ROBERT SHAW CHORALE - NELLY BLY

 NELLY BLY

ROBERT SHAW CHORALE

SONGWRITER: STEPHEN FOSTER

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: THE MANY MOODS OF CHRISTMAS

LABEL: RCA VICTOR

GENRE: BALLADS

YEAR: 1850/2011

 

        Stephen Collins Foster was born on July 4, 1826, in Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania. He was a composer and lyricist who wrote over 200 songs in his lifetime. Some of his most famous works include “Oh! Susanna”, “Camptown Races,” and “My Old Kentucky Home.” Foster died on January 13, 1864, at the age of 37. He was very successful in selling his music to various sheet music publishers throughout his career. Stephen Foster was the first fully professional U.S.

      Nelly Bly is a love song written by Stephen Foster about a young woman in love with a sailor. The song was published in 1850 and was very popular at the time. It describes the young woman’s longing for her sailor lover and sadness when he is away at sea. The lyrics are about as classic Stephen Foster as you can get.

Nelly Bly! Nelly Bly!

Bring the broom along,

We’ll sweep the kitchen clean, my dear,

And have a little song.

Poke the wood, my lady love

And make the fire burn,

And while I take the banjo down,

 Just give the mush a turn.

 

Chorus: Hey, Nelly! Ho Nelly!

Listen, love, to me,

I’ll sing for you and play for you

A dulcem melody.

 

Nelly Bly has a voice

Like a turtle dove,

I hear it in the meadow

And I hear it in the grove.

Nelly Bly has a heart

Warm as a cup of tea,

And bigger than the sweet potatoes

Down in Tennessee.

 

Chorus: Hey, Nelly! Ho Nelly!

Listen, love, to me,

I’ll sing for you and play for you

A dulcem melody.

 

Nelly Bly shuts her eye

When she goes to sleep.

When she wakens up again

Her eyeballs start to peep.

The way she walks, she lifts her foot,

And then she bumps it down;

And when it lights, there’s music there

In that part of the town.

 

Chorus: Hey, Nelly! Ho Nelly!

Listen, love, to me,

I’ll sing for you and play for you

A dulcem melody.

 

Nelly Bly! Nelly Bly!

Never, never sigh;

Never bring the tear drop

To the corner of your eye.

For the pie is made of pumpkins

And the mush is made of corn,

And there’s corn and pumpkins plenty, love,

A-lyin’ in the barn.