ADD: Sally Ann / Ballad of Sally Anne

Subject: Sally Ann
From: mikey
Date: 14 Sep 99 - 08:05 PM

lookin for lyrics i believe have this title. the refrain is: Who's gonna dance with Sally Ann, who's gonna hold her pretty little hand, when the fiddler takes the stand, who's gonna dance with Sally Ann

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Messages from multiple threads combined.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: Lyr Add: SALLY ANN^^
From: Barry Finn
Date: 14 Sep 99 - 11:14 PM

SALLY ANN

Did you ever see a muskrat, Sally Ann
Dragging his slick tail through the sand
Picking his banjo & raising sand
Did you ever see a muskrat, Sally Ann

CH: Ever see a muskrat Sally Ann (2x)

Shift that meal & save the bran
Going to the wedding with Sally Ann
Shake that little foot Sally Ann
You're a pretty good dancer Sally Ann

CH: Shake that little foot Sally Ann (2x)

Make my living in the sandy land
Raise big 'taters in the sandy land
Big mushmelons in the sandy land
Sandy bottom, sandy land

CH: I'm gonna marry you Sally Ann (2x)

Sal's got a meatskin laid away
To grease that wooden leg so they say
Dinah's got a wooden leg so they say
Shake that wooden leg Dinah-o

CH: Shake that wooden leg Dinah, Dinah
Shake that wooden leg Dinah-o

From "Folk Songs Of North America" by Alan Lomax. I gotta say that parts of the last verse to me are quite suspect along with the 3rd verse sounds like it was more than just a floating filler borrowed from "Sandy Land". Anyway, there you go. Barry

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Click to play

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann
From: Art Thieme
Date: 16 Sep 99 - 12:48 AM

I did it with these verses also:

Sal's got a meatskin hid away,
Sal's got a meatskin hid away,
Sal's got a meatskin hid away,
Gonna get a meatskin some day.

Grease your skillet, Sally Ann (3 times)
Pop the pork chop in the pan.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann
From: DICK
Date: 17 Sep 99 - 12:27 AM

Words to Skunk on the Bumper.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann
From: hotspur
Date: 17 Sep 99 - 03:37 PM

Hi there Mike, I 've heard a song with that refrain, the first verse goes like this: With love in his heart and flowers in his hand Johnny proposed to Sally Ann Sally shivered as he said, "I'll love you till the day I'm dead." Unfortunately, I don't know any more, except there's something about a wedding and a ghost. I've been trying to find the lyrics to this song too. Hotspur

Subject: Lyr Add: SALLY ANN^^
From: bob schwarer
Date: 18 Sep 99 - 01:07 PM

Got this version on a tape a few years ago. Don't know who does it.

SALLY ANN^^

They're ain't no body gonna ever stop me,
Sally Ann
They're ain't nobody gonna ever change
The doggone way I am.

I'm gonna rob & steal & run & hide,
Sally Ann
Strap my pistols to my side,
Sally Ann

Born way down in Grayson county,
Sally Ann
Born of a Pentacostal
Cotton mill hand

Raised up rough and rowdy,
Sally Ann
They're ain't nobody gonna ever change
The doggone way I am.

Whoa oh oh, Sally Ann
Whoa oh oh, the doggone way I am (2X)

Gonna go ride with Stonewall Jackson,
Sally Ann
Gonna saddle my horse 'n try to save
Old Dixie Land.

Some folks say we're gonna lose her,
Sally Ann
But they're ain't nobody gonna ever change
The doggone way I am.

Fredricksburg, on to (?).
Sally Ann.
They're ain't no Yankee gonna ever stop us,
Sally Ann

Stonewall's down & old Lee's worried,
Sally Ann
Stonewall's down & gonna be buried,
Sally Ann

Whoa........etc 2x

Wilderness fires is bad & blazing,
Sally Ann
Ain't got no shoes & I'm still raiding,
Sally Ann

Blood runs free, down at the ankles(?),
Sally Ann
The air is (?) full of danger,
Sally Ann

A Yankee rifle's got me down,
Sally Ann
Looks like I'm gonna go on to
Glory land

Keep my words by your side gal,
Sally Ann
Hell, they're ain't no body gonna ever change
The doggone way I am

Whoa .......etc. 2x

Soldier boy's gonna come home now,
Sally Ann
Pick you one & settle down gal,
Sally Ann

I'll be waitin' over in glory,
Sally Ann
Dixie Land lives forever,
The way I am.

