Mark Breedlove’s folk song history page
The origins of the “Banana Boat Song” are often stated incorrectly. The song was originally a Jamaican folk song of unknown authorship; it was sung by Jamaican banana workers, with the familiar melody and the common refrain (“daylight come and we wanna go home”), but with many different sets of lyrics, some possibly improvised on […]
“The Ballad of Davy Crockett” is a song with music by George Bruns and lyrics by Tom W. Blackburn. The first recording of the song was made by Bill Hayes, quickly followed by versions by Fess Parker and Tennessee Ernie Ford (recorded February 7, 1955), all in 1955. All three versions made the Billboard charts: […]
“Arthur McBride” is an Irish folk song. It was first collected around 1840 in Limerick, Ireland by Joyce; also in Donegal by Petrie. Several .The song can be narrowl categorized as an “anti-recruiting” song and more broadly as a protest song. In the song, the narrator and his cousin, Arthur McBride, both Irish, were taking […]
ARKANSAS TRAVELLER “The Arkansas Traveler” was the state song of Arkansas from 1949 to 1963, and has been the state historical song since 1987. The music was composed in the 1800s by Colonel Sanford C. ‘Sandy‘ Faulkner. The current official lyrics were written by a committee in 1947 in preparation for its naming as state […]
ANOTHER MAN DONE GONE Chain gangs in the US were prevalent throughout the Southern states from 1880 – 1910 US and have a shameful historical connection to slavery. Following the Civil war, repression of the African American population continued in the south with blacks being arrested for minor infractions and then placed on the chain […]
ANGEL FROM MONTGOMERY “Angel from Montgomery” is a country song written by John Prine, originally appearing on his self- titled 1971 album John Prine. It has been covered notably by Bonnie Raitt, Tanya Tucker, Dave Matthews Band, Ben Harper, Susan Tedeschi and Jill Johnson in 2007. The song is performed in the film “Into […]
AMERICA America is based on an “Old English Air,” but I don’t have the name of the original tune. The tune is also, of course, God Save The Queen. The words to America were written by Samuel Francis Smith in Boston, July 4, 1832 for a children’s celebration. The tune was also sung in the […]
AMELIA EARHART’S LAST FLIGHT Amelia Earhart was the first woman to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross, which she was awarded as the first aviatrix to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many other records, wrote best-selling books about her flying experiences, and was instrumental in the formation of The Ninety-Nines, an organization for […]
AMAZING GRACE John Newton, the author of the lyrics to Amazing Grace, was born in 1725 in Wapping, England. Despite the powerful message of “Amazing Grace,” Newton’s religious beliefs initially lacked conviction; his youth was marked by religious confusion and a lack of moral self-control and discipline. After a brief time in the Royal Navy, […]
ALL MY TRIALS “All My Trials” was a folk song during the social protest movements of the 1950s and 1960s. It is based on a Bahamian lullaby that tells the story of a mother on her death bed, comforting her children, “Hush little baby, don’t you cry /You know your mama’s bound to die,” because, […]