Goodnight, Ladies

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"Goodnight, Ladies" is a folk song attributed to Edwin Pearce Christy, originally intended to be sung during a minstrel show. Drawing from an 1847 song by Christy entitled "Farewell, Ladies", the song as known today was first published on May 16, 1867.[1]

Lyrics

VERSE I: Goodnight, ladies! Goodnight, ladies! Goodnight, ladies! We're going to leave you now.

CHORUS: Merrily we roll along, roll along, roll along. Merrily we roll along, o'er the dark blue sea.

VERSE II: Farewell, Ladies! Farewell, ladies! Farewell, ladies! We're going to leave you now.

CHORUS

VERSE III: Sweet dreams, ladies! Sweet dreams, ladies! Sweet dreams, ladies! We're going to leave you now.

CHORUS

Note: the "Merrily We Roll Along" chorus has the same melody as "Mary Had A Little Lamb".

Notable uses

The song being performed at the end of the 1929 cartoon Finding His Voice

Charles Ives quoted the song in A Symphony: New England Holidays (1897–1913): I. Washington's Birthday, towards the end of the movement.

Meredith Willson features the piece as the tenth number in The Music Man (1957).

Bing Crosby included the song in a medley on his album 101 Gang Songs (1961).

See also

• "I've Been Working on the Railroad"
• "Merrily We Roll Along"
• "Nice One Cyril"

References

1. Fuld, James (2000). The Book of World-Famous Music: Classical, Popular, and Folk. Courier Dover Publications. p. 255. ISBN 9780486414751.