View source for Goodnight, Irene

{{short description|American folk song first recorded in 1933}}
{{Infobox song
| name     = Goodnight, Irene
| cover    = Irene Sheet Music.JPG
| alt      =
| caption  = Sheet music for "Goodnight, Irene" by the Weavers
| type     =
| artist   = [[Lead Belly]]
| B-side   = Ain't You Glad
| album    =
| released = {{Start date|1943}}
| recorded =
| studio   =
| genre    = [[American folk music|Folk]]
| length   = {{Duration|m=2|s=25}}
| label    = [[Melodisc Records|Melodisc]]
| writer   = {{hlist|[[John Lomax]]|[[Lead Belly]]}}
| producer =
}}

"'''Goodnight, Irene'''" or "'''Irene, Goodnight'''," ([[Roud Folk Song Index|Roud]] 11681) is a 20th-century American [[folk music|folk standard]], written in {{music|time|3|4}} time, first recorded by American [[blues]] musician [[Lead Belly|Huddie 'Lead Belly' Ledbetter]] in 1933. A version recorded by [[The Weavers]] was a #1 hit in 1950. [[Pete Seeger]] of The Weavers has characterized it as Lead Belly's "theme song."<ref>{{Cite web |title=PETE SEEGER - Folk Music Worldwide, 1963 Interview |url=https://www.folkmusicworldwide.com/pete-seeger.html |access-date=2025-01-19 |website=www.folkmusicworldwide.com}}</ref> 

The lyrics tell of the singer's troubled past with his love, Irene, and express his sadness and frustration. Several verses refer explicitly to suicidal fantasies, in the line "If Irene turns her back on me / I'll take morphine and die" and more famously in the line "sometimes I take a great notion to jump in the river and drown", which was the inspiration for the title of the 1964 [[Ken Kesey]] novel ''[[Sometimes a Great Notion]]'' and a song of the same name from [[John Mellencamp]]'s 1989 album, ''[[Big Daddy (John Mellencamp album)|Big Daddy]]'', itself strongly informed by traditional American folk music.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/big-daddy-mw0000199568|title=Big Daddy|author=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=2016-07-26}}</ref>

==Origin==
In 1886, [[Gussie Lord Davis]] published a song called "Irene, Goodnight".  The lyrics of the song have some similarities to "Goodnight, Irene" to suggest that [[Lead Belly|Huddie Ledbetter]]'s song was based on Davis' lyrics. There is also a degree of resemblance in the music despite some differences, such as their time signatures, to indicate that the two songs are related.<ref name=loc>{{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/GoodnightIrene.pdf |first=Christopher |last= Lornell |title= "Goodnight, Irene"--Lead Belly (1933)|work=Library of Congress}}</ref> According to Ledbetter, he first heard the core of the song, the refrain, and a couple of verses from his Uncle Terrill. Another uncle of Ledbetter, Bob Ledbetter, who also recorded a nearly identical version of the song, said that he also learned the song from Terrill. Family members of Huddie Ledbetter indicate that he may have sung the song as early as 1908 as a lullaby to his niece, Irene Campbell. Ledbetter eventually extended the song to six verses.<ref name=loc />

== Lead Belly's version ==
[[John Lomax]] recorded a version of [[Lead Belly|Huddie Ledbetter]]'s song "Irene" in 1933, on a prison visit to Angola ([[Louisiana State Penitentiary]]).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gates |first1=Henry Louis Jr. |title=African American Lives |date=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press, USA |isbn=978-0-19-516024-6 |page=522 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rYgRDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA522 |language=en}}</ref> These recordings for the [[Library of Congress]] included three takes of "Irene".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hoffmann |first1=Frank |title=Chronology of American Popular Music, 1900-2000 |date=2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-86886-4 |page=73 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hAI3DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA73 |language=en}}</ref> The first version recorded in 1933 had two verses and two choruses, the second version from 1934 had four verses and four refrains, while the third version from 1936 had six verses and six refrains, including an extended spoken part.<ref name=loc />

