From the Land of the Sky-Blue Water

"From the Land of the Sky-Blue Water"
(Op. 45, No.1)

Cover, sheet music, 1909
Music by Charles Wakefield Cadman
Lyrics by Nelle Richmond Eberhart
Published 1909
Language English

"From the Land of the Sky-Blue Water" is a popular song published in 1909. Charles Wakefield Cadman composed the music based on an Omaha love song collected by Alice C. Fletcher. "Sky-blue water" is a translation of the name "Minnesota" from Dakota into English. Nelle Richmond Eberhart wrote the poem that goes with the music:

From the Land of Sky-blue Water,
They brought a captive maid,
And her eyes they are lit with lightnings,
Her heart is not afraid!
But I steal to her lodge at dawning,
I woo her with my flute;
She is sick for the Sky-blue Water,
The captive maid is mute.[1]

A pretty, lyrical and jazzy version is performed by Harpo Marx in the 1940 film Go West, featuring his harp accompanied by a flute-playing Indian chief. Hamm's Beer also used the music for its advertising jingle. A snatch is sung by Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams in Scene Two while she is in the bathroom.

References

  1. ^ Cadman, "From the Land of the Sky-Blue Water."

Bibliography

External Links