When I Was a Young Man (I)

DESCRIPTION: The singer proposes to his long-time sweetheart but she rejects him as an idler. "In the spring had you cropped my wing" he would have won her. He says he'll "sail the ocean o'er, For the loss of one is a gain of two And a choice of twenty more"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1932 (Creighton-NovaScotia)
KEYWORDS: courting rejection farewell
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Creighton-SongsAndBalladsFromNovaScotia 50, "When I Was a Young Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
ST CrNS050 (Partial)
Roud #1797
NOTES [30 words]: This is one of those songs that sounds like you've heard it before; the plot is common and the images commonplace. But neither Creighton nor Roud nor I can recall another version. - RBW
File: CrNS050

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