"I've Been Working on the Railroad" is an American folk song. The first published version appeared as "Levee Song" in Carmina Princetonia, a book of Princeton University songs published in 1894.[1] The earliest known recording is by The Shannon Quartet, released by Victor Records in 1923.[2]
The melody of the opening line of "I've Been Working on the Railroad" may have been inspired by the very similar melody at the beginning of the cello solo about one minute into Franz von Suppé's 1846 Poet and Peasantoverture.[3]
Lyrics
The verses that generally constitute the modern version of the song are:[4]
I've been working on the railroad
All the live-long day.
I've been working on the railroad
Just to pass the time away.
Can't you hear the whistle blowing,
Rise up so early in the morn;
Can't you hear the captain shouting,
"Dinah, blow your horn!"
Dinah, won't you blow,
Dinah, won't you blow,
Dinah, won't you blow your horn?
Dinah, won't you blow,
Dinah, won't you blow,
Dinah, won't you blow your horn?
Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah
Someone's in the kitchen I know
Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah
Strummin' on the old banjo!
Singin' fee, fie, fiddly-i-o
Fee, fie, fiddly-i-o-o-o-o
Fee, fie, fiddly-i-o
Strummin' on the old banjo.
The 1894 version includes one verse very much like the modern song, though in minstrel dialect, and with an intro that is no longer sung and a very different second verse:[5][6]
The "Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah" section, with its noticeably different melody, is actually an older song that has been absorbed by "I've Been Working on the Railroad". It was published as "Old Joe, or Somebody in the House with Dinah" in London in the 1830s or '40s with music credited to J.H. Cave, Johannes Brahms and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.[7] "Dinah" was a generic name for a slave woman and, by extension, any woman of African-American descent.[8] The melody for this section of the song may have been adapted from "Goodnight, Ladies", written (as "Farewell Ladies") in 1847 by E.P. Christy.[9]
According to the liner notes to Pete Seeger's Children's Concert at Town Hall (1963), the "Dinah won't you blow" section is a more modern addition, contributed to the song by "some college students".[10]
Other extant verses and stanzas
One extant verse that has been recorded in prominent sources follows the "Singin' fee, fie, fiddly-i-o" verse:
In another version of "I've Been Working on the Railroad" that is printed in "The Family Car Songbook", researched and edited by Tam Mossman, the song continues as follows:
"The Eyes of Texas" is the spirit song of the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas at El Paso. It is set to the tune of "I've Been Working on the Railroad" with alternate lyrics written in 1904. Students, faculty, staff, and alumni of the University sing the song atLonghornsports games and other events.[13]
Notes
↑ James J. Fuld, The Book of World-Famous Music, 4th ed. (Dover, 1996), p. 309; cited at Mudcat Café's site Mudcat Cafe.
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