My Birthday

This item is part of the I. G. Greer Folksong Collection which consists of more than 300 individual song titles and their variants as collected by Isaac Garfield Greer (1881-1967) from informants, primarily in Ashe, Wilkes and Watauga counties. The collection includes manuscripts, typescript transcriptions produced by Dr. Greer’s clerical staff, and handwritten musical notations. Songs range from traditional Child Ballads, traditional English and Scottish ballads as well as their American variants, to 19th century popular music to musical compositions of local origin.

Folk songs--United States

Birthdays--Songs and music

Birthday parties--Songs and music

Brothers--Songs and music

Spainhour, Joseph F., 1850-

AC.113 Isaac Garfield (I.G.) Greer Papers and Recordings

W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection, Appalachian State University

Greer, I. G. (Isaac Garfield), 1881-1967

PDF

English

Text

Watauga County (N.C.)

My Birthday

I’ve had another birthday,
That makes me eighty-five,
I intend to keep on having them,
As long as I’m alive.

Mine always come in summer,
When the days are nice and long,
And we meet out on the mountain,
Where the breeze is good and strong.

We had a nice crowd yesterday,
Of relatives and friends, - -
They brought a splendid dinner,
On which such days depend.

They came from other states,
As well as from our own,
There were one or two there
That I had never known.

The majority were related,
In one way or another,
There were 25 or 30 there,
We only missed one brother.

We all had looked for Carl,
We expected him there too,
He wired he could not come, - -
Had a job he must put through.

This was birthday eighty-five,
I enjoyed it more than any,
And that is putting it strong,
Since I have had so many.

J.F. Spaiuhour

Joseph F. Spainhour, 1850-

113_MyBirthday