OBest Known Public Domain SongsO List of 53
IMPORTANT: This list is based on USA Copyright Law and is intended only as a help in researching public domain music. This list is NOT sufficient documentation that music is in the Public Domain. To prove PD status in the USA, you MUST find a published copy of the song with a copyright date of 1926 or earlier. Our PD Sheet Music Reprints are exact reprints of books and sheet music published in 1926 or earlier and include music, lyrics, and complete original copyright information. Some of these songs may not be PD in countries other than the USA.
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| Title | V=Verse C=Chorus N=Note P=Production w=Words m=Music |
1 - 3 $5 ea 4 up $4 ea | |
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| Songs are on this PD list if we have a pre-1927 PD sheet music publication in our library AND if anyone has asked about PD status of the song in the past 20 years. | |||
| O How Could Ye Gang Lassie? Traditional |
1821 - w. Tannahill, A. Rodgers, m. R.A. Smith N - Traditional Scots | PD Reprint | |
| O Katharina Popular Song |
1924 - w. L. Wolfe Gilbert m. Richard Fall | PD Reprint | |
| O Lord Most Holy - Panis Angelicus Hymn |
1872 - m. Cesar Franck, w. St Thomas Aquinas V - O Lord Most Holy, O Lord Most Mighty, O loving Father, Thee would we be praising alway. C - Panis angelicus fit panis hominum; Dat panis coelicus figuris terminum; O res mriabilits! Manducat Dominum Pauper, servus et humilis. N - Words 'Sacris solemniis' | PD Reprint | |
| O Mary, Don't You Weep, Don't You Mourn Spiritual |
V - Some of these mornings bright and fair, Take my wings and cleave the air C - O Mary, don't you weep, don't your mourn, . . Pharoah's army got drownded, O Mary don't you weep. | PD Reprint | |
| O No John! Folk Song |
PD Reprint | ||
| O Perfect Love Popular Song |
1904 - m. Joseph Barnby, w. Dorothy F. Blomfield Gurney V - O Perfect Love . . . all human thought transcending, Lowly we kneel in prayer before Thy Throne, That theirs may be the love which knows no ending N - Several alternate tunes by Harry Burleigh and others. | PD Reprint | |
| O Tannenbaum Traditional |
1824 - w. Ernst Anschutz, m. Traditional | PD Reprint | |
| Oats Peas Beans and Barley Grow Children |
V - Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow, Can you or I or any one know, How oats peas, beans, and barley grow? | PD Reprint | |
| Oft in the Stilly Night Traditional |
1885 - Moore | PD Reprint | |
| Oh Dem Golden Slippers Traditional |
1879 - James A Bland V - On, my golden slippers am laid away, Kase I don't 'spect to wear 'em till my weddin' day, And my long tail'd coat, dat I loved so well, I will wear up in de chariot in de morn; C - Oh, dem golden slippers! . . Golden slippers I'm gwine to wear, becase dey look so neat; Oh, dem golden slippers! . . . Golden slippers Ise gwine to wear, To walk de golden street. | PD Reprint | |
| Oh Didn't It Rain Popular Song |
1923 - w.m. Eddie Leonard V - We came from far away Upon a summer's day, Didn't it Rain. We went to the Polo Grounds To see a baseball game. Didn't it rain. C - Because it Rained. Didn't it rain. The way it rained it was a shame, We'll never go there again, Because it rained. | PD Reprint | |
| Oh Freedom Spiritual |
V - Oh, freedom! Oh, freedom! Oh, freedom over me. C - An' before I'd be a slave, I'll be buried in my grave, An' go home to my Lord an' be free. | PD Reprint | |
| Oh Gee Oh Gosh Oh Golly I'm In Love Popular Song |
1923 - w. Ole Olson, Chick Johnson, m. Ernest Breuer | PD Reprint | |
| Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny, Oh! Popular Song |
1917 - m. Abe Olman, w. Ed Rose | PD Reprint | |
| Oh Lady Be Good Popular Song |
1924 - w. Ira Gershwin m. George Gershwin P - Lady Be Good | PD Reprint | |
| Oh Miss Hannah Popular Song |
1924 - w. Thekla Hollingsworth m. Jessie L. Deppen | PD Reprint | |
| Oh My Darling Clementine Traditional |
1884 V - In a cavern, in a canyon, excavating for a mine, dwelt a miner, forty-niner, And his daughter, Clementine. C - Ruby lips above the water, Blowing bubbles soft and fine. But alas, I was no swimmer, so I lost my Clementine. N - a.k.a. Oh, My Darling Clementine | PD Reprint | |
| Oh Promise Me Traditional |
1889 - m. Reginal De Koven, w. Clement Scott V - Oh, promise me that someday you and I will take our love together to some sky | PD Reprint | |
| Oh Where Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone | See Where Has My Little Dog Gone | ||
| Oh You Beautiful Doll Popular Song |
