SONG INFORMATION

Origin: Traditional (Appalachia US, first recorded 1918)
First released by G.B. Grayson and Henry Whitter (1927)
Released by many artists including Flatt & Scruggs with The Foggy Mountain Boys (1970), and Doc Watson and Family (1991)

LYRICS

Well, I wish I was in London,
Or some other seaport town
I’d put my foot on a steamboat
I’d sail the ocean ’round.

While sailing ’round the ocean,
While sailing ’round the sea
I’d think of handsome Molly
Wherever she might be.

Don’t you remember, Molly
You gave me your right hand?
You said whenever you’d marry
I would be the man.

But you broke your promise
Go with whom you please
My poor heart is aching
You are at your ease.

I went to church last Sunday
Molly came ridin’ by
I could tell her mind was changin’
By the rovin’ of her eye.

I go down to the river
Though everyone’s asleep
I think of handsome Molly
An’ I begin to weep.

So I wish I was in London,
Or some other seaport town
I’d put my foot on a steamboat
I’d sail the ocean ’round.

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