[[File:Leadbelly with Accordeon.jpg|thumb|262x262px|[[Lead Belly|Huddie William Ledbetter]] (1888-1949), better known as Lead Belly]]As part of the [[Federal Art Project]] that began in 1935, the song was published in 1936, in Lomax's version, as "Goodnight, Irene", a joint Ledbetter-Lomax composition. It has a straightforward [[verse–chorus form]], but is in [[waltz time]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The Annals of America: 1929-1939: The great depression |date=1968 |publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica, Incorporated |page=[https://archive.org/details/annalsofamerica12chic/page/371 371] |url=https://archive.org/details/annalsofamerica12chic |url-access=registration |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Tyler |first1=Don |title=Hit Songs, 1900-1955: American Popular Music of the Pre-Rock Era |date=2007 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-2946-2 |page=310 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hSCfBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA310 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Pickering">{{cite book |last1=Pickering |first1=Michael |title=Blackface Minstrelsy in Britain |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-351-57351-1 |page=227 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vigxDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT227 |language=en}}</ref> It is a [[three-chord song]], characterized as a "[[folk ballad]]" with a three-phrase melody, with provenance in 19th-century popular music transmitted by oral tradition.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Campbell |first1=Michael |title=Popular Music in America: The Beat Goes On |date=2018 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-1-337-56037-5 |page=137 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sa9EDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT137 |language=en}}</ref>

"Irene" has been styled by Neil V. Rosenberg a "folk recomposition" of the 1886 song "Irene Good Night" by [[Gussie L. Davis]].<ref>Neil V. Rosenberg, ''Review: Lead Belly Reissues as Sound Documentary: From Item to Event'', The Journal of American Folklore Vol. 116, No. 460 (Spring, 2003), pp. 219-229, at p. 219. Published by: University of Illinois Press on behalf of American Folklore Society {{JSTOR|4137902}}</ref><ref>"Irene, Good Night", Words and Music by Gussie L. Davis New York: M. Witmark & Sons, 1892. Library of Congress Call Number M1622.D, [http://digitalcollections.baylor.edu/cdm/ref/collection/fa-spnc/id/122137 online]</ref> [[Hank Williams]] connected the melody to the English ballad tradition, via a mountain song he knew as "Pere Ellen".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Huber |first1=Patrick |last2=Goodson |first2=Steve |last3=Anderson |first3=David Myrwyn |title=The Hank Williams Reader |date=2014 |publisher=OUP USA |isbn=978-0-19-974319-3 |page=331 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NNjQAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA331 |language=en}}</ref> Lead Belly's account was of performing "Irene" by 1908, in a way he learned from his uncles Ter(r)ell and Bob. By the 1930s, he had made the song his own, modifying the rhythm and rewriting most of the verses.<ref name=jour>{{cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=iJhS9BaFFjIC&pg=PA52 | title = The life and legend of Leadbelly | isbn = 978-0-306-80896-8 | last1 = Wolfe | first1 = Charles K | last2 = Lornell | first2 = Kip | date = 1999-05-06| publisher = Hachette Books }}</ref> John and [[Alan Lomax]] made a field recording of Bob Ledbetter's version of the song.<ref name="Pickering"/>

Lead Belly continued performing the song during his prison terms.<ref name=jour/> An extended version of the song that includes narratives connecting the verses appears in the 1936 songbook ''Negro Folk Songs as Sung by Lead Belly.''<ref>''Negro Folk Songs as Sung by Lead Belly,'' Transcribed, Selected and Edited by John A. Lomax and Alan Lomax, New York: The Macmillan Company, 1936, pp. 235-242.</ref> In 1941, [[Woody Guthrie]] used the melody for his [[New Deal]] anthem "[[Roll On, Columbia, Roll On]]".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Young |first1=William H. |last2=Young |first2=Nancy K. |title=Music of the World War II Era |date=2008 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-33891-5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/musicofworldwari0000youn/page/223 223] |url=https://archive.org/details/musicofworldwari0000youn |url-access=registration |language=en}}</ref>

"Irene" remained a staple of Lead Belly's performances throughout the 1930s and 1940s. In 2002, Lead Belly's Library of Congress recording received a [[Grammy Hall of Fame Award]].

