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In Dear Old Sunny Florida

Words by Theo Lyon
Music by Clifton Keith
Copyright 1910

 

Also available for download as an MP3 file.

 

 

When the moon begins to cease its rays of silv'ry light,
When the birds begin to sing their sound of joy,
When the flowers begin to awaken from the night,
I dream of days when I was but a boy,
There's just a little cottage partly hidden from the ferry,
And there's the dear old cherry tree,
But fore most in my dreams I can see my sweetheart Mary,
As side by side we used to stroll in glee.

Remember how I caressed you, for it was such bliss,
Altho your best to love me you would try,
And when you gave me your hand and I gave you a kiss,
O, that parting clasp as I looked you in the eye,
And in my dreams of years ago my love still burns aglow,
To think of happy days gone by,
And to live them over again, to you I would bestow,
My heart and hand and live without a sigh.

In dear old sunny Florida, the land of showers,
"Twas there I met her, sitting 'mong the flowers,
Among the orange blossoms I long to roam,
In dear old sunny Florida, my Southern home.

 

This example of folk music from Florida in the early twentieth century is beautifully simple. Country folk often sang folk music, or played it on the fiddle. They played music at gatherings outdoors or in small homes. Farmers, loggers, fishermen, cowboys, and their families usually performed this music. Professional musicians didn't perform it as often. The musical style was not fancy. The lyrics reflected the local dialect and vocabulary. Ballads, or songs that told stories, were popular. Love songs such as this one were also well liked.

Credit: QuickTime audio file arranged and performed by Jeff Donovick for the Florida Center for Instructional Technology. Cover scan courtesy of the USF Libraries Digitization Center.