| "Hard Times Come Again No More" | |
Cover of the sheet music, 1854 |
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| Written by | Stephen Foster |
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| Published | New York: Firth, Pond & Co. (1854) |
| Language | English |
| Form | Strophic with chorus |
"Hard Times Come Again No More," (sometimes, "Hard Times") is a parlor song by Stephen Foster. It was published in New York by Firth, Pond & Co. in 1854 as Foster's Melodies No. 28. Well-known and popular in its day,[1] both in America and Europe,[2][3] the song asks the fortunate to consider the plight of the less fortunate and ends with one of Foster's favorite images: "a pale drooping maiden".
The first audio recording was a wax cylinder by the Edison Company (Edison Gold Moulded 9120) in 1905. It has been recorded and performed numerous times since.
Contents |
1.
Let us pause in life's pleasures and count its many tears,
While we all sup sorrow with the poor;
There's a song that will linger forever in our ears;
Oh hard times come again no more.
Chorus:
Tis the song, the sigh of the weary,
Hard Times, hard times, come again no more
Many days you have lingered around my cabin door;
Oh hard times come again no more.
2.
While we seek mirth and beauty and music light and gay,
There are frail forms fainting at the door;
Though their voices are silent, their pleading looks will say
Oh hard times come again no more.
Chorus
3.
There's a pale drooping maiden who toils her life away,
With a worn heart whose better days are o'er:
Though her voice would be merry, 'tis sighing all the day,
Oh hard times come again no more.
Chorus
4.
Tis a sigh that is wafted across the troubled wave,
Tis a wail that is heard upon the shore
Tis a dirge that is murmured around the lowly grave
Oh hard times come again no more.
Chorus
"Hard Times Come Again No More" was still relevant a century and a half after its writing. It was included on the 1991 compilation Songs of the Civil War as recorded by Kate and Anna McGarrigle. It was recorded by Bob Dylan for his 1992 album Good as I Been to You. Played in the context of the late-2000s recession, it led off the encores during Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's 2009 Working on a Dream Tour[4][5] (and was captured on their London Calling: Live in Hyde Park concert video release). It also was used in the context of natural disasters, such as the performance by Mary J. Blige and The Roots at the 2010 Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief telethon.
The song is Roud Folk Song Index #2659.
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