Whoa......etc.

Bob S.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann
From: Margo
Date: 23 Oct 00 - 01:48 PM

Egads. I'm looking for the lyrics to Sally Ann too. The version I have on CD is the one mentioned above where she says "I'm going to love you 'till the day I die" and then I don't understand what happens. Sounds like her beau gets hanged. Then there is something about a ghost. The artist is Mark Johnson and Clawgrass. I just can't make out those lyrics!! Anyone? Margo

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann
From: Margo
Date: 23 Oct 00 - 04:05 PM

I just emailed Mark Johnson, so we'll see if he responds with lyrics! Margo

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Waiting for Robert E Lee
From: GUEST,Charles Russell
Date: 03 Nov 00 - 08:45 AM

Not a very old song, but my searches in public libraries are in vain. Thanks.

Subject: Lyr Add: BALLAD OF SALLY ANNE (from Mark Johnson^^
From: Margo
Date: 03 Nov 00 - 04:08 PM

OK. Here are the lyrics as close as I can decipher them from Mark Johnson's CD:

SALLY ANN

With love in his heart and flowers in hand,
Johnny proposed to Sally Ann.
Sally shivered as she said,
"I'll love you till the day I'm dead."

Johnny got married in his one good suit,
But the ride to church bore strange fruit.
Down by the road you could hear her cry
As he hung from a tree; she watched him die.

CHORUS: Who's going to dance with Sally Ann?
Who's going to hold her trembling hand?
When that fiddler takes the stand,
Who's going to dance with Sally Ann?

Sally tends to wait around here
Looking for her Johnny dear.
You can feel them in the room
When that fiddler plays their tune.

Darkened shadows cross the floor
As ghostly lovers dance once more.
When wedding bells ring in that town,
A ghostly virgin strolls around.

CHORUS, INSTRUMENTAL, CHORUS



I'm not quite sure about "tends to wait around here," but I don't know what else it can be. SO WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED TO JOHNNY?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann
From: Hotspur
Date: 03 Nov 00 - 11:41 PM

That's what i want to know! Thanks for the lyrics...I'm not sure if they're quite the same as on my CD, which is by a local band. I kind of guessed at the second verse, after many listenings:

Johnny got married in his one good suit
But the ride from the church his horse him threw (?)
Down by the road you could hear her cry
As he hung from a tree she watched him die.

But, as I say, I don't know that this is right. (If it is, it's a really strange grammatical construction!)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann
From: Margo
Date: 04 Nov 00 - 05:12 PM

Yeah, it kind of seems like there is a missing verse or something- to explain how Johnny ended up hanging in a tree... Yes, it is a strange grammatical construction. Expressions used in liturature aren't appropriate for spoken or sung language. "Bore strange fruit" fits better and is a good rhyme (suit with fruit) but is still strange in context. Oh well, Margo

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann
From: Guy Wolff
Date: 04 Nov 00 - 06:17 PM

THanks Barry and all here for the words. I just started playing this one again.. If anyone gets to play this with Danny Gardella of Southford Ct dont miss the chance.. He's a great fiddler.. All the best <
Guy

Subject: Lyr Req: sally ann
From:
Date: 27 Jan 03 - 02:04 PM

Subject: Lyr Add: SALLY ANN
From: Sorcha
Date: 27 Jan 03 - 02:34 PM

A little more info would be helpful, but I found this one:
e mail sent


SALLY ANN

Sally Ann waited patiently for the postman every day.
She tended to her children and watched the sunlight fade.
When she heard the mail drop through the slot,
She waited five full minutes, by the clock
Through the kitchen, down the hall she walked
Eyes held to the floor.

Verse 2
She scooped up all the catalogues and laid them in a pile.
Held her breath until the envelope was safely in her hand.
Hungry for some word of hope, she ripped it clean in two.
Words blurred, her heart caught in her throat
And the tears began to flow.

Chorus
"Darling, as I write, the rain is falling.
Reminds me of our long walks on the sand.
It grieves me so, you're there alone
But it won't be long til I come home,
And for us, the war will be over."

