Hiawatha: His song to Minnehaha

AKASong to Minnehaha
First Published1903

Writer/composerJames O'Dea / Neil MoretRoudRN18960

Music Hall PerformersThe Two Bees
Folk performancesCollected from the singing of:
Spann, Mrs SR; USA : Florida; 1940
From original sheet music:

Oh the moon is all agleam on the stream
Where I dream here of you my pretty Indian maid.
While the rustling leaves are singing high above us overhead
In the glory of the bright summer night
In light of the shadows of the forest glade
I am waiting here to kiss your lips so red.
There's a flood of melodies on the breeze
From the trees and of you they breathe so tenderly
While the woodlands all around are resounding your name,
Oh my all in life is you only you
Fond and true and your own forevermore I'll be.
Hear then the song I sing with lips aflame.

I am your own your Hiawatha brave
My heart is yours, you know
Dear one I love you so
Oh Minnehaha gentle maid decide 
Decide and you'll be,
My Indian bride.

In the tresses of your hair, lies a snare and it's there
Where my heart a willing captive is.
Oh my woodland queen I pray you'll hold it ever in your care
In my little birch canoe love with you
Just we two down the stream of life in wedded bliss
I would drift sweetheart with you my lot to share.
When the birds upon the wing in the spring
Gaily sing of the green and golden summer time
When the snows of early winter robe the woodlands in white,
Then your Hiawatha free I will be
And to thee ev'ry thought of mine will o'er incline.
Heed then the vows I pledge to thee this night.

An early 20th century stage song, extremely popular throughout the English-speaking world. It was collected once from the singing of a traditional singer in Florida, Mrs SR Spann

The song was sung on the British music hall stage by a duo known as The Two Bees – this extract from a contemporary review gives a flavour of their performance:

The star turn is the performance of The Two Bees (Harry and Flora Blake) well-known Aberdeen favourites, who appear for the first time the first time in this city with their latest success “Hiawatha.” The performance is beautiful, both in its scenic effects , and in the words of the love song which Hiawatha sings to the Indian maid Minnehaha. The curtain goes up revealing an Indian camp with the maid sitting by the campfire. The moon shines on the waters of the lake across which in the distance Hiawatha is seen paddling his canoe . He lands on the shore and by the tent door sings his love song to Minnehaha to the accompaniment of the music of the birds in the trees. It is a beautiful performance and delighted the large audience who insisted upon a repeat.

Aberdeen Press and Journal, 8 Mar 1904

The tune was written by Charles K Daniels and was first performed in 1901 in the US as “In Hiawatha: A Summer Idyll” by John Phillip Sousa

The “Hiawatha” here was …. the name of a small town in Kansas. Daniels’s girlfriend lived in Hiawatha, and the rhythm of his piano piece was supposed to capture the rolling wheels of the train that often took him to that idyllic town. Daniels…published the “idyll” with his own music company in St. Louis under the pseudonym “Neil Moret.” In 1903 publisher Jerome Remick of Whitney-Warner in Detroit bought Daniels’s tune for a reputed $10,000 …. Remick thought an Indian subject would sell more copies, so he asked 21 year-old James O’Dea, fresh from his success with The Wizard of Oz, to add lyrics.

“Hiawatha (His Song to Minnehaha)” was sung in March 1903 in Show Girl, [a] revue at the Detroit Opera House, and with the assistance of a Victor recording sung by Harry Macdonough, it proved an instant sensation. Even a reviewer in London wrote that “the bands here play it, the boys whistle it, hand organs grind it out, and the hawkers of pirated music sell it on the street.”

Michael Pisani, Imagining native America in music (2006) p249

The Harry MacDonough recording:

Sources:

Last Updated on June 10, 2022 by John Baxter | Published: June 10, 2022

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