"Original" text
by
Dr. Brewster Higley (1876)
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.
William and Mary
Goodwin (1904)
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.
John A. Lomax
(1910)
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.