When We Were Two Little Boys

DESCRIPTION: Two boys are playing; one's hobby-horse breaks; his brother says "I couldn't bear to see you crying/When there's room on my horse for two." They become soldiers; one is wounded, the other rescues him, saying "I couldn't bear to see you dying...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1903 (recording, Billy Murray)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Two boys are playing; one's hobby-horse breaks; his brother comforts him, saying "I couldn't bear to see you crying/When there's room on my horse for two." They grow up and become soldiers; one is wounded, the other rescues him, saying "I couldn't bear to see you dying/When there's room on my horse for two." They remember when they were two little boys
KEYWORDS: love army battle fight war reunion rescue injury brother family soldier
FOUND IN: US(SE)
RECORDINGS:
Dixon Brothers, "Two Little Boys" (Montgomery Ward M-7336, c. 1937)
Billy Murray, "When We Were Two Little Boys" (Monarch [Victor] 2468, 1903)
NOTES [28 words]: Although the text doesn't say so, this song is almost certainly set in the Civil War. - PJS
And it has the sickeningly saccharine sound of songs of that era, too. - RBW
File: RcWWW2LB

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