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Goodnight Irene Lyrics
Last Saturday night, I got married,
me and my wife settled down
Now me and my wife are parted,
I'm gonna take another stroll downtown
Sometimes I live in the country,
sometimes I live in town
Sometimes I take a great notion,
to jump into the river and drown
I love Irene, God knows I do,
I'll love her till the seas run dry
But if Irene should turn me down,
I'd take the morphine and die
Stop rambling , stop your gambling,
stop staying out late at night
Go home to your wife and your family,
stay there by your fireside bright.
me and my wife settled down
Now me and my wife are parted,
I'm gonna take another stroll downtown
sometimes I live in town
Sometimes I take a great notion,
to jump into the river and drown
I'll love her till the seas run dry
But if Irene should turn me down,
I'd take the morphine and die
stop staying out late at night
Go home to your wife and your family,
stay there by your fireside bright.
Song Info
Copyright
Lyrics © O/b/o Distrokid
Writer
Huddie Ledbetter, John Lomax
Duration
1:52
Submitted by
arc_light On Nov 19, 2004
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i can't believe no one has commented... this is the best folk song ever. period.
there are quite a few lyric variations floating around out there. the version i have includes a different first verse, and the last two verses are reversed. (heh).
i can't believe no one has commented... this is the best folk song ever. period.
there are quite a few lyric variations floating around out there. the version i have includes a different first verse, and the last two verses are reversed. (heh).
I haven't heard the song with the first verse used above. The classic version was
I asked your mother for you she told me that you was to young I wish to the lawd I never seen your face I’m sorry you ever were born.
This always suggested to me that the song was about unrequited love for an underage girl; that may be my seedy way of thinking, but many of leadbelly's songs dealt with dark and disturbing themes. I agree with the king however that this is the greatest folk song recorded.
@tired82 It was written in 1933 - they didn't do "underage" in songs in those days. "Too young" didn't mean "under 18" (or "under 13" if we're talking 1930s Virginia). Parents would say a girl was "too young to get married" when they didn't approve of the suitor.
@tired82 It was written in 1933 - they didn't do "underage" in songs in those days. "Too young" didn't mean "under 18" (or "under 13" if we're talking 1930s Virginia). Parents would say a girl was "too young to get married" when they didn't approve of the suitor.
Billy Bob the rough boy from the hog plant wants to ask out Irene? "She's too young to go courtin'." Captain Rogers, home from the war, wants to marry her? "Let me go pack her case for you."
Billy Bob the rough boy from the hog plant wants to ask out Irene? "She's too young to go courtin'." Captain Rogers, home from the war, wants to marry her? "Let me go pack her case for you."
This version is different than the copy I have. I have read that Leadbelly never played his songs the same twice. He liked to mix it up a bit. But this is the most popular rendition of the lyrics for this song. It seems that my CD version is the one that is unusual. The lyrics on this page represent what I have found for this song on every search I have done.
WoW...this is the original and yet no comments? Hmmmmmmm. Am trying to figure out how this song was written as a protest song yet disguised as a love song. I don't see it, but supposedly that's the case. Anyone care to take a stab at the interpretation as a protest song???? It's beyond my capabilities:)
LOL. Split personalities. Don't go drowning yourself when you have plenty of life in the bright lights of the city. That would seem rather foolish. Just wanted the song analyzed nothing more...
LOL. Split personalities. Don't go drowning yourself when you have plenty of life in the bright lights of the city. That would seem rather foolish. Just wanted the song analyzed nothing more...
Another 'wow.' I just read another article online about the song being about the artist's gambling. Dang...doesn't anyone know????????
Another 'wow.' I just read another article online about the song being about the artist's gambling. Dang...doesn't anyone know????????
"The song, however, was not written by Leadbelly. Its origins actually stretch back to a song by Gussie L. Davis in 1889, and Leadbelly learned the song from his uncle. After Leadbelly's "discovery" and consequent fame from the song in the 1940s, The Weavers picked it up and hit number one with it in 1950, a year after Leadbelly's death." ~folkmusic(dot)about(dot)com. As for you Idnite, that's your choice. It's always been your choice.
I love this song. It's so sinister. I hate that in some versions they took out "get" and made it "see you in my dreams"
To me this is a song about an obsessed psycho whose stalking a young girl. It sounds so pretty but when you read the lyrics the singer is crazy and scary.