Overview
Introduction
"Oh! Susanna" is a minstrel song by Stephen Foster (1826–1864), first published in 1848. It is among the most popular American songs ever written. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.
Background
In 1846, Stephen Foster moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, and became a bookkeeper with his brother's steamship company. While in Cincinnati, Foster wrote "Oh! Susanna", possibly for his men's social club. The song was first performed by a local quintet at a concert in Andrews' Eagle Ice Cream Saloon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on September 11, 1847. It was first published by W. C. Peters & Co. in Cincinnati in 1848. Other minstrel troupes performed the work, and, as was common at the time, many registered the song for copyright under their own names. As a result, it was copyrighted and published at least twenty-one times from February 25, 1848, through February 14, 1851. Foster earned just $100 ($2,768 in 2016 dollars) for the song, but its popularity led the publishing firm Firth, Pond & Company to offer him a royalty rate of two cents per copy of sheet music sold, convincing him to become America's first fully professional songwriter.
The name Susanna may refer to Foster's deceased sister Charlotte, whose middle name was Susannah.
Song
The song blends together a variety of musical traditions. The opening line refers to "a banjo on my knee", but the song takes its beat from the polka, which had just reached the U.S. from Europe. Glenn Weiser suggests the song was influenced by an existing work, "Rose of Alabama" (1846), with which it shares some similarities in lyrical theme and musical structure.
The first two phrases of the melody are based on the major pentatonic scale.
The lyrics are largely nonsense, as characterized by lines such as "It rain'd all night the day I left, The weather it was dry, The sun so hot I froze to death..." (first verse) and "I shut my eyes to hold my breath..." (second verse). It is one of the few songs by Foster that use the word "nigger" (others are "Old Uncle Ned" and "Oh! Lemuel", both also among Foster's early works), which appears in the second verse ("De lectric fluid magnified, And killed five hundred nigger.").
Lyrics
英文
I come from Alabama with my banjo on my knee
And I'm bound for Louisiana, my true love for to see
It rained all night the day I left
The weather, it was dry
The sun so hot, I froce myself
Susanna don't you cry
Oh, Susanna,
Oh don't you cry for me
For I come from Alabama
With my banjo on my knee
I had a dream the other night when everything was still
I dreamed I saw Susanna she was coming down the hill
Abuckwheat cake was in her mouth
A tear was in her eye
Said "I've come to take you home"
Susanna, don't you cry
Oh, Susanna,
Oh don't you cry for me
For I come from Alabama
With my banjo on my knee
中文
我来自阿拉巴马，带上心爱的五弦琴；
要赶到路易斯安那，为了寻找我爱人。
晚上起程大雨下不停，但是天气还干燥，
烈日当空，我心却冰冷，苏珊娜，别哭泣。
哦，苏珊娜，你别为我哭泣。
我来自阿拉巴马，带上心爱的五弦琴。
昨晚上夜深人已静，我沉睡入梦境，
在梦中见苏珊娜漫步下山来相迎。
她嘴里吃着荞麦饼，但两眼泪晶莹，
我离开故乡来找你，苏珊娜，别哭泣。
哦，苏珊娜，你别为我哭泣，
我来自阿拉巴马，带上心爱的五弦琴。
我马上要去新奥尔良到四处去寻访，
当我找到苏珊娜，我愿跪倒在她身旁。
倘若不幸我要失望只有把命丧，
黄土长埋我也心甘愿，苏珊娜，别哭泣。
哦，苏珊娜，你别为我哭泣，
我来自阿拉巴马，带上心爱的五弦琴。
