"Cindy" is a popular American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Folk song. According to John Lomax

John Lomax

John Avery Lomax was an American teacher, a pioneering musicologist and folklorist who did much for the preservation of American folk songs...

, the song originated in North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

. In the early and middle 20th century, Cindy was included in the songbooks used in many elementary school music programs as an example of folk music. It is familiar from the chorus:

Get along home, Cindy Cindy,

Get along home, Cindy Cindy,

Get along home, Cindy Cindy,

I'll marry you some day.

One of the earliest versions of "Cindy" is found in Anne Virginia Culbertson's collection of Negro folktales (At the Big House, where Aunt Nancy and Aunt 'Phrony Held Forth on the Animal Folks, Bobbs-Merrill, 1904) where one of her characters, Tim, "sang a plantation song named 'Cindy Ann'," the first verse and refrain of which are:

I'se gwine down ter Richmond,

I'll tell you w'a hit's for:

I'se gwine down ter Richmond,

Fer ter try an' end dis war.

An'-a you good-by, Cindy, Cindy

Good-by, Cindy Ann;

An'-a you good-by, Cindy, Cindy

I'se gwine ter Rappahan.

As with many folk songs, each singer was free to add verses, and many did. Cindy was a particular favorite for this, with many ribald

Ribaldry

Ribaldry is humorous entertainment that ranges from bordering on indelicacy to gross indecency. It is also referred to as "bawdiness", "gaminess" or "bawdry"....

 verses added, attesting to Cindy's amorous inclinations.

Versions

Benjamin Weisman, Dolores Fuller and Fred Wise wrote a version of "Cindy" called "Cindy, Cindy". This version is the familiar one recorded by such performers as Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

, Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash

John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...

, Warren Zevon

Warren Zevon

Warren William Zevon was an American rock singer-songwriter and musician noted for including his sometimes sardonic opinions of life in his musical lyrics, composing songs that were sometimes humorous and often had political or historical themes.Zevon's work has often been praised by well-known...

, Nick Cave

Nick Cave

Nicholas Edward "Nick" Cave is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and occasional film actor.He is best known for his work as a frontman of the critically acclaimed rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, established in 1984, a group known for its eclectic influences and...

 (in a duet with Johnny Cash), and others. Dr. Mack Wilberg's

Mack Wilberg

Mack Wilberg is a composer, arranger, conductor, and Choral clinician, as well as the music director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir...

 choral arrangement of the piece was written for four-hand piano, double eight-part choirs, a string bass, xylophone, and a score of quintessential Americana

Americana (music)

Americana is an amalgam of roots musics formed by the confluence of the shared and varied traditions that make up the American musical ethos; specifically those sounds that are merged from folk, country, blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll and other external influential styles...

 instruments to supplement the melody during the arrangement's hoedown section. This arrangement is available for any choir to learn and perform, although Wilberg also wrote a special arrangement to be performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Mormon Tabernacle Choir

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, sometimes colloquially referred to as MoTab, is a Grammy and Emmy Award winning, 360-member, all-volunteer choir. The choir is part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . However, the choir is completely self-funded, traveling and producing albums to...

. The choral parts are the same, but the accompaniment has been rewritten for full orchestra (specifically the Orchestra at Temple Square

Orchestra at Temple Square

The Orchestra at Temple Square is a 110-member orchestra located in Salt Lake City, UT. The Orchestra was created in 1999 under the direction of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Church President Gordon B. Hinckley as part of the creative initiative to continually strengthen and...

). Robert Plant

Robert Plant

Robert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...

 has included an arrangement of "Cindy" on his cd, Band of Joy.

Some of the folk song verses

You ought to see my Cindy

She lives way down South

She's so sweet the honey bees,

They swarm around her mouth

Get along home Cindy, Cindy

Get along home Cindy, Cindy

Get along home Cindy, Cindy

I'll marry you some day

In Popular Culture

The song is performed in the 1957 episode of Maverick (TV series)

Maverick (TV series)

Maverick is a western television series with comedic overtones created by Roy Huggins. The show ran from September 22, 1957 to July 8, 1962 on ABC and stars James Garner as Bret Maverick, a cagey, articulate cardsharp. Eight episodes into the first season, he was joined by Jack Kelly as his brother...

, "Hostage" by Don Durant

Don Durant

Don Durant was an American actor and singer, best known for his role as the gunslinger-turned- sheriff in the CBS Western series Johnny Ringo, which ran on Thursdays from October 1, 1959 - June 30, 1960....

.

The song is performed in the 1959 John Wayne movie - Rio Bravo. It is performed by Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson and Walter Brennan.

External links

• There were variations in the music as well as the lyrics. You can listen and read the lyrics/song history of the 2003 version by The Rosinators entitled 'Cindy's Breakdown'.
• This MIDI version was recorded by J. R. Thompson.
• This page offers a link to an MP3 recording by Wayne Potash.
• This page offers a link to an MP3 by Robert Beaser.
• Polish lyrics of the song on Polish Wikisource