Re: Wish to the lord I'd never been born...
Originally Posted by
sjusk
Don't you see that turtle dove
That flies from pine to pine
He's mourning for his own true love
Just like I mourn for mine
I realize that this is a very old thread, but this song too has very old routes. This verse is found in slightly different versions in the traditional folk song "Mary Ann" found on both sides of the Atlantic. Bob Dylan is among many who recorded it. I sing a Nova Scotia version:
Yonder, see that turtle dove
Sitting on the style
He's mourning the loss of his own true love
As I do now for you my dear, Mary Ann.
Folk songs, like blues songs (or perhaps I should say including many blues songs) and old-time dance ditties, often having "floating verses" to fit in where appropriate.
Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
"I never did have no trouble with him until he got big enough to be round with bigger boys and off from home. Then he used to follow all these harp blowers, mandoleen (sic) and guitar players."
Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.
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