== Version by the Weavers ==
In 1950, one year after Lead Belly's death, the American folk band [[the Weavers]] recorded a version of "Goodnight, Irene".<ref name=pc1>{{Gilliland |url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19745/m1/ |title=Show 1 - Play A Simple Melody: American pop music in the early fifties. [Part 1] |show=1}}</ref> It was a [[B-side]] track on the [[Decca label]], produced by [[Milt Gabler]]. The arranger was [[Gordon Jenkins]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pollock |first1=Bruce |title=Rock Song Index: The 7500 Most Important Songs for the Rock and Roll Era |date=2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-46296-3 |page=126 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GxYiAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA126 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Jenkins |first1=Bruce |title=Goodbye: In Search of Gordon Jenkins |date=2005 |publisher=Frog Books |isbn=978-1-58394-126-3 |page=[https://archive.org/details/goodbyeinsearcho00jenk/page/48 48] |url=https://archive.org/details/goodbyeinsearcho00jenk |url-access=registration |language=en}}</ref> who conducted [[the Weavers]] and his Gordon Jenkins Orchestra for the recording.<ref>"Printing Costs Rise." Billboard, 12 August 1950, 16, 23.</ref> It was a national hit, as was the A-side, a version of "[[Tzena, Tzena, Tzena]]"; sales were recorded as 2 million copies.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Danziger |first1=Meryl |title=Sing It!: A Biography of Pete Seeger |date=2016 |publisher=Seven Stories Press |isbn=978-1-60980-656-9 |page=34 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lV4DBwAAQBAJ&pg=PT34 |language=en}}</ref>

The single first reached the ''[[Billboard magazine|Billboard]]'' Best Sellers in Stores chart on June 30, 1950 and lasted 25 weeks on the chart, peaking at #1 for 13 weeks.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://musicvf.com/song.php?id=18155 |title=Goodnight Irene (song by Gordon Jenkins and His Orchestra and the Weavers) ••• Music VF, US & UK hits charts |website=Musicvf.com |access-date=2016-07-26}}</ref> Although generally faithful, the Weavers chose to omit some of Lead Belly's lyrics, leading ''Time'' magazine to label it a "dehydrated" and "prettied up" version of the original.<ref>
{{Cite news| title = Good Night, Irene | newspaper = Time magazine | date = 1950-08-14 | url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,858914,00.html| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080206234938/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,858914,00.html| url-status = dead| archive-date = February 6, 2008}}</ref> The Weavers' lyrics are the ones now generally used, and ''Billboard'' ranked this version as the No. 1 song of 1950.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bobborst.com/popculture/songoftheyear/ |title=Number One Song of the Year: 1946-2015 |website=Bobborst.com |access-date=2016-07-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180420175438/http://www.bobborst.com/popculture/songoftheyear/ |archive-date=2018-04-20 |url-status=dead }}</ref>  This song closed the Weavers historic final concert on November 28, 1980.

