Don't Fence Me In (song)

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Originally written in 1934 for Adios, Argentina, an unproduced 20th Century Fox film musical, "Don't Fence Me In" was based on text by a poet and engineer with the Department of Highways in Helena, Montana, Robert (Bob) Fletcher. Cole Porter, who had been asked to write a cowboy song for the 20th Century Fox musical, bought the poem from Fletcher for $250. Porter reworked Fletcher's poem, and when the song was first published, Porter was credited with sole authorship. Porter had wanted to give Fletcher co-authorship credit, but his publishers did not allow that. After the song became popular, however, Fletcher hired attorneys who negotiated his being given co-authorship credit in subsequent publications. Although it was one of the most popular songs of its time, Porter claimed it was his least favorite of his own compositions. ^[1]

Ten years later, in 1944, Warner Bros. resurrected "Don't Fence Me In" for Roy Rogers to sing in the movie, Hollywood Canteen. Many people heard the song for the first time when Kate Smith introduced it on her 1944-10-08 radio broadcast. "Don't Fence Me In" was also recorded by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters in 1944. Crosby entered the studio on July 25,1944, without having seen or heard the song. Within 30 minutes he and the Andrews Sisters had made the recording, which later sold over a million copies and topped the Billboard charts for 8 weeks in 1944-45.

The chorus section of the song, with musical chords in brackets, begins as follows:^[2]

Words and music by Cole Porter© & Robert Fletcher,

[C]Oh [G7]give me [C]land, lots of [Am]land

Under [C]starry skies a[Am]bove.

[C]Don't [F]Fence Me [G]In.

Let me [G]ride through the [G7]wide open

[G]Country that I [G7]love.

[G]Don't [G7]Fence Me [C]In.

Let me [C]be by myself in the evening [C7]breeze,

[F]Listen to the murmur of the cottonwood [Dm7]trees.

[C]Send me off for[C7]ever,

but I ask [F]you, [C7]please[F],

[C]Don't [G7]Fence Me [C]In.

The following year, the song was sung again as the title tune of another Roy Rogers film, Don't Fence Me In (1945): ^[3] where Dale Evans plays a magazine reporter who comes to Roy Rogers' and Gabby Hayes' ranch to research a story which she is writing about a legendary late gunslinger. When it's revealed that Gabby Hayes is actually the thought-dead outlaw, Roy must clear his name. Rogers and The Sons of the Pioneers also find time to perform some songs, including the Cole Porter title tune (film running time: 64 minutes).

The next year (1946), a biopic about Cole Porter used a clip from Hollywood Canteen of Rogers singing "Don't Fence Me In."

David Byrne did a cover of this song in 1990 for a Cole tribute album entitled Red Hot + Blue. Byrne also performed what he describes as his "Brazilian" version of the song during his 2004 tour for the Grown Backwards album. ^[4]

[edit] Notes

^ "Don't Fence Me In." Spotlight. Turner Classic Movies. 2008. Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital Network. Accessed 3 Jun. 2008. [1].
^ Roy Rogers, Dont Fence Me In 2 Tabs/Chords CboyLyricsDFMI
^ "Along The Navajo Trail [DVD]" (another Roy Rogers film), MoviesUnlimited.com, accessed 2006-09-19, webpage: MoviesUnlimited-DFMI.
^ David Byrne Journal Entry, davidbyrne.com, accessed 2008-02-29, webpage: 9.21.04: Town Hall with Gilberto Gi.