Dubliners, The Wild Rover (1964)
Key: :[G#] (w: Traditional)
VERSE 1:
I've
[G#] been the wild rover for many a
[C#] year
I've
[G#] spent all me
[D#7] money on
[C#] whiskey and
[G#] beer
But
[G#] now I'm returning with gold in re-
[C#]-store
And I
[G#] never will
[D#7] play the wild
[C#] rover no
[G#] more.
CHORUS:
And it's
[D#7] no nay never;
[G#] no nay never, no
[C#] more;
Will I
[G#] play the wild
[C#] rover, no
[D#7] never, no
[G#] more?
VERSE 2:
I
[G#] went into an ale house I used to fre-
[C#]-quent
I
[G#] told the land-
[D#7]-lady me
[C#] money was
[G#] spent
I
[G#] asked her for credit she answered me
[C#] nay
Such
[G#] custom like
[D#7] yours I can
[C#] have any-
[G#]-day.
REPEAT CHORUS:
VERSE 3:
I
[G#] then took from me pocket ten sovereigns
[C#] bright
And the
[G#] landlady's
[D#7] eyes opened
[C#] wide in de-
[G#]-light
She
[G#] says I have whiskeys and the wines of the
[C#] best
And the
[G#] words that you
[D#7] told me where
[C#] only in
[G#] jest
REPEAT CHORUS:
VERSE 4:
I'll go
[G#] home to me parents confess what I've
[C#] done
And I'll
[G#] ask them to
[D#7] pardon their
[C#] prodigal
[G#] son
And
[G#] when they've caressed me as oft' times be-
[C#]-fore
Then I
[G#] never will
[D#7] play the wild
[C#] rover no
[G#] more.
REPEAT CHORUS: [x2]
ADDITIONAL INFO:
The song tells the story of a young man who has been away from his hometown for many years. When he returns to his former alehouse, the landlady refuses him credit, until he presents the gold which he has gained while he has been away. He sings of how his days of roving are over and how he intends to return to his home and settle down.
In the English Folk Song and Dance periodical "Folk Music Journal" vol 10
(2015), Brian Peters claimed that the origin of the song was a seventeenth century
(c: 1600's) English Broadside written by Thomas Lanfiere.
[1] This evolved into several distinct versions found in England, Scotland, Ireland and North America. Shortly afterwards it became popular in Australia.
NOTE: The "ADDITIONAL INFO" section shows information based on the original song key only, and may not be modified when transposing.
