English

Delia is a traditional song of the Southeast United States that dates to the early 1900s, and is based on the murder of Delia Green, age 14, by Moses "Cooney" Houston, age 14 to 16 in Savannah, Georgia. (Cooney is the name of the killer in early versions of the song.) The pair had been seeing each other for several months when, on Christmas Eve 1900, Moses boasted in Delia's presence about his sexual relationship with her. She denied the sexual relationship, and during their argument called him a "son-of-a-bitch". Shortly thereafter, Moses shot Delia, who died on Christmas.

There are reputedly recordings of "Delia" going back to the 1920s. It was collected in print form not later than 1927, and possibly earlier. Versions have been recorded as, among others, "Little Delia", "Deliah" and "Delia's Gone". The latter title apparently originated in the Bahamas when the song -- with substantially different lyrics -- migrated there. As early as 1935, Alan Lomax recorded a local version by The Nassau String Band. In 1959, Karl Silbersdorf and Dick Toops made a questionable copyright with the same title, used by Johnny Cash in 1962 and many to follow.

Delhia by Jimmie Gordon and His Vip Vop Band on audio single Delhia (May 1939)