Farewell you dungeons dark and strong, farewell, farewell to thee
Mac Phereson's song will not be long upon the gallows tree
Sae rantin'ly, sae wantonly, sae dauntin'ly played he
He played a tune and he danced it roon, below the gallows tree
Oh little did my mother know when first she cradled me
That I would become a roving boy and die on the gallows tree
Sae rantin'ly, sae wantonly, sae dauntin'ly played he
He played a tune and he danced it roon, below the gallows tree
Untie these bands from off my hands and give to me my bow
I've got to leave my gay Scotland with a tune before I go
Sae rantin'ly, sae wantonly, sae dauntin'ly played he
He played a tune and he danced it roon, below the gallows tree
There's some come here to see me hang, and some to steal my fiddle
But before that I do part with her, I'll split her through the middle
Sae rantin'ly, sae wantonly, sae dauntin'ly played he
He played a tune and he danced it roon, below the gallows tree
He took the fiddle into both his hands, he broke it o'er his knee
Saying;When I am gone no other hands shall ever play on thee
Sae rantin'ly, sae wantonly, sae dauntin'ly played he
He played a tune and he danced it roon, below the gallows tree
As I was walking one morning in May
I heard a young couple so fondly did stray
And one was a fair maid as fair as can be
And the other was a soldier of the brave Grenadiers
And they kissed so sweet and comforting as they clung to each other
They went arming along the road like sister and brother
They went arming along the road till they came to a stream
And they both sat down together love to hear the nightingale sing
Then out from his knapsack he drew a fine fiddle
And he played her such merry tunes as you ever did hear
And he played her such merry tunes as the valley did ring
Oh la, cried the fair maid, How the nightingales sing
And they kissed so sweet and comforting...
I'm off to India for seven long years
Drinking wines and strong whiskies instead of strong beers
And if ever I return again it'll be in the spring
And we'll both sit down together love to hear the Nightingale sing
And they kissed so sweet and comforting...
Oh, then says the fair maid, Won't you marry me?;
Oh no, says the soldier, However could that be?
For I've my son and wife at home in my own country
And she is the fairest little maid as you ever did see
And they kissed so sweet and comforting as they clung to each other
They went arming along the road like sister and brother
They went arming along the road till they came to a stream
And they both sat down together love to hear the nightingale sing
When I was a little lad or so my mother told me
Way haul away, we'll haul away Joe
That if I didn't kiss the girls my lips would all grow mouldy
Way haul away, we'll haul away Joe
Way haul away, we'll haul away together
Way haul away, we'll haul away, Joe
Way haul away, we'll haul for better weather
Way haul away, we'll haul away, Joe
King Louis was the king of France, before the revolution
Way haul away, we'll haul away Joe
And then he had his head cut off which spoiled his constitution
Way haul away, we'll haul away Joe
Way haul away, we'll haul away together
Way haul away, we'll haul away, Joe
Way haul away, we'll haul for better weather
Way haul away, we'll haul away, Joe
The cook is in the galley making duff so handy
Way haul away, we'll haul away Joe
The captain's in his cabin drinking wine and brandy
Way haul away, we'll haul away Joe
Way haul away, we'll haul away together
Way haul away, we'll haul away, Joe
Way haul away, we'll haul for better weather
Way haul away, we'll haul away, Joe
Yellow bird up high in banana tree
Yellow bird you sit all alone like me
Did your lady friend leave the nest again?
That is very sad, makes me feel so bad
You can fly away in the sky away
You more lucky than me
I also have a pretty girl
She not with me today
They're all the same the pretty girls
Make them the nest then they fly away
Yellow bird high up in banana tree
Yellow bird you sit all alone like me
Picker coming soon pick from night to noon
Black and yellow, you like banana too
Better fly away in the sky away
They might pick you some day
Wish that I was a yellow bird
I'd fly away with you
But I'm not a yellow bird
So here I sit, nothing else to do
Guitar chords for Yellow Bird
C G7 C
Yellow bird up high in banana tree
G7 C
Yellow bird you sit all alone like me
F C
Did your lady friend leave the nest again?
