Lyr Add: I Wish I Was a Single Girl (Proffitt)

Subject: Lyr Add: WISH I WERE SINGLE AGAIN
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 13 May 05 - 02:00 PM

Emrish, Duncan, American Folk Poetry - An Anthology, Little Brown 1974 p 183. "I Wish I Was Single" was collected by Anne and Frank Warner from the singing of Frank Proffit, Watauga County, North Carolina, 1939, From the Warner Collection with permission.

I WISH I WAS SINGLE

When I was single,
Marriage I did crave,
Now I am married
And it's trouble to my grave.
Lord, I wish I was a single girl
again.

Dishes to wash
And the spring to go to,
I've no one to help me,
Lord I have it all to do.
Lord, I wish I was a single girl again.

When I was single
I had plenty to eat,
Now I am married
It's old turnips without the meat.
Lord, I wish I was a single girl
again.

When I was single
I went dressed so fine,
Now I am married
I wear rags all the time.
Lord, I wish I was a single girl
again.

Three little children
A-lyin' in the bed,
All of them so hungry
They can't raise up their head.
Lord, I wish I was a single girl
again

I took in some washing
Made a dollar or two,
My husband went and stole it
Now I don't know what to do.
Lord, I wish I was a single girl
again.



Sincerely,

Gargoyle

---

Click to play

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: WISH I WERE SINGLE AGAIN
From: Goose Gander
Date: 13 May 05 - 02:49 PM

There are five different versions in the Max Hunter collection, all from Missouri or Arkansas.

htttp://www.smsu.edu/folksong/maxhunter/

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: WISH I WERE SINGLE AGAIN
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 13 May 05 - 05:12 PM

Four from the woman's point of view in Max Hunter (Drunken Men," "The Marriage Song" and two with "Single Girl"), but only one is similar to that posted by Gargoyle- sung by Ollie Gilbert and titled "I Wish I Was Single Again," Cat. #0806.
I Wish

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: WISH I WERE SINGLE AGAIN
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 13 May 05 - 06:22 PM

The idea of a single girl going anywhere she pleases (Carter song) is not part of the song in Emrich quoted by Gargoyle or the one I cited in Max Hunter, where the hard-treated girl wishes she were single again. Different ideas- different origins?

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: WISH I WERE SINGLE AGAIN
From: Inukshuk
Date: 13 May 05 - 06:41 PM

Mom Fonville in our band does this song. Always a favourite. Never knew that it had such a long and illustrious history. Are there any remnants of this song in Britain?

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: WISH I WERE SINGLE AGAIN
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 13 May 05 - 11:12 PM

I do not believe that the current CLICK TO PLAY is the correct tune for this lyrical posting.

Sincerely,

Gargoyle

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: WISH I WERE SINGLE AGAIN
From: Abby Sale
Date: 14 May 05 - 09:33 AM

I wondered about the tune - it is certainly the one I know and like for the song but doesn't seem to quite scan for this version.

Re When I was single, Oh then, Oh then, this is often called "I Wish I Were Single (the Man's Song)" in books and frrequently printed juxtaposed to the Woman's song. I've heard that the singing of the one (by its "natural" sex) mandated the singing of the other by the next singer of the second ones "natural" sex in the group.

Seems only fair. But I've never heard that the songs are in any way related as to origin.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: WISH I WERE SINGLE AGAIN
From: GUEST,Joe Offer
Date: 14 May 05 - 02:18 PM

The tune for the Proffitt song is interesting, isn't it? The Emrich book dates the Proffitt recording at 1939, and the Warner book gives the date as 1941 - so it may not be the same recording, but the words are identical in the two books. I transcribed the MIDI from the Warner book. I swear I've heard the tune with different lyrics. The Warner book refers to a Folk-Legacy recording, FSA-36. This is the Frank Proffitt Memorial Album, and it has a recording of "Single Girl" on it. I haven't heard this recording yet, but it's available on CD from Folk-Legacy Records.

Folk-Legacy has at least a couple Frank Proffitt recordings. Appleseed recently came out with Volume II of their Warner Collection, Nothing Seems Better to Me: The Music of Frank Proffitt and North Carolina. In my humble but biased opinion, the Folk-Legacy recordings are better. The Warner recordings were "collector" recordings, made to get the song down for transcription. Sandy Paton's Folk-Legacy recordings are much more enjoyable, since Sandy recorded the songs so that people could actually listen to them.

Frank Proffitt is not your ordinary folksinger. Many of his songs are quite different from the "standard" versions.

-Joe Offer-

Subject: Lyr Add: I WISH I WAS SINGLE AGAIN
From: GUEST,AR
Date: 20 Jun 06 - 11:20 PM

I Wish I Was Single Again

When I was single, Oh then, Oh then,
When I was single, Oh then,
When I was single,
My money did jingle,
I wish I was single again, again.
Wish I was single again.

When I was single, Oh then, Oh then,
When I was single, Oh then,
Restrict the action
To one girls attraction,
O, I wish I was single again, again,
Wish I was single again.

When I was single, Oh then, Oh then,
When I was single, Oh then,
I'll bet a dollar,
She'll scold me and holler,
O, I wish I was single again, again,
Wish I was single again.

I took me a wife, Oh then, Oh then,
I took me a wife, Oh then,
I took me a wife,
She's the plague of my life,
And I wished I was single again, again,
Wished I was single again.

My wife she died, Oh then, Oh then,
My wife she died, Oh then,
My wife she died,
I laughed and I cried,
To think I was single again, again,
O, I was single again.

I married another, Oh then, Oh then,
I married another, Oh then,
I married another,
Twas the devil's grandmother,
I wished I was single again, again,
Wished I was single again.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: I Wish I Was a Single Girl (Proffitt)
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Apr 10 - 12:24 PM

Thank you so much for the contributions from this lovely old folk song. From the time I was a very little girl (born in 1941) I heard my mom singing this song. We always sang it together and had a laugh. (I had a very precious father who laughed with us). From the way I remember it, she started it with the chorus and repeated the chorus after every verse...

Lord I wish I was a single girl again (chorus)

When I was a single girl,
I made a dollar or two.
Now that I am married, Lord,
I don't know what I'll do.

(chorus) Lord I wish I was a single girl again

The dishes to wash and
the springs to go to.
I got no one to help
so I got it all to do.

Lord I wish I was a single girl again

The other verses I remember as much the same as the ones others have contributed, but my mom always repeated the chorus between each verse/

Than you so much...