"The Arkansas Traveler" is a mid-

19th century The 19th (nineteenth) century began on 1 January 1801 ( MDCCCI), and ended on 31 December 1900 ( MCM). The 19th century was the ninth century of the 2nd millennium. The 19th century was characterized by vast social upheaval. Slavery was abolish ...

folk song popularized by American singer and guitarist Mose Case. It is based on the composition of the same name by

Sandford C. Faulkner Sandford C. Faulkner (March 3, 1803August 4, 1874), better known as Sandy Faulkner, was an American planter, Humorist, raconteur and fiddler who personified the mid-19th century Folk music, folk song "The Arkansas Traveler (song), Arkansas Trav ...

. The

score Score or scorer may refer to: *Test score, the result of an exam or test Business * Score Digital, now part of Bauer Radio * Score Entertainment, a former American trading card design and manufacturing company * Score Media, a former Canadian ...

was first published by W. C. Peters in 1847 under the name "The Arkansas Traveller and Rackinsac Waltz". It was

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

state song Forty-eight of the fifty U.S. states have one or more state songs, a type of regional anthem, which are selected by each state legislature as a symbol (or emblem) of that particular U.S. state. Some U.S. states have more than one official state ...

from 1949 to 1963, and the state historic song since 1987. The official lyrics were written by a committee in 1947 in preparation for its naming as the official state song. The other official Arkansas state songs are "

" (state anthem), " Arkansas (You Run Deep In Me)," and " Oh, Arkansas." The song's earliest known recording was by Kentucky fiddler Don Richardson for Columbia in April 1916. The 1922 version by native-Arkansan “Eck” Robertson was among the first fifty recordings named to the

National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservat ...

of the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...

. An even earlier rendition, a recitation of the story by

Len Spencer Leonard Garfield Spencer (February 12, 1867 – December 15, 1914) was an early American recording artist. He began recording for the Columbia Phonograph Company, in 1889 or 1890. Between 1892 and 1897 he recorded extensively for the New Jersey Ph ...

with accompaniment by an unknown fiddler, was recorded by the Zonophone label prior to May 1902.

Background

The song is traditionally known to have had several versions of lyrics, which are much older than Arkansas' copyrighted state historic song.

Other versions

State historic song

Composed by the Arkansas State Song Selection Committee in 1947. Far and far away down in Arkansas, There lived a squatter with a stubborn jaw. His nose was ruby red and his whiskers gray. And he would sit and fiddle all the night and all the day. Came a traveler down the valley, asked if he could find a bed. Yes, try the road, the kindly squatter said. Then, could you point me out the way to find a tavern or an Inn? Quite a little piece I reckon, tho I've never been! And, when the rain came down on the cabin floor, The squatter only fiddled all the more. Why don't you mend your roof, said the traveler bold. How can I mend my cabin when the rain is wet and cold? Squatter pick a sunny morning when the air is dry and nice, Patch up your cabin, that is my advice. The squatter shook his hoary head, and answered with a stubborn air, Cabin never leaks a drop when days are bright and fair!

Peter Pan version

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."

Albert Bigelow Paine's 1st version

from The Arkansaw Bear: A Tale of Fanciful Adventure. The second version is the original version. The first version is the version taught to Northern school Children. 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

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.

Traditional children's version

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 up my baby bumblebee Won't my mommy be so proud of me I'm 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 up my baby bumble bee Won't my mommy be so proud of me I'm 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!

Alternate Children's version

I'm bringin' home a baby bumblebee Won't my mommy be so proud of me I'm bringin' home a baby bumblebee—Ow! He stung me! I'm bringin' home my baby dinosaur Won't my mommy kick him out the door? I'm bringin' home my baby dinosaur-Ouch! He kicked me! I'm bringin' home my baby hippopotamus Won't my mommy fuss, and fuss, and fuss? I'm bringin' home my baby hippopotamus-Ouch! He swallowed me!

Uses in film

"The Arkansas Traveler" was frequently featured in

animated cartoon Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

s in the 1930s and 1940s, most prolifically by

Carl Stalling Carl William Stalling (November 10, 1891 – November 29, 1972) was an American composer, voice actor and arranger for music in animated films. He is most closely associated with the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' shorts produced by War ...

in music he composed for the ''

Merrie Melodies ''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animated series of comedy short films produced by Warner Bros. starting in 1931, during the golden age of American animation, and ending in 1969. Then some new cartoons were produced from the late 1970s to the ...

