"Dream On" | |
---|---|
Song | |
Published | 1922 |
Composer(s) | Victor Herbert |
Lyricist(s) | B.G. DeSylva |
"Dream On (An Indian Lullaby)" is a popular song written by B.G. DeSylva with music composed by Victor Herbert. The song is a Cherokee mother's lullaby to her child. The lyrics as first written are:[1]
When the red Indian sun
Bids his goodbye;
Mother sees Cherokee's sleeptime's nigh,
When the fast fading day leaves a gray sky,
Twilight comes, then she hums this lullaby;
Dream on, mother is holding you, Ah yah*, ah yah;
Dream on, night is enfolding you, Ah yah, ah yah;
Some fair silver canoe
Carries you through into Dreamland,
Over a blue lagoon
Where the crickets croon, Ah yah, ah yah.
Dream on, mother is holding you, Ah yah, ah yah;
Dream on, night is enfolding you, Ah yah, ah yah;
New moon slender and frail
Quickly will pale and be gone,
And you'll come back to me then in the rose of dawn.
- Indian for "bye-lo" pronounced Hey-ah.
The first commercial recording of "Dream On" was by Mario Chamlee (Brunswick 10158) in 1925.