THE GREEN LAURELS

I oftentimes have wondered how women loved men,
But I ofttimes have wondered how men could love them;
They will love you a little and give your heart ease,
And when your back's on them, they'll love who they please.

Chorus:
Then green grows the laurel and so does the rue;
How sad's been the day I parted from you!
But at our next meeting our love we'll renew;
We'll change the green laurel for the origin blue.

Some will love a short love, and others love long,
Some will love a weak love and others love strong;
Some will love a short love and others love long,
And some will love an old love till the new love comes in.

I wrote my love a letter all bounded in pain;
She wrote me another all bounded the same:
Say, "You may keep your promise and I will keep mine;
We'll change the green laurel for the origin blue."

On the top of yon mountain, where the green grass does grow,
Way down in you valley, where the still waters flow,
I saw my old true love, and she had proved true;
We changed the green laurel for the origin blue.

"origin blue" a mistake for "orange and blue."
Miss Ila Hall, 1917, Virginia. In Cox, John H., Folk Songs of the South, p. 417-418.