1911 - m. Nat D. Ayer, w. A. Seymour Brown | PD Reprint | |
| Oh, How I Miss You Tonight Popular Song |
1924 - w.m. Benny Davis, Joe Burke, Mark Fisher | PD Reprint | |
| Oh! Didn't He Ramble Popular Song |
1902 - w.m. William H. Handy | PD Reprint | |
| Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning Popular Song |
1918 - w.m. Irving Berlin V - The other day I chanced to meet a soldier friend of mine, He's been in camp for sev'rl weeks and he was looking fine; C - Oh! How I hate to get up in the morning, Oh, how I'd love to remain in bed; For the hardest blow of all, is to hear the bugler call; You've got to get up this morning. | PD Reprint | |
| Oh! Mabel Popular Song |
1924 - w.m. Gus Kahn, Ted Fio Rito | PD Reprint | |
| Oh! Susanna Traditional |
1848 - Stephen Collins Foster (1826 - 1864) V - I come from Alabama, Wid my banjo on my knee. I'm gwyne to Louisiana, My true love for to see; It rained all night the day I left, The weather it was dry . . . C - Oh! Sussanna, Oh don't you cry for me, I've come from Alabama Wid my banjo on my knee. | PD Reprint | |
| Oh! What A Pal Was Mary Popular Song |
1919 - m. Pete Wendling, w. Edgar Leslie, Bert Kalmar | PD Reprint | |
| Old Black Joe Traditional |
1860 - Stephen Collins Foster V - Gone are the days when my heart was young and gay; Gone are my friends from the cotton fields away. C - I'm coming, I'm coming, For my head is bending low; I hear those gently voices calling "Old Black Joe" | PD Reprint | |
| Old Chisholm Trail Traditional |
PD Reprint | ||
| Old Dan Tucker Traditional |
1843 - Dan Emmett | PD Reprint | |
| Old Dog Tray Traditional |
1853 - Stephen Collins Foster | PD Reprint | |
| Old Fashioned Love Popular Song |
1923 - w. Cecil Mack m. James P. Johnson | PD Reprint | |
| Old Folks at Home Traditional |
V - Way down upon the Swanee ribber, Far, far away C - All de world am sad and dreary' Eb'ry whar I roam N - a.k.a. Way Down Upon the Swanee River | PD Reprint | |
| Old Grey Mare Popular Song |
1918 - m. Traditional | PD Reprint | |
| Old King Tut Popular Song |
1923 - w. William Jerome m. Harry Von Tilzer | PD Reprint | |
| Old MacDonald Had a Farm Children |
V - Old Macdougal had a farm in Ohio-i-o. And on that farm he had some dogs in Ohio-i-o. With a bow-wow here, and a bow-wow there, Here a bow, there a wow, everywhere a bow-wow N - Originally Old Macdougal Had a Farm | PD Reprint | |
| Old Oaken Bucket Traditional |
w. Woodworth Poem V - How dear to my heart are the scense of my childhood, When fond recollections present them to view. | PD Reprint | |
| Old Rosin the Beau Traditional |
1835 V - I love for the good of my nation, And my sons are all growing low, But I hope that my next generation, Will resemble old Rosin, the beau. | PD Reprint | |
| Old Rugged Cross Popular Song |
PD Reprint | ||
| Old Ship of Zion Spiritual |
V - Come along, come along, and let's go home. O glory hallelujah! C - Tis the old ship of Zion, Hallelujah. Tis the old ship of Zion, Hallelujah. | PD Reprint | |
| Old Time Religion Traditional |
1865 V - It was good for our mothers, it was good for our mothers . . . And it's good enough for me. C - Tis the old time religion, 'Tis the old time religion, . . . And it's good enough for me. | PD Reprint | |
| Ole Miss Rag Traditional |
1916 - W.C. Handy | PD Reprint | |
| On Miami Shore Popular Song |
1919 - m. Victor Jacobi, w. William LeBaron | PD Reprint | |
| On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away Traditional |
1897 | PD Reprint | |
| On The Beach at Waikiki Popular Song |
1915 - m. Henry Kailimai, w. G.H. Stover | PD Reprint | |
| On The Mall Popular Song |
1923 - m. Edwin Franko Goldman | PD Reprint | |
| Once In A Blue Moon Popular Song |
1923 - w. Anne Caldwell m. Jerome Kern | PD Reprint | |
| One Alone Popular Song |
1926 - w. Oscar Hammerstein II, m. Sigmund Romberg P - The Desert Song | PD Reprint | |
| One I Love Belongs To Someone Else Popular Song |
1924 - w. Gus Kahn m. Isham Jones | PD Reprint | |
| Only A Rose Popular Song |
1925 - w. Brian Hooker, m. Rudolf Friml | PD Reprint | |
| Orange Grove In California Popular Song |
1923 - w.m. Irving Berlin (1888-1989) | PD Reprint | |
| Our Boys Will Shine Traditional |
m. American Folk Song V - Our boys will shine tonight, Our boys will shine . . . all down the line . . . When the sun goes down and the moon comes up, Our boys will shine. | PD Reprint | |
| Out Where The Blue Begins Popular Song |
1923 - Graff, McHugh, Grant | PD Reprint | |
| Over There Popular Song |
1917 - w.m. George m. Cohan | PD Reprint | |
