Old Folks at Home

E563143

"Old Folks at Home," also known by its opening line "Way Down Upon the Swanee River," is a famous 19th-century American minstrel song by composer Stephen Foster that became a widely recognized folk standard.

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Observed surface forms (1)

Surface form Occurrences
"Old Folks at Home" 1

Statements (46)

Predicate Object
instanceOf 19th-century song
song
alsoKnownAs Way Down Upon the Swanee River NERFINISHED
associatedWith antebellum South imagery
commissionedBy E. P. Christy NERFINISHED
composer Stephen Foster NERFINISHED
containsDialectLyrics African-American dialect caricature
countryOfOrigin United States of America
surface form: United States
culturalStatus widely recognized American song
decade 1850s
designatedStateSongOf Florida NERFINISHED
firstLineOfChorus All the world is sad and dreary
firstPerformer E. P. Christy NERFINISHED
genre American popular song
folk standard
minstrel music
hasChorus Yes
hasEnduringPopularity true
hasMelodicStyle simple, lyrical melody
hasRaciallyProblematicContent true
includedIn Stephen Foster song collections
influenced American folk repertoire
inspiredBy Suwannee River in Florida NERFINISHED
key often performed in F major
language English
lyricist Stephen Foster NERFINISHED
lyricsRevisedToRemove racially offensive language
melodyUsedIn various folk and popular arrangements
openingLine Way down upon the Swanee River
originalMedium sheet music
partOf 19th-century American popular music canon
performanceTradition blackface minstrelsy
placeOfPublication New York City
publicationYear 1851
publisher Firth, Pond & Co. NERFINISHED
riverMentioned Suwannee River NERFINISHED
setIn American South NERFINISHED
spellingInLyrics Swanee River NERFINISHED
stateSongLyricsRevisedBy Florida legislature NERFINISHED
stateSongStatus official state song of Florida (historically)
subject life in the American South
longing for home
nostalgia
theme memory of childhood home
sorrow
timeSignature 4/4

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Stephen Foster notableWork Old Folks at Home
Suwannee River namedIn Old Folks at Home
this entity surface form: "Old Folks at Home"
Swanee inspiredBy Old Folks at Home