Piano score for a portion of The Arkansas Traveler. While the song was originally composed on a fiddle, it has since been rewritten for several different instruments and occasions.
"The Arkansas Traveler" was the state song of Arkansas from 1949 to 1963; it has been the state historical song since 1987. The music was composed in the 19th century by Colonel Sanford C. 'Sandy' Faulkner (1806–1874); the current official lyrics were written by a committee in 1947 in preparation for its naming as the state song.
Arkansas' other official state songs are "Arkansas" (state anthem) as well as "Arkansas (You Run Deep In Me)" & "Oh, Arkansas" (both state songs).
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I'm bringing home a baby bumble bee
Won't my mommy be so proud of me?
I'm bringing home a baby bumble bee
Ouch! It stung me!
A slow version of the "Bringing home a baby bumble-bee" version is sung by Beaky Buzzard in some of his Looney Tunes appearances, notably "Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid". This probably use the same yokel image that the tune evokes elsewhere in the Warner Bros. cartoon series.
The popularity and joyfulness of "The Arkansas Traveler" was attested to in the 1932 Academy Award-winning Laurel and Hardy short, The Music Box. In this film, the boys labored to haul a player piano up a long flight of stairs and into a house through a bedroom window. Near the conclusion of their adventure, as they are starting to clean up their mess surrounding the newly installed piano, Stan and Ollie play a roll of "Patriotic Melodies". They dance with much grace and amusement to "The Arkansas Traveler", followed briefly by "Dixie". Marvin Hatley, who composed Laurel and Hardy's "Cuckoo" theme song, was the pianist for this sequence; the player piano was not real.
The contemporary singer Michelle Shocked includes a Vaudville-style version of "Arkansas Traveler" on her 1992 album of the same name. Jerry Garcia and David Grisman also do a version on their 1993 album Not for Kids Only.
The song is the centerpiece of The Legend of the Arkansas Traveler, a short "Concert Paraphrase on an Old American Fiddle Tune" for orchestra composed by Harl McDonald in 1939.
Children's entertainer Raffi used the melody of "The Arkansas Traveler" for the song "Peanut Butter Sandwich," which appears on his album Singable Songs for the Very Young.
Won't my mommy be so proud of me?
I'm bringing home a baby bumble bee
Ouch! It stung me!
Lyrics
The song is traditionally known to have had several versions of lyrics, which are much older than the copyrighted song. The official lyrics as the state historical song of Arkansas are copyrighted and can be found on the website of the Arkansas Secretary of State.| Official version (composed by the Arkansas State Song Selection Committee in 1947) | Peter Pan version | Albert Bigelow Paine's 1st version (from The Arkansaw Bear: A Tale of Fanciful Adventure |
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On a lonely road quite long ago,
A trav'ler trod with fiddle and a bow; While rambling thru the country rich and grand, He quickly sensed the magic and the beauty of the land. Chorus For the wonder state we'll sing a song, And lift our voices loud and long. For the wonder state we'll shout hurrah! And praise the opportunities we find in Arkansas. Many years have passed, the trav'lers gay, Repeat the tune along the highway; And every voice that sings the glad refrain Re-echoes from the mountains to the fields of growing grain. Chorus |
Oh, once upon a time in Arkansas,
An old man sat in his little cabin door And fiddled at a tune that he liked to hear, A jolly old tune that he played by ear. It was raining hard, but the fiddler didn't care, He sawed away at the popular air, Tho' his rooftree leaked like a waterfall, That didn't seem to bother the man at all. A traveler was riding by that day, And stopped to hear him a-practicing away; The cabin was a-float and his feet were wet, But still the old man didn't seem to fret. So the stranger said "Now the way it seems to me, You'd better mend your roof," said he. But the old man said as he played away, "I couldn't mend it now, it's a rainy day." The traveler replied, "That's all quite true, But this, I think, is the thing to do; Get busy on a day that is fair and bright, Then patch the old roof till it's good and tight." But the old man kept on a-playing at his reel, And tapped the ground with his leathery heel. "Get along," said he, "for you give me a pain; My cabin never leaks when it doesn't rain." |
Oh, 'twas down in the woods of the Arkansaw,