==Covers==
After the Weavers' success, many other artists released versions of the song, some of which were commercially successful in several genres. [[Frank Sinatra]]'s cover, released a month after the Weavers', lasted nine weeks on the ''Billboard'' magazine Best Seller chart on July 10, peaking at #5.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://musicvf.com/song.php?id=16159 |title=Goodnight Irene (song by Frank Sinatra) ••• Music VF, US & UK hits charts |website=Musicvf.com |access-date=2016-07-26}}</ref> Later that same year, [[Ernest Tubb]] and [[Red Foley]] had a number 1 country music record with the song,<ref>{{cite book |title=The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944–2006, Second edition|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=123}}</ref> and the [[Alexander Brothers (American musicians)|Alexander Brothers]], [[Dennis Day]] and [[Jo Stafford]] released versions which made the Best Seller chart, peaking at number 26,<ref>{{cite book |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |title=Pop Memories 1890–1954 |year=1986 |publisher=Record Research, Inc. |location=Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin |isbn=0-89820-083-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/joelwpopmemories00whit/page/21 21] |url=https://archive.org/details/joelwpopmemories00whit/page/21}}</ref> number 17<ref>{{cite web|url=http://musicvf.com/song.php?id=11559 |title=Goodnight, Irene (song by Dennis Day) ••• Music VF, US & UK hits charts |website=Musicvf.com |date=1950-08-19 |access-date=2016-07-26}}</ref> and number 9<ref>{{cite web|url=http://musicvf.com/song.php?id=22074 |title=Goodnight, Irene (song by Jo Stafford) ••• Music VF, US & UK hits charts |website=Musicvf.com |date=1950-08-26 |access-date=2016-07-26}}</ref> respectively. [[Moon Mullican]] had a number 5 country hit with it in 1950,<ref>{{cite book |title=Top Country Singles 1944–1993|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=1994 |publisher=Record Research |page=250}}</ref> and a version by [[Paul Gayten]] and his Orchestra reached number 6 on the ''Billboard'' [[R&B chart]] in the same year.<ref name="whitburnr&b">{{cite book |title=Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–1995|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=1996 |publisher=Record Research |page=167}}</ref>

On the ''[[Cash Box magazine|Cash Box]]'' chart, where all available versions were combined in the standings, the song reached a peak position of number 1 on September 2, 1950, and lasted at number 1 for 13 weeks.<ref>{{cite book |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |title=Top Pop Records 1940–1955 |publisher=Record Research |year=1973}}</ref>

[[Raffi]] sang the song on his 1979 children's album ''The Corner Grocery Store'', but with modified lyrics about where different animals sleep.

The song was the basis for the 1950 parody called "Please Say Goodnight to the Guy, Irene" by Ziggy Talent. It also inspired the 1954 "answer" record "Wake Up, Irene" by [[Hank Thompson (musician)|Hank Thompson]], a No. 1 on ''Billboard''{{'}}s country chart.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://musicvf.com/song.php?id=107901 |title=Wake Up Irene (song by Hank Thompson) ••• Music VF, US & UK hits charts |website=Musicvf.com |access-date=2016-07-26}}</ref>

[[Tom Waits]]'s cover was included on ''[[Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards]]''; [[Keith Richards]] covered it on his third solo album, ''[[Crosseyed Heart]]''.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=2015-09-17 |title=Review: Keith Richards - Crosseyed Heart |url=https://www.rollingstone.de/reviews/keith-richards-crosseyed-heart/ |access-date=2024-01-18 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=de-DE}}</ref>

[[Moxy Früvous]] sang the chorus of the song in the middle of "The Drinking Song", a track from their 1993 album, ''[[Bargainville]]''.

===Other hit versions===
* 1959: [[Billy Williams (singer)|Billy Williams]] reached number 75 on the US ''Billboard'' pop chart.<ref>{{cite book|first=Joel|last=Whitburn|year=2003|title=Top Pop Singles 1955–2002|edition=1st|publisher=Record Research Inc.|location=Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin|isbn=0-89820-155-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstop00whitbur/page/766 766]|url=https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstop00whitbur/page/766}}</ref>
* 1962: [[Jerry Reed]] reached number 79 on the US pop chart.<ref>{{cite book|first=Joel|last=Whitburn|year=2003|title=Top Pop Singles 1955–2002|edition=1st|publisher=Record Research Inc.|location=Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin|isbn=0-89820-155-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstop00whitbur/page/584 584]|url=https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstop00whitbur/page/584}}</ref>

