Who wrote lyrics to Home on the Range?

In Disney media, a villainized parody appears by Percival McLeach from the 1990 film The Rescuers Down Under. It is a villainized parody of the original song, which was performed by Frank Welker, McLeach's singing voice (and also the voice of Joanna the Goanna) in the film.

Part of the original version of the song was sung by Grace in the animated film of the same name, and the full version appeared in Disney Sing Along Songs: Little Patch of Heaven. Part of the original song also appears in the now-extinct America Sings attraction sung by Tex Ranger, a cowboy dog who was featured singing with various desert animals listening to him as the last song during the attraction's second act, "Heading West" just before the attraction loops into the third act.

Lyrics

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,

Chorus: Home, home on the range,

and the skies are not cloudy all day

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

(verse with coyotes howling in the background)

and the skies are not cloudy all day

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 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 How often that night, when the heavens are bright, with the light of the glittering stars, have I stood there amazed and asked as I gazed, If their glory exceeds that of ours 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 Then give me a land, where the bright diamond sand, flows leisurely down to the stream, where the graceful white swan goes gliding along, like a maid in a heavenly dream Oh, I would not exchange my old 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

Clips used in the Sing Along Songs version

External links

• Home on the Range on Wikipedia.

• This classic ode to frontier life was written by Kansas homesteader Brewster M. Higley VI as the poem "My Western Home" and first appeared in the Smith County Pioneer in 1873. Higley's friend Daniel Kelley, a Civil War veteran who lived in the Sunflower State for a time, wrote the music.

  Both Higley and Kelley moved on to greener pastures after writing it. Higley eventually landed in Oklahoma, while Kelley made Iowa his home.

• The original version of this song did not contain the phrase "on the range."

• Kansas made this its official state anthem on June 30, 1947.

• When Higley was penning his poem, it was a promising time for pioneers who could understand the sentiment "give me a home where the buffalo roam." The 1862 Homestead Act allowed farmers and ranchers to earn the title to 160 acres of land as long as they worked it for five years. The legislation came on the heels of decades-long turmoil in Kansas - white settlers forced Native Americans off of the plains to take control of the land, and then battled each other over the right to own slaves in the territory (before the Civil War).

• John Lomax, a professor and collector of folk songs, captured the earliest known recording of the tune when he heard a cattle driver-turned-saloonkeeper singing it in 1908.In 1910, Lomax did his own rendition, which includes a reference to the Native Americans' plight:

  The red man was pressed from this part of the WestHe's likely no more to return,To the banks of Red River where seldom if ever

  Their flickering camp-fires burn

  "Red man" or "Red skin" were commonly used terms to describe Native Americans by white settlers.

• Texan David Guion is credited for first publishing the sheet music in 1925 under the new title "Home on the Range."

• Though this has been covered numerous times throughout the years, from Roy Rogers and Dale Evans to Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Porky Pig, the song has never hit the charts.

• Neil Young sang this for the opening credits of the 1980 film Where the Buffalo Roam, starring Bill Murray and Peter Boyle.

• Willie Nelson sang this over the closing credits of the 2009 war drama The Messenger, starring Ben Foster and Woody Harrelson.

The song “Home on the Range” conjures up thoughts of the Wild West, cowboys, and cattle drives. It’s the official state song of Kansas and the unofficial song of the old western lifestyle. With that in mind, many are surprised to find out that an ear, nose, and throat doctor from Iowa actually wrote the original lyrics to the song.

Dr. Brewster M. Higley wrote the song in the early 1870s while in Smith County, Kansas. Dr. Higley was in Kansas to claim land under the Homestead Act of 1862. Since the words to “Home on the Range” were published, the song has been performed by Broadway singers, cartoon characters, film actors, and marching bands.

“Home on the Range” can be found on various albums including, Homeward Bound, a collaboration between Bryn Terfel, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and Orchestra at Temple Square. The video above shows a behind-the-scenes look at the making ofHomeward Bound.

At Terfel's request, the version of "Home on the Range" that is performed on Homeward Bound is an arrangement by Mack WIlberg. Terfel had often sung the song as an encore at many American recitals and asked Wilberg to put a "new coat" on it. The result is a beautiful, new rendition of this old western favorite.

"Home on the Range," the state song of Kansas since 1947, was composed by violinist Daniel Kelley with text by otolaryngologist Dr. Brewster Higley. The words "Home on the Range" never appear in Higley's original text. He titled the work "My Western Home," though it often was titled by its first line as well. The poem was published in the Kansas newspaper Kirwin Chief in 1876. However, within a few years of publication, "Home on the Range" gained immense popularity throughout the United States and both composer and writer became practically anonymous as settlers claimed the song as their own.

--Christie Finn

Date: 1873Composer: Daniel KelleyText: Dr. Brewster Higley

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.

Chorus

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.

Chorus

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.

Chorus

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.

Chorus

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.

Chorus

1904 Version of the text
by William and Mary Goodwin:

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.

Chorus

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.

Chorus

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.

Chorus

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.

Chorus

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.

Chorus

1910 Version of the Text
by John A. Lomax

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.

Chorus

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.

Chorus

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.

Chorus

Oh, I love these wild prairies where I roam The curlew I love to hear scream, And I love the white rocks and the antelope flocks

That graze on the mountain-tops green.

Chorus

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.

Chorus