Text 2
Date: March 10, 1971
Collector: Terri Silverstone
Informant: Konnie Sanders
I was born on a farm down in I-O-Way Flaming youth was bound to fly-o-way,
Pack my bags and pack my sax-o-phone-phone A rootie-toot-toot.
This folksong is told for amusement and it also tells the story of how young people want to live and fly away before they get too old. It tells of escape and freedom and the flying music of youth. This folksong has a sing-song type rhythm which is easy to follow and also the words are very easy and repetitive.
Konnie told me this song while sitting in the Commons of Indiana University one day. Konnie and I are friends and she was relating this childhood folksong to me. However, I truly doubt that it is original folklore, but rather fakelore, which has been printed in literary books previously. I seem to remember hearing it while I was in elementary school.
Konnie said she first heard this song when she was attending grade school in Carmel Indiana. Konnie is anxiously awaiting leaving her home in Carmel and getting a job away from home–that is why this song appeals to her. Konnie was very enthusiastic while singing this song–she said that it brought back pleasant memories of her childhood. The song is sung mostly for amusement, however.