Billy Don't You Weep For Me
from A Brief History of Music by GreenMatthews
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lyrics
“Sally where are you going that you do look so gay?
I know that I’ve not asked you to take a walk today.”
“You have not asked me, well indeed, it’s a tidy cheek of you,
For you think that there’re no more young chaps; I’ve got a dozen or two.
Billy don’t you weep for me, I’m going to St James’s Park my cousin Joe to see.”
“Cousin Joe, now who is he, he’s a soldier I can tell,
For I know that you’re fond of lobsters, both raw and boiled as well.”
“My Cousin Joe’s a guardsman; he is a handsome chap,
And he wears such fine mustachios and a stunning furry cap.
Oh Billy don’t you weep for me, I’m very fond of Cousin Joe and I’ll sit all on his knee.”
“We’re going to the play tonight, Jack Sheppard* for to see,
And when that it is all over, we’ll all have a jolly good spree.
I’ve got money for a pint of stout and when we’re short of tin,
I’ll even go and pawn my smock to buy us a bottle of gin.”
“Billy don’t you weep for me, I’m very fond of Cousin Joe and I’ll sit all on his knee.”
So what’s the use of him, he never can keep you;
You’ll have to work from morn till night, that’s what you’ll have to do.
You’ll have to make shirts at a penny each or else stand at the tub,
And mark my words, it’s many a day you’ll go very short of grub.
Sally you’ll cry for me, you get back to Cousin Joe and sit all on his knee.”
In about a twelve months after, young Sally came back to me
And she said that she was sorry she’d ever been on that spree.
Wanted me to take her back; says I, “It is no go,
For do you think that I’m such a fool? Go back to Cousin Joe.
Sally you can’t come over me for I see you’ve got a baby to dance all on your knee.”
“Billy how can you serve me so? You really drive me mad!
I’ll have you up before the beak and I’ll swear you are its dad.
When that you get before the bench, they will not let you speak,
And you’ll have to keep the young one on thirty pence a week.
So Billy, how can you serve me so? I’m sure the child belongs to you and not to Cousin Joe.”
Well in a week she gets this summons but she found it was no go;
The magistrate decided that the child belonged to Joe.
She went up to Billy’s back yard, quickly the door she shut,
And when at last they found her, she’d drowned in a water butt.
So young women take a warning from me: never love a soldier or sit all on his knee.
I know that I’ve not asked you to take a walk today.”
“You have not asked me, well indeed, it’s a tidy cheek of you,
For you think that there’re no more young chaps; I’ve got a dozen or two.
Billy don’t you weep for me, I’m going to St James’s Park my cousin Joe to see.”
“Cousin Joe, now who is he, he’s a soldier I can tell,
For I know that you’re fond of lobsters, both raw and boiled as well.”
“My Cousin Joe’s a guardsman; he is a handsome chap,
And he wears such fine mustachios and a stunning furry cap.
Oh Billy don’t you weep for me, I’m very fond of Cousin Joe and I’ll sit all on his knee.”
“We’re going to the play tonight, Jack Sheppard* for to see,
And when that it is all over, we’ll all have a jolly good spree.
I’ve got money for a pint of stout and when we’re short of tin,
I’ll even go and pawn my smock to buy us a bottle of gin.”
“Billy don’t you weep for me, I’m very fond of Cousin Joe and I’ll sit all on his knee.”
So what’s the use of him, he never can keep you;
You’ll have to work from morn till night, that’s what you’ll have to do.
You’ll have to make shirts at a penny each or else stand at the tub,
And mark my words, it’s many a day you’ll go very short of grub.
Sally you’ll cry for me, you get back to Cousin Joe and sit all on his knee.”
In about a twelve months after, young Sally came back to me
And she said that she was sorry she’d ever been on that spree.
Wanted me to take her back; says I, “It is no go,
For do you think that I’m such a fool? Go back to Cousin Joe.
Sally you can’t come over me for I see you’ve got a baby to dance all on your knee.”
“Billy how can you serve me so? You really drive me mad!
I’ll have you up before the beak and I’ll swear you are its dad.
When that you get before the bench, they will not let you speak,
And you’ll have to keep the young one on thirty pence a week.
So Billy, how can you serve me so? I’m sure the child belongs to you and not to Cousin Joe.”
Well in a week she gets this summons but she found it was no go;
The magistrate decided that the child belonged to Joe.
She went up to Billy’s back yard, quickly the door she shut,
And when at last they found her, she’d drowned in a water butt.
So young women take a warning from me: never love a soldier or sit all on his knee.
credits
from A Brief History of Music,
released September 1, 2013
license
all rights reserved
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about
GreenMatthews Coventry, UK
Chris Green and Sophie Matthews play English traditional songs and tunes in a thoroughly 21st-century kick-ass style. Using a blend of ancient instruments such as cittern, English bagpipes and shawm as well as modern folk instruments such as guitar, flute and piano accordion, they breathe new life into material from hundreds of years ago, making it fresh and relevant for a modern audience. ... more
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Jun 19Hoddesdon, UK
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