When I was growing up we didn't have a radio or a record player so I don't know where my parents learned the songs they sang!

The earliest memory I have of songs in English is of my father singing

"Bye, baby, bye oh
Why do you cry so
Bye, baby, bye oh
Goodbye, my lover, goodbye

I came to the river and I couldn't get across
Goodbye, my lover, goodbye
i crossed that river on a swayback hoss
Goodbye, my lover, goodbye..."

I'm not sure that refrain goes with that song but that is what my memory hears!