This article is about the song "Oh! Susanna". For the Canadian singer Oh Susanna, see Suzie Ungerleider. For the television series "Oh, Susanna", see The Gale Storm Show. For the Canadian improv variety show, see Oh Susanna!
"Oh! Susanna" is a song written by Stephen Foster in 1847. Popularly associated with the California Gold Rush, the song is occasionally (incorrectly) called "Banjo on My Knee".
In 1843, the year Dan Emmett established The Virginia Minstrels as the first blackface troupe in New York, Foster, 16, was working as a bookkeeper for his brother Morrison's business in Pittsburgh. Morrison was a friend of the early circus blackface clown, Dan Rice, and the young Stephen came under his influence.
Foster also became aware of the new fad of "Ethiopian" songs. He also met a member of the minstrel troupe, The Sable Harmonists, who performed his first attempt, "Old Uncle Ned." A contest in 1847 given by The Eagle Saloon stimulated the song called "Away Down Souf." His next attempt was titled "Susanna" – advertised at "A Grand Gala Concert" as "A new song, never before given to the public."
A local music store, Peters & Field bought the song for $100, but before they could publish it, it was pirated by a New York publisher who printed it with the name of E. P. Christy as author. Christy's Minstrels were rapidly becoming the most popular group in the Bowery theater district of Manhattan, and were to be the chief performers of Foster's minstrel songs in the 1850s.
Probably by fortuitous coincidence rather than design, the song appeared in the public eye at the same time as the new polka fad was arriving from Europe. While minstrel songs prior to this time were considered uncouth, "Oh! Susanna!" thus provided an entre to the middle-class market.
Chase, Gilbert. America's Music. New York. McGraw-Hill, Revised second edition, 1966. (pp. 289-90)
The traditional lyrics are, more or less,
Oh I come from Alabama with a banjo on my knee,
I'm going to Louisiana, my true love for to see
It rained all night the day I left, the weather it was dry
The sun so hot I froze to death; Susanna, don't you cry.
Oh, Susanna, don't you cry for me
For I come from Alabama,
With my banjo on my knee.
I had a dream the other night when everything was still,
I thought I saw Susanna coming up the hill,
The buckwheat cake was in her mouth, the tear was in her eye,
I said I'm coming from Dixieland, Susanna don't you cry.
I soon will be in New Orleans
And then I'll look around
And when I find my gal Susanne,
I'll fall upon the ground.
The actual original lyrics include good examples of nonsense verse:
I came from Alabama wid my banjo on my knee,
I'm g'wan to Louisiana, my true love for to see
It raind all night the day I left, the weather it was dry
The sun so hot I frose to death; Susanna, don't you cry.
Oh! Susanna Oh! don't you cry for me
I've come from Alabama
Wid mi banjo on my knee.
I had a dream de odder night, when ebery ting was still;
I thought I saw Susana, a coming down de hill.
The buckwheat cake war in her mouth, the tear was in her eye,
Says I, im coming from de South, Susana dont you cry.
I soon will be in New Orleans,and den I'll look around
And when I find Susana,I'll fall upon the ground.
But if I do not find her, Dis darkie 'l surely die,
And when I'm dead and buried,Susana, dont you cry.
Sheet music published by C. Holt Jr.. New York, [February] 1848.
The thick mock African-American dialect reflects the minstrel show tradition that Foster worked in. Foster's version included another verse that is rarely sung today because of its "violently racist" content:
I jump'd aboard the telegraph and trabbled down de ribber,
De lectrick fluid magnified, and kill'd five hundred Nigga.
De bulgine bust and de hoss ran off, I really thought I'd die;
I shut my eyes to hold my bref -- Susanna don't you cry.[1]

Cultural Reference

The melody of this song is so simple that it can be played on a touch-tone telephone. It is sufficient to use the following keys: 1, 2, 3, 6, 9 and #.