G7 C
That is very sad, makes me feel so bad
F C
You can fly away in the sky away
G7 C
You more lucky than me
C F
I also have a pretty girl
G7 C
She not with me today
C F
They're all the same the pretty girls
G7 C
Make them the nest then they fly away
Come gather round people wherever you roam
And admit that the waters around you have grown
And accept it that soon you'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth saving
Then you'd better start swimming or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changing
Come writers and critics who prophesy with your pen
And keep your eyes wide the chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon for the wheel's still in spin
And there's no telling who that it's naming
'Cause the loser now will be later to win
For the times they are a-changing
Come senators, congressmen, please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway, don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt will be he who has stalled
The battle outside a-raging
Will soon shake your windows and rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changing
Come mothers and fathers throughout this land
And don't criticise what you don't understand
Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly aging
Please get out of the new one if you can't lend a hand
For the times they are a-changing
The line it is drawn, the curse it is cast
The slow one now will later be fast
As the present now will later be past
The order is rapidly changing
And the first one now will later be last
For the times they are a-changing
The Water is wide, I cannot get o'er
And neither have I wings to fly
Give me a boat that will carry two
And both shall row, my love and I
Oh, down in the meadows, the other day
A-gathering flowers both fine and gay
A-gathering flowers both red and blue
I little thought what love can do
I put my hand into one soft bush
Thinking the sweetest flower to find
I pricked my finger right to the bone
And left the sweetest flower alone
I leaned my back up against some oak
Thinking that he was a trusty tree
But first he bended and then he broke
And so did my false love to me
A ship there is and she sails the sea
She's loaded deep as deep can be
But not so deep as the love I'm in
I know not if I can sink or swim
Oh, love is handsome and love is fine
And love's a jewel while it is new
But when it is old, it groweth cold
And fades away like morning dew
Guitar chords for The Water is Wide
C F C
The water is wide, I can-not get o'er
Am G
And neither have I wings to fly
C Am
Give me a boat that will carry two
G F C
And both shall row, my love and I
Step we gaily, On we go, heel for heel, and toe for toe
Arm in arm and on we go, all for Mairi's wedding
Over hill ways up and down
Myrtle green and bracken brown
Past the sheiling through the town
All for sake of Mairi
Step we gaily, On we go, heel for heel, and toe for toe
Arm in arm and on we go, all for Mairi's wedding
Plenty herring, plenty meal
Plenty peat to fill her creel
Plenty bonny bairns as weel
That's the toast for Mairi
Step we gaily, On we go, heel for heel, and toe for toe
Arm in arm and on we go, all for Mairi's wedding
Cheeks as bright as rowans are
Brighter far than any star
Fairest of them all by far
Is my darling Mairi
Step we gaily, On we go, heel for heel, and toe for toe
Arm in arm and on we go, all for Mairi's wedding
Guitar Chords
C
Step we gaily, on we go
F G
Heel for heel and toe for toe
C
Arm in arm and on we go
F G
All for Mairi's Wedding
Oh the winter is gone and the springtime has come
So I'll pick up my bundle and go on the bum
Halleluia, I'm a bum, Halleluia, bum again
Halleluia, give us a handout to revive us again
Oh I went to a house and I asked for some bread
And the lady said Bum, Bum, the baker is dead
Halleluia, I'm a bum, Halleluia, bum again
Halleluia, give us a handout to revive us again
Oh why don't you work as other men do?
How the hell can I work when there's no work to do?
Halleluia, I'm a bum, Halleluia, bum again
Halleluia, give us a handout to revive us again
Oh why don't you pray for your daily bread?
Well, if that's all I did I would damn soon be dead
Halleluia, I'm a bum, Halleluia, bum again
Halleluia, give us a handout to revive us again
Oh I went to a house and I knocked on the door
The lady said Bum, Bum, you've been here before
Guitar chords for Halleluiah I’m a Bum
C
Oh the winter is gone and the springtime has come
G7
So I'll pick up my bundle and go on the bum
C G7
Halleluia, I'm a bum, Halleluia, bum again
C G7 C
Halleluia, give us a handout to revive us a-gain
Notes on Halleluiah I’m a Bum
Hallelujah, I’m a Bum was a popular hobo/folk song in the United States in the early decades of the 20th century. In 1928 Harry “Haywire Mac” McClintock went to court to claim authorship of the song, and won. He said that he had put his own words to the tune of an old gospel song, Revive Us Again, whilst travelling around as a hobo in the late 1890s and singing for his supper in army camps. The song – originally called Halleluia on the Bum – rapidly spread around the country because the soldiers liked it so much (they added verses of their own) and became a staple of the IWW: the Industrial Workers of the World Labour Union – or Wobblies, as the members called themselves.
