One More Kiss Before I Go

DESCRIPTION: "Such a happy girl am I, And I'll tell you the reason why": She has a love who is always courting her and asking for "One more kiss before I go." They will marry soon. She tells boys that girls expect "a loving kiss And a word or two like this..."
AUTHOR: R. E. Bays (source: Bays-Richmond [broadside, LOCSheet sm1871 10419])
EARLIEST DATE: 1871 (Bays-Richmond)
KEYWORDS: love courting marriage
FOUND IN: US(Ap,So,SE)
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Henry-SongsSungInTheSouthernAppalachians, pp. 168-169, "One More Kiss Before I Go" (1 text)
Owens-TexasFolkSongs-1ed, pp. 164-165, "Bye Bye My Darling" (1 text, 1 tune)
Browne-AlabamaFolkLyric 15, "The Merry Girl" (3 texts; the first text is from _Robert Jones Songster_ (New York,18__); the second is a fragment of the Norwood text from _Birch & Backus Songs of the San Francisco Minstrels_ (New York, 187?)); the third is #15A colected by Browne in Alabama, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Beard-Lunsford, pp. 617-618, "Goodbye Darling I Must Leave You" (1 text)
Crabtree, pp. 285-286, "Such a Happy Little Girl Am I" (1 text)
Norwood, p. 35, "Good-bye, Darling, I Must Leave You" ("Oh I love a charming girl") (1 text)
Wiseman, pp.14-15,"Good Nite Darling" ("Sich a happy girl am I") (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #6375
RECORDINGS:
John D. Foster, "Goodbye My Darlin'" (Gennett 753-A, 1927; on "Gennett Old-Time Music Classic Country Records 1927-1934," JSP Records JSP 77130 CD (2010))
Clarence Greene, "Goodnight Darling" (Victor V40141, 1927; on "Birth of Country Music," Vintage Masters MP3 (2012))
Lewis McDaniels & Walter Smith, "One More Kiss Before I Go" (Aurora 36-108, 1930; on "Walter Smith and Friends Vol.2 (March 1930-February 1931)," Document Records DOCD-8063 CD (2002) as Lewis McDaniel & Gid Smith)
Da Costa Woltz's Southern Broadcasters, "Merry Girl" (Gennett 6143, 1927; on "Da Costa Woltz's Southern Broadcasters," Document Records DOCD-8023 CD (1998))
BROADSIDES:
LOCSheet, sm1871 10419, "Good-night Darling" ("Such a happy girl am I"), G.D. Russell & Co (Boston), 1871 (1 text, 1 tune)
NOTES [4635 words]: He has teeth as white as pearls
And such darling little curls
Should we consider a song with those lines to be -- using Browne's term -- a "genuine folk song"?
Owens writes about his experiences in the early 1930s:
"I tried to interest the boys and girls I worked with in my songs, but they had never heard of them and did not like what they heard from me. They were busy singing 'Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Sheean' and 'Yes, We Have No Bananas,' which were popular in the vaudeville shows at the Majestic Theater and on phonograph records" [fn.1].
A little more than thirty years before "Yes, We Have No Bananas" was first sung on a New York vaudeville stage "Good-night Darling" was being sung on an early New York burlesque stage.
Owens included "Good-night Darling" as "Bye, Bye, My Darling" in the first edition, only, of Texas Folk Songs [fn.2].
Browne, who also included the song, as "The Merry Girl," writes in his Introduction:
"[Pound and Barry] would accept as genuine folk song one which, regardless of origin, had (1) undergone certain textual and musical changes and had (2) become so much a part of folk culture that the members felt free to sing it as they had learned it without any self-conscious concern for its origin or its 'correct' version" [fn.3].
"Good-Night Darling" or "Bye, Bye, My Darling" or "The Merry Girl" meets that standard. The song text and tune are always recognizably some recasting of the writer-composer's original, but both words and tune change in every version.
This is what I know of the song's history.
