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Home on the Range
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the song. For other uses, see Home on the Range (disambiguation).
Home on the Range is the state song of Kansas. Dr. Brewster M. Higley originally wrote the words in a poem called "My Western Home." He wrote it in the early 1870s in Smith County, Kansas. The poem was first published in a December 1873 issue of the Smith County Pioneer under the title "Oh, Give Me a Home Where the Buffalo Roam." The music was written by a friend of Higley's named Daniel E. Kelley. Higley's original words are similar to those of the song today but not identical. The song was picked up by settlers, cowboys, and others and spread across the nation in various forms. In the early 20th century, it was arranged by Texas composer David Guion (1892-1981) who is often credited as the composer. It was officially adopted as the state song of Kansas on June 30, 1947. It was also used as the theme song of the 1980 film Where The Buffalo Roam, and is commonly regarded as the unofficial anthem of the American West.
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- Oh, give me a home where the Buffalo roam
- Where the Deer and the Antelope play;
- Where never is heard a discouraging word,
- And the sky is not clouded all day.
- Chorus
- A home! A home!
- Where the Deer and the Antelope play,
- Where seldom is heard a discouraging word,
- And the sky is not clouded all day.
- Oh! give me a land where the bright diamond sand
- Throws its light from the glittering streams,
- Where glideth along the graceful white swan,
- Like the maid in her heavenly dreams.
- Oh! give me a gale of the Solomon vale,
- Where the life streams with buoyancy flow;
- On the banks of the Beaver, where seldom if ever,
- Any poisonous herbage doth grow.
- How often at night, when the heavens were bright,
- With the light of the twinkling stars
- Have I stood here amazed, and asked as I gazed,
- If their glory exceed that of ours.
- I love the wild flowers in this bright land of ours,
- I love the wild curlew's shrill scream;
- The bluffs and white rocks, and antelope flocks
- That graze on the mountains so green.
- The air is so pure and the breezes so fine,
- The zephyrs so balmy and light,
- That I would not exchange my home here to range
- Forever in azures so bright.
- Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam,
- Where the deer and the antelope play;
- There seldom is heard a discouraging word
- And the sky is not cloudy all day.
- Chorus
- A home, a home
- Where the deer and the antelope play,
- There seldom is heard a discouraging word
- And the sky is not cloudy all day.
- Yes, give me the gleam of the
- swift mountain stream
- And the place where no hurricane blows;
- Oh, give me the park where the prairie dogs bark And the mountain all covered with snow.
- Oh, give me the hills and the ring of the drills
- And the rich silver ore in the ground;
- Yes, give me the gulch where the miner can sluice
- And the bright, yellow gold can be found.
- Oh, give me the mine where the prospectors find
- The gold in its own native land;
- And the hot springs below where the sick people go
- And camp on the banks of the Grande.
- Oh, give me the steed and the gun that I need
- To shoot game for my own cabin home;
- Then give me the camp where the fire is the lamp
- And the wild Rocky Mountains to roam.
- Yes, give me the home where the prospectors roam
- Their business is always alive
- In these wild western hills
- midst the ring of the drills
- Oh, there let me live till I die.
- Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam,
- Where the deer and the antelope play,
- Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
- And the skies are not cloudy all day.
- Chorus
- Home, home on the range,
- Where the deer and the antelope play;
- Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
- And the skies are not cloudy all day.
- Where the air is so pure, the zephyrs so free,
- The breezes so balmy and light,
- That I would not exchange my home on the range
- For all of the cities so bright.
- The red man was pressed from this part of the West
- He's likely no more to return,
- To the banks of Red River where seldom if ever
- Their flickering camp-fires burn.
- How often at night when the heavens are bright
- With the light from the glittering stars
- Have I stood here amazed and asked as I gazed
- If their glory exceeds that of ours.
- Oh, I love these wild flowers
- in this dear land of ours
- The curlew I love to hear scream,
- And I love the white rocks and the antelope flocks
- That graze on the mountain-tops green.
- Oh, give me a land where the bright diamond sand
- Flows leisurely down the stream;
- Where the graceful white swan goes gliding along
- Like a maid in a heavenly dream.
A recording of the song from Raiford Penitentiary, Florida, 1939.
Problems listening to the file? See media help.
- Smith Center, Kansas History
- NPR - Home on the Range, Present at creation
- Kansas History Online
- Kansas Sights: "Home on the Range" for additional history
- Brewster Higley Ohio Historical Marker