“”My Old Kentucky Home” is a minstrel song by Stephen Foster, probably composed in 1852… The song described originally an everyday scene on a slave plantation and was a beloved song in minstrel shows….Abolitionists thought the song stimulated ‘the sympathies for the slave, in which anti-slavery principles take root and flourish’… It became the official state song of Kentucky on March 19, 1928 but the lyrics were revised to amend the word “darkies” to “people”( for the word “darkies” related to black people was no longer appropriate for the sensibility in recent times – read more on Wikipedia).
May I dedicate this song to all “My Lady” (Mothers and wives) who on daily basis work and weep and love and live, carrying their sorrows while delivering joy and strength to their children, their family and community.
I learnt this song in happy years and like to share with friends and readers today.
Click here to hear “My Old Kentucky Home” on YouTube performed by John Prine.