My Blue Eyed Boy- Frances Ries (OH) 1927 Sandburg
[Published in Carl Sandburg's "American Songbag," 1927. This is a composite with the first two stanzas from Blue-Eyed Boy and the last four from Butcher Boy. The second stanza is found in The Unfortunate Swain, a broadside dated c. 1750 where it appears:
Must I be bound that can go free?
Must I love one that loves not me?
Why should I act such a childish part
To love a girl that will break my heart.
"Must I Go/Be Bound" is another related song to both the "Died for Love" songs and "Blue Eyed Boy."
R. Matteson 2017]
My Blue Eyed Boy- sung by Frances Ries of Batavia, Ohio, before 1927. Published in Sandburg's American Songbag 1927.
1. Go bring me back my blue-eyed boy,
Go bring my darling back to me,
Go bring me back the one I love,
And happy will I ever be.
2 Must I go bound while he goes free?
Must I love a man that don't love me?
Or must I act some childish part,
And die for the one that broke my heart?
3 Late one night when her father came home,
Inquiring where his daughter had gone,
He went upstairs and the lock he broke,
And found her hanging by a rope.
4 He drew his knife and he cut her down,
He drew his knife and he cut her down,
He drew his knife and he cut her down,
Upon her breast these words he found.
5. Go dig my grave, go dig it deep,
Go dig my grave, go dig it deep,
Go dig my grave, go dig it deep,
And plant a rose at my head and feet.
6 Upon my breast a turtle dove,
Upon my breast a turtle dove,
Upon my breast a turtle dove,
To show this world I died for love.
7 Around my grave go build a fence,
Around my grave go build a fence,
Around my grave go build a fence,
To show this world I had no sense.