Verse 3
Sally Ann heard a giggle from the baby's room.
Gathered up her youngest in her arms.
Drinking in the fragrance of baby's hair,
She murmured with a smile, "Don't worry,"
"Daddy says (hold 1.5 beats) he'll be home soon."

Verse 4
Gazing on her world, the rain is falling.
Child held on her hip, she's not alone.
Face strong (2 beats), chin up (2 beats),
She makes a home
She reads again, his promise sent, the war will soon be over.

Chorus
"Darling, as I write, the rain is falling.
Reminds me of our long walks on the sand.
It grieves me so, you're there alone
But it won't be long til I come home,
Kiss the baby, dear, the war will soon be over."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: sally ann
From: Gypsy
Date: 27 Jan 03 - 11:29 PM

Are you looking for Sally Ann, with the refrain:

"who's gonna dance with Sally Anne?

Who will hold her tremblin' hand?

When the fiddler takes the stand,

who's gonna dance with Sally Ann"

She got around. You need to be a little more specific about the girl.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: sally ann
From: masato sakurai
Date: 28 Jan 03 - 12:47 AM

The Traditional Ballad Index: Sally Anne

The Fiddler's Companion: Result of search for "sally ann"

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann
From: Joe Offer
Date: 28 Jan 03 - 02:00 AM

There are a number of threads on this song, but no entry in the Digital Tradition. I combined today's request with the most productive of the previous threads.
sorcha, where did you get the song you posted?
I think it would be nice to include the text of the Traditional Ballad Index entry.
-Joe Offer-

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Sally Anne

DESCRIPTION: "Oh where are you going, Sally Anne? (x3) I'm going to the wedding, Sally Anne. Oh shake that little foot, Sally Anne, (x3), You're a pretty good dancer, Sally Anne." "Did you ever see a muskrat, Sally Ann...." Other verses are equally unrelated
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1918
KEYWORDS: dancing nonballad marriage courting animal
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Sharp/Karpeles-80E 63, "Sally Anne" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FSNA 117, "Sally Anne" (1 text, 1 tune) (posted by Barry finn above)
PSeeger-AFB, p. 53, "Sally Ann" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 175, "Sally Ann" (1 text)
RECORDINGS:
Wade Ward, "Sally Ann" [instrumental] (on Holcomb-Ward1)
George Stoneman, "Sally Anne" [instrumental] (on LomaxCD1702)
Frank Blevins & his Tar Heel Rattlers, "Sally Aim [sic]" (Columbia 15765-D, 1927; on LostProv1 as "Sally Ann")
Pete Seeger, "Sally Ann" (on PeteSeeger06, PeteSeegerCD01); Sally Ann" (on PeteSeeger18)
Art Thieme, "Sally Ann" (on Thieme01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Great Big Taters in Sand Land" (tune)
Notes: Lomax says that this is the same melody as the fiddle piece "Sandy Land," in turn related to "Sally Goodin." [But Lomax wasn't a fiddler. The tune is related to "Sandy Land" (actually "Great Big Taters in Sandy Land"), but I draw the line at "Sally Goodin." I'm no fiddler, either, but I've backed up a lot of them. - PJS] Certainly the banal and unrelated verses are what one would expect of a fiddle tune with words added. - RBW
File: SKE63

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The Ballad Index Copyright 2002 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.

Subject: ADD Version: Sally Ann
From: Joe Offer
Date: 28 Jan 03 - 02:23 AM

This isn't much different from the Lomax version Barry Finn posted up top, but I think this version is worth posting, too.
-Joe Offer-

Sally Ann

          C                    Am
  Did you ever see a muskrat, Sally Ann?
  C                  G
  Pickin' a banjo, Sally Ann,
  C
  Draggin' his slick tail through the sand?
  G                      C
  I'm gonna marry you, Sally Ann.
  
  Chorus:
  C
  I'm gonna marry you, Sal, Sal,
  G                      C
  I'm gonna marry you, Sally Ann.
  
  Going to the wedding, Sally Ann (twice)
  Sift that meal and save your bran,
  I'm going home with Sally Ann.
  
  Shake that little foot, Sally Ann, (twice)
  Great big wedding up, Sally Ann,
  I'm going home with Sally Ann.
  
  Pass me the brandy, Sally Ann, (twice)
  I'm going 'way with Sally Ann,
  Great big wedding up, Sally Ann.

