Oh, Dem Golden Slippers

Minstrel song written by James E. Bland in 1879

"Oh, Dem Golden Slippers" is a minstrel song penned by African American James A. Bland in 1879, is particularly well known as a bluegrass instrumental standard. By 1880, the song had exceeded 100,000 copies sold.

A minstrel show song set in the style of a spiritual, the song is apparently a parody of the spiritual "Golden Slippers", popularized after the American Civil War by the Fisk Jubilee Singers. Today "Oh, Dem Golden Slippers" is often referred to simply as "Golden Slippers", further obscuring the original spiritual. The song's first stanza tells of the protagonist setting aside such fine clothes as golden slippers, a long tailed coat and a white robe for a chariot ride in the morning (presumably to Heaven). This leads to the refrain: Oh, dem golden slippers! / Oh, dem golden slippers! / Golden slippers I'm gwine to wear, dey look so neat; / Oh, dem golden slippers! / Oh, dem golden slippers! / Golden slippers Ise gwine to wear, / To walk de golden street. The second stanza describes the protagonist meeting up with other family members after his chariot ride. In the third, the protagonist tells children to prepare themselves for their own chariot ride.

The song is well known today as the unofficial theme song of the Philadelphia Mummers Parade. The song, by then long in public domain, was used in early American television commercials for Golden Grahams cereal in the 1970s, with the refrain reworked in various ways around the phrase "Oh, those Golden Grahams". The Chorus of this song is performed by the musicians who can be seen in the Film Little Lord Fauntleroy. The Prince Myshkins, a folk duo, included a version of the song with new lyrics on their 2000 album "Shiny Round Object". A snippet of the song is sung during the "Steps of Life" sequence of the Ward Kimball short Melody.