I Was Only Seventeen

DESCRIPTION: "I was only seventeen When first I went to sea. I was shipwrecked off the coast of France" and is rescued by a woman -- who then starts taking off her clothes, and proves to be tattooed with a world map. Before he can investigate, "her old man came along"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1987 (Tawney-GreyFunnelLines-RoyalNavy)
KEYWORDS: sailor wreck disaster clothes derivative
FOUND IN: Britain
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Tawney-GreyFunnelLines-RoyalNavy, p. 68, "I Was Only Seventeen" (1 text, tune referenced)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Let the Rest of the World Go By" (tune)
NOTES [69 words]: "Let the Rest of the World Go By," words by J. Keirn Brennan, music by Ernest Ball, was published in 1919 and a major hit in 1920 (Edward Foote Gardner, Popular Songs of the Twentieth Century: Volume I -- Chart Detail & Encyclopedia 1900-1949, Paragon House, 2000, p. 329, estimates that it was the #2 song in America that year). It makes me suspect this song predates World War II, though I can't prove it. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.5
File: Tawn051

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