Goodnight Ladies

DESCRIPTION: "Goodnight ladies (x3), We're going to leave you now." "Merrily we roll along, Roll along, roll along, Merrily we roll along Over the deep blue sea." "Farewell ladies, (x3), We're going to leave you now." "Sweet dreams, ladies, We're going to leave...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1847 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: nonballad farewell
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (11 citations):
Hugill-ShantiesFromTheSevenSeas, pp. 179-180, "Goodnight, Ladies" (1 text, 1 tune)
Heart-Songs, p. 145, "Good-night" (1 text, 1 tune)
Jolly-Miller-Songster-5thEd, #138, "Good-night, Ladies" (1 text)
Brumley-LamplitinTimeInTheValley 57, "Good-night Ladies" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber/Silber-FolksingersWordbook, p. 258, "Goodnight Ladies" (1 text)
Fuld-BookOfWorldFamousMusic, pp. 255-256, "Goodnight Ladies"
Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs, p. 313, "Good Night Ladies" (notes only)
Rodeheaver-SociabilitySongs, p. 36, "Good Night Ladies" (1 text, 1 tune)
National-4HClubSongBook, p. 24, "Good Night Ladies" (1 text, 1 tune)
BoyScoutSongbook1997, pp. 122-123, "Campfire Medley" (1 text, a combination of "Our Boys Will Shine Tonight," "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean," "Sailing, Sailing," and "Goodnight Ladies")
ADDITIONAL: Henry Randall Waite, _Carmina Collegensia: A Complete Collection of the Songs of the American Colleges_ first edition 1868, expanded edition, Oliver Ditson, 1876, p. 28, "Good Night" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Mary Had a Little Lamb" (partial tune)
SAME TUNE:
Good-by, Dinner ("Good-by, dinner; good-by, dinner; good-bye, dinner; We're going to eat you now") (Harbin-Parodology, #268, p. 66)
NOTES [87 words]: The notes in Fuld indicate a complex history for this song. "Farewell Ladies," containing the first verse of the piece, was printed in 1847 and credited to E. P. Christy. It seems likely enough that the Christy Minstrels used it to close programs.
The complete text, with the "Merrily We Roll Along verse" (which shares a melody with "Mary Had a Little Lamb") was published in 1867.
Fuld says that the melody is that of "I've Been Working on the Railroad," but if so, there has been a lot of embellishment along the way. 0 RBW
Last updated in version 6.3
File: FSWB258A

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography