When It's Springtime in Alaska

About When It's Springtime in Alaska

"When It's Springtime in Alaska (It's Forty Below)" is a 1959 single by Johnny Horton released through Columbia Records. The single was Johnny Horton's sixth release on the country chart and the first of three number ones on the country chart. The single spent twenty-three weeks on the chart. The song was a marginally successful crossover, reaching #85 on the Music Vendor Pop Top 100. The song takes place in Fairbanks, Alaska in the springtime. The narrator/singer is a prospector making a trip to Fairbanks after two years in the wilderness; he decides to visit a saloon and hears "redheaded Lil" singing the title words. He and Lil spend the evening dancing, but the singer is unaware that Lil is "Big Ed's wife-to-be." Big Ed discovers the two dancing and throws his knife at the singer, who predicts that he will not survive his wound: "When it's springtime in Alaska, I'll be six feet below." The lyrics say the temperature outside is −40 °F (−40 °C). While it is very rare for the temperature to actually be that low in the springtime in Fairbanks, it has happened. A low temperature of −40 °F (−40 °C) was recorded at the Fairbanks International Airport on March 30, 1970. The coldest time of the year in Fairbanks is around January 13 of each year, with night-time low temperatures at this time averaging around −23 °F (−31 °C) and daytime high temperatures averaging around −4 °F (−20 °C). The coldest-ever low temperature recorded there was −62 °F (−52 °C), on December 28 and 29, 1961. more »

Year:

2014

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 Watch: New Singing Lesson Videos Can Make Anyone A Great Singer

I mushed from Port Barren through a blizzard of snow
Been out prospecting for two years or so
Pulled into Fairbanks the city was a boon
So I took a little stroll to the Red Dog Saloon
As I walked in the door the music was clear
The prettiest voice I had heard in two years
The song she was singin' made a man's blood run cold
When it's springtime in Alaska it's forty below
(When it's springtime in Alaska it's forty below)

It was red headed Luie who was singin' so sweet
I reached down and took the snowpacks off my feet
I reached for the gal who was singin' the tune
We did the Eskimo hop all around the saloon
Where the caribou crawl and the grizzly bear hug we did our dance on a Kodiac rug
The song she kept singing made a man's blood run cold
When it's springtime in Alaska it's forty below
I was as innocent as I could be I didn't know Luie was big Ed's wife to be
He took out his knife and he gave it a throw
When it's springtime in Alaska I'll be six feet below
(When it's springtime in Alaska he'll be six feet below)

 Watch: New Singing Lesson Videos Can Make Anyone A Great Singer

Johnny Horton

John Gale "Johnny" Horton (April 30, 1925 – November 5, 1960) was an American country music and rockabilly singer most famous for his semi-folk, so-called "saga songs" which began the "historical ballad" craze of the late 1950s and early 1960s. With them, he had several major successes, most notably during 1959 with the song "The Battle of New Orleans" (written by Jimmy Driftwood), which was awarded the 1960 Grammy Award for Best Country & Western Recording. The song was awarded the Grammy Hall of Fame Award, and during 2001 ranked No. 333 of the Recording Industry Association of America's "Songs of the Century". more »

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