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Around Her Neck She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
DESCRIPTION: The girl wears a yellow ribbon around her neck "For her lover who was far, far away." In May and December she scatters yellow flowers on a grave "for her soldier who was far, far away." (In other versions she may be pregnant and face abandonment)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE:
KEYWORDS: love separation death burial pregnancy abandonment
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Arnett, p. 149-150, "Around Her Neck She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" (1 text, 1 tune)
JHJohnson, p. 115, "Yaller Ribbon" (1 text)
Silber-FSWB, p. 145, "Round Her Neck She Wore A Yellow Ribbon" (1 text)
DT, (YLLORBBN)
Roud #10642, etc.
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "All Around My Hat"
SAME TUNE:
The Scarlet Bonnet (Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 159)
Notes: The versions of this song I know run the gamut. Arnett's is a lament for a lost soldier. In Johnson's text, she has had a child by the missing man. In the Digital Tradition version, the song is angry, and the child is clearly illegitimate, and her father is prepared to guard her with a shotgun. The latter version is considered by the DT editors to be an "All around My Hat" variant -- but it seems to be simply a stronger version of the Johnson text. - RBW
I think this one and "All Around My Hat" are, at the least, siblings, and more likely fraternal twins. - PJS
That they share genetic material is clear. But they have also evolved independently, and this one exists in far more diverse forms. - RBW
File: Arn149
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The version of She Wore A Yellow Ribbon in the Digital Tradition is just about like DADGBE remembers it in the All Around My Hat thread.. I remember a version that's more like this:
YELLOW RIBBON
Around her hair she wore a yellow ribbon
She wore it in the spring time, in the early month of May
And if you asked her why the heck she wore it
She'd say she wore it for her soldier who was far, far away
Far away
Far away
She wore it for her soldier who was far, far away
Around the block she pushed a baby carriage
She pushed it in the spring time, in the early month of May
And if you asked her why the heck she pushed it
She'd say she pushed it for her soldier who was far, far away
Far away
Far away
She pushed it for her soldier who was far, far away
Behind the door, her father kept a shotgun
She kept it in the spring time, in the early month of May
And if you asked her why the heck she kept it
She'd say she kept it for her soldier who was far, far away
Far away
Far away
She kept it for her soldier who was far, far away
Around his grave she laid the pretty flowers
She laid them in the spring time, in the early month of May
And if you asked her why the heck she laid them
She'd say she laid them for her soldier who was far, far away
Far away
Far away
She laid them for her soldier who was far, far away
The grave verse has a lot of power, but I didn't know about the shotgun verse. I don't think Mitch Miller sang that one...