Suwannee River
A fine choir party at the Reedie home last evening. All choir gatherings enjoy music, and we heard Stephen Foster, which my mother and I always loved. In the 1940s we had many of his songs on a 78 rpm album that we eventually wore out on the Victrola in our living room.
Through the ’40s I took piano lessons from Mrs. C. W. Cross Barnes at her home out Harrison Avenue: an hour lesson every week, thirty minutes practice every day. Mrs. Barnes scorned my interest in hymns, insisted on nothing but classical, but did allow Stephen Foster.
“Way Down Upon the Suwanee River” has been the Florida State Song since 1935. Written in 1851 and originally used in a minstrel show, Foster’s lyrics would be offensive and inappropriate today. The Florida Legislature adopted revised lyrics in 2008. There’s a history of the song on the Florida Division of Historical Resources website.
Driving back and forth between Panama City and Gainesvile during university years, on US-27 we crossed the Suwannee River. Those of us in the car created a quirky custom of singing, just while over the river on the bridge, “Way down upon the S’wannee River, far ... ” Depending on how fast the car was moving, the first “far” was usually as far as we sang before stopping abruptly. My mind still does that every time we drive across the Suwannee River, and if driving alone I sing it aloud.
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