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Gum Tree Canoe

from Half a Bushel by Turnip the Beet

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about

Gum Tree Canoe - first published in print by S.S. Steele and A.F. Winnemore, 1847, via Brendan Taaffe
"Gum Tree Canoe" was popularized (and claimed to be written) by blackface minstrel performers in the mid-1800s. Minstrelsy served a wide range of purposes during its time and undoubtedly contributed to racism in America. We acknowledge this history and respect the story of the song itself.

lyrics

On the Tombigbee River so bright I was born
In a hut made of husks of the tall yellow corn
It was there I first met with my Julia so true
And I rowed her around in my gum tree canoe

Singing row away row o'er the waters so blue
Like a feather we'll float in our gum tree canoe

All day in the fields of soft cotton I'd hoe
I'd think of my Julia and sing as I go
Oh I catch her a bird with a wing of true blue
And at night sail her 'round in our gum tree canoe

With my hand on the banjo and toe on the oar
I'd sing to the sound of the river's soft roar
While the stars they look down on my Julia so true
And dance in her eyes in our gum tree canoe

On night the stream bore us so far away
We couldn't come back so we thought we'd just stay
I spied a tall ship with a flag of true blue
It took us in tow in our gum tree canoe

Gum Tree Canoe - first published in print by S.S. Steele and A.F. Winnemore, 1847, via Brendan Taaffe
"Gum Tree Canoe" was popularized (and claimed to be written) by blackface minstrel performers in the mid-1800s. Minstrelsy served a wide range of purposes during its time and undoubtedly contributed to racism in America. We acknowledge this history and respect the story of the song itself.

credits

from Half a Bushel, released September 16, 2016
Jeremy Lekich - guitar, vocals
Kelsey Wells - banjo, vocals
with special guest
Susan Kevra - vocals

Recorded by Ed Laura
Mixed by Ed Laura & Ed Kohorst
Produced by Turnip the Beet

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Turnip the Beet Nashville, Tennessee

A dance band duo from the Upper South

Jeremy Lekich - guitar, djembe, vocals

Kelsey Wells - fiddle, banjo, feet, vocals

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