Julia Ecklar Johnny Be Fair
Well, Johnny be fair and Johnny be fine and wants me for to wed.
And I would marry Johnny but me father up and said,
"I'm sad to tell you, daughter, what your mother never knew,
But Johnny is a son of mine, and so is kin to you."
Well, Jimmy be fair and Jimmy be fine and wants me for to wed.
And I would marry Jimmy but me father up and said,
"I'm sad to tell you, daughter, what your mother never knew,
But Jimmy, too, is a son of mine, and so is kin to you."
Well, Billy be fair and Billy be fine and wants me for to wed.
And I would marry Billy but me father up and said,
"I hate to tell you, daughter, what your mother never knew,
But Billy, too, is a son of mine, and so is kin to you."
You never saw a girl so sad and sorry as I was,
The boys in town are all me kin and me father is the cause.
If life should thus continue I should die a single miss,
And so I'll go to Mother and complain to her of this.
"Oh, daughter, haven't I told you to forgive and to forget?
And if your father's sown his oats, well, still you needn't fret.
Your father may be father to all the boys in town, but still,
He's not the one who sired you, so marry who you will."
Words and music copyright (c) 1965 by Gypsy Boy Music
