From the 1921 musical “Shuffle Along”.
Words and music by Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake.
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
Why the dearest days of my life
Were Bandana days, Bandana days
Though filled with turmoil, trouble and strife
Dearest memories will live always
REFRAIN
In those dear old Bandana days
Cane and cotton ne’er forgotten
Bandana days and those quaint old Bandana ways
When our dads were courting our dear mammies
They were sure some bashful sammies
And in all their Bandana plays
Banjos strummin’, they’d be hummin’, Bandana lays
And in the pale moon light
They’d swing left and right
In those dear old Bandana days