|
Hard Times Come Again No More
| Composer |
Stephen C. Foster |
| Lyricist |
Stephen C. Foster |
| Year Published |
1854 |
| Type |
Traditional |
| Playing Time |
2:37 (in medley with Nelly Bly) |
| Comments |
There is a most interesting story regarding the background of this song.
Morrison Foster provided the following information in his biography of his brother
Stephen:
When Stephen was a child, my father had a mulatto bound girl named Olivia Pise, the
illegitimate daughter of a West Indian Frenchman, who taught dancing to the upper circles
of Pittsburgh society early in the [nineteenth] century. "Lieve," as she was
called, was a devout Christian and a member of a church of shouting colored people. The
little boy was fond of their singing and boisterous devotions. She was permitted to often
take Stephen to church with her .. .. A number of strains heard there, and which, he said
to me, were too good to be lost, have been preserved by him, short scraps of which were
incorporated in two of his songs, "Hard Times Come Again No More" and "Oh,
Boys, Carry Me 'Long." (Morrison Foster, Biography, Songs and Musical Compositions of
Stephen C. Foster . ., Pittsburgh, privately published, 1896, p.20)Stephen Foster Songbook,
Page 175-176 |
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