I Wish I Were a Single Girl Again

DESCRIPTION: "When I was single, marriage I did crave. Now I am married, it's trouble to my grave. Lord, I wish I was a single girl again!" The wife complains of hard work in the kitchen, of poverty, of poor clothes, hungry children, and a husband who steals her money
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1907 (Belden-BalladsSongsCollectedByMissourFolkloreSociety)
KEYWORDS: husband wife marriage poverty
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE,So)
REFERENCES (22 citations):
Warner-TraditionalAmericanFolkSongsFromAnneAndFrankWarnerColl 126, "I Wish I Were a Single Girl Again" (1 text,1 tune)
Belden-BalladsSongsCollectedByMissourFolkloreSociety, p. 437, "When I Was Single" (1 text, with no letter designation; the lettered texts are all "I Wish I Were Single Again (I - Male)")
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore3 28, "I Wish I Was a Single Girl Again" (3 texts)
Brown/Schinhan-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore5 28, "I Wish I Was a Single Girl Again" (2 tunes plus excerpts of text)
Morris-FolksongsOfFlorida, #79, "I WIsh I Was Single Again" (1 text plus a fragment, 1 tune; the "A" text an tune is "I Wish I Were Single Again (I - Male)" and the "B" fragment "I Wish I Were a Single Girl Again")
Wolfe/Boswell-FolkSongsOfMiddleTennessee 97, pp. 150-151, "I Wish I Was a Single Girl Again" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scarborough-ASongCatcherInSouthernMountains, pp. 320-321, "The Single Girl" (1 text plus a fragment of "I Wish I Were Single Again (I - Male)"; tune on p. 442)
Fuson-BalladsOfTheKentuckyHighlands, p. 188, "Oh, I Wish I Were Single Again" (1 text)
Sharp-EnglishFolkSongsFromSouthernAppalachians 86, "The Single Girl" (5 texts, 5 tunes)
Bush-FSofCentralWestVirginiaVol2, pp. 35-36, "Single Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Burton/Manning-EastTennesseeStateCollectionVol2, pp. 12-13, "Single Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Owens-TexasFolkSongs-1ed, pp. 209-210, "I Wish I Was a Single Girl Again" (1 text, 1 tune)
Owens-TexasFolkSongs-2ed, pp. 123-124, "I Wish I Was a Single Girl Again" (1 text, 1 tune)
Abernethy-SinginTexas, pp. 55-56, "I Wish I Was a Single Gal Again" (1 text, 1 tune)
Arnold-FolkSongsofAlabama, p. 112, "If I Were a Single Girl Again" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scott-TheBalladOfAmerica, p. 171, "The Single Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax/Lomax-FolkSongUSA 13(A), "When I Was Single (I)" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax-FolkSongsOfNorthAmerica 84, "Single Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax/Lomax-AmericanBalladsAndFolkSongs, pp. 154-155, "When I Was Single" (1 text, 1 tune)
Darling-NewAmericanSongster, pp. 272-273, "Single Girl" (1 text)
Arnett-IHearAmericaSinging, p. 59, "Single Girl" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, SNGLGRL3*
Roud #436
RECORDINGS:
Anne, Judy, & Zeke Canova, "I Wish I Was a Single Girl Again" (Brunswick 264, 1928)
Cousin Emmy [Cynthia May Carver], "I Wish I Was a Single Girl, Again" (Decca 24215, 1947)
Vernon Dalhart & Co., "I Wish I Was a Single Girl Again" (Edison 51610, 1925)
Sid Harkreader, "I Wish I Was A Single Girl Again" (Vocalion 15035, 1925)
Kelly Harrell, "I Wish I Was a Single Girl Again" (Victor 19563, 1925; on KHarrell01) (Victor 20242, 1926; on KHarrell01)
Roscoe Holcomb, "I Wish I Were a Single Girl Again" [LP] or "Single Girl" [CD] (on MMOK, MMOKCD)
Lulu Belle & Scotty, "I Wish I Was a Single Girl Again" (Conqueror 9189, 1938; Vocalion 04772, 1939)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Single Girl" (on NLCR14)
Frank Proffitt, "Single Girl" (on FProffitt01)
Riley Puckett ,"I Wish I Was a Single Girl Again" (Bluebird B-8083, 1939)
Pete Seeger, "When I Was Single" (on PeteSeeger07, PeteSeeger07b)
Henry Whitter, "I Wish I Was a Single Girl Again" (OKeh 40375, 1925)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "I Wish I Were Single Again (II - Female)"
cf. "Single Girl, Married Girl"
cf. "Sorry the Day I Was Married"
cf. "When I Was Young (II)" (theme)
cf. "For Seven Long Years I've Been Married" (theme)
cf. "Married and Single Life" (subject)
NOTES [28 words]: Roud lumps "I Wish I Were a Single Girl Again" and "Single Girl, Married Girl" (and perhaps others). Definitely a stretch, though the songs can easily cross-fertilize. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.0
File: Wa126

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