And the night was cloudy and the wind was raw, And he didn't have a bed, and he didn't have a bite, And if he hadn't fiddled, he'd a travelled all night. But he came to a cabin, and an old gray man, And says he, "Where am I going? Now tell me if you can." "Oh, we'll have a little music first and then some supper, too, But before we have the supper we will play the music through. You'll forget about your supper, you'll forget about your home, You'll forget you ever started out in Arkansaw to roam." Now the old man sat a-fiddling by the little cabin door, And the tune was pretty lively, and he played it o'er and o'er, And the stranger sat a-list'ning and a-wond'ring what to do, As he fiddled and he fiddled, but he never played it through. Then the stranger asked the fiddler, "Won't you play the rest for me?" "Don't know it," says the fiddler. "Play it for yourself!" says he. Then the stranger took the fiddle, with a riddy-diddle-diddle, And the strings began to tingle at the jingle of the bow, While the old man sat and listened, and his eyes with pleasure glistened, As he shouted, "Hallelujah! And hurray for Joe!" |
| Albert Bigelow Paine's 2nd version | Traditional children's version |
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Oh, there was a little boy and his name was Bo,
Went out into the woods when the moon was low, And he met an old bear who was hungry for a snack, And his folks are still a-waiting for Bosephus to come back. For the boy became the teacher of this kind and gentle creature Who can play upon the fiddle in a very skillful way. And they'll never, ever sever, and they'll travel on forever, Bosephus and the fiddle and the old black bear. |
I'm bringin' home a baby bumblebee
Won't my mommy be so proud of me I'm bringin' home a baby bumblebee—Ow! It stung me! I'm squishin' up my baby bumblebee Won't my mommy be so proud of me I'm squishin' up my baby bumblebee-Yuck! It's dirty! I'm lickin' up my baby bumble bee Won't my mommy be so proud of me I'm lickin' up my baby bumble bee-Ick! I feel sick! I'm throwin' up my baby bumble bee Won't my mommy be so proud of me I'm throwin' up my baby bumble bee-Oh! What a mess! I'm wipin' up my baby bumble bee Won't my mommy be so proud of me I'm wipin' up my baby bumble bee-Oops! Mommy's new towel! I'm wringin' out my baby bumble bee Won't my mommy be so proud of me I'm wringin' out my baby bumble bee-Bye-bye baby bumblebee! |
Uses in film
"The Arkansas Traveler" was frequently featured in animated cartoons in the 1930's and 1940's, most prolifically by Carl Stalling in music he composed for the Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes series. It usually was played, sloppily, when a yokel, hillbilly, or "country bumpkin" character would appear on screen.A slow version of the "Bringing home a baby bumble-bee" version is sung by Beaky Buzzard in some of his Looney Tunes appearances, notably "Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid". This probably use the same yokel image that the tune evokes elsewhere in the Warner Bros. cartoon series.
The popularity and joyfulness of "The Arkansas Traveler" was attested to in the 1932 Academy Award-winning Laurel and Hardy short, The Music Box. In this film, the boys labored to haul a player piano up a long flight of stairs and into a house through a bedroom window. Near the conclusion of their adventure, as they are starting to clean up their mess surrounding the newly installed piano, Stan and Ollie play a roll of "Patriotic Melodies". They dance with much grace and amusement to "The Arkansas Traveler", followed briefly by "Dixie". Marvin Hatley, who composed Laurel and Hardy's "Cuckoo" theme song, was the pianist for this sequence; the player piano was not real.
Vaudeville
"The Arkansas Traveler" was a popular comedy sketch on the vaudeville circuit. It revolved around the encounter of a (usually lost) traveling city person with a local, wise-cracking fiddle player. Various jokes at the expense of the "city slicker" were interspersed with instrumental versions of the song. In many versions, the city person is also a fiddle player, and as the sketch progresses, eventually learns the tune and plays along with the country bumpkin.The contemporary singer Michelle Shocked includes a Vaudville-style version of "Arkansas Traveler" on her 1992 album of the same name. Jerry Garcia and David Grisman also do a version on their 1993 album Not for Kids Only.
In other media
Eck Robertson and Henry C. Gilliland's 1922 recording of "Arkansaw Traveler" [sic] (Victor 18956) was selected for the 2002 National Recording Registry.The song is the centerpiece of The Legend of the Arkansas Traveler, a short "Concert Paraphrase on an Old American Fiddle Tune" for orchestra composed by Harl McDonald in 1939.
Children's entertainer Raffi used the melody of "The Arkansas Traveler" for the song "Peanut Butter Sandwich," which appears on his album Singable Songs for the Very Young.
External links
- "The Arkansas Traveler", plot summary of a play from the 1850s based on the story.
- Lyrics and audio of "The Arkansas Traveler", Arkansas Secretary of State website
- Arkansas Code Section 1-4-116 (State songs and anthem)
- "Arkansas Traveler", '1956 Florida Folk Festival (Music from the Florida Folklife Collection CD, available for public use from the Florida State Archives.)
- "The Arkansas Traveler sketch in Vaudeville", America's Library
- List of U.S. state songs
- The Ant and the Grasshopper
