The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #13314 Message #1034804
Posted By: Q (Frank Staplin)
13-Oct-03 - 03:26 PM
Thread Name: Origins: There Is a Tavern in the Town
Subject: Lyr Add: RADOO
There is an interesting 19th c. version in the Bodleian Ballads.
^^
Lyr. Add: RADOO (or ADIEU)
Radoo, radoo, kind friends, radoo, radoo, radoo,
And if I never more see you, you, you,
I'll hang my harp on a weeping willow tree,
And may this world go well with you, you, you.
Shall I be bound, shall I be free, free, free,
And many is de girl dat don't love me, me, me,
Or shall I act a foolish part,
And die for the girl that broke my heart, heart, heart.
Give me a chair and I'll sit down, down, down,
Give me a pen and I'll write it down, down, down,
And every word that I shall write
A tear will trickle from my eye, eye, eye.
Between 1877-1884, R. March and Co., London (copied from Francis Brothers and Day, London). Bodleian Ballads, Firth b28(7a/b), image 3. Search for Radoo in: Bodleian
Use of de and dat in verse two suggests a blackface minstrel origin.