Swanee

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Swanee (1919)
lyrics by Irving Caesar, composed by George Gershwin

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George GershwinIrving CaesarSwanee1919263373

Al Jolson's hit 1920 recording. (help | file info or download)

[Introduction]

I've been away from you a long time

I never thought I'd miss you so

Somehow I feel

Your love was real

Near you I long to be

The birds are singing It is songtime^[1]

The banjos strummin' soft and low

I know that you

Yearn for me too

Swanee You're calling me

[Refrain]

Swanee

How I love you

My dear old Swanee

I'd give the world to be

Among the folks in D-I-X-I-Even know my

Mammy's^[2]

Waiting for me

Praying for me

Down by the Swanee

The folks up north will see me no more

When I go to the Swanee shore

[Spoken]

I'll be happy

[Trio^[3] (sung twice)]

Swanee

I am coming back to Swanee

Mammy

I love the old folks at home^[4]

Notes

↑ The capitalisation of "it" may mean this should be punctuated as The birds are singing, "It is songtime."
↑ A nursemaid, usually black. Increasingly stereotyped portrayals of mammys led to the term being considered offensive now, but this was probably not intended in this song.
↑ A technical term for the composition style of the piano part. There remains only one singer
↑ A reference, in both lyrics and music, to the Stephen Foster song "The Old Folks at Home", which begins "Way down upon the Swanee River". This song is largely a parody of that one.

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929.

This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

[1] The capitalisation of "it" may mean this should be punctuated as The birds are singing, "It is songtime."

[2] A nursemaid, usually black. Increasingly stereotyped portrayals of mammys led to the term being considered offensive now, but this was probably not intended in this song.

[3] A technical term for the composition style of the piano part. There remains only one singer

[4] A reference, in both lyrics and music, to the Stephen Foster song "The Old Folks at Home", which begins "Way down upon the Swanee River". This song is largely a parody of that one.

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