Golden Dream Girl 1925
Vocals: Lee Morse
Songwriting: Morse
There’s a song that haunts me
There’s a girl that wants me
I’ll always love her
Always think of her
But the fates win somehow
And I must forget now
“Farewell to thee”
That melody haunts me
Golden dream girl
You’re my own South Sea pearl
Since that night on the sands
Your little brown hands
Set my world awhirl!
Oh, my South Sea flower
That enchanted hour
Makes my heart ache
To come back and take you home
For mine alone
Golden dream girl
I can see her standing
At the old boat landing
Brown eyes so tearful
Poor heart so fearful
Hopelessly believing
That her sweetheart’s leaving
Forever more
That sweet Hawaiian shore
‘Farewell to Thee’ is a reference to the song “Aloha ‘Oe” written by Queen Lili’uokalani.
The following text is from the exhibit it which this song is highlighted, Significant Others:
For writers creating love stories, songs about “faraway places” were a popular trend, with lyricists in the US and UK setting their tales of romance on distant shores. Lee Morse was a white American singer who reached the height of her fame in the 1920s. Celebrated for her deep voice and vocal stylings influenced by the blues, she stands out as a woman who played guitar and wrote many of her own songs, including “Golden Dream Girl” in 1924.
The crackly recording [here] documents a fascination that mainland Americans had with a simplified version of Hawaii, imagining the relatively newly taken territory as an idyllic paradise. The love interest in the story is nameless, portrayed an archetype waiting for the main character’s return on the “sweet Hawaiian shore.”
Morse performed well oven a dozen oopsie gaysie songs during her career, serenading imaginary women from multiple US states and from around the world. Though we do not know why she was so fond of singing about women, in each case the settings they were placed in were key to the songs’ thematic packaging.
