“On Top of Old Smoky”

1. An American folksong (see folk music). It begins:

   On top of old Smoky,

   All covered with snow,

   I lost my true lover,

   By a-courting too slow.

Example Sentences

Her rendition of “On Top of Old Smoky” so impressed the audience that she received a two‐week contract for $125 a week.

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The Weavers’ blend of politically minded lyrics and sunny harmonies reached mass audiences in songs such as “Goodnight, Irene,” “On Top of Old Smoky,” “Kisses Sweeter Than Wine” and “The Hammer Song,” which became a top-10 hit when Peter, Paul and Mary recorded it under the name “If I Had a Hammer” in 1962.

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They helped to popularize folk music in the United States with recordings including “Goodnight Irene” and “On Top of Old Smoky.”

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“It was about as likely as Henry Kissinger’s warbling ‘On Top of Old Smoky’ with choral accompaniment by Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians,” a Time magazine writer quipped.

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From the summit of Clingman's Dome--on top of Old Smoky--visitors gaze over a ravaged vista: a forest of dead trees, the result of an invasion by a tiny European insect pest.

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