This Thanksgiving day feels a bit melancholy to me. We’re in a time of radical change and the stresses and strains are being felt all over. This song, by Stephen Foster, is from hard times of another era (the great depression of 1850), yet speaks eloquently of bringing empathy to people of all circumstances. That we can do so is something to be truly thankful for.
Stephen Foster (1826-1864) may be America’s first professional song writer. During his most productive years, he composed such American standards as Oh, Susanna (1848), Camptown Races (1850), My Old Kentucky Home (1853) and Jeannie With the Light Brown Hair (1854). Much of his music was written for minstrel shows, where it was performed in blackface. In what was actually an enlightened attitude for his time, Foster instructed that his songs should be performed in a pathetic, rather than a humorous style (pathetic meaning “to engender compassion”). During this time, he also eliminated dialect from his lyrics and stopped referring to his music as “plantation songs”, preferring the term “American melodies”.
I've been a Kate McGarrigle and Anna McGarrigle fan for decades. Thanks, Greg.
http://intensedebate.com/people/GregF GregF
Yes, it's great to see them going into the next generation. It's especially cool for them to be singing this song as a family, as it would have been done in Stephen Foster's day.
http://www.TeriMurrison.com Teri Murrison
Today I am especially thankful for you and Amy, Greg! Thanks for posting this video!
As a web developer for more than 15 years, I find my attention increasingly drawn to the intersection of computers, the Internet and communications, especially social media. On this blog, I indulge my interest in these and several other topics. I hope you find them interesting too. Read on...
Hard Times Come Again No More
This Thanksgiving day feels a bit melancholy to me. We’re in a time of radical change and the stresses and strains are being felt all over. This song, by Stephen Foster, is from hard times of another era (the great depression of 1850), yet speaks eloquently of bringing empathy to people of all circumstances. That we can do so is something to be truly thankful for.
Stephen Foster (1826-1864) may be America’s first professional song writer. During his most productive years, he composed such American standards as Oh, Susanna (1848), Camptown Races (1850), My Old Kentucky Home (1853) and Jeannie With the Light Brown Hair (1854). Much of his music was written for minstrel shows, where it was performed in blackface. In what was actually an enlightened attitude for his time, Foster instructed that his songs should be performed in a pathetic, rather than a humorous style (pathetic meaning “to engender compassion”). During this time, he also eliminated dialect from his lyrics and stopped referring to his music as “plantation songs”, preferring the term “American melodies”.
Biographical information drawn from the University of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.