“Dixie”

Description

"I wish I was in the land of cotton...." A blackface-dialect song praising southern life and the conditions the slaves endured. Such plot as it has revolves around Old Missus, who married Will the Weaver, a "gay deceiver"

Supplemental text

Dixie
  Complete text(s)

          *** A ***

Dixie's Land

From sheet music published 1860 by Firth, Pond & Co. The interior
page gives the title as "Dixie's Land." Title page inscribed
          I WISH I WAS IN
            DIXIE'S LAND
    Written & Composed expressly for
          Bryant's Minstrels
                 by
            DAN.D.EMMETT
          ARRANGED FOR THE
             PIANO FORTE
                 by
              W.L.Hobbs

I wish I was in de land ob cotton,
Old times dar am not forgotten;
        Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie Land.
In Dixie Land whar I was born in,
Early on one frosty mornin,
        Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie Land.

   CHORUS.
Den I wish I was in Dixie, Hooray! Hooray!
In Dixie Land I'll took my stand,
To lib and die in Dixie,
Away, Away, Away down south in Dixie,
Away, Away, Away down south in Dixie.

   2.
Old Missus marry "will-de-weaber,"
Willium was a gay deceaber;
        Look away! &c.
But when he put his arm around 'er,
He smilled as fierce as a 'forty-pound'er.
        Look away! &c.
    Chorus_ Den I wish I was in Dixie &c.

   3.
His face was sharp as a butchers cleaber
But dat did not seem to greab 'er;
        Look away! &c.
Old Missus acted de foolish part,
And died for a man dat broke her heart.
        Look away! &c.
    Chorus_ Den I wish I was in Dixie &c.

   4.
Now here's a health to the next old Missus,
An all de galls dat want to kiss us;
        Look away! &c.
But if you want to drive 'way sorrow,
Come an hear dis song to-morrow.
        Look away! &c.
    Chorus_ Den I wish I was in Dixie &c.

   5.
Dar's buck-wheat cakes an 'Ingen' batter,
Makes you fat or a little fatter,
        Look away! &c.
Den hoe it down an scratch your grabble,
To Dixie land I'm bound to trabble.
        Look away! &c.
    Chorus_ Den I wish I was in Dixie &c.

Variants in "The Original 'Dixie,'' found in [H. M. Wharton,] War Songs
and Poems of the Southern Confederacy, pp. 59-60, are as follows (ignoring
punctuation and orthographic differences).

1.1 ob ] of

2.1-2  Wharton reads:
   Old missus marry "Will de weaber?"
   William was a gay deceaber

3.1 was wharp ] was as sharp
3.4 de foolish ] the foolish
3.5 a man ] the man

4.2 de galls ] the gals
4.4 'way sorrow ] away sorroe
4.5 dis song ] dis nig

5.5 Dar's ] Der

Notes

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.)

The origin of the term "Dixie" is uncertain, but it is believed to be associated with the Mason-Dixon line. - RBW

It should also be noted that Dan Emmett was an abolitionist. -PJS

And, of course, a Northerner. He even produced a "northern" set of lyrics, though neither they nor any of the other "northern" texts took hold. - RBW

Same tune

• Crazy Song to the Air of "Dixie" (File: San342)
• A Horse Named Bill (File: San340)
• Albert Pike's "Dixie" ("Southrons, hear your country call you!") (Hill-CivWar, pp. 198-199, "Dixie"; [W. M. Wharton,] War Songs and Poems of the Southern Confederacy, pp. 29-30; Fred W. Allsopp, Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, Volume II (1931), pp. 225-226)
• Ernest V. Stoneman, "Dixie Parody" (OKeh 40430, 1925)

Cross references

• cf. "The Woodpecker's Hole" (tune)
• cf. "A Horse Name Bill" (tune)
• cf. "Crazy Song to the Air of 'Dixie'" (tune)

Recordings

• [Arthur] Harlan & [Frank] Stanley "Dixie" (Columbia A-696, 1909)
• Earl Johnson & his Dixie Entertainers, "Dixie" (OKeh 45129, 1927)
• Kessinger Brothers, "Dixie" (Brunswick 518, c. 1931)
• Peerless Quartet, "Dixie" (Superior [Pathe] 1, 1922)
• Red Mountain Trio, "Dixie" (Columbia 15369-D, 1929; rec. 1928)
• [Frank] Stanley & [Henry] Burr, "Dixie" (Columbia A696, 1909)
• Gid Tanner & his Skillet Lickers, "Dixie" (Columbia 15158-D, 1927)

References

1. Lomax-ABFS, pp. 531-533, "Dixie" (1 text plus one extra verse, 1 tune)
2. RJackson-19CPop, pp. 61-64, "Dixie's Land" (1 text, 1 tune)
3. Arnett, p. 76-77, "Dixie" (1 text, 1 tune)
4. Botkin-SoFolklr, p. 713, "Dixie" (1 text, 1 tune)
5. Hugill, pp. 424-425, "Dixie" (2 texts, 1 tune -- text given has the standard Dixie chorus but bawdy & nonsensical lyrics)
6. Hill-CivWar, p. 221, "Dixie" (1 text); also two adaptions: pp. 198-199, "Dixie" (1 text, by Albert Pike; for other versions see the Same Tune field); p. 222, "Dixie" (1 text, a Union version by John Savage)
7. Krythe 6, pp. 100-112, "Dixie" (1 text, 1 tune)
8. Silber-FSWB, p. 45, "Dixie" (1 text)
9. Gilbert, pp. 13-16, "(Dixie)" (several fragmentary sets of later words plus a description of the dance)
10. Fuld-WFM, pp. 196-199+, "Dixie"
11. DT, DIXIELND*
12. ADDITIONAL: Fred W. Allsopp, Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, Volume II (1931), pp. 163-164, "(Dixie)" (1 text plus extensive notes on pp. 164-166); also the Pike adaption on pp. 225-226
13. ST LxA531 (Full)
14. Roud #8231
15. BI, LxA531