The song was first performed in Oxford in July 1898, and first reviewed in the Entr'acte on 23 July 1898. Laguna of the original song was a village of Native American cave … See more

The original song lyrics tell the story of a lonely black American man who falls in love with a woman from the Laguna tribe of Pueblos of New Mexico. Every evening he waits to hear her call … See more

She's ma lady love, she is ma dove, ma baby love,
She's no gal for sittin' down to dream,
She's de only queen Laguna knows;
I know she likes me, I know she likes me See more

Ted Fio Rito recorded a less racially offensive version of the song with reworked lyrics for Decca Records on February 10, 1942 (catalog 4258A). The following month, on March 13, 1942, Bing Crosby and Mary Martin recorded their version with the … See more

It is sung in full in a music hall setting by either G H Elliot or Tom Finglass in the 1934 film Those Were the Days .
A 1938 British film was entitled Lily of Laguna starring Nora Swinburne and the song in the film was sung by Dudley Rolph See more

Stuart, Leslie (1898). The Lily of Laguna . J Albert & Son, under license from Francis Day and Hunter – via Wikisource. See more

• Recording of Eugene Stratton singing Lily of Laguna at the Internet Archive. Accessed April 2013 See more