In 1871 a songsheet of "Good-night Darling," written and composed by R. E. Bays, as sung by Adah Richmond, was printed in Boston [fn.4]. Richmond played in Boston and, in the same year, brought her early burlesque troupe to New York City [fn.5]. She was on the New York stage in the early seventies -- the period that concerns us -- and later [fn.6].
Almost the same version, again attributed to R. E. Bays, and sung by Alice Dunning Lingard, was printed in "The Faded Coat of Blue Songster" in 1873 [fn.7]. Alice Dunning Lingard was an English actress and singer who toured with the Lingard family troupe and was also on the New York stage in the early seventies and afterwards [fn.8].
In 1875 "Good-Bye, Darling, I Must Leave You," as "sung with great success by the late Eddie Norwood," was printed in the "There's Millions In It Songster" [fn.9]. Norwood's version is also printed in 1873 in "Jennie Engel's Bouquet of Melodies Songster" [fn.10]. It was printed, also "as sung" by Eddie Norwood, in Frank Dumont's "Birch and Backus' Songs of the 'San Franciso Minstrels' Including All the Continuously Popular Pieces That Have Been Received With Boundless Applause From Maine to California, When Sung By This Great Troupe" [fn.11]. If Norwood were a member of the San Francisco Minstrels, a very popular troupe on the New York Stage from 1865-1883 [fn.12], it should have given his version a great boost. I find nothing showing that Norwood ever performed with the San Francisco Minstrels [fn.13]. The Norwood version entirely replaces every verse of the Bays song so that the singer tells about his 'girl Liz'; it only keeps the Bays chorus. None of the other versions show any influence of the Norwood version.
Bays's song was well enough known to earn a black-face adaptation in "Goodbye Darling," printed in the "The Robert Jones Songster." The lover's name is changed from "Harry Mortimer de Vere" to "Lilly Dusky Moore," a play on "lily"/"little" "dusky moor"[fn.14]. The words are not in dialect but are less "artful" than Bays's: "I am engaged to such a dear" becomes "I'm engaged to something sweet"; "he comes nearly ev'ry day" becomes "and it seems as every day"; "Oh young ladies when you find A young lover true and kind" becomes "Ladies, if you want to find Some gents that's good and kind"; "'Tis so nice to have a beau" becomes "Ain't it nice to have a beau"; "He has teeth as white as pearls And such darling little curls" becomes "and his teeth are white like pearl And his darling little curl."
I don't know of any other texts from the nineteenth century.
The song appears to have been popular in some rural areas by the early nineteen hundreds. Bascom Lamar Lunsford (1882-1973) learned the chorus in 1904 and said it was a favorite with both boys and girls at outdoor gatherings [fn.15]. One of the two Alabama texts reported but not printed by Browne was learned about 1912 [fn.16] and the other was known by the contributor before 1903 [fn.17] [fn.18].
Owens (1905-1990) learned the song from his Oklahoma cousins [fn.19].
The spread of "Good-bye Darling" may illustrate points about distribution and change made by Cohen and Browne.
Cohen [fn.20] quotes an 1880 New York Herald article to illustrate the effect of troupe appearances on the popularity of "penny ballads" like "Good-night Darling" and -- with the history of "Grandfather's Clock" -- illustrates how a song no longer popular where printed can spread slowly throughout the rural areas where it has a chance to establish itself:
"This ['Scotch Lassie, Jean,' Roud #21539], like a majority of the songs that appear in the penny ballad series, owes its present favor to being sung by a prominent minstrel troupe. A majority of the purchasers of the ballads are working girls, boys and young men who hear the verses sung at a theatre or social gathering, where they catch the melody, and at the expense of a cent for the words, are enabled to try their own vocal powers.... Singularly enough the most popular song outside of New York at present [1880] is 'Whoa Emma,' of unpleasant memory. 'Grandfather's Clock' also, having run its course in the city, is only now ticking its way through the rural districts, and thousands of orders for it come in every week. Another odd thing about this popular song. It was brought from England and published by the publisher [Wehman] as a failure, when suddenly it made a hit, and some idea of its subsequent popularity may be formed from the fact that a single publisher of sheet music disposed of 50,000 copies in that form.... A new penny ballad is published every day, and the mails are busy distributing this remarkable literature throughout the country" [fn.21].
