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James
A. Bland's song "Oh, Dem Golden Slippers" started its life
in 1879 as a minstrel parody of a spiritual sung by the Fisk Jubilee
Singers. That spiritual ran: "What kind of shoes you going to wear?
Golden slippers! Golden slippers I'm bound to wear, That outshine the
sun." (The Fisk song was not published until 1880; it was then
described as "one of the most popular songs of the "Jubilee
Singers"; it had presumably been performed for some time before it
was published.) Bland's song soon outstripped the Fisk song in
popularity; by now people tend to think of "Oh, Dem Golden
Slippers" as the original and the Fisk spiritual as some kind of
variant. It is, in fact, somewhat disconcerting to hear "Oh, Dem
Golden Slippers" as first published, with its mocking piano part
and its silly verse proclaiming it a parody, since it has been taken
seriously for so long. James
A. Bland (1854-1919) published most of his songs in a burst of
creativity from 1878 to 1881. In 1881 he left America for Europe with
Haverly's Genuine Colored Minstrels, and stayed in Europe when the
troupe returned. Perhaps he continued to write songs after 1881; if so,
very few were published, and were after the period of this online
collection.
Text:
Oh my golden slippers
Am alaid away,
Kase I don't 'spect to wear 'em
Till my wedding day,
An' my long tail'd coat,
Dat I lov'd so well,
I will wear up in de chariot in de morn.
An my long white robe
Dat I bo't last June,
I'm gwine to git chang'd
Kase it fits too soon,
An de old gray hoss
Dat I used to drive,
I will hitch him to de chariot in de morn
Refrain:
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Oh, dem golden slippers! Oh, dem golden slippers!
Golden slippers I'm gwine to wear, becase dey look so neat;
Oh, dem golden slippers! Oh, dem golden slippers!
Golden slippers Ise gwine to wear, To walk de golden street.
2. Oh my ole banjo
Hangs on de wall,
Kase it ain't been tuned
Since way last fall,
But de darks all say
We will hab a good time,
When we ride up in de chariot in de morn.
Dar's ole Brudder Ben
And Sister Luce,
Dey will telegraph de news
To Uncle Bacco Juice,
What a great camp meetin'
Dere will be dat day,
When we ride up in de chariot in de morn.
Refrain: |
3. So it's good-bye, Chillun,
I will have to go,
Whar de rain don't fall
Or de Wind don't blow,
An' yer ilster coats,
Why yer will not need,
When yer ride up in de chariot in de morn.
But yer golden slippers
Must be nice an' clean,
An' yer age must be
Just sweet sixteen,
An' yer white kid gloves
Yer will have to wear,
When yer ride up in de chariot in de morn.
Refrain: |
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