Lyrics to Dixie song

Staff report

Below are the lyrics* to “I Wish I Was in Dixie’s Land” - generally known today as just "Dixie".

According to tradition, Ohio-born minstrel show composer Daniel Decatur Emmett wrote "Dixie" around 1859. Bryant’s (blackface) Minstrels, of which Emmett was a member, premiered it in New York City on April 4, 1859. Some say the song is a story about a homesick southerner and former slave who misses the plantation of his birth. Note, this song was written before the Civil War but critics believe it was written to sway growing abolitionist views and convince Americans that slavery was overall a positive institution.