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Summertime Lyrics
Summertime, and the living is easy
Fish are jumping
And the cotton is high
Oh, your daddy's rich
And your ma is good-looking
So hush little baby
Don't you cry
One of these mornings
You're gonna rise and sing it
Then you'll spread your wings
And you'll take to the sky
But 'til that morning
There's a-nothing can harm you
With daddy and mammy standing by
Fish are jumping
And the cotton is high
Oh, your daddy's rich
And your ma is good-looking
So hush little baby
Don't you cry
You're gonna rise and sing it
Then you'll spread your wings
And you'll take to the sky
But 'til that morning
There's a-nothing can harm you
With daddy and mammy standing by
Song Info
Submitted by
meyan On Nov 11, 2004
More Billie Holiday
Strange Fruit
Gloomy Sunday
I'll Be Seeing You
God Bless the Child
Good Morning Heartache
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I hear this song as a black servant (employed to look after rich white children) singing to the baby she's looking after. It sounds like a happy song the first time you hear it, but every line is loaded with oppression - the servant sings to the baby of its fortune in life - "your daddy's rich and your ma is good-looking" knowing that owing to her own start in life, she will never have as much as this child is certain to have some day. The song is full of references to the legacy of slavery - references to cotton recalls the plantations, and while "one of these mornings" this baby will "spread its wings and take to the sky", but the singer never will - she will never truly be free. What confirms this for me is the music. If this was a happy song, it would be full of uncomplicated major chords. The dark lyricism of the music in this song makes me certain that it was never meant to be viewed as a happy song.
the local fire mans band in my relatively upscale town played this today in the memorial day parade, the jaunty swing style they gave the tune bothered me as I have never thought of this a a summer celebratory song. I came here to see if anyone else thought of this song like I do and the description above is exactly how I have always heard this song. Thats an excellent point on the chosen minor chords to reinforce the somber subject.
the local fire mans band in my relatively upscale town played this today in the memorial day parade, the jaunty swing style they gave the tune bothered me as I have never thought of this a a summer celebratory song. I came here to see if anyone else thought of this song like I do and the description above is exactly how I have always heard this song. Thats an excellent point on the chosen minor chords to reinforce the somber subject.
Porgy and Bess. Its a lullaby, as I recall.
I like this song very much. Everytime I hear it, I think of a 1930s jazz club, cramped with people and filled with smoke. I think song is about the singer assuring a child that his or her parents are well off, so there is nothing to worry about. Because she says: Hush little baby, don't you cry the child may have been depressed.
I need to find this. I love the Sam Cooke version.