Aside from the Norwood version the "Good-night Darling" texts are interesting for how they have changed. Aside from verses forgotten or omitted the texts are surprisingly similar; even the versions that reverse the sex of the singer do not change the "sense" of the song: no floating or new verses have been added and the intent of almost all lines remains unchanged, but almost all lines have been changed in ways that do not affect the intent. Bays's song text remains recognizable, verse for verse, in every text except Norwood's, but the words of each line are fluid. Browne explains why he believes these published texts change.
"The fact that literary songs have an existence frozen in art form ... does not alter their status as genuine folk songs. Their inclusion in a songster or other popular song book, furthermore, would not act as a corrective or stabilizing force. On the contrary, the fact that they were included in these cheap books would probably be license enough for the folk to take liberties with them. Songsters were too ephemeral to be regarded as sacrosanct. They probably served rather to introduce songs into a community than to stabilize those which they brought in" [fn.22].
The fragile nature of songsters [fn.23] would underline their role as introducer of songs. Once introduced, a song's survival in any form is problematic.
Three of the four "country" recordings of the song were made in 1927 [fn.24]; the fourth was made in 1930 [fn.25]. They seem entirely independent of each other, differing in text, tune and presentation.
Lulu Belle Wiseman's adaptation [fn.26] was printed in 1937, but I can't find that the song was ever recorded by the Wisemans.
The text Browne printed as #15A he collected in 1953 from an Alabama singer; "she claims her mother wrote it" [fn.27].
The versions, excluding the Norwood version, all retain the "sense" and form of the song, but the details vary from version to version.
To find the "sense" of the song I paraphrase it, couplet by couplet, or--if that isn't fine enough--line by line. If we look at the "sense" of the texts, again excluding the Norwood version, from a distance by paraphrasing them they are remarkably similar. With the sole exception of Woltz -- which has a substitution -- the changes in "sense" from the Bays original are all losses of text.
[And scholarship has shown that, even in written transmission, loss of text is the single most common mistake. - RBW]
Here is the Bays-Richmond text paraphrase. There is a chorus and four verses.
[chorus] Good night; one more kiss; he'll return tomorrow or else he'll write.
[1] the singer is happy to be engaged; the lover comes every day; he whispers when he goes
[2] the lover has wonderful teeth and a darling curl; the singer tells the lover's name; when they are married she won't have to hear his words [the chorus]
[3] advice to ladies: when you find a lover who's true and kind it will make you happy to have a beau to pet and love you and kiss at the door.
[4] advice to gentlemen: when you must leave your sweetheart remember a kiss and say before you part [the chorus]
Here is a paraphrase of the Norwood text:
[chorus] Good night; one more kiss; he will return tomorrow or else he'll write.
[1] he loves a charming girl; he'll do nothing wrong; he brings her here every night to hear [the chorus]
[2] pretty Liz stole his heart; other chaps envy him that when they part he sings [the chorus]
[3] when he meets her he is sure to kiss her; such waist, cheeks and face: she's too good for this world.
[4] tonight he'll propose; he'll be happy when she agrees to wed and his cares will end.
[spoken] "Ah, my dear boys, I sha'n't have to say then" [the chorus]
The Bays-Richmond [1871] text is the earliest but also the "most complete" in the sense that none of the later texts--except Norwood--add verses.
Four of the other texts have the same paraphrased structure as Bays-Richmond: Lingard [1873], Henry [1930], Smith [1930] and Browne [1953].
At the paraphrase level, Woltz, Greene and Wiseman differ from Bayes-Richmond in what they lose from, or how they change, the "advice" verses [3] and [4].
