"My Old Kentucky Home, Good Night!" o semplicemente "My Old Kentucky Home" è un brano musicale, scritto probabilmente nel 1852 dal compositore statunitense Stephen Foster. Il testo è il lamento di uno schiavo costretto a lasciare una piantagione del Kentucky dopo essere stato venduto ad un altro proprietario. Ad ispirare Foster fu probabilmente il romanzo di Harriet Beecher Stowe "La capanna dello zio Tom", romanzo dal contenuto chiaramente abolizionista.
Text by Stephen foster
Verse 1:
The sun shines bright in the old Kentucky home,
‘Tis summer, the darkies are gay;
The corn-top’s ripe and the meadow’s in the bloom,
While the birds make music all the day.
The young folks roll on the little cabin floor,
All merry, all happy and bright;
By ‘n’ by Hard Times comes a-knocking at the door,
Then my old Kentucky home, goodnight.
Chorus:
Weep no more my lady
Oh! weep no more today!
We will sing one song for the old Kentucky home,
For the Old Kentucky Home far away.
Verse 2:
They hunt no more for the possum and the coon,
On meadow, the hill and the shore,
They sing no more by the glimmer of the moon,
On the bench by the old cabin door.
The day goes by like a shadow o’er the heart,
With sorrow, where all was delight,
The time has come when the darkies have to part,
Then my old Kentucky home, goodnight.
Chorus
Verse 3:
The head must bow and the back will have to bend,
Wherever the darky may go;
A few more days, and the trouble all will end,
In the field where the sugar-canes grow;
A few more days for to tote the weary load,
No matter, ’twill never be light;
A few more days till we totter on the road,
Then my old Kentucky home, goodnight.
Chorus
