My Old Kentucky Home

[hoalder]

I'm from Germany and I know some versions of this song of the beginning of recording such as from Alma Gluck. But WOW WOW WOW your interpretation make me a feeling of "Gänsehaut" (like we saying). Respekt!

[therealdirkdiggler]

THANK GOD, THE DARKIES! THANK CHRIST!

[hom859]

You know, i love this song but this song didn't represent kentucky as a bunch of slave holders because in kentcuky a lot of people didn't have slave (hence the reason they never separated from the union in the civil war). kentcuky was full of poor people. people who fended for themselves and didnt have slaves. i know my family didn't have slaves and the ancestor i could find that fought in the civil war fought for the union. all of ky does not represent slavery and never will. LONG LIVE KY

[kjknucklehead]

Political Correctness has crushed the soul of this country. Slavery in my opinion was the biggest indignity and embarressment this nation or any race of people has ever faced. But what's happened to the first ammendment? Is Freedom Of Speech the law as long as you don't bad mouth an African American? As a Black man, I am embarrest that black people have not progressed and prospered after over 200 yrs.and that we still need special treatment to be considered equal. It's shameful..

[JuliasGallery]

This is beautiful! I grew up knowing this song by kindergarten! I grew up just a few miles from this home. Thank you

[BowToMySkill]

FUCK THE DARKIES KILL THEM ALL

[MFBlok]

It was always "darkies" - I've got original sheet music from the turn of the last century.

Thank you, American Troubadour - took me back to my gramma's old piano. She played all the Stephen Foster tunes! Would love to here you sing Old Black Joe.

[doowoppingchainsawer]

I'm from Kentucky and don't remember Darky being the line. When was it changed? Also, it is "my" not "the". On another note, this guy's voice is fantastic.

[ladyeulailia]

As a Kentuckian who had to move away for a job--this song always brings tears to my eyes and I still miss My Old Kentucky Home

[towaly]

Beautiful version, stupid commentary by Schustick. I'd be less concerned about sucking the soul out of the tune and perhaps more respectful to the millions on millions of Africans who had their souls sucked out them so that Foster could write it. But that's just me.

[Ethreo]

@towaly No you have to remember that Kentucky and Indiana were more or less bench sitters during the whole ordeal. The FACT that this was occurring on Kentucky soil is what inspired Foster to write this in the first place. The whole PC BS movement is destroying this country.I had an English teacher that forced us to read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Fin in entirety then tried to indoctrinate us that it was meant to be racist from the start.

[Ethreo]

@towaly People really need to look in to history before opening their mouths.

[polarisindy488c]

boxcar willie does a fast version of this song and its awsome

[Dannys998877]

Good intentions notwithstanding, words which reflect the racist attitudes of earlier times should be erased from our language and our music. And the sappy sentimentalism of Kentuckians is only slightly less objectionable than the legendary arrogance of Texans. The culture of the old South was rotten to the core, and the objectionable music only compounds the crime.

[peggy986]

@Dannys998877 what about the words of today's music? Gangsta culture is also as you put it, 'rotten to the core', THANK GOD FOR FREEDOM OF SPEECH, which allows YOU to post your opinion, by the way.

[Kayswiss59]

Thanks, Bill, I am so grateful for this. What an education I've gotten. Am re-reading Gone with the Wind, where it is "sung" on p 298 of the hardback version by Rhett and Scarlett. Guess Mitchell didn't know either its original meaning. I love the way you sing and present this, also the guitar accompaniment just perfect. Will look up your other videos!

[tristanair]

brings tears ta my eyes with kentucky pride

[missdamselfly1]

Having recently visited Louisville this songs sends chills down my spine knowing the atrocities that are perpetrated upon human beings by another still exist throughout this Universe. What will you do to stop it?

[ajoku21]

am not from Kentucky but this song have touched me in such a magnificent way...thanks a lot

[1975chrisk]

dude you did GREAT job thanks for sharing

[kendall67890]

LOL Arkies r gay????????? lol.........

[borncountryful]

This song should never have been changed! It is a part of our history,

Slavery should never have happened! Thank God it too is history!!

[ladycdw1]

Thanks for the history lesson. I now know the true meaning behind this song. So when it brings a tear to my eye, as it always has, it will be not only for the beautiful state of Kentucky but for the families that were tore apart because of slavery.

[1980Tiocfaidharla]

I am a proud Kentuckian. born and raised in the river bottoms of owensboro, and coon an possum hunting was most of my childhood. this was my papaws favorite song to sing me to sleep too when i was a mere lad. ive listened to u sing it about 20 times today. God bless you sir for keeping the old lyrics alive. you brought this old Ky boy to tears tonight

[WillyT3117]

Man, I live in Kentucky (although I'm not from here) and this gives me goose bumps. What a great voice! God bless you.