Woltz, the closest to Bays-Richmond, retains [4] advice to gentlemen, but changes [3] advice to ladies
from
[3] when you find a lover who's true and kind it will make you happy to have a beau to pet and love you and kiss at the door.
to
[3] when you find a lover who's true and kind it will make you happy; every night he'll come and go; he'll give the word as he goes [the chorus]
Greene and Wiseman -- which are identical at the paraphrase level -- omit [4] advice to gentlemen, but take its ending to replace the ending for their [3] advice to ladies:
[3] advice to ladies: when you find a lover who's true and kind -- when you find one good and true -- remember a kiss and [he'll] say before you part [the chorus]
Crabtree, RobertJones and Foster are like Bays-Richmond in their treatment of [3] advice to ladies, but leave out other verses or parts of verses.
Crabtree drops [2] (describing the lover) altogether. Both RobertJones and Foster leave out [4] advice to gentlemen, and Foster truncates [2] the lover's description to
[2] the lover has wonderful teeth and a darling curl; the singer tells the lover's name.
Owens-TexasFolkSongs-1ed has only the chorus and parts of the first two verses, and [2] precedes [1]
[2] the lover has wonderful teeth and a darling curl; the singer tells the lover's name.
[1] the lover comes every day; he whispers when he goes
Beard-Lunsford is just the chorus, which is included for Norwood as well as the other texts.
Imagine a tree that shows how the texts are related at the paraphrase level, but has nothing to do with how the texts evolved:
Beard-Lunsford, which is just the chorus, is just above the root. The chorus is in every text, so all routes from the root to the branch ends pass through Beard-Lunsford.
From there
Owens-TexasFolkSongs-1ed branches one way;
Norwood branches another way.
The Owens-TexasFolkSongs-1ed branch itself splits:
through Foster, RobertJones and Crabtree;
through Greene/Wiseman, Woltz, and Bays-Richmond [and Lingard, Henry, Smith, and Browne, which have the same paraphrased structure as Bays-Richmond].
It is the Wiseman/Greene branch that reaches Bays-Richmond, the original text [fn.28].
The "paraphrase level" may seem too broad, grouping too many versions as "the same thing."
Comparing texts at the "detail level" may seem to be at the other extreme, separating versions on trivial grounds.
In comparing texts I ignore differences in spelling but not in how a line is phrased.
For example, the two versions that are based on Bays's sheet music are very close, but not identical.
The only difference that I found I disregarded as a "spelling difference":
Bays-Richmond: 'Tis the pleasure of my life
Lingard: It's the pleasure of my life
Two versions that are identical at the paraphrase level but differ at the detail level are Greene and Wiseman. They are close enough that Lulu Belle Wiseman's version may have been based on Greene's recording, though her tune is simpler.
[chorus]...; he'll write.
Greene: Just a word or two to let my darling know
Wiseman: A line or two to let my darling know
[2] the lover has wonderful teeth and a darling curl; the singer tells the lover's name; when they are married she won't have to hear his words [the chorus]
Greene: He comes home most every day
...
And such darling little curls
And his name is Harry Martin Davy-o
He's the joy of all my life
And I'm soon to be his wife
Then those words I'll no longer have to hear
Wiseman: He comes almost ev'ry day [a possible mondegreen copy]
...
And such darling yeller curls
And his name is Alexander David Lee
He's the joy of all my life
And I'm soon goin' to be his wife
Then those words I no longer have to hear
[3] advice to ladies: ....
Greene: Now young ladies bear in mind
Wiseman: Now young girls all bear in mind
Greene and Wiseman illustrate one of the common points of departure from an agreed upon reading; there is almost no agreement about the lover's name:
Bays-Richmond and Lingard: His name is Harry Mortimer de Vere [fn.29].
Browne: His name is Harry Martin ....
Foster: And her name excuse me friends I will not tell
Greene: And his name is Harry Martin Davy-o
Henry: And his name is written everywhere
Owens 1ed: And his name which I call o'er every day
RobertJones: And his name is Lilly Dusky Moore
Smith: And her love is with me every where I go
Wiseman: And his name is Alexander David Lee
Woltz: And his name I cannot tell you but I know
Smith and Foster would have a problem here because they have made the singer a man. While their paraphrase follows Bays-Richmond closely, their detail level resolution is to dodge the naming problem altogether.
