September 13, 2013 (Friday)
Recently I wrote about slang phrases used to describe money. The “Greenback” was issued during the Civil war, and the term is still used today to describe the dollar bill. The discussion reminded me of a song I used to hear a lot on the radio when I was a child: “The Greenback Dollar.” I have not heard it in years. It was a folk song, evidently about a young couple in the eastern mountains. She found another man, approved by her parents. The young man, now a spurned lover, sings the song.
“Once, I loved a fair young maiden
And she thought the world of me
Till another man persuaded
Her to care no more for me
I don’t want your greenback dollar
I don’t want your watch and chain
All I want is your heart darling
Say, you’ll take me back again”
The song has several verses and is Appalachian music. The original author seems to be unknown, but the song is associated with several artists, past and present, who did not actually write the song. If you are a fan of genuine mountain music, you probably like this one.
If you don’t like the words, just change them. The words printed above are not the ones I recall hearing on the radio in the 1930’s. But they’ll do.
WSM in Nashville started “The Grand Ole Opry” with volunteers who sang the real thing in the real way of “good old mountain music.” My grandparents and I used to listen to it every Saturday night because WSM could be heard just about everywhere in our country back then. Those were the days.