"From the Land of the Sky-Blue Water" (1909) is a popular song composed by Charles Wakefield Cadman. He based it on an Omaha love song collected by Alice C. Fletcher. "Sky-blue water" or "clear blue water" is one possible translation of "Mnisota", the name for the Minnesota River in the Dakota language.[1]
| "From the Land of the Sky-Blue Water" | |
|---|---|
 Sheet music cover, 1909 | |
| Song | |
| Published | 1909 |
| Composer(s) | Charles Wakefield Cadman |
| Lyricist(s) | Nelle Richmond Eberhart |
Composition
editCadman's collaborator, Nelle Richmond Eberhart, wrote a poem as the lyrics:
From the Land of Sky-blue Water,
They brought a captive maid,
And her eyes they are lit with lightnings,
Her heart is not afraid!
But I steal to her lodge at dawning,
I woo her with my flute;
She is sick for the Sky-blue Water,
The captive maid is mute.[2]
The song became widely popular after noted American soprano Lillian Nordica performed it in concert in 1909.
Representation in other media
edit- An arrangement of the song for harp and flute is performed by Harpo Marx in the 1940 Marx Bros. film, Go West.
- Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams sings a part of the song in Scene Two while she is in the bathroom.
- The first line, "From the Land of Sky-blue Water", is sung by the Three Stooges in the film The Three Stooges In Orbit (1962), at about the three-quarter point in the film, before they launch into space for the first time.
- The Hamm's Brewery used a version of the lyrics- "From the land of sky blue waters/ comes the beer refreshing" - as an advertising jingle through the mid-twentieth century, accompanied by pseudo-Native American drumming.[3]
References
edit- ^ "Mnisota" Archived 2013-10-02 at the Wayback Machine, Dakota Dictionary Online. University of Minnesota Department of American Indian Studies (2010). Accessed October 6, 2016.
- ^ Cadman, "From the Land of the Sky-Blue Water."
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Hamms Beer Commercial - Vintage Black and White. YouTube.
Bibliography
edit- Cadman, Charles Wakefield (m); Eberhart, Nelle Richmond (w). "Hamm's Brewery" (Sheet music). Boston : White-Smith Music Publishing Company (1909).
External links
edit- Sheet Music for Four American Indian Songs Op. 45 No. 1; words by Nelle Richmond Eberhart; White-Smith Music Publishing Co., 1909, includes music for "From the Land of the Sky-Blue Water"
- From the land of the sky-blue water – Florence Hinkle – Victor 60079 – Camden, New Jersey (1912-10-03) | National Jukebox LOC.gov
- From the land of the sky-blue water Musical score | Nebraska Memories
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