For "the singer tells the lover's name," Browne and Greene are close but, as noted above, their paraphrase structure is significantly different. Perhaps that is just a function of forgotten verses and lines. I would expect them, having agreed on the name, to be very close on lines they shared. Here their common paraphrase lines are compared with each other amd with the original Bays text:
[chorus] ...; he'll return tomorrow or else he'll write.
Bays-Richmond: I'll be here tomorrow night
Browne: I'll be here tomorrow night
Greene: I'll be back tomorrow night
[1] ...; the lover comes every day; he whispers when he goes
Bays-Richmond: He comes nearly every day/ and when he goes away/ these words he always whispers in my ear
Browne: he comes nearly every day/ and when he goes away/ these words he always whispers in my ear
Greene: he comes home most every day/ and before he goes away/ he always whispers in my ear
[2] ...; when they are married she won't have to hear his words [the chorus]
Bays-Richmond: 'Tis the pleasure of my life/ That I'm soon to be his wife/ For these words I shall no longer have to hear
Browne: he's the pleasure of my life/ For I'm soon to be his wife/ Then those words I'll no longer have to hear
Greene: He's the joy of all my life/ And I'm soon to be his wife/ Then these words I'll no longer have to hear
[3] advice to ladies: when you find a lover who's true and kind it will make you happy to have a beau ....
Bays-Richmond: Oh young ladies when you find/ A young lover true and kind/ You cannot be more happy I am sure/ 'Tis so nice to have a beau
Browne: Oh young ladies when you find/ A young lover true and kind/ You cannot be more happy I am sure/ For it's nice to have a beau
Greene: Now young ladies bear in mind/ A true lover's hard to find/ When you find one you know / That's good and true
[4] advice to gentlemen: ...; remember a kiss and say before you part [the chorus]
Bays-Richmond: You had best remember this/ She expects a sweeter kiss/And a word or two like this before you part
Browne: You had best remember this/ She'll expect a sweeter kiss/ And a word or two like this
Greene: It is best remember this/ He expects another kiss/ And another word or two before he goes
Where lines are shared, Browne is very close to Bays-Richmond, and not so close to Greene. That is not too surprising since Browne and Bays-Richmond were identical at the paraphrase level.
As written by R. E. Bays, "Good-night Darling" is sung by a woman with a chorus "as if" sung by a woman. As a result it is a simple matter to change the verses so the song would entirely be "as if" sung by a man. Of the four recordings, all made by men, two -- Smith and Foster -- change the sex of the singer to male. They make simple changes to Bays text.
[1] the singer is happy to be engaged; the lover comes every day; he whispers when he goes
Bays-Richmond: Such a happy girl am I/ I will tell the reason why/ 'Tis because I am engaged to such a dear/ He comes nearly ev'ry day/ And when he goes away/ These words he always whispers in my ear
Foster: Such a happy boy [boid?] am I/ And I'll tell you the reason why/ Just because I go to see a pretty little girl/ Go to see her ev'ry Sunday night/ Just before I go away/ And this is what I whisper in her ear and say
Smith: Such a happy boy am I/ And I'll tell you the reason why/ Is because that I'm engaged to such a dear/ I go there most every day/ And when I go away/ These are the words I whisper in her ear
[2] the lover has wonderful teeth and a darling curl; the singer tells the lover's name; when they are married she won't have to hear his words [the chorus]
Bays-Richmond: He has teeth as white as pearls/ And such darling little curls/ His name is Harry Mortimer de Vere/ 'Tis the pleasure of my life/ That I'm soon to be his wife/ For these words I shall no longer have to hear
Foster: O her teeth are just like pearls/ She's a darling little girl/ And her name excuse me friends I will not tell/ Go to see her ev'ry Sunday night/ Just before I go away/ And this is what I whisper in her ear and say
Smith: She has teeth as white as pearls/ She is such a darling girl/ And her love is with me every where I go/ She's the joy of my life/ And she's set to be my wife/ And these the words I'll no longer have to say
Where lines are shared, Smith is closer to Bays-Richmond than to Foster. That is not too surprising since Smith and Bays-Richmond were identical at the paraphrase level. The Foster version has generally drifted further away from the original text.