Mac said: “There were only two or three verses at first but new ones practically wrote themselves. The junglestiffs liked the song and so did the saloon audiences, most of whom had hit the road at one time or another, and the rollicking, devil-may-care lilt of the thing appealed to them.”
Haywire Mac was a Wobbly songleader and made his own recording of the song in 1926. He went to court to establish his claim against the many publishing companies who had turned out sheet music of the song. These verses were published on an IWW four-tune song card in 1908:
Why don't you work like other folks do?
How the hell can I work when there's no work to do? /
when the sky is so blue?
OR: How can I get a job when you're holding down two?
Oh, why don't you save all the money you earn?
If I didn't eat, I'd have money to burn
Whenever I get all the money I earn
The boss will be broke and to work he must turn
Oh, I like my boss, he's a good friend of mine
That's why I am starving out on the breadline
When springtime it comes, oh, won't we have fun
We'll throw off our jobs, and go on the bum
I can't buy a job 'cause I ain't got the dough
So I ride in a boxcar 'cause I'm a hobo
I went to a bar and I asked for a drink,
They gave me a glass and they showed me the sink
You can find a very interesting article about the IWW and Haywire Mac on Manfred Helfert’s History in Song website.
The 1933 Movie Hallelujah, I’m a Bum has a title song by Rogers and Hart with the refrain Hallelujah, I’m a Bum Again – sung by the central character who finds, then loses, a thousand dollar bill. However it is a completely different song. Rogers and Hart were probably using a phrase which had passed into common use because of the original song, or possibly as songwriters they were aware of McClintock’s recent court case and the phrase had caught their interest.
Haywire Mac also claimed copyright to The Big Rock Candy Mountains (which he had recorded) but lost the case.
Word is to the kitchen gone
And word is to the hall
And word is up to Madam the Queen
And that's the worst of all
That Mary Hamilton's borne a babe
To the highest Stuart of all
Oh rise arise Mary Hamilton
Arise and tell to me
What thou hast done with thy wee babe
I saw and heard weep by thee
I put him in a tiny boat
And cast him out to sea
That he might sink or he might swim
But he'll never come back to me
Oh rise arise Mary Hamilton
Arise and come with me
There is a wedding in Glasgow Town
This night we'll go and see
She put not on her robe of black
Nor yet her robe of brown
But she put on her robe of white
To ride into Glasgow Town
As she rode into Glasgow Town
The city for to see
The Bailiff's wife and Provost's wife
Cried Oh and alas for thee!
You need not weep for me, she cried
You need not weep for me
For had I not slain my own wee babe
This death I would not dee
Oh sinner man, where you gonna run to?
Oh sinner man, where you gonna run to?
Oh sinner man, where you gonna run to?
All on that day
Run to the sun, sun won't you hide me?
Run to the sun, sun won't you hide me?
Run to the sun, sun won't you hide me?
All on that day
No sinner man, sun'll be a freezing
Run to the moon, moon won't you hide me?
No sinner man, moon'll be a bleeding
Run to the rock, rock won't you hide me?
No sinner man, rock'll be a melting
Run to the sea, sea won't you hide me?
No sinner man, sea'll be a boiling
Run to the Lord, Lord won't you hide me?
No sinner man, you should be a prayin'
Run to the Devil, Devil won't you hide me?
Yes sinner man, come on in and howdy
Yes sinner man, come on in and howdy
Yes sinner man, come on in and howdy
All on that day
Guitar chords for Sinner Man
Am
Oh sinner man, where you gonna run to?
G
Oh sinner man, where you gonna run to?
Am
Oh sinner man, where you gonna run to?
Em G Am
All on that day