Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair　邦題：金髪のジェニー

作詞・作曲

この曲の作者は、アメリカの作曲家スティーブン・フォスター（Stephen Collins Foster,1826–1864）です。

歌詞

I dream of Jeanie with the light brown hair,
Borne, like a vapor, on the summer air;
I see her tripping where the bright streams play,
Happy as the daisies that dance on her way.
Many were the wild notes her merry voice would pour.
Many were the blithe birds that warbled them o'er:
Oh! I dream of Jeanie with the light brown hair,
Floating, like a vapor, on the soft summer air.

I long for Jeanie with the daydawn smile,
Radiant in gladness, warm with winning guile;
I hear her melodies, like joys gone by,
Sighing round my heart o'er the fond hopes that die:—
Sighing like the night wind and sobbing like the rain,—
Wailing for the lost one that comes not again:
Oh! I long for Jeanie, and my heart bows low,
Never more to find her where the bright waters flow.

I sigh for Jeanie, but her light form strayed
Far from the fond hearts round her native glade;
Her smiles have vanished and her sweet songs flown,
Flitting like the dreams that have cheered us and gone.
Now the nodding wild flowers may wither on the shore
While her gentle fingers will cull them no more:
Oh! I sigh for Jeanie with the light brown hair,
Floating, like a vapor, on the soft summer air.

管理人コメント

とても美しい曲ですね。
数多くの名曲を世に出していながら（実は出版当時はこの曲は他の曲ほどには評価されていなかったようですが）、フォスターの生活は困窮していて、妻のジェニーとも別居するに至ります。
それでも、これほどの美しい曲を創り出したんですね。

YouTube 動画

柔らかい歌声です。