'' and ''

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series '' Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation. ...

'' series. It usually was played, sloppily, when a

yokel Yokel is one of several derogatory terms referring to the stereotype of unsophisticated country people. The term is of uncertain etymology and is only attributed from the early 19th century. Yokels are depicted as straightforward, simple, naï ...

hillbilly Hillbilly is a term (often derogatory) for people who dwell in rural, mountainous areas in the United States, primarily in southern Appalachia and the Ozarks. The term was later used to refer to people from other rural and mountainous areas we ...

, 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 the short '' The Bashful Buzzard''. The popularity and joyfulness of "The Arkansas Traveler" was attested to in the 1932 Academy Award-winning

Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American comedy duo act during the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957). Starting their career as a duo in t ...

short, ''

The Music Box ''The Music Box'' is a Laurel and Hardy short film comedy released in 1932. It was directed by James Parrott, produced by Hal Roach and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film, which depicts the pair attempting to move a piano up a long fl ...

''. 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 Dixie, also known as Dixieland or Dixie's Land, is a nickname for all or part of the Southern United States. While there is no official definition of this region (and the included areas shift over the years), or the extent of the area it cove ...

". 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

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

-style version of "Arkansas Traveler" on her 1992 album of the same name.

Jerry Garcia Jerome John Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician best known for being the principal songwriter, lead guitarist, and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence ...

and

David Grisman David Grisman (born March 23, 1945) is an American mandolinist. His music combines bluegrass, folk, and jazz in a genre he calls "Dawg music". He founded the record label Acoustic Disc, which issues his recordings and those of other acoustic mu ...

also do a version on their 1993 album '' Not for Kids Only''.

In other media

Dan Hornsby's Original Arkansas Traveler Part 1 (with Clayton McMichen, Columbia 15253D) - 1920s version for Columbia Records, and Original Arkansas Traveler Part 2 (with Clayton McMichen, Columbia 15253D)

Charles Ives Charles Edward Ives (; October 20, 1874May 19, 1954) was an American modernist composer, one of the first American composers of international renown. His music was largely ignored during his early career, and many of his works went unperformed ...

uses the tune in his theater orchestra piece called "Country Band" March.

Eck Robertson Alexander Campbell "Eck" Robertson (born November 20, 1887 in Delaney, Arkansas, died February 15, 1975 in Borger, Texas) was an American fiddle player, mostly known for commercially recording the first country music songs in 1922 with Henry Gi ...

and Henry C. Gilliland's 1922 recording of "Arkansaw Traveler" '' ic' ( Victor 18956) was selected for the 2002

. 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 Harl McDonald (July 27, 1899 - March 30, 1955) was an American composer, conductor, pianist and teacher. McDonald was born in Boulder, Colorado, and studied at the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Redlands, and the Leipzig Con ...

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''. The "Baby Bumblebee" version was sung on two episodes of

Barney & Friends ''Barney & Friends'' is an American children's television series targeted at young children aged 2–7, created by Sheryl Leach. The series premiered on PBS on April 6, 1992. The series features the title character Barney, a purple anthropomo ...

, and one video from its predecessor, Barney and the Backyard Gang. Pete Seeger recorded the vaudeville version of "Arkansas Traveler" for his 1954 album " Frontier Ballads" The Jukebox Band perform their version of this song in a Shining Time Station episode, Win, Lose or Draw. In

Red Dead Redemption 2 ''Red Dead Redemption 2'' is a 2018 action-adventure game developed and published by Rockstar Games. The game is the third entry in the ''Red Dead'' series and a prequel to the 2010 game ''Red Dead Redemption''. The story is set in 1899 and f ...

, the saloon piano players often play the song in the lineup of Western piano music. The instrumental version is heard in the dance scene in the 12th episode of '' Call of the Wild''. The instrumental versions are used as the cultural theme songs for the United States in the video game series

Civilization A civilization (or civilisation) is any complex society characterized by the development of a state, social stratification, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyond natural spoken language (namely, a writing system). ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Arkansas Traveler 1862 compositions 1862 songs 1924 singles American folk songs Arkansas folklore Music of Arkansas Sandford C. Faulkner Songs about Arkansas Songs about fiddles Symbols of Arkansas United States National Recording Registry recordings United States state songs