News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1889-01-03
THE OLD SONGS.
Tunes that Were Popular i'm this
Country Years Ago.
"I cannot sing the old Gongs
Ikanp 10 long Ago.N

/ i chuuOI sltlp tilS OlL SollbS
l sang o long ago"
"It is surprising what hold the old
| songs have on the affections of the peo-
| pie who sung them five and thirty years
ago." remarked Detroit music dealer
to q Free Press reporter.
"That is because they arc still popular
with everybody, is it notl"
"But they are not. do not refer to
annie Laurie or Tho Last Rose OF
Summer'-thoy are the little classics
Of song literature. l mean such songs
as these" and tho music man hummed
the airs of some old melodies and
young lady going out with n roll of mu-
sic under her arm came back and waited
to hear them.
care these songs published again 2"
she asked, "my mother often sings
them"
The words of those old songs we're
usually merely vagar;es of sentiment
and the music mouo;onous, but what n
hold they took on the public heart. The
music dealer ransacked his memory and
found n stanza or two.
There was "The Rose that all nre
Praising." 1t was drawing room song:
The rose that all are praisilg
Is not tho rose for me;
Too many eyes are gazing
Upon that costly tree
But I've rose in yonder glen
That shunS the gaze OF uthcc men,
And that's the ross for mo.
And that's the rose for me-"
Then he recalled the once popular
sentimental song, "Molly Darling"
that was sung by professionals and at
home until it was literally worn out:
''D d they tell thee was false, Molly Darln ng,"
f. That my love for q o0 ha' GROWN ro ~ ?"
There was suoh rage for a song called
'Lily Dale" that half tic girl babies OF
that period were named after her. In
those days a song with moonbeams and
q broken heart was favorite. There
was breezy madrigal with q refrain:
"Thcn wait ii touch my guitar"
1t was a famous serenade urtil some
scoffer changed it:
''Then wait wi lie light my cigar"
Then it went out of fashion.
Another much sung and often whisil
ed air was Midnight Hour" witchine
title for q song:
'TiS midnight hour the mooa shines bright,
Tra-la-la-la-tra-la-lay;
The twinkling stars with magic light,
Like bcauty's eyes display
There was another dear cd song:
'Oh, don't you remember sweet Alice Zen
Bolt?
Sweet Alice, who hair was so brown"
In those days there were temperance
revival songs that were sung with an
enthusiasm that nearly lifted the roof.
"Rum, rum, thou hast bereft me-"
was one plaintivo ballad. Another was
a melancholy succession of queries:
"Where are tho friends that were SO dear?
Long, long ago, long, long ago.
Where are the Lopes that myhcnrt used 10 cheer?
Long, long ago, long, l ing ago"
There was q rollicking chorus that
was in the mouths of young and old:
at will never do to give it up 50,
1t will never do to give it up 70,
1t will never do to give it mp -, oh no,
1t will never do to give it up So
Then came the negro songs so few OF
which are ever heard now. One of the
most popular of these ante bellum lays
was "Susannah," the refrain of which
ran like this:
ooh, Susannah, don't you cry for me!
Ise gwinc to Alabama wild the banjo on my
knoo."
Who would believe that "Nellie BLY,"
was once favorite in all circles OF
society,"
'Ncllie Bly, shuts her eye
When she goes TO sleep,
When she wakens mp again
Her cycballs gin to peep.
Hi, Nelliel no, Nellie!
Don't you cry for me,
Isc gwine to Lusana
My true love for to Sec"
Are all the song sung? No; but this
is not an age of sentiment, and the
music of song is now OF more impor-
tance than the words. A new song has
been published in England and is sung
in Detroit by professionals which is
called Loves Seasons" Winter is
singing to summer, the former personi-
fed by an elderly love.
~ am forty years and moro,
She lacks twelve months of a sco'e."
He concludes his rhapsody with this
sensible refrain:
Time which brings thoo summers bloom,
May bring to me my winter tomb"