[leginewol]

I am from the UK and i first heard the songs of Stephen Foster when i was a kid in the sixties,i fell in love with them.

They taught me so much and shaped how i felt about the beautiful people they told the story about.

I have been listening to Paul Robeson all weekend and finding this as bought a tear to my eye!

Take care

[Nationsnotregimes]

EXCELLENT!!!!!!!!!!!

As for the so called elected thugs, well that about all they are.

Sing!

[michaelflinchum]

Born and raised a proud Kentuckian on the tabacco fields of the Cumberland. My oh my how times change; why our governor would never sing the song of our great Commonwealth in its original way. Excellent presentation, our revisionist historians won't like this a bit.

[horizontalbluesband]

top-shelf presentation!...

thank you!...

peace

[isabt4]

What a gorgeous voice! It is wrenching and heart warming to listen to this song, still, 7 years after my father's passing, a true kentuckian, who left his old home to finally settle in Spain, where I grew up and live. You sound just like him, Thank you for posting your beautiful rendition! And I honour and praise the beautiful African American people who so enriched America in every way!

[MightyAlz]

Using the word "darkies" or "nigger" in a song does not make you inherintly a racist, certainly not in the mid 19th century at least.

[jamesjuusa]

very good sang. i love it voice.....

also i love kentucky went last year and this march.

[LexiixoxRoxx]

"Just a few more days for to tote the weary load; no matter, 'twill never be light."

From Gone With the Wind! This song brings tears to my eyes. Although most of my roots are Spanish, French, and Czechoslovakian, I was born in the US and have lived there my entire life. I'm a very proud Southerner even though I live in Miami and since there's a huge Cuban population, it's not as Southern as Savannah or Atlanta. I've visited Georgia many times though and adore it with all my heart! Darling song!

[cthulee]

While I love the song, I must say that what ever you sang I would listen to. Your voice is amazing!!! It remeinds me of my grandpa and my dad. They are both gone now and your voice brings them back to me. Thank you.

[happeelilly]

this isn't the way i remember it being .the darkies are gay i thought it was the people are gay

[TigerMichelle1]

The original is the darkies are gay.... This is how it was written.

[Luigi84289]

Originally it was darkies. It was changed later.

[Stravos1453]

Well sung and said!...Love Kentucky, Beautiful country and very nice folks...as to the political correct crowd what's next?...Are you guys still after Huckleberry Finn as well?

[Luigi84289]

Still angry about what they did to virginia's song.

[mfdjais]

sold me down the river...

good explanation.

THanks for the song. Derby is tomorrow and I'm looking forward to it.

[Theodoric476]

Stephen Fosters attitude towards race changed and evolved in his career. His first hit, Oh Susanna (1845) in a verse rairly subg today, included the lines, I jump'd aboard the telegraph and

trabbled down de ribber, De lectrick fluid magnified, and kill'd five hundred Nigga.

.

[jcha74]

great vocal!

[barrymore]

As a Kentuckian, hearing the traditional lyrics is awe-inspiring.....brought tears to my eyes...if only all the pc minions would look at the historical meanings before the become "rabid."

[hom859]

@barrymore i understand what you mean but it is 2011 now and if you still perform the song as it is, a state song, then you have to re-enlist it as a state song without offending any citizen of the state. i respect the original song like i do my heritage but i can not disregard offending my fellow statesmen if it does. in short. LONG LIVE MY HOME & GREAT STATE OF KENTUCKY. THE GREATEST STATE EVER IN THE WORLD.

[nothosaur]

thank you. I never knew the history of it.

[andyfedel]

absolutely beautiful song.i'm sorry if it might be accepted in the negative by some people,but the fact remains that stephen foster was probably the first great popular songwriter in u.s. history. i feel this song was & still is in good taste. it actually helps make a very solid link in the african american's struggle to fit in this nations harsh beginings and reminds us of their contribution in blood to this countrys strong foundations. that wont change so i would just be proud black or white.

[tacoma200]

I feel the same.

[cskirk]

Thank you for posting this song in it's original version. The political correctness of our generation has nuetered this song. Just listen to the original version. It is an abolishinist song. It speaks vivid details of the truth of a slave being ripped from his family and sold down the river to the deep south where he will dead in a couple of years. How can this song be considered racist?

[hom859]

@cskirk i understand what you mean but it is 2011 now and if you still perform the song as it is, a state song, then you have to re-enlist it as a state song without offending any citizen of the state. i respect the original song like i do my heritage but i can not disregard offending my fellow statesmen if it does. in short. LONG LIVE MY HOME & GREAT STATE OF KENTUCKY. THE GREATEST STATE EVER IN THE WORLD.

[247405]

you sing with your heart...

very nice