Oh Susannah [Official Video] by Dawn Pemberton and Moira Smiley - In Our Voices

Oh Susannah
from In Our Voices (2021)
www.moirasmiley.com
Dawn Pemberton - vocals
Moira Smiley - banjo, percussion, found sounds
arr. KJ Denhert
Produced by David Weber, Dawn Pemberton, and Moira Smiley.
Footage from "Palmour St" from the Library of Congress, edited by Jacob Blumberg
A reframe of an influential folk song originally born of white supremacy
Asking the question... what if Black people were allowed to love like everyone else? Dawn Pemberton (Canada’s “queen of soul”) reintroduces this most familiar of folk songs as a love story - in the face of its racist minstrel show history. Inspired by KJ Denhert’s arrangement, Pemberton sings Oh Susannah as a story of two Black people in love, without the freedom to be with each other. She shines light on Black love and humanity existing within the surreality of racism. Suddenly well-known lines, ‘rained all night - the weather was bone dry’ and ’the sun so hot I nearly froze to death’ ask questions like “what if Black love could exist without hate and harm?” and ”what if Black joy was allowed to exist and thrive without the violence of racism?” Its partner music video shows scenes of Black life from the 1949 documentary Palmour Street : A Study in Family Life.
Lyrics:
I come from Alabama with this old banjo on my knee.
I'm headed towards Louisiana, for my true love to see.
It rained all night the day we left
The weather it was bone dry
The sun so hot I nearly froze myself
Susannah don't you cry
Oh, Oh, Susannah, don't you cry for me
Well, I come from Alabama with this old banjo on my knee
I had a dream the other night, when everything was still
I dreamt I saw my sweet Susannah coming down the hill
A buckwheat cake was in her mouth
and a tear was in her eye
I’m coming home from the South. Susannah don't you cry
Oh, Susannah, don't you cry for me
I come from Alabama with this old banjo
On my knee