I have tunes for Bays-Richmond, Owens-TexasFolkSongs-1ed, Wiseman, and the four recordings: Woltz, Foster, Greene and Smith.
The tunes are all recognizably the same but Bays, with its succession throughout of dotted fourths and eighths, is the most complex.
Owens-TexasFolkSongs-1ed and Wiseman simplify the tune into a succession of fourths. No one quite gets the first two lines of the chorus and no two tunes for those lines agree. Greene comes closest to the verse -- closer than Wiseman -- and that argues against Wiseman trying to cover Greene's version; on the other hand it may be that Lulu Belle Wiseman liked Greene's tune and decided to simplify it.
Browne, thinking to state Pound and Barry's position, "would accept as genuine folk song one which, regardless of origin, had (1) undergone certain textual and musical changes and had (2) become so much a part of folk culture that the members felt free to sing it as they had learned it without any self-conscious concern for its origin or its 'correct' version." "Good-night, Darling" began as a song on the Boston and New York burlesque stage, was printed with some adaptation on song sheet and songster, achieved some level of popularity in the South East, Applachians, and South, and was recorded four times we know of. The singers all retained the "sense" and form of the song, but the words and tune seem never to have been captured twice the same way. "Good-bye, Darling" seems to satisfy the test. Is that enough to allow us to classify this as a "genuine folk song"?
78 RPM references and dates for Da Costa Woltz, John D Foster, Clarence Greene and McDaniels and Smith from MeadeSpottswoodMeade, pp. 122-123. MeadeSpottswoodMeade is my primary source for references and recordings. - BS
FOOTNOTES
[1] Owens-TexasFolkSongs-1ed, p. 17.
[2] Owens-TexasFolkSongs-1ed, pp. 164-165.
[3] Browne, pp. 4-5.
[4] Bays-Richmond.
[5] Brown2, p. 389.
[6] NYTelegram-1897; NYClipper-1914.
[7] Lingard, p. 46.
[8] see Brown2, pp. 363, 392, 475, 544; Brown3, pp. 198, 207.
[9] Norwood, p. 35.
[10] Browne, p. 72.
[11] Browne, pp. 71-72.
[12] McCoy; Toll, pp. 149-152, 167, 186; Brown2, pp. 120-121; Brown3, p. 210; Rice, pp. 18, 46, 55, 58, 68-71, 78-79, 83-84, 104, 108, 111, 114, 116, 118, 122, 128, 130, 135-136, 142, 143-144, 147-148, 151, 156, 163-164, 170, 176, 182, 188-190, 191, 192-195, 198, 206, 210, 238, 250, 258, 264, 267, 288, 292, 342.
[13] Brown2, pp. 121-122 lists the members of the Minstrels in New York from 1865-1869; not found in Rice [fn.11 lists all references to members of the San Francisco Minstrels from the time they moved to New York]; there is a "Dutch" Eddie Norwood on the New York Stage in 1873: NYClipper-1873-1, NYClipper-1873-2.
[14] Through Calpe's straits survey the steepy shore;
Europe and Afric on each other gaze!
Lands of the dark-ey'd Maid and dusky Moor
Alike beheld beneath pale Hecate's blaze:
Byron, p. 72 Canto 2.22. [1812]
Whether or not "dusky moor" was a commonplace before Byron, it was one afterwards, in the United States as well as England, sometimes in describing Othello:
from a report from "Central Africa" in a journal of the American Colonization Society: "You see him [the Negro] mingling with the dusky Moor, the olive coloured Arab, and the tawney Egyptian...." AfricanRepository, p. 372 [1827];
from a direct quote of Byron in an American short story. Leggett, pp. 38-39 [1834];
from an American insurance agents' periodical: "Othello, when weaving his yarn in the presence of Desdemona and her father, says: 'Wherein I speak of most disastrous chances, of moving accidents by flood and field,' but he says nothing of having been insured against them. There were not so many accident insurance companies then as now, and all things considered we guess the pesky and dusky Moor was an extra hazardous risk anyhow." Kellogg, p. 116 [1896].
