Historic Sheet Music Collection
Document Type
Score
Links to Recordings at the Internet Archive
https://archive.org/details/78_5723-Down-where-the-Swanee-river-flows
https://archive.org/details/78_down-where-the-swanee-river-flows_al-jolson-von-tilzer_gbia0013775a
https://archive.org/details/78_down-where-the-swanee-river-flows_haydn-quartet-von-tilzer_gbia0016263b
https://archive.org/details/78_down-where-the-swanee-river-flows_peerless-quartet-chas.-mccarron-albert-von-tilzer_gbia0014246b
Publication Date
1916
Lyrics
[Verse 1]
I had a big surprise today
While in a ten-cent photo-play
I really saw my old home town way down in Dixieland
It was simply grand,
Just to sit right there, and gaze
On the scenes of bygone days
made me yearn to return to the land of people
I will love always,
I even saw the same old school,
Where I learned the golden rule.
[Chorus]
Down where the Swanee River flows
I want to be there
Down where the cotton blossom grows,
I want to see there,
My little sister Flo', keepin' time with Uncle Joe
singing a song and raggin' on hos old banjo
O see my dear old Mother
oh Lordy, Lordy, Lordy, how I love her,
When the birds are singing in the wild wood
My happy childhood
Comes back once more
My heart is sore,
That's why I'm going back where they care for me
Ev;ry night they say a little prayer for me
Down where the Swanee River flows.
[Verse 2]
I'd like to meet that movie man,
I want to shake him by the hand,
I want to tell him that he wrote a grand scenario,
He knew where to go,
Plain as day upon the screen,
Hezakiah can be seen,
Little Mose on hos toes, looking at the camera,
Nearly spoiled the scene,
I saw the cotton white as foam
I saw my home sweet home.
[Refrain]
Recommended Citation
McCarron, Charles; Alberte, Charles S.; and von Tilzer, Albert, "Down Where the Swanee River Flows" (1916). Historic Sheet Music Collection. 287.
https://digitalcommons.conncoll.edu/sheetmusic/287
The views expressed in this paper are solely those of the author.
Comments
Down Where the Swanee River Flows
Words by Charles McCarron & Charles S. Alberte
Music by Albert von Tilzeer
New York (145 west 45th St.): Broadway Music Corporation
Some of these resources may contain offensive language or negative stereotypes. Such materials should be seen in the context of the time period and as a reflection of the attitudes of the time. The items are part of the historical record, and do not represent the views of the libraries or the institution.