The little ritual has reminded me of so many different songs that I haven't sung for years. There have even been a couple that required a little Internet search to recapture some missing verses. I thought I might share a few of the songs on my Blog that have made the old standby list in our house. Maybe you'll even decide to add some of them to the list of songs you sing to your own little people.
Oh, My Darling Clementine is a song my grandfather used to sing to me when I was a little girl. He seemed to know so many old tunes that I thought of as songs of the farm or prairie, which makes sense, since he was one of 12 children who lived in a rural home in Ohio. I can only imagine that many of the songs he sung for me as a child were ones that his own parents had taught him.
My grandfather and I went on many quiet walks, and although we rarely talked during these times, he always held my hand, and he would sing to me. His method was always the same: he would sing a song, and then bridge into humming or whistling it a second time, and then, after awhile, he would switch to another one...and this would continue for the whole duration of our walk together.
From what I understand, Oh My Darling Clementine is made up of the words of a sad man who is singing about his darling, the daughter of a 49er, or a miner in the 1849 California Gold Rush. He ends up losing her in a drowning accident, although he consoles himself towards the end of the song with Clementine's little sister.
In a cavern, in a canyon,
Excavating for a mine
Dwelt a miner forty-niner,
And his daughter Clementine
Oh my darling, oh my darling,
Oh my darling, Clementine!
Thou art lost and gone forever
Dreadful sorry, Clementine
Light she was and like a fairy,
And her shoes were number nine,
Herring boxes, without topses,
Sandals were for Clementine.
Oh my darling, oh my darling,
Oh my darling, Clementine!
Thou art lost and gone forever
Dreadful sorry, Clementine
Drove she ducklings to the water
Ev'ry morning just at nine,
Hit her foot against a splinter,
Fell into the foaming brine.
Oh my darling, oh my darling,
Oh my darling, Clementine!
Thou art lost and gone forever
Dreadful sorry, Clementine
Ruby lips above the water,
Blowing bubbles, soft and fine,
But, alas, I was no swimmer
So I lost my Clementine.
Oh my darling, oh my darling,
Oh my darling, Clementine!
Thou art lost and gone forever
Dreadful sorry, Clementine
How I missed her! How I missed her,
How I missed my Clementine,
But I kissed her little sister,
I forgot my Clementine.
Oh my darling, oh my darling,
Oh my darling, Clementine!
Thou art lost and gone forever
Dreadful sorry, Clementine
