Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Cool Water is a song written in 1936 by Bob Nolan and first recorded by the Sons of the Pioneers in 1941. Later covers were performed by Frankie Laine, Marty Robbins, and Hank Williams.
For those who have noticed the gloves I am wearing, they are to help with arthritis which sadly I am suffering.
I chose to do this one on my autoharp in preparation for tomorrow evening's UK Autoharps and Friends Zoom meeting, and am playing my chromatic 'harp without picks as I like the softer sound.
Cool Water is a song written in 1936 by Bob Nolan and first recorded by the Sons of the Pioneers in 1941. Later covers were performed by Frankie Laine, Marty Robbins, and Hank Williams.
For those who have noticed the gloves I am wearing, they are to help with arthritis which sadly I am suffering.
I chose to do this one on my autoharp in preparation for tomorrow evening's UK Autoharps and Friends Zoom meeting, and am playing my chromatic 'harp without picks as I like the softer sound.



![Guitar: Some Folks Do (Including lyrics and chords)
In Joe Offers collection, this song had only the following footnotes:
Source: Singing Together, Autumn 1974, BBC Publications
Notes:
None supplied in the pamphlet.
However, in a discussion on the song the following was added:
According to Steven Saunders and Deane L. Root, The Music of Stephen C. Foster: A Critical Edition (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1990, vol. 1, p. 491), this edition (at the Levy Collection) is the earliest known copy.
Title: Fosters Melodies No.29. Some Folks.
Composer, Lyricist, Arranger: Composed by S[tephen] C[ollins] Foster
Publication: New York: Firth, Pond & Co., 1 Franklin Square, 1855.
Form of Composition: strophic with chorus (and instrumental interlude)
Instrumentation: piano and voice
First Line: Some folks like to sigh, Some folks do, some folks do
First Line of Chorus: Long live the Merry merry heart that laughs by night and day
Engraver, Lithographer, Artist: Wakelam & Bro.
I have chosen to sing the chorus after each verse, though in Fosters original it was only sung after the first verse, then after the 3rd and 5th verses. Guitar: Some Folks Do (Including lyrics and chords)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/w9fkLj8jyI0/mqdefault.jpg)






