart. A humorous recording of "Oh! Susanna" was the last track on the second album by The Byrds, Turn! Turn! Turn!, in 1965. James Taylor also included a version of the song on his second album, Sweet Baby James, in 1970.

In 1963, The Big 3 recorded Tim Rose's composition "The Banjo Song," which sets Foster's lyrics to a completely new melody. Neil Young and Crazy Horse covered Rose's version on their 2012 album Americana.

The website JibJab used the tune to create a song called "Big Box Mart", about big box stores.

Uses

Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny sang that song in the 1942 Merrie Melodies cartoon, The Wacky Wabbit.

The song was used in a 1995 Velveeta commercial for "1/3 Less Fat than Cheddar."