Source The Folk Singer's Wordbook (Fred & Irwin Silber, 1973)

Subject: ADD Version: Sally Ann
From: Joe Offer
Date: 28 Jan 03 - 02:40 AM

Not much difference in Pete Seeger's version in American Favorite Ballads

SALLY ANN

           C                   Am
  Did you ever see a muskrat, Sally Ann?
  C                 G 
  Pickin' a banjo, Sally Ann,
       C 
  Draggin' his slick tail through the sand?
   G                    C
  I'm gonna marry you, Sally Ann.
  
  Chorus:
   C 
  I'm gonna marry you, Sal, Sal,
   G                    C 
  I'm gonna marry you, Sally Ann. (repeat)
  
  
  Make my living in a sandy land (3 times)
  I'm gonna marry you, Sally Ann.
  CHORUS
  
  

Click to play

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 28 Jan 03 - 02:58 AM

I thought you meant this one, a circle game from my kindergarten days:

Little Sally Ann
Sitting in the sand
A-weeping and a-crying
For a nice young man
Rise, Sally, rise
Wipe your little eyes
Turn to the east
And turn to the west
And turn to the one
That you love best

Anybody else remember this? It went with Punchinello and Farmer in the Dell and London Bridge and In and Out the Window...

Aloha,
Mark

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann
From: Joe Offer
Date: 28 Jan 03 - 04:10 AM

You're making me feel old, Mark - but in Detroit, it was:

Little Sally Water,
Sitting in a ...
...
turn to the east, Sally
turn to the west
turn to the very one that you love best!

..Which has nothing to do with this song, dammit!
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann
From: Sorcha
Date: 28 Jan 03 - 10:57 AM

The first set I posted came from here:
http://www.eaglecanyon.com/pages/dar2.htm

Then, this morning I found this one:

Sally Ann

My true love did breathe by the Sally Ann just barely
That while walkin' through town only my heart
did hear him
In views of the city
There ain't many folks by the
Sally Ann so pretty
That while walkin' through town,
many a twisted features
Made a terrible beauty
And then I knew
And then I knew, I'd been there before

One thing you must know by the
Sally Ann directly
Is that the pockets
don't hold any more sunken treasures
After baptism by whiskey
But when leavin' the bar by the Sally Ann
just barely
That old angel may allow light from above
the mountain
And red brick walls blooming, you may see

And then you'll know
And then you'll know, you've been there before

From:http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Stage/8618/rufus/sa.html
It's a Rufus Wainwright song.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 28 Jan 03 - 01:37 PM

There is a version in Brown, North Carolina Folklore. Vol. 5, No. 673, music and one verse.
O, where are you going, Sally Ann? (3 times)
I'm going to the wedding, Sally Ann.
O, shake that little foot, Sally Ann, (3 times)
You're a pretty good dancer, Sally Ann.

No data on source or date, but reference is made to SharpK 11 351 No. 240 (jig) and to JAFL 28, 183 and JAFL 41 no. 8 and 59 p. 462.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 28 Jan 03 - 02:24 PM

The fiddle tune, Sally Ann, fiddle Henry Reed, guitar Gene Reed, may be heard in American Memory (item 2 under Sally Ann). Henry Reed Collection (other tunes played by him in the collection).

A song (sheet music) by Dave Reed Jr, Sally Ann, 1905, in American Memory, seems to have no clear relationship to the fiddle-dance tune.

Daniel D. Emmett wrote a song called "Jack on the Green," 1863, which has a character Sally Ann. Item 4 under Sally Ann in American Memory. Plantation Song for Bryant's Minstrels.
The chorus:

Be ready, cut an' dry, De Moon am gettin' high,
Sally ann, scratch your track in de grabble an' be off 'fore de broke o' day;
You kiss her shiney face, Den sugar loss its tase,
Her eyes shine like a long taller candle for to gib us a light on the way.
"Jack on the Green" was written during the war, and has the couplets:

Old Jack was ten feet high, an' forty feet aroun',
He hab to look down twice before he seen de groun'.
-------------------------
Dar's Uncle Sam dey say, hab spoken to his dad,
To buy Jack's cow hyde boots, to make an iron clad.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann
From: GUEST,fretless
Date: 29 Jan 03 - 09:11 AM

I recall that back in the mid '60s there was a seemingly endless series of letters in Sing Out! about the propriety of their publishing the meatskin/wooden leg verse cited above by Barry and Art. Not appropriate for a family magazine, some thought.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann
From: GUEST
Date: 03 Feb 03 - 04:33 PM

Yep. She be the one. You did good. Do you have the rest of the lyrics and perhaps a recorded source? Thanks. Dick Guggenheim ([e-mail])

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann
From:
Date: 15 Mar 05 - 06:29 PM

I too am looking for Sally Ann who married Jonny Dear.

