Mammy's Little Coal Black Rose

Authors

Raymond Egan
Richard A. Whiting

Document Type

Score

Publication Date

1916

Comments

Mammy’s Little Coal Black Rose

Lyrics by Raymond Egan

Music by Richard A. Whiting

New York: Jerome H. Remick & Co. (1916)

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 attitudes of the time. The items are part of the historical record, and do not represent the views of the library or the institution.

Lyrics

[Verse 1]

I heard a pickaninny crying
Down in Tennessee one night,
His little heart was nearly breaking
Just because he wasn’t white;
Then his dear old mammy kiss’d him,
And she said “Chile don’ you sigh
Weep no more my baby”,
Then she sang a Dixie Lullaby:

[Chorus]

You better dry your eyes, my little Coal Black Rose,
You better go to sleep and let those eyelids close,
‘Cause you’re dark, don’t start apinin’,
You’re a cloud with a silver lining,
Tho’ ev’ry old crow thinks his babe am white as snow,
Your dear old mammy knows you’re mighty like a rose,
And when the angels gave those kinky curls to you,
They put a sunbeam in your disposition too, that’s true,
The reason you’re so black I ‘spose
They forgot to give your Mammy a talcum powder chamois,
So don’t you cry, don’t you sigh,
‘Cause you’re mammy’s little Coal Black Rose.
You better Rose.

[Verse 2]

And then I saw that dear old Mammy
Kiss those baby tears away
While in her arms the baby nestled
Happy as a child at play;
Then she whisper’d “Mammy loves you,
You’re as sweet as ‘possum pie’,
Go to sleep my honey,
While your mammy sings a Lullaby: “

[Chorus]

Recommended Citation

Egan, Raymond and Whiting, Richard A., "Mammy's Little Coal Black Rose" (1916). Historic Sheet Music Collection. 886.
https://digitalcommons.conncoll.edu/sheetmusic/886