When Molly leaves you,
You'll be sorry, just like the
Next fellow will be.
Fiddler Gilliam Banmon Grayson and guitarist Henry Whitter brought us the song "Handsome Molly," which was the b-side to their hit single "Train 45." I don't know if they wrote it. The song appeared in 1927 or 1928. Grayson died at the age of 43 in a car accident rural southwestern Virginia in 1930. "Omie Wise" and "Little Maggie" are two other songs that Grayson recorded that found their way into Dylan's repertory.
The lyrics are pretty simple:
- I wish I were a sailor, and while I sail, I'd think of Molly.
- Molly left me after accepting my offer of marriage.
- My heart's broken, she should go with whom she pleases
- She has a roving eye now. I saw it when I went to church last Sunday.
- I go out at night when everyone's asleep and cry for Molly at the riverbank.
Dylan performed the song at the Gaslight Cafe in 1962. The album of this performance came out in 2005.
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.
You'll be sorry, just like the
Next fellow will be.
Fiddler Gilliam Banmon Grayson and guitarist Henry Whitter brought us the song "Handsome Molly," which was the b-side to their hit single "Train 45." I don't know if they wrote it. The song appeared in 1927 or 1928. Grayson died at the age of 43 in a car accident rural southwestern Virginia in 1930. "Omie Wise" and "Little Maggie" are two other songs that Grayson recorded that found their way into Dylan's repertory.
The lyrics are pretty simple:
- I wish I were a sailor, and while I sail, I'd think of Molly.
- Molly left me after accepting my offer of marriage.
- My heart's broken, she should go with whom she pleases
- She has a roving eye now. I saw it when I went to church last Sunday.
- I go out at night when everyone's asleep and cry for Molly at the riverbank.
Dylan performed the song at the Gaslight Cafe in 1962. The album of this performance came out in 2005.
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.
Hello Robert, yes another traditional track from Bob Dylan's Music Box http://thebobdylanproject.com/Song/id/233/Handsome-Molly Come and join us inside and listen to every version of every song composed, recorded or performed by Bob Dylan, plus all the great covers... free, legally and ad free.
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