== Use in football ==
"Goodnight Irene" is sung by supporters of English football team [[Bristol Rovers F.C.|Bristol Rovers]]. It was first sung at a fireworks display at the Stadium the night before a home game against [[Plymouth Argyle F.C.|Plymouth Argyle]] in 1950. During the game, the following day, Rovers were winning quite comfortably and the few Argyle supporters present began to leave early prompting a chorus of "Goodnight Argyle" from the Rovers supporters—the tune stuck and "Goodnight Irene" became the club song. The song was sung by Plymouth Argyle supporters for a long time before this and this added to the goading by the Bristol Rovers fans.<ref>{{cite web|title=DOWNLOAD GOODNIGHT IRENE NOW!! |url=http://www.bristolrovers.co.uk/page/LatestNews/0,,10328~2271423,00.html |publisher=[[Bristol Rovers F.C.]] |access-date=12 September 2011 |date=26 January 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110312051847/http://www.bristolrovers.co.uk/page/LatestNews/0%2C%2C10328~2271423%2C00.html |archive-date=12 March 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Old, Weird Everywhere: Bristol Rovers and "Goodnight, Irene"|url=http://pitchinvasion.net/blog/2008/02/16/the-old-weird-everywhere-bristol-rovers-and-goodnight-irene/|publisher=Pitch Invasion|access-date=12 September 2011|date=16 February 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151107045207/http://pitchinvasion.net/blog/2008/02/16/the-old-weird-everywhere-bristol-rovers-and-goodnight-irene/|archive-date=7 November 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Other uses ==
In professional wrestling, [[Adrian Adonis|"Adorable" Adrian Adonis]] frequently referred to his finishing move—a standard sleeperhold—as "Goodnight, Irene."<ref>{{cite web|last=Deadrich |first=Jason |url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/bios/a/adrian-adonis/ |title=Adrian Adonis – Online World of Wrestling |website=Onlineworldofwrestling.com |date=2015-09-23 |access-date=2016-07-26}}</ref>

In the 2013 videogame ''[[BioShock Infinite]]'', the song is heard being sung at the Raffle Fair, in the beginning of the game. It is an early indication of the anachronistic nature of the story, as it is set in the year of 1912.

In Team Fortress 2, when revenge-killing an enemy as the Engineer, the Engi might say: "Ah, Goodnight Irene". A nod to this song.

==See also==
* "[[If It Had Not Been For Jesus]]", a Christian [[gospel music|gospel]] sung to the same tune, first recorded in 1930 by [[Blind Willie Johnson]]

==References==
*[[Paul Oliver|Oliver, Paul]] (1984). ''Songsters and saints: vocal traditions on race records''. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge. {{ISBN|0-521-24827-2}}.
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWk1gUDNrUg Youtube Leon Russell Goodnight Irene in Studio] (video has been removed)

==External links==
*[http://www.rienzihills.com/SING/G/goodnightirene.htm "Good Night Irene" - lyrics and midi on RienziHills.com] Retrieved on 2009-08-10.
*{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20140201230455/http://www.leadbelly.org/Irene.ram Recording of "Good Night Irene" in .ram (Real Audio Metadata) format on LeadBelly.org]}} ({{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20040117023042/http://www.leadbelly.org/ The first verse of Good Night Irene is also played on the Intro page of LeadBelly.org without requiring the Real Audio download.]}}) Retrieved on January 7, 2012.

{{Frank Sinatra singles}}
{{Lead Belly}}
{{Red Foley}}
{{Billboard Year-End number one singles 1946–1959}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goodnight, Irene}}
[[Category:1950 singles]]
[[Category:Lead Belly songs]]
[[Category:Songs written by Lead Belly]]
[[Category:The Weavers songs]]
[[Category:Frank Sinatra songs]]
[[Category:Ernest Tubb songs]]
[[Category:Red Foley songs]]
[[Category:Jo Stafford songs]]
[[Category:Moon Mullican songs]]
[[Category:Number-one singles in the United States]]
[[Category:Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients]]
[[Category:American folk songs]]
[[Category:Pop standards]]
[[Category:1908 songs]]
[[Category:Association football songs and chants]]
[[Category:United States National Recording Registry recordings]]
[[Category:Breakup songs]]