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Oh My Darling Clementine

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Uploaded by on Jun 9, 2008

Oh My Darling Clementine
By Connie Francis and Jonny Hills

Oh My Darling, Clementine is an American western folk ballad usually credited to Percy Montrose (1884), even though it's sometimes referred to Barker Bradford. The song is believed to have been based on another song called Down by the River Liv'd a Maiden by H. S. Thompson (1863).
The words are those of a bereaved lover singing about his darling, the daughter of a miner in the 1849 California Gold Rush. He loses her in a drowning accident, though he consoles himself towards the end of the song with Clementine's "little sister".

The verse about the little sister was often left out of folk song books intended for children, presumably because it seemed morally questionable.

Gerald Brenan attributes the melody to originally being an old Spanish ballad in his book South from Granada. It was made popular by Mexican miners during the Gold Rush. It was also given various English texts. No particular source is cited to verify that the song he used to hear in the 1920s in a remote Spanish village was not an old text with new music, but Brenan states in his preface that all facts mentioned in the book have been checked reasonably well.
Forty-niners
The first people to rush to the gold fields, beginning in the spring of 1848, were the residents of California themselves—primarily agriculturally oriented Americans and Europeans living in Northern California, along with Native Americans and some Californios (Spanish-speaking Californians).[30] These first miners tended to be families in which everyone helped in the effort. Women and children of all races were often found panning next to the men. Some enterprising families set up boarding houses to accommodate the influx of men; in such cases, the women often brought in steady income while their husbands searched for gold.

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Top Comments

  • "How I missed my Clementine but I kissed her little Sister and forgot my Clementine"

    O.o

  • I'm 81 years old, and this song has been a lifetime favorite.

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All Comments (965)

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  • @dlw85257 81? u can use the internet?? who let u near it?? its dangerous for ppl at ur agee u should go live in a lonely room somewhere away from everything that moves so ull be safe and sound :D

  • greatttt songggggg

  • @dlw85257 LIE ur not 81

  • @kissa1299 Helt Enig

  • swaggar jagger?

  • @nancymetzzzzzz that's cool, I wish I could play it. I can't play any instruments.

  • I've heard this song millions of times and learned it when I was little, but this is the first time I heard "How I missed my Clementine but I kissed her little sister and forgot my Clementine" part!! that is really funny!! :D

  • my dad taught me this songg and im in love with it. he taught it to me when i was 3. i love this songg! i sing it and play it on the ukulele:)

  • @voked1 Clémentine :)

  • @yah91 what's your name?

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