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Dixie
American, Air or March (2/4 time). Word and tune by Daniel Decatur Emmett .
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes DATE: 1859.
OTHER NAMES: Dixie Land
SAME TUNE: "The Woodpecker's Hole" "A Horse Name Bill" "Crazy Song to the Air of 'Dixie'"
RECORDED BY: Ralph Stanley; County 526, "The Skillet Lickers, Vol. 2" (1973). Front Hall FHR-024, Fennig's All-Star String Band- "Fennigmania" (1981). Gennett 3152 (78 RPM), Doc Roberts. Bulla Family. Family Fiddlin', Family Vision Ministries, Cas (1989), cut#B.06b; Cadwell, Paul. Paul Cadwell, Shirley Keller, Charlie Wright, Twilight PSC 165, LP (1983), cut#A.08a; Carol, Bonnie. Fingerdances for Dulcimer, Carol, CD (1980/2000), cut# 7a ; Carson, Fiddlin' John. Fiddlin' John Carson. Vol 4, Document DOCD 8017, CD (1997), cut#16b; Fahey, John. Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death, Takoma R-9015, LP (196?), cut# 12c; Fennigs All-Star String Band. Fennigmania, Front Hall FHR-024, LP (1981), cut# 8b; Jenkins, Snuffy; and Pappy Sherrill. Snuffy Jenkins. Pioneer of the Bluegrass Banjo, Arhoolie 9027, CD (1998), cut# 7a; Poole, Charlie; and the North Carolina Ramblers. Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, Vol .4, County 540, LP (1976), cut# 7a (Southern Medley); Rucker, Sparky and Ronda. Blue and Gray in Black and White, Flying Fish FF 70611, CD (1992), cut# 2 (Dixie's Land); Skillet Lickers. Skillet Lickers, Vol. 2, County 526, LP (197?), cut# 4; Thompson, Tommy. Songs of the Civil War, National Geographic Soc. 0789, LP (197?), cut#A.02; Van Eps, Fred. Minstrels and Tunesmiths, JEMF 109, LP (1981), cut#B.04a
SOURCES: Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), Vol. 1, 1994; pg. 71. Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1964/1981; pg. 46. American Ballads and Folk Songs, MacMillan, Bk (1934), p.531; Puckett, Riley. Old-Time Country Guitar, Oak, Sof (1976), p67 Lomax-ABFS, pp. 531-533, "Dixie;" RJackson-19CPop, pp. 61-64, "Dixie's Land;" Arnett, p. 76-77, "Dixie;" Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 713, "Dixie; " Hill-CivWar, pp. 198-199, "Dixie" (1 text, a later adaption by Albert Pike); p. 221, "Dixie"; p. 222, "Dixie" (Union adaption by John Savage); Krythe 6, pp. 100-112, "Dixie;" Silber-FSWB, p. 45, "Dixie;" Gilbert, pp. 13-16, "(Dixie);" Fuld-WFM, pp. 196-199+, "Dixie;" Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc;
NOTES: D Major (Phillips): G Major (Sweet). Standard. AAB (Sweet): AABB' (Phillips). Composition of the tune is usually credited to 19th century black-face minstrel Daniel Decatur Emmett, however, Howard and Judith Rose Sacks in their 1993 book Way Up North in Dixie (Smithsonian Institution Press) make a compelling case for its origin within the African-American community. Their thesis is that it was a black folk song taught to Emmett by African-Americans Ben and Lew Snowdon, fiddler, banjoist and entertainers from Emmett's home town, Mt. Vernon, Ohio. Another plausible explanation the Sacks report is that the tune derived from a collaborative process in the friendship and musical cross-fertilization of the Snowden family and Dan Emmett. Though the exact date of composition is unknown, the melody appears listed in a playbill of April 4, 1859 for a performance of Bryant's Minstrels in New York City, which predates its first Southern performance in New Orleans on April 9, 1860. In a program from a later performance by Bryant's Minstrels (1861) it is explained that "As many inquiries have been made in regard to the meaning of 'Dixie Land', and as to its location, it may be well to remark that, with the Southern Negroes, Dixie Land is but another name for home" (Fuld, 1966). Daniel Emmett, was approached by Jerry Bryant, manager of the minstrel troupe to which Emmett then belonged. "Write me a 'walk-around', a 'hooray song' about the old plantations," Bryant requested. "It must have a good tune. It doesn't matter so much what the words are like, but the melody must be catchy." Although forever to be associated with the Confederate states, "Dixie" was a favorite of President Lincoln, and was often played by Union bands during the war. It could literally be regarded as having been "stolen" by the south; the first certain publication of the piece was by a New Orleans firm in 1860, but Emmett was neither credited nor consulted -- nor, apparently, paid. (The piece was registered in 1859, but no copies of the relevant printing -- if there was one -- have survived. Gilbert reports that Emmett's total lifetime payment for the song was the $300 he received for the copyright.)(Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc).
