On Top of Old Smoky

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"On Top of Old Smoky" is a traditional folk song and a well-known ballad of the United States which, as recorded by The Weavers, reached the pop music charts in 1951.

On top of Old Smoky, all covered with snow

I lost my true lover, for courtin' too slow...

Old Smoky may be a high mountain somewhere in the Ozarks or the central Appalachians, as the tune (as does much 'bluegrass' music) bears the stylistic hallmarks of the Scottish and Irish people who settled the region. Exactly which mountain it is may be lost to antiquity.

The recording by The Weavers used an arrangement by Pete Seeger, and was made on February 21, 1951. It was released by Decca Records as catalog number 27515^[1]. It reached #2 on the Billboard chart and #1 on the Cash Box chart, and sold over a million copies.

[edit] Use in popular culture

The song is often parodied, often with violent lyrics. One example begins "On top of Old Smokey, all covered in blood/I found my true lover, face down in the mud". Teachers are often used by children as targets in the song. One well-known parody version, "On Top of Spaghetti", deals with the loss of a meatball "when somebody sneezed".

In his "Schticks of One and a Half Dozen of the Other" medley, Allan Sherman invented this lyric, which hints at one of the more risqué versions: "On top of Old Smokey / All covered with hair / Of course, I'm referring / To Smokey the Bear."

The country music singer Kenny Rogers sometimes uses the first part of "On Top Of Old Smoky" as a joke in concert. The opening bars to Lucille (one of his biggest hits) play with Rogers saying to the crowd something along the lines of "None of you know what song this is", when the audience reply with "Yes we do", Rogers then begins to sing "On Top Of Old Smoky".

The Swedish comedian Povel Ramel wrote and recorded a Swedish version: Högt uppe på berget, jag har till en vän, förlorat en femma, jag lär nog aldrig se den utigen (High up the mountain, I have to to a friend, lost 5 kronor, i doubt I'll see them again)

The 1959 single "We're Coming To Your House" by the Three Stooges is sung to the tune of "On Top Of Old Smoky."

Alternative country band The Gourds gangstered the lyrics to "On Top of Old Smoky" in the song "I'm troubled" on their 1998 release "Gogitchyershinebox." [1] [2]

On the Sesame Street album Bert & Ernie Sing-Along, Grover does a version where the second line is "all covered with dirt", then proceeds to tell of him losing various clothing and personal items, including his way home. He then finds his way home, and finds his mother with all the stuff he thought he had lost.

Preceded by Mockin’ Bird Hill	Cash Box magazine best selling record chart #1 record May 19, 1951	Succeeded by Mockin’ Bird Hill
Preceded by Mockin’ Bird Hill	Cash Box magazine best selling record chart #1 record June 2, 1951	Succeeded by Too Young