Cindy (folk Song)

Cindy (folk Song)

"Cindy" ("Cindy, Cindy") is a popular American folk song. According to John Lomax, the song originated in North Carolina. In the early and middle 20th century, Cindy was included in the songbooks used in many elementary school music programs as an example of folk music. It is familiar from the chorus:

Get along home, Cindy Cindy,

Get along home, Cindy Cindy,

Get along home, Cindy Cindy,

I'll marry you some day.

One of the earliest versions of "Cindy" is found in Anne Virginia Culbertson's collection of Negro folktales (At the Big House, where Aunt Nancy and Aunt 'Phrony Held Forth on the Animal Folks, Bobbs-Merrill, 1904) where one of her characters, Tim, "sang a plantation song named 'Cindy Ann'," the first verse and refrain of which are:

I'se gwine down ter Richmond,

I'll tell you w'a hit's for:

I'se gwine down ter Richmond,

Fer ter try an' end dis war.

An'-a you good-by, Cindy, Cindy

Good-by, Cindy Ann;

An'-a you good-by, Cindy, Cindy

I'se gwine ter Rappahan.

As with many folk songs, each singer was free to add verses, and many did. Cindy was a particular favorite for this, with many ribald verses added, attesting to Cindy's amorous inclinations. The tune is taken from the spiritual The Gospel Train, also known as "Get on Board Little Children".