SOLDIER SOLDIER WILL YOU MARRY ME
(learned from Harry Belafonte record Mark Twain in 1956)
Soldier, soldier, will you marry me, with your musket, fife, and drum?
Oh, how can I marry such a pretty girl as ye when I got no shoes to put on?
Off to the cobbler's she did go as fast as she could run,
Bought him a pair of the best that was there and the soldier put them on.
Soldier, soldier, will you marry me, with your musket, fife, and drum?
Oh, how can I marry such a pretty girl as ye when I got no pants to put on?
Off to the tailor's she did go as fast as she could run,
Bought him a pair of the best that was there and the soldier put them on.
Soldier, soldier, will you marry me, with your musket, fife, and drum?
Oh, how can I marry such a pretty girl as ye when I got no coat to put on?
Off to the haberdasher's she did go as fast as she could run,
Bought him a coat of the best that was there and the soldier put them on.
Soldier, soldier, will you marry me, with your musket, fife, and drum?
Oh, how can I marry such a pretty girl as ye when I got no hat to put on?
Off to the haberdasher's she did go as fast as she could run,
Bought him a hat of the best that was there and the soldier put them on.
Soldier, soldier, will you marry me, with your musket, fife, and drum?
Oh, how can I marry such a pretty girl as ye,
With a wife and a baby at home?
(from miriam berg's folksong collection)