Whatever the origins of title and music, the tune became fused with the secessionist cause in the American Civil War, to the extent that over one hundred years later it was banned in a number of schools in deference to African-American students who felt that it still carried racist associations. Having been popularized during that 19th century conflict, it was disseminated into tradition through discharged soldiers (Cauthen, 1990) and could be regularly heard throughout the South for many decades following that conflict. It was, for example, in the repertory of Alabama fiddler D. Dix Hollis and Civil War fiddler Ben Smith (a Georgian in the Twelfth Alabama Regiment), among other citations of the tune in Alabama by Cauthen (1990). A version was recorded by Uncle Am Stuart (b. 1856, Morristown, Tenn.) for Vocalation in 1924, and it was one of the first tunes ever recorded by Fiddlin' Doc Roberts (east-central Tennessee). Richard Nevins (1973) says this is the most syncopated selection the Skillet Lickers ever recorded. (Kuntz, Fiddler's Companion, http://www.ceolas.org/tunes/fc).
The origin of the term "Dixie" is uncertain, but Regarding the origin of the word 'Dixie', Fuld speculates that it is of English origin as it is a family name dating back to the 14th century or earlier, some of whose members emigrated to both the Massachusetts and Carolina colonies as far back as 1629 (in the first great migration from England, mostly of East Anglia Puritans). See Fuld, The Book of World-Famous Music, 1966/1971, pgs. 196-199 for a comprehensive discussion of the early printing history of the tune. Some believe “Dixie” is associated with the Mason-Dixon line.
LYRICS:
I wish I was in the land of cotton,
old times there are not forgotten,
Look away, look away, look away, Dixie land.
In Dixie land where I was born in, early on a frosty mornin',
Look away, look away, look away, Dixie land.
Chorus: Then I wish I was in Dixie, hooray! Hooray!
In Dixie land I'll take my stand, to live and die in Dixie,
Away, away, away down south in Dixie,
Away, away, away down south in Dixie.
Old Missus marry Will de Weaber, Will-yum was a gay deceaber,
Look away, look away, look away, Dixie land.
But when he put his arm around her,
smiled as fierce as a forty pounder.
Look away, look away, look away, Dixie land. (Chorus)
Dars buckwheat cakes an' ingen batter, makes you fat or a little fatter,
Look away, look away, look away, Dixie land.
Den hoe it down and scratch your grabble to Dixie's land
I'm bound to travel,
Look away, look away, look away Dixie land. (Chorus)
Ole Missus acted the foolish part
and died for a man that broke her heart
look away, look away, look away Dixie land.
So here's a health to the next ole Missus,
or all the gals that long to kiss us,
Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie land.
His face was sharp as a butcher's cleaver
but that did not seem to grieve her;
look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie land.
Old missus acted the foolish part,
and died for a man that broke her heart.
Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie land.
Now here's a health to the next old missus
and all the gals that want to kiss us;
look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie land.
But if you want to drive away sorrow,
come and hear this song tomorrow,
Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie land.
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