[15] Beard-Lunsford, p. 617.
[16] Browne, #15B, p. 73.
[17] Browne, #15C, p. 73.
[18] Browne #15B and #15C are references to versions Browne had when he edited the book; the texts are not available in the Ray B Browne Collection at Bowling Green University in Ohio according to personal correspondence Nov 6, 2014.
[19] Owens-TexasFolkSongs-1ed, p. 164.
[20] Cohen, p. 154.
[21] NYHerald-1880.
[22] Browne, pp. 13-14.
[23] Cohen, p. 147.
[24] Foster; Greene; Woltz.
[25] Smith.
[26] Wiseman, pp.14-15.
[27] Browne, p. 72.
[28] The tree, as I describe it, is oversimplified.
There are at least two ways to interpret trees.
The "phenetic" way is to consider apparent similiarities among the texts in deciding how the texts relate to each other.
The "phylogenetic" way is to consider strictly evolutionary principles to determine how the texts developed sequentially.
In this case I am not interested in finding how the texts evolved and determining what the original text looked like. In a "phylogenetic" tree Bays-Richmond is at the root and later-developing texts are progressively further away from the root. In my "phenetic" tree Bays-Richmond and Norwood are furthest from the root, carrying -- as they do -- almost all the elements of different versions. Beard-Lunsford, as noted, being only the chorus, and the chorus being included in all other texts, is closest to the root. The remaining texts are progressively further from the root, and closer to Bays-Richmond, as they become more "complete" (In this approach, every text -- not acknowledged by the singer to be only part of what she knows as the text -- is considered to be complete).
Even so, people building trees, whether phenetic or phylogenetic, have the same serious problem: there are few cases in the real world that can accurately be represented as trees. Consider the phylogenetic problem of having the same mutation appear on two separate branches of a tree. Perhaps there has been a previously unsuspected hybridization, or perhaps there is something that makes the independent occurrence of the mutation likely, or perhaps this is just a chance occurrence. How should the tree be modified to reflect this situation? The "Good Night Darling" paraphrase level tree has an analogous problem. Woltz and Bays-Richmond are at the end of one branch and Crabtree is at the end of another. All three have [4] advice to gentlemen, and no texts closer to the root than they are have that verse. Of course, change by hybridization on the one hand and by forgetting on the other are accepted as frequent occurrences for song texts and there is no problem accepting those as causes of the change; the problem of representing the situation is exactly the same for phenetic and phylogenetic problems. In the "Good Night Darling" problem a solution would be to have cross-branches directly connecting Woltz and Bays-Richmond on one end to Crabtree on the other.
The software I use as an aid in comparing texts provides such cross-branches. At the paraphrase level, for this song, the result is a sort of web stretched between the Greene branch, ending at Bays-Richmond, and the Foster branch ending at Crabtree. At the detail level the picture is more complicated.
The software I use is SplitsTree4. If you care to investigate it I recommend starting with Huson-Rupp-Scornavacca.
[29] In Bays's Boston the de Vere name may have indicated "high class" but have had no such meaning on the streets of New York or in rural America.
A note from Bob Waltz: "The name 'de Vere' was probably chosen just for the rhyme, but there is a peculiar significance. The de Vere family held the Earldom of Oxford for *twenty generations* in the Middle Ages and after. The only family to have done something similar is the Howard Dukes of Norfolk, and that's much more recent -- they weren't all that close to the record when 'One More Kiss' was written. The tag phrase 'the Vere de Vere' refers to the ability of the de Veres to hang on to their earldom. To be the 'Vere de Vere' means to have an impeccable pedigree." - BS
DISCOGRAPHY [see RECORDINGS for details]
Foster: John D. Foster, "Goodbye My Darlin'"
Greene: Clarence Greene, "Goodnight Darling"
Smith: Lewis McDaniels & Walter Smith, "One More Kiss Before I Go"
Woltz: Da Costa Woltz's Southern Broadcasters, "Merry Girl"
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