Origins: If the Wind Had Only Blown the Other Way

Subject: RE: Origins: If the Wind Had Only Blown the Other Way
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 11 Nov 15 - 03:35 PM

I note the sequence of wedding ring and twins was the other way round in the earlier version. Perhaps it might have been sung either way, according to the make-up of the audience...

Subject: Lyr Add: IF THE WIND HAD ONLY BLOWN THE OTHER WAY
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 11 Nov 15 - 12:00 AM

IF THE WIND HAD ONLY BLOWN THE OTHER WAY.
Words by Edna Williams and Bessie Wynn; music by Edna Williams. ©1909.
As recorded by Grace Cameron, 1909.

I am a most unhappy soul
Since I have lost my heart's control
To dashing mashing mister Alex King.
Why I was just about eighteen
When twins appeared upon the scene.
'Twas but a year I'd worn my wedding ring.
I met him in the month of June.
'Twas on a windy afternoon.
He was a swell to judge him by his clothes,
And I had on a princess gown,
A dream that had been handed down,
But what attracted him the most was my silk hose.

If the wind had only blown the other way,
I might have been a single girl today,
And I plumb forgot that marriage
Would include a baby carriage.
If the wind had only blown the other way!

He claims that I encouraged him,
But that excuse is very slim.
I really never knew he followed me.
You know how strange a woman feels
With someone always at her heels,
And I was just as scared as I could be.
I might have had my skirts all pinned,
But how was I to stop the wind?
You know quite well how skirts will oft times fly.
Last night I asked him: "Tell me, pray,
Why did you wink at me that day?"
He said he didn't wink; 'twas dust got in his eye.

If the wind had only blown the other way,
I might have been a single girl today.
I'd not be pushing paregoric
In two twins who've got the colic,
If the wind had only blown the other way.

One afternoon along Broadway,
A former sweetheart dashing gay,
He said: "How swell you look, my pretty sweet!"
Just then the wind blew with a whiz.
My hat and braids flew in his phiz,
And all my curls went flying down the street.
"Oh, rats!" he cried and madly sped
To cap those relics off my head.
The while the wind was whistling more and more.
And, oh, dear me! must I confess:
My shape quite suddenly grew less.
I'd lost enough of things to start a bargain store.

If the wind had only blown the other way,
I might have been a single girl today.
I'd be taking ocean diplets,
'Stead of nursing twins and triplets,
If the wind had only blown the other way.

Subject: RE: Origins: If the Wind Had Only Blown the Other Way
From: Goose Gander
Date: 12 Mar 07 - 11:42 PM

I should have noted that Folksongs and Ballads Vol. 4 on Augusta is a compilation of West Virginia traditional singers. Here's the biographical information for Knicely:

"Jim Knicely (1903 to 1991)was born and raised around Trout, in Greenbriar County. Jim's songs came from relatives and 'woodhicks' from his days spent working in the lumber camps. Jim quit the logging camps in 1928 and went to work in the mines until the mid-Sixties when he retired to a life on his Friar's Hill farm. His wife, Dena, can be heard playing the dulcimer on AHR 011. Recorded June '90 and Feb. '91."

Subject: RE: Origins: If the Wind Had Only Blown the Other Way
From: Charley Noble
Date: 12 Mar 07 - 06:50 AM

Clearly a precursor to "The Answer Is Blowing in the Wind."

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Origins: If the Wind Had Only Blown the Other Way
From: The Walrus
Date: 12 Mar 07 - 04:15 AM

My late Mother (Born London, 1915) would occasionally sing the chorus from this song, but her version was slightly different:

If the wind had only blown the other way
I might have been a different girl today
Instead of pushing perambulators*,
I'd be riding in my carriage
If the wind had only blown the other way.

W


* Pronounced 'prambulaters'

Subject: Lyr Add: IF THE WIND HAD ONLY BLOWN THE OTHER WAY
From: Goose Gander
Date: 11 Mar 07 - 03:10 PM

IF THE WIND HAD ONLY BLOWN THE OTHER WAY

I've been a most distressed soul since I lost my heart's control
Flashing, dashing Alexander King
I was just about eighteen when twins appeared upon the scene
Just a year before I wore my wedding ring

If the wind had only blown the other way
I might have been a single girl today
Would not been rushing paregoric into twins who have the colic
If the wind had only blown the other way

He said I encourage him though his chance was very slim
I never knew he followed me
Do you how a women feels when someone's always at her heels?
I was just as scared as I could be

If the wind had only blown the other way, etc.

I met him one day in June on a windy afternoon
If I must be judged by my clothes
I had on a princess gown like a dream been handed down
What attracted him the most was my silk hose

If the wind had only blown the other way, etc.

Source:
Folksongs & Ballads, Vol. 4, Augusta Heritage Recordings (AHR010), 1992, cassette.

Transcribed from the singing of Jim Knicely . . .
"In 1912 I was in Richwood, and I went with father and his brother - Uncle Ward and Ashley - to a theater, and this old girl sang that on the stage there."

'If the Wind had Only Blown the Other Way' Sung by Grace Cameron. 204: Edison Amberol (1909)
From the Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project

Sheet music by Edna Williams and Bessie Wynn; published by JOS W. STERN CO (1909).
Reprint: If the wind had only blown the other way. New York : Jerry Vogel Music, c1937

Song title is listed in Tent Shows Records 1902-1953 and undated, donated by Texas Tech theatre professor Clifford Ashby
An Inventory of the Records, 1902-1953 and undated, at the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library

Also sung by Maidie Scott, a Music Hall performer.