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Gone are the days when my heart was young and gay, Gone are my friends from the cotton fields away, Gone from the earth to a better land I know, I hear their gentle voices calling "Old Black Joe." CHORUS I'm coming, I'm coming, for my head is bending low: I hear those gentle voices calling, "Old Black Joe." Why do I weep when my heart should feel no pain, Why do I sigh that my friends come not again, Grieving for forms now departed long ago? I hear their gentle voices calling "Old Black Joe." (CHORUS) Where are the hearts once so happy and so free? The children so dear that I held upon my knee, Gone to the shore where my soul has longed to go, I hear their gentle voices calling "Old Black Joe." (CHORUS)
Authorship
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)
- by Stephen Collins Foster (1826 - 1864), "Old Black Joe", 1860. [text verified 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Antonio Zencovich) , title 1: "Vecchio negro Joe", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: T. P. (Peter) Perrin
This text was added to the website: 2011-11-10
Line count: 17
Word count: 138
Sono passati i giorni in cui il mio cuore era giovane e allegro, sono andati via i miei amici dai campi di cotone, partiti da questa terra verso un’altra migliore, lo so. Sento le loro dolci voci chiamarmi: “Vieni, vecchio negro Joe!” CORO: Vengo, vengo, perché il mio capo si sta chinando in giù. Sento quelle dolci voci chiamarmi: “Vieni, vecchio negro Joe!” Perché piango, quando il mio cuore non dovrebbe provare pena, perché sospiro, se i miei amici non tornano più, addolorandomi per volti scomparsi da tanto? Sento le loro dolci voci chiamarmi: “Vieni, vecchio negro Joe!” (CORO) Dove sono i cuori un tempo così felici e liberi? I bambini tanto cari che tenevo sulle mie ginocchia, fuggiti sulla riva dove la mia anima ha sempre desiderato di andare? Sento le loro dolci voci chiamarmi: “Vieni, vecchio negro Joe!” (CORO)
Authorship
- Translation from English to Italian (Italiano) copyright © 2014 by Antonio Zencovich, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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- a text in English by Stephen Collins Foster (1826 - 1864)
This text was added to the website: 2014-03-24
Line count: 17
Word count: 141