Subject: Lyr Add: BALLAD OF SALLY ANNE
From:
Date: 15 Mar 05 - 08:56 PM

SALLY ANNE
Traditional
With love in his heart and flowers in his hand,
Johnny proposed to Sally Anne.
And Sally shivered as she said,
I'll love you till the day I'm dead.

Johnny got married in his one good suit,
But the ride from the church bore strange fruit.
Down by the road, you can hear her cry.
That they hung from a tree, she watched him die.

(Chorus)

Who's gonna dance with Sally Anne?
Who's gonna touch her tremblin' hand?
When the fiddler takes the stand,
Who's gonna dance with Sally Anne?

Sally attends every wedding 'round here,
Looking for her Johnny dear.
You can feel them in the room,
If the fiddler plays that tune.

Chorus

Sail away ladies, sail away.
Sail away ladies, sail away.
Doc and Cellos cross the floor.
Ghostly love, a dance once more.
When the wedding bells ring in that town,
A ghostly virgin strolls the ground.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann
From:
Date: 15 Mar 05 - 08:59 PM

It seems like there is part of it missing but that's all I can find.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann
From:
Date: 11 Apr 05 - 10:40 AM

im trying to find a song that has something to do with a telephone call and the man on the other end is the girls father i think her name is claire or something im finding it very difficult to find it though can you help?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann
From: Snuffy
Date: 11 Apr 05 - 07:07 PM

Long distance information get me Memphis Tennessee ...

that was Marie, not Claire, but she was only 6 years old and it was her dad calling back

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann
From: GUEST,Mike
Date: 17 Feb 06 - 09:56 AM

I´m searching for the Artist from a not so old version of Sally Ann between1980 and 1985.Can someone help me?Thanks

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann
From: GUEST,Pete Peterson
Date: 17 Feb 06 - 01:33 PM

The version of "Sally Ann" that I am most familiar with is the fiddle tune with a few words chanted every now and then. Probably the best known recording is the one by Tommy Jarrell, but everybody who lives within 50 miles of Mt. Airy NC (or goes to the Mt Airy fiddlers convention) knows the tune. Nancy and Bill Sluys (of the Pilot Mtn. Bobcats) refer to it as the "Surry County National Anthem." Mike-- is this the version you're looking for?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Dec 06 - 02:18 PM

yall are the coolest ever- this whole page was about 'sally ann'- thats me! true southerner, double first name w/ no middle name...crazy huh

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Mar 07 - 12:18 PM

The phrase "strange fruit" refers to a lynching. Billie Holiday had a song entitled "strange fruit" and it was about the lynching of innocent black men in the 1920s.

I interpretted this song as Sally and Johnny are a mixed marriage and the local vigilantes "rescued" her from a fate worse than death. And this is why we wonder "who's going to dance with Sally Ann?" when she would have married an African-American.

Mark O'Connor has a nice version of this on his Nashville Cats album from about 1985.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 23 Mar 07 - 11:58 PM

The song whose lyrics Margo posted above is actually titled THE BALLAD OF SALLY ANNE. The tune seems to be based on the traditional tune SALLY ANN, but the lyrics are relatively new; they were written by Alice Randall and first recorded by Mark O'Connor on his 1990 album "The New Nashville Cats." According to ASCAP, O'Connor and Harry Stinson are given credit as co-writers with Randall—possibly for their "arrangement" of the traditional tune.

When Mark Johnson (with his band Clawgrass) recorded the same song on his album "Bridging the Gap" in 1997, he unfortunately called it SALLY ANN.

By the way, the second copy of the lyrics posted by "GUEST,[e-mail]" corrects one error—replacing "Sally tends to wait around here" with "Sally attends every wedding 'round here"—but then commits a new one, by replacing "Darkened shadows cross the floor" with "Doc and Cellos cross the floor"!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann
From: GUEST,English Rose
Date: 19 Aug 07 - 09:20 AM

The Muldoon Brothers do a brilliant version of The ballad of sally Anne

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann
From: GUEST,Reggie Legend
Date: 05 Dec 07 - 10:46 PM

I have been looking for years for a copy or lyrics to a song called Sallyanne as well. None of the ones talked about here is the one I'm searching for however. I believe from memory the song goes " Sallyanne you're such a pretty baby,Sallyanne you're such a pretty child,You create a little bit of sunshine everytime you smile,Sallyanne smile"
I think it also could have been recorded by the Cufflinks(circa 1969)
If anybody could help me here it would be greatly appreciated.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann
From: GUEST,Ally in Bookham, England
Date: 20 Jul 08 - 04:14 PM

Regardless of the variations on the lyrics 'The ballad of Sally Anne' is nothing without a good fiddle player and the don't come much better than Linda who plays with 'The Country Sisters'.

Check it out and I guarantee your toes will be tapping.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peR0LsjWrRc

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann
From: GUEST,Geetarwannabe
Date: 26 Jul 08 - 03:14 PM

Fetching young lasses on YouTube, sound nice, look great, butchered the song. Ah, show biz.

Subject: Lyr Add: SALLY ANN
From: Suffet
Date: 26 Jul 08 - 03:45 PM

Greetings:

Here's the way I recorded it for my Now the Wheel Has Turned CD:

SALLY ANN
Traditional
Adapted & arranged by Steve Suffet © 2005

Ever see muskrat, Sally Ann,
Draggin' his slick tail through the sand,
Pickin' a banjo, kickin' up sand?
I'm gonna marry you, Sally Ann.

I'm gonna marry you, Sal gal,
I'm gonna marry you, Sally Ann.
I'm gonna marry you, Sal gal,
I'm gonna marry you, Sally Ann.

I'll make my livin' in sandy land,
Make my livin' in sandy land,
Make my livin' in sandy land,
I'm gonna marry you, Sally Ann.

I'm gonna marry you, Sal gal,
I'm gonna marry you, Sally Ann.
I'm gonna marry you, Sal gal,
I'm gonna marry you, Sally Ann.

I'll raise ten children, Sally Ann,
Raise ten children, Sally Ann,
Raise ten children, Sally Ann,
Show the world I'm a natural man.

I'm gonna marry you, Sal gal,
I'm gonna marry you, Sally Ann.
I'm gonna marry you, Sal gal,
I'm gonna marry you, Sally Ann.

So ever see muskrat, Sally Ann,
Draggin' his slick tail through the sand,
Pickin' a banjo, kickin' up sand?
I'm gonna marry you, Sally Ann.

I'm gonna marry you, Sal gal,
I'm gonna marry you, Sally Ann.
I'm gonna marry you, Sal gal,
I'm gonna marry you, Sally Ann.

You can listen to this recording or download it for free from the SoundClick website. Just click here and Sally Ann will be one of the songs in the middle of the page. Jessica Feinbloom and Gina Tlamsa provide the additional vocals on the choruses.

NB: The copyright notice is something my lawyer advised me to do whenever I "publish" my version of a traditional folk song, including on Mudcat. Yes, I filed the paperwork and CD with the US Copyright Office and paid the required fee.

--- Steve

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann
From: GUEST,MissNicolette
Date: 13 Oct 08 - 11:24 AM

"the ride from church bore strange fruit" refers to a lynching - the Billy Holiday song "Strange Fruit" is about the violence experienced by African Americans in the U.S.

I believe that Johnny is a black man and was lynched on the way home from the wedding. Sally Ann is white, a widowed virgin, but still nobody wants her or, perhaps, she is perpetually mourning Johnny Dear. So, who will dance with Sally Ann? Nobody.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 13 Oct 08 - 09:12 PM

That 'strange fruit' verse by Mark Johnson (Posted far above) doesn't fit "Sally Ann." His song needs a new title.

The verse has nothing to do with the old folk and fiddle song Sally Ann(e) (Lomax, FSNA; Sharp/Karpeles; Fiddlin' Johnny Carson, etc.).
See Bluegrass Messenger, Sally Ann- version 1 Sharp, 1918 (and notes for vers. 2, 3. 4):
Sally Ann 1

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 13 Oct 08 - 09:19 PM

My link may be old-
Try this one, then go to 3) Fiddle tunes ....
bluegrass lyrics

Subject: Lyr Add: BALLAD OF SALLY ANNE
From: GUEST,Billy B
Date: 26 Oct 08 - 02:37 PM

With love in his heart and flowers in his hand,
Johnny proposed to Sally Ann.
Sally shivered when she said,
"I'll love you 'til the day I'm dead."

CHORUS: Who's gonna dance with Sally Ann?
Who's gonna hold her trembling hand?
When the fiddler takes the stand,
Who's gonna dance with Sally Ann?

Johnny got married in his one good suit,
But the ride from town bore bitter fruit.
Down by the road you could hear her cry.
As he hung from a tree, she watched him die. CHORUS

Darkened shadows cross the floor
As ghostly lovers dance once more.
You can feel them in the room
When the fiddler plays that tune. CHORUS

Sally attends every wedding round here,
Lookin' for her Johnny dear.
When wedding bells ring in the town,
A ghostly virgin strolls the grounds. CHORUS

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann
From: GUEST,pj
Date: 02 Dec 08 - 08:47 PM

The song "sally ann" is whats called a "calling" song--
Sally ann's husband was hung on a tree on their wedding day.
She mourns for him still. She went a little crazy still looking for him, but she promised to love him till the day she died-And she meant it/(not like this throw-away world/people nowadays)i guess that drove her crazy?
They are saying in the song, that if you listen to the fiddlers tune if he "calls" it right, the spirits of sally ann & her hubby will be there dancing & you can feel them/there's something magic about about a happy wedding & then tragedy the same day/don't know what it is? A "caller" doesn't have to be able to sing/he just "calls" out the words to the song!!
(he also "calls" the spirits to dance/and not the drinking kind)
To tell you about "calling" here in appalachians would take another paragraph.....

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann / Ballad of Sally Anne
From: GUEST,Barkley
Date: 21 Oct 09 - 04:33 PM

I remember Little Sally Ann from grammer school. I was looking for Go in and out the windows. Can't remember the verse or what the ending was. Was it a chasing game like 'a tisket, a tasket'?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann / Ballad of Sally Anne
From: GUEST,Alex
Date: 12 Jan 11 - 11:56 AM

THanks for the memories Mark, I'm 59 and they all bring back a moment from the past.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann / Ballad of Sally Anne
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Jan 14 - 10:12 AM

Re: The Mark Johnson/Marc O'Connor version needing a new title, it has one. It is called the Ballad of Sally Anne where the older song with the "muskrat" lyrics is just called Sally Ann. As Info, you cannot copyright a Title but you can copyright lyrics and melody which is probably why the new lyrics were written to the Ballad version and the melody changed a little.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann / Ballad of Sally Anne
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Mar 14 - 05:51 PM

"Sally attends every wedding 'round here"

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann / Ballad of Sally Anne
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Mar 16 - 02:26 PM

For several generations in my family, we've bounced babies on our knees and sung: Dinah had a bacon rind laid away, to grease up her wooden leg so they say.

Have always searched for the origin.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann / Ballad of Sally Anne
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Dec 16 - 06:01 AM

This is the version I'm looking for, could you please let me know where I could find the album

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Sally Ann / Ballad of Sally Anne
From: GUEST,Judd Peterson
Date: 31 Mar 24 - 01:53 AM

From the many varied scraps of historical references I have come across about “Sally Ann”, I believe it is considered truly an old traditional folk song from many, many years ago, probably initially about a tragic love between a woman pacing the widow’s roost on shore in port and her missing lover, awaited, but likely never coming back from the sea because of a sinking of his ship. Over the years, the lyrics appear to have been updated to apply to more current, tragic love circumstances. For example, after the Civil War, the tune referred to a woman longing for her lover fighting and perhaps lost in that war. The more recent version of the lyrics refer to the tragic lynching of Johnny after his wedding to Sally Ann and does reference Billy Holliday’s 1931 lyric about “strange fruit” (the unfortunately all too common, innocent, Black man lynched from a tree). Those more current lyrics were written by Alice Randall in 1991 and the song was then recorded by Mark O’Connor and the New Nashville Cats.