DTStudy: Every Night When the Sun Goes In [Down?]

Subject: DTStudy: Every Night When the Sun Goes In
From: Joe Offer
Date: 22 Jun 16 - 05:24 PM

This is an edited DTStudy thread, and all messages posted here are subject to editing and deletion.
This thread is intended to serve as a forum for corrections and annotations for the Digital Tradition song named in the title of this thread.

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There are many songs with similar titles, so it's easy to get this song confused with others. The lyrics in the DT appear to come from Sharp. I think we should do some study on this and post a few versions.

Here is the Traditional Ballad Index entry on this song:

Every Night When the Sun Goes In

DESCRIPTION: "Every night when the sun goes in (x3), I hang down my head and mournful cry." The singer says she is leaving, and wishes the train would come to take her home. When her apron was low, he would follow her everywhere; now it is high, he ignores her
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1918 (Cecil Sharp collection)
KEYWORDS: seduction suicide pregnancy betrayal
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
SharpAp 189, "Every Night when the Sun Goes In" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 149-150, "Every Night When the Sun Goes In" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fireside, p. 120, "Every Night When the Sun Goes In" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 180, "Every Night When The Sun Goes In" (1 text)
DT, EVRYNITE*
Roud #3611
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Butcher Boy" [Laws P24] (lyrics, plot)
cf. "Careless Love" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: This is so close to "The Butcher Boy" that I was almost tempted to list them as one. The introductory theme of returning home, however, separates the songs. - RBW
Last updated in version 4.0
File: LxA149

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The Ballad Index Copyright 2016 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.

Here are the DT lyrics:

EVERY NIGHT WHEN THE SUN GOES IN

Every night when the sun goes in (3 times)
I hang down my head and mournful cry.
True love, don't weep, true love, don't mourn (3 times)
True love, don't weep nor mourn for me,
I'm going away to Marble town.

I wish to the Lord that train wwould come (3 times)
To take me back where I come from.
True love, don't weep, etc.

It's once my apron hung down low (3 times)
He'd follow me through both sleet snd snow.
True love, don't weep, etc.

It's now my apron's to my chin (3 times)
He'll face my door and won't come in.
True love, don't weep, etc.
I wish to the Lord my babe was born,
A-sitting upon his pappy's knee,
And me, poor girl, was dead and gone,
And the green grass growing over me.
True love, don't weep, etc.

from English Folk Songs in the Appalachian Mountains, Sharp
Collected from Mrs. Effie Mitchell, Burnsville, NC 1918
@love @bastard
filename[ EVRYNITE
TUNE FILE: EVRYNITE
CLICK TO PLAY
RG

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I found the song in volume 2 of Sharp-Karpeles, English Folk Songs of the Southern Appalachians, #189. I've put corrections to the DT text in bold.

EVERY NIGHT WHEN THE SUN GOES IN (DT - Corrected)

Every night when the sun goes in (3 times)
I hang down my head and mournful cry.
    True love, don't weep, true love, don't mourn (2 times)
    True love, don't weep nor mourn for me,
    I'm going away to Marble town.

I wish to the Lord that train would come (3 times)
To take me back where I come from.
    True love, don't weep, etc.

It's once my apron hung down low (3 times)
He'd follow me through both sleet and snow.
    True love, don't weep, etc.

It's now my apron's to my chin (3 times)
He'll face my door and won't come in.
    True love, don't weep, etc.

I wish to the Lord my babe was born,
A-sitting upon his pappy's knee,
And me, poor girl, was dead and gone,
And the green grass growing over me.
    True love, don't weep, etc.

from English Folk Songs in the Southern Appalachians, Sharp
Collected from Mrs. Effie Mitchell, Burnsville, NC 1918
@love @bastard
filename[ EVRYNITE
TUNE FILE: EVRYNITE
CLICK TO PLAY
RG

A couple of little typos, but the big thing is that "true love don't weep, true love don't mourn" is repeated only twice. The melody repeats twice in each verse. Also, there was a line break missing before the last verse. The melody in the DT matches Sharp exactly.

This exact version collected by Sharp also appears in Lomax, American Ballads and Folk Songs, pp 149-150.

In Silber & Silber, Folksinger's Wordbook page 180, the lyrics are the same except for one word omitted in the third-last verse: "He'd follow me through sleet and snow." The Fireside Book of Folk Songs (page 120) is the same as Silber & Silber, with slight differences in the melody.

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Every Night When the Sun Goes I
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 22 Jun 16 - 06:11 PM

The tune seems too short for the verse.
I would imagine that it's repeated for the second pair of lines (the 3 repeats of the first and third line are already covered in the music), but there doesn't seem to be anything for that fifth line "I'm going away to Marble town."

Although, there is a slightly different version @ ABC Notation where the line "True love, don't weep nor mourn for me," isn't included, going straight to "I'm going away to Marble town."

Cheers

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Every Night When the Sun Goes In
From: Joe Offer
Date: 23 Jun 16 - 03:28 AM

You're right, Nigel. I've gone to the source and corrected the Digital Tradition version above.

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Every Night When the Sun Goes In
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 23 Jun 16 - 04:24 AM

A quick Google search finds numerous versions. Several (including by The Weavers) give the title and first line as "Every night when the sun goes down"
I'm guessing the Cecil Sharp one is the original, although there may also be earlier variants, so both titles should be considered.

Cheers

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Every Night When the Sun Goes In
From: Joe Offer
Date: 23 Jun 16 - 04:35 AM

Thread #88030   Message #3494018
Posted By: GUEST,Goldie
23-Mar-13 - 10:21 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: In the Evening, When the Sun Goes Down
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: In the Evening, When the Sun Goes Down

Can anyone explain the use of "Marble Town" in these (not-the-Leadbelly-song) lyrics? It seems to me a very bald reference to a graveyard, but I don't know when these words snuck into the traditional English song and whether they refer to anything/place more specific in the Appalachians, where they were "collected" by Cecil Sharp.

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Every Night When the Sun Goes In
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 23 Jun 16 - 06:40 AM

I'm no expert on US geography, but a quick search gives the Appalachians as reaching to New York, and a Marbletown in Ulster County. Is it possible that it's not a euphemism for the graveyard?

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Every Night When the Sun Goes In
From: cnd
Date: 23 Jun 16 - 08:30 AM

Thesaurus.com says that marble town can mean a graveyard, but I think if the singer was referring to an actual graveyard they would have had to say "the Marble town," though folk music isn't exactly known for its grammatical accuracy.

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Every Night When the Sun Goes In [Down?]
From: Richie
Date: 30 Jan 17 - 06:14 PM

Hi,

Since the last three stanzas of text are part of the "Died for Love" songs it's possible that "marble" came from the line "Place a marble stone at my head and feet" and could refer to that marble stone, which would be a grave stone and therefore marble town could be a reference to a graveyard.

Richie

Subject: RE: DTStudy: Every Night When the Sun Goes In [Down?]
From: Richie
Date: 30 Jan 17 - 09:22 PM

Hi,

I just included it on my site- has a photo by Sharp of Effie Mitchell;

http://www.bluegrassmessengers.com/7d-every-night-when-the-sun-goes-in.aspx

Richie