Bring Back My Johnny to Me

DESCRIPTION: "He's gone, I am now sad and lonely, He has left me to cross the salt sea, And I know that he thinks of me only, And will soon be returning to me." The singer misses (Johnny), and asks, "Blow gently, sweet winds of the ocean, And bring my Johnny to me."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1901 (Hylands-Mammoth-Hibernian-Songster)
KEYWORDS: love separation sailor poverty
FOUND IN: Ireland Britain
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Henry/Huntingdon/Herrmann-SamHenrysSongsOfThePeople H7, p. 290-291, "Bring Back My Barney to Me" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hylands-Mammoth-Hibernian-Songster, p. 161, "Send Back My Barney to Me" (1 text)
DT, BRINGJON*
Roud #1422
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean"
NOTES [72 words]: A. L. Lloyd, in his liner notes to the Watersons' "For Pence and Spicy Ale", says [this] was "A stage song favoured by Irish comedians from the 1860s on. During the 1880s, apparently on American university campuses, close-harmony groups remade it into the better-known -- and even more preposterous -- "My Bonny Lies Over the Ocean...." - PJS
Steve Roud notes British songster versions starting from 1872 and possibly earlier. - (RBW)
Last updated in version 6.1
File: HHH007

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