Bye-bye, my Roseanna

Alan Lomax heard part of this song in 1960 from the Bright Light Quartet in Weems, Va., where the Rappahannock River meets the Chesapeake Bay.

 

Bye-bye, my Roseanna

Oh Roseann, my Roseann
Bye-bye, my Roseanna.
Oh Roseann, sweet Roseann
I won't be home tomorrow.

Bye-bye, bye-bye, bye-bye, bye-bye,
Bye-bye, my Roseanna.
Bye-bye, bye-bye, bye-bye, bye-bye,
I won't be home tomorrow.
 
The ships are sailing around the bend,
Bye-bye, my Roseanna.
All loaded down with fishermen
I won't be home tomorrow.

A dollar a day's a fishermans pay
Bye-bye, my Roseanna.
It's easy come, easy slip away
I won't be home tomorrow.
 
We're bound away, across the bay
Bye-bye, my Roseanna.
We're bound away at the break of day
I won't be home tomorrow.
 
Oh Roseann, sweet Roseann
Bye-bye, my Roseanna.
Oh Roseann, sweet Roseann
I won't be home tomorrow.