I Love You Truly

I Love You Truly is a popular love song with the senior adult population I work with. This song was a parlor song published in 1901.  This musical composition was written by Carrie Jacobs-Bond. Bond’s husband, Frank, died in 1895.  While on a trip to her hometown of Janesville, Wisconsin she wrote I Love You Read More

Down in the Valley

Down in the Valley is a popular request when I go to nursing facilities to perform. This folk song is believed to be an Appalachian Mountain song inspired by a British air.  The song was later transported to the Ozark’s. The ballad is set to a sweet and serene tune, however upon really noticing the Read More

Behind the Song: Oh My Darling Clementine

This was sung on an old movie I was recently watching and I wondered where the song originated. This song is believed to have been inspired by Down by the River Liv’d a Maiden by H. S. Thompson. It is considered an old western folk song. The song is believed to have been written by Read More

Behind the Song: Oh Where, oh Where Is Mine Little Dog Gone

Oh Where, oh Where Is Mine Little Dog Gone is a fun folk song we all learn as a child. The song was written by Septimus Winner, a teacher, musician, music publisher, critic, arranger and composer. He wrote the lyrics to a German folk tune, “In Lauterbach hab’ ich mein’ Strumpf verlor’n“. The German lyrics Read More

Behind the Song: Yankee Doodle Dandy

We just celebrated the 4th of July over the weekend.  Today I want to share the story behind one of our patriotic songs, Yankee Doodle Dandy. We all think about the Revolutionary War when we hear the song, however, the folk song dates back to even before the Revolutionary War. Yankee Doodle Dandy dates back Read More

Behind the Song: Over the River and Through the Woods

The popular children’s song, Over the River and Through the Woods,  was written by Lydia Maria Child as a Thanksgiving poem. The lyrics represented in the song is often associated with cold.  In the early 19th Century, New England winters were colder and had earlier winters than they do in the present day. The poem Read More