Swanee River Sheet Music

(Way Down Upon the) Swanee River (Old Folks at Home), is a song originally written in 1851 by composer Stephen Foster, to be performed by the New York performing troupe Christy's Minstrels.

The inspiration for the song came from the Suwannee River in Florida which Foster never actually saw. However, the popularity of the cong is said to have brought a lot of tourism to the area.

This song is often seen as offensive to black Americans for its imitation of Black English Vernacular (the song is intended to be from the perspective of a black man), and its references to "darkies" and "a-longin' for the old plantation. Foster was said to have been progressive for his time in his views about racial equality so this is very unlikely.