“Goodbye, My Lover, Goodbye”
Description
A riverman, departing for New Orleans, bids his sweetheart farewell: "I'm going away to New Orleans, Goodbye, my lover, goodbye...." "She's on her way to New Orleans... She's bound to pass the Robert E. Lee...." "I'll make this trip and make no more...."
Notes
The description above is based on the most coherent version I could find. Brown's texts, however, have nothing of this plot; both have a verse "See the train go 'round the bend... Loaded down with (railroad/Chapel Hill) men," with the other stanzas floating. It appears that the simple tune was used for all sorts of floating verse songs.
This has been attributed to T. H. Allen (cf. Brown), but I don't know the reliability of the citation. - RBW
There is a parody version ["See the Steamer Go 'round the Bend"]: "See the steamer go 'round the bend, goodbye, my lover, goodbye/They're taking old Sammy away to the pen...And why are they taking old Sam to the pen?...He hit a policeman and hit him again/goodbye, my lover, goodbye." Sam Hinton credits this to his father, who liked to improvise. - PJS
Cross references
- cf. "Goodbye, My Love, Goodbye" (chorus form)
Recordings
- Emry Arthur, "Goodbye My Lover, Goodbye" (Vocalion 5209, c. 1928)
- Kanawha Singers, "Goodbye My Lover Goodbye" (Brunswick 242, 1928)
- Bill Mooney & his Cactus Twisters, "Goodbye, My Lover, Goodbye" (Imperial 1150, n.d.)
References
- BrownIII 274, "Goodbye, My Lover, Goodbye" (1 text plus a fragment)
- MHenry-Appalachians, p. 160, "Goodbye, My Lover, Goodbye" (1 text)
- Botkin-MRFolklr, p. 591, "Let Her Go By" (1 text)
- Silber-FSWB, p. 152, "Goodbye, My Lover, Goodbye" (1 text)
- Roud #15381
- BI, BMRF591