"Whiskey on a Sunday"
unknown, Cmaj, .
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| Singalong | singalong |
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MIDI
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Playing or Personal Notes:
No personal notes.
History
"Whiskey on a Sunday" is a song written by Glyn Hughes[1932–1972], which became popular during the second British folk revival. It is sometimes called "The Ballad of Seth Davy".
The song laments the death in 1902 of a performer, Seth