Song 24 in Ukulele for Beginners

The Water Is Wide

Also known as: O Waly, Waly

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Ukulele

For Ukulele for Beginners.

Slow (70% speed) (0:46)
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Normal speed (0:33)
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Play-along (0:33)
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The water is wide I cannot get o'er
And neither have I wings to fly.
Give me a boat that will carry two
And both shall row, my Love and I.
O, down in the meadows the other day
A-gath'ring flow'rs both fine and gay,
A-gathering flowers, both red and blue,
I little thought what love can do.
I put my hand into one soft bush
Thinking the sweetest flower to find.
I pricked my finger right to the bone,
And left the sweetest flower alone.
I leaned my back up against some oak
Thinking that he was a trusty tree:
But first he bended and then he broke;
And so did my false Love to me.
A ship there is and she sails the sea,
She's loaded deep as deep can be,
But not so deep as the love I'm in:
I know not if I sink or swim.
O, love is handsome and love is fine,
And love's a jewel while it is new,
But when it is old, it groweth cold
And fades away like morning dew.

Music: Traditional English (Somerset), noted by Cecil J. Sharp (1859–1924)
Words: Traditional; collected by Cecil J. Sharp and Charles L. Marson (1859–1914)
First published: 1906 (Folk Songs from Somerset, Third Series, No. 66, "O Waly, Waly")
Copyright: Public domain in the US, UK and EU. The arrangement and recordings belong to the book.