Bedelia, The Irish Coon Song Serenade
Title
Bedelia, The Irish Coon Song Serenade
Date
1903
Genre
Performer
Writer
William Jerome and Jean Schwartz
Recording Label
Victor
Location
Philadelphia, PA
Recording Technology
10 inch record
Description
It’s not clear what makes this record, sung by Arthur Collins, a “coon” song. It has some elements of the ragtime syncopation that “coon songs” helped introduce, and Collins was nicknamed "the King of Ragtime." Possibly the singer was imagined as an African American in love with an Irish immigrant, but the singer makes no effort at dialect. As the image indicates, women sang the song as well as men. It may simply be an attempt to cash in on the popularity of the genre while also appealing to Irish Americans. The song demonstrates the way American popular music mixed genres and used ethnic, gender and racial identity in slippery ways
Lyrics
1. There’s a charming Irish lady with a roguish winning way,
Who has kept my heart a bumpin’ and a jumpin’ night and day,
She’s a flower from Killarney with a Tipperary smile,
She’s the best that ever came from Erin’s Isle
And I find myself a singing all the while
CHORUS [sung twice after each VERSE]
Bedelia, I want to steal ye,
Bedelia I love you so,
I’ll be your Chauncey Olcott
If you’ll be my Molly O’,
Say something sweet Bedelia.
Your voice I like to hear,
O Bedelia, elia, elia,
I’ve made up my mind to steal ye,
steal ye, steal ye, Bedelia dear.
2. If you love me Bedelia half as much as I love you,
There is nothing in this world can ever cut your love in two,
For I’ll give you all my money on the day that we are wed,
I will cook for you and even bake the bread
And I’ll even bring your breakfast up to bed.
Who has kept my heart a bumpin’ and a jumpin’ night and day,
She’s a flower from Killarney with a Tipperary smile,
She’s the best that ever came from Erin’s Isle
And I find myself a singing all the while
CHORUS [sung twice after each VERSE]
Bedelia, I want to steal ye,
Bedelia I love you so,
I’ll be your Chauncey Olcott
If you’ll be my Molly O’,
Say something sweet Bedelia.
Your voice I like to hear,
O Bedelia, elia, elia,
I’ve made up my mind to steal ye,
steal ye, steal ye, Bedelia dear.
2. If you love me Bedelia half as much as I love you,
There is nothing in this world can ever cut your love in two,
For I’ll give you all my money on the day that we are wed,
I will cook for you and even bake the bread
And I’ll even bring your breakfast up to bed.
Is Referenced By
It’s not clear what makes this record, sung by Arthur Collins, a “coon” song. It has some elements of the ragtime syncopation that “coon songs” helped introduce, and Collins was nicknamed "the King of Ragtime." Possibly the singer was imagined as an African American in love with an Irish immigrant, but the singer makes no effort at dialect. As the image indicates, women sang the song as well as men. It may simply be an attempt to cash in on the popularity of the genre while also appealing to Irish Americans. The song demonstrates the way American popular music mixed genres and used ethnic, gender and racial identity in slippery ways