The True Story of "Goin' Home" - From Bohemia to Boston

Goin' home, goin' home, I'm a goin' home;
Quiet-like, some still day, I'm jes' goin' home.
It's not far, jes' close by,
Through an open door;
Work all done, care laid by,
Goin' to fear no more.
Mother's there 'spectin' me,
Father's waitin' too;
Lots o' folk gather'd there,
All the friends I knew,
All the friends I knew.
Home, I'm goin' home!

Nothin lost, all's gain,
No more fret nor pain,
No more stumblin' on the way,
No more longin' for the day,
Goin' to roam no more!
Mornin' star lights the way,
Res'less dream all done;
Shadows gone, break o' day,
Real life jes' begun.
There's no break, there's no end,
Jes' a livin' on;
Wide awake, with a smile
Goin' on and on.

Goin' home, goin' home, I'm jes' goin' home,
goin' home, goin' home, goin' home!

Note: This article is provided free for educational use and should be credited to this website --
Americanmusicpreservation.com

The above words for the beautiful song, "Goin' Home" (also known as "Going Home"), are based on Antonin Dvorak's famous "Largo" theme played on English Horn from his Symphony No. 9 (From the New World), Op. 95 [shown above]. His symphony was composed while he was in America and was first performed by the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall on 16 December 1893.

It has been said that Dvorak's themes in his symphony were inspired by American folk melodies, especially Afro-American. But his themes are just as similar to Czech or Bohemian folk music and probably came from his own country's music tradition.

There has been much discussion by American musicologoists and others about this important symphony by Dvorak.

But did it really begin a greater emphasis on music by American composers?

Actually that emphasis had begun years before Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 -- see a recent NY Times article by Douglas Shadle -- click here.

Did Dvorak have anything to do with writing the words or arranging the music for"Goin' Home"?

Some have claimed that "Goin Home" was based on a "negro spiritual" written by Harry T. Burleigh.
That is incorrect, even though Burleigh worked with Dvorak when he was in America.

"Goin' Home"was actually written by one of Dvorak's pupils, William Arms Fisher (1861-1948), who adapted and arranged the Largo theme and added his own words, as indicated on the sheet music cover published by Oliver Ditson Company in Boston (shown at at the top of this page).

This is part of what Fisher wrote in the published sheet music of his song, "Goin' Home":

The Largo, with its haunting English horn solo, is the outpouring of Dvorak's own home-longing, with something of the loneliness of far-off prairie horizons, the faint memory of the red-man's bygone days, and a sense of the tragedy of the black-man as it sings in his "spirituals." Deeper still it is a moving expression of that nostalgia of the soul all human beings feel. That the lyric opening theme of the Largo should spontaneously suggest the words 'Goin' home, goin' home' is natural enough, and that the lines that follow the melody should take the form of a negro spiritual accords with the genesis of the symphony.

Fisher described his song as: "a moving expression of that nostalgia of the soul all human beings feel." Thus, it might be suitable for a funeral or any other somber occasion.

But the false claims continue to be written about this poignant song and keep "Goin' on and on."

Let's give W.A. Fisher the credit he deserves for writing the song he titled, GOIN' HOME.

1. The English boy choir, Libera, sing a version
beautifully arranged by Robert Prizeman on the CD: angel voices

2. "Goin' Home" was recorded at a famous Carnegie Hall concert in New York by Paul Robeson, one of the greatest concert singers of the 20th century. Originally released on 2-LP albums, this highly recommended concert is now available on a CD at this link:

Fisher's "Goin' Home"
was poignantly sung by singer, Jan Clayton,
in the 20th Century-Fox movie,
THE SNAKE PIT (1948)

If you live in the Boston, Massachusetts area,
there is a two hour class session being taught by
Roger Hall for Brookline Adult & Community Education
on Wednesday evening, May 24,
and then again on Wednesday daytime on June 7.

See the description for this class titled:

"Goin' Home - Remembering Songs From Your Past"