Father, oh father, build me a boat
That over this ocean I may float.
And every ship that I chance to meet
I will enquire for my William sweet

We had not sailed more than half an hour
Before we met with a man-o-war.
“Captain, captain, tell me true
Is my boy, William, on board with you?”

“What colour suit did your William wear,
What was the colour of your true love’s hair?”
“He had a suit of the royal blue
you would know him, for his heart is true.”

"Your boy, William, I’m sad to say,
he was drownded the other day
On yonder island we passed by
there we laid to rest, your sailor boy.”

She wrung her hands and tore her hair
a fine young lady in deep despair.
“Father, how can I go on
How can I live now my William’s gone?"

“I’ll sit me down and I’ll write me a song,
I’ll write it neat and I’ll write it long,
And in every word I’ll shed a tear
And in every line I’ll set my William, dear."

“I wish, I wish, but it’s all in vain
I wish I was a young maid again
But a maid again, I shall never be
Till apples grow on an orange tree."

Sweet William (The First)

Sweet William (The Second)

Through bushes and briars
I took my way
bushes and briars
and all  to hear the small birds sing
bushes and briars
and for to see the lambs at play
bushes and briars 
bushes and briars
bushes and briars
I took my way
bushes and briars
bushes and briars
bushes and briars
I took my way

And I overheard 
my own true love
bushes and briars
His voice did sound so very clear
bushes and briars
I’ve waited long to see my dear
bushes and briars
bushes and briars
bushes and briars
I took my way
bushes and briars
bushes and briars
bushes and briars
I took my way

And when I am troubled
in my mind
bushes and briars
that’s when I think my love to find
bushes and briars
and when I’ll  tell to him my mind
bushes and briars
bushes and briars
bushes and briars
I took my way
bushes and briars
bushes and briars
bushes and briars
I took my way

But if I do go 
to my true love
bushes and briars
My love he will say "Nay!"
bushes and briars
and He‘ll ne'er have me again
bushes and briars
bushes and briars
bushes and briars
I took my way
bushes and briars
bushes and briars
bushes and briars
I took my way

Bushes And Briars (The First)

Fare the well
Fare the well
Fare the well a while
I'm going away
I'm going away
Going away but I'll
I'll return 
I’ll return
though I go...

Ten thousand miles
Ten thousand miles
Ten thousand miles
Ten thousand miles

May the rocks 
May the rocks 
May the rocks all melt
May the seas
May the seas
May the seas all burn
If I don’t return
don't return
though I go...

I am chained
I am bound
heading the world around
I’ll be free
I’ll be free
I’ll be homeward bound
Though I’ve gone
Though I’ve gone...

Ten Thousand Miles (The Second)

The trees  grow high, the leaves grow green
Many's the winter's night we’ve seen
On a winter's night, alone we’ve been
My bonny boy is young
but he's growing
growing!
My bonny boy is young but he's growing

"Oh father dear, you've done me harm,
Marrying me to one so young.
For he's sixteen - I’m twenty-one"
My bonny boy is young
but he's growing
growing! 
My bonny boy is young but he's growing

"Oh daughter dear, here's what I'll do,
I'll send him to college a year or two
Around his cap - a ribbon blue,
to let the ladies know that he's married
married!
To let all the ladies know that he's married"

At just sixteen a married man
at seventeen a father and
now he's just turned eighteen
and the grass it grows all grows all grows all
over him
Death put an end to his growing,
growing!
Death put an end to his growing

And now my love in his grave doth lie
The green grass grows over him so high
I'll mourn his death 'til the day I die
And I'll watch over his child all while he's growing
growing!
I'll watch over his child while he's growing

The Trees They Do Grow High (The First)

When I was a young man
in the roving trade
the only harm that I done man
was to court
a fine young maid

And I loved her in the summertime   
loved her in the winter too 
And I loved her in the autumn and the spring
to keep her from that foggy dew
all from the foggy foggy dew

One  night about twelve
The lamp already blow’d
There came to me the maid
and she was as white
as white as snow

The first part of the night
we did sport and play
the last part of the night
in my arms my true love laid

And I loved you in the summertime   
I loved you in the winter too 
And I loved you in the autumn and the spring
to keep you from the foggy dew
all from the foggy foggy dew

to keep you from the foggy dew
all from the foggy foggy dew

The Foggy Dew (The Third)

Are you going to Scarboro' Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Remember me to one who lives there
for she once was 

A love of mine 
A love of mine
She was a true, true love of mine 

Have her make me a cambric shirt
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
without no seams, nor needle work
for then she'll be 
 
A love of mine 
A love of mine
She'll be a true, true love of mine 

Have her wash it in that dry well
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Where water ne'er sprung, nor rain ever fell
for then she'll be

A love of mine 
A love of mine
She'll be a true, true love of mine 

And when thou has finished thy task
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Come to me my hand to ask
and then you'll be 

A love of mine 
A love of mine
You'll be a true, true love of mine

Scarbro' Fair (The Third)

*Finished* for R/Songaweek 2025

-By the Numbers-

The tales were exaggerated
The web is a lie
My silk is as soft as a blanket
Said the spider to the fly

Our heads in a cloud
It’s shrunk down to size
And as it comes crashing down
By your numbers, we’re fine

You can’t deny
we’re unwell by design
With covered eyes
We sleepwalk the line

Every virus has its time-
Your pitch will grow stale
a fever may get the host 
but by the numbers, you will fail

By the Numbers

Written for R/Songaweek 2025

Exerpted from Italian text by Gabriele D’Annunzio (1896)

-Rimani (Stay) [excerpt]-

Rimani! Riposati accanto a me.
Non te ne andare.
Io ti veglierò. Io ti proteggerò.
Ti pentirai di tutto fuorchè d’essere venuto a me. Ti amo..
Rimani.
Riposati accanto a me.

*Translation*

-Stay-

Stay! Rest beside me.
Do not go...
I will watch you. I will protect you.
You'll regret anything but coming to me...
I love you.
Stay - rest beside me. 


Rimani

Written for R/Songaweek 2025

-Vacancy-

These aren't my eyes
that is not my smile
this is not my voice
not my decree

Those aren't my words
This is not my body
This is not my time
but it's my disease

Went out to pick cherries
there was rot at the root.

Tried to talk to my neighbors
but my tongue had gone mute 

Told my arm to shake hands
and it thrust a salute.

Tried to show you my heart
it was blacker than soot.

This is not my drawbridge
this is not my chain link fence
this is not my warning sign
these people aren't my friends

this is not my algorithm
these are not my fickle whims
these might be my marching orders

But these won't be my willing limbs.

This won't be a curtain call
This won't be a moral failing
I might be a caution story
but I won't be another zombie

Vacancy

Sickness brought me this
Thought, in that scale of his:
Why should I be dismayed
Though flame had burned the whole
World, as it were a coal,
Now I have seen it weighed
Against a soul?

W.B.Yeats

A Friend's Illness

John Doran-Armstrong

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