The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #11337 Message #3315421
Posted By: Joe Offer
01-Mar-12 - 01:59 AM
Thread Name: Origins: songs about girl w/ promiscuous father
Subject: ADD: All the Lads in Town (songwriter?)
I cam across yet another version of this story. I found it on an album titled Here's to the Men by the Merry Maids of Windsor, and then I found the lyrics at one of "those" Websites, http://lyrics.wikia.com/The_Merry_Wives_Of_Windsor:All_The_Lads_In_Town I've corrected the lyrics as I hear them on the recording. I don't know the name of the songwriter.
ALL THE LADS IN TOWN (songwriter?)
Johnny is a handsome lad And asked me for to wed. And I would marry Johnny But me father up and said, "I am sorry to tell you, daughter, What your mother never knew, But Johnny is a son of mine And so is kin to you."
The boy that I will marry will be handsome, strong, and tall, And he will sing my praises and be at my beck and call. The boy that I will marry will keep me satiated, And every night in bed I'll pray that we are not related.
William is a handsome lad And so is Pat O'Brian. So too is Mickey Grady And his younger brother Ryan. But father was a busy man. His seed so far did spread. He told me they're my brothers all. So safe my maidenhead.
The boy that I will marry will be handsome, strong, and tall, And he will sing my praises and be at my beck and call. The boy that I will marry will keep me satiated, And every night in bed I'll pray that we are not related.
Ye never saw a lass so sad And sorry as I was. The lads in town were all my kin And me father was the cause. If I should die a single maid For that adulterer's sport, I think I'll go to mother for His wanderings to report.
"Now, daughter, didn't I teach you To forgive and to forget? Himself he sowed his wild oats, But that you needn't fret. Your father may be father To all the lads but still, He's not the one that sired you So marry who you will."
The boy that I will marry will be handsome, strong, and tall, And he will sing my praises and be at my beck and call. And since my mother twiddled with a sailor come from sea, I'll find myself a handsome lad who'll not be kin to me.
The boy that I will marry will be handsome, strong, and tall, And he will sing my praises and be at my beck and call. The boy that I will marry will keep me satiated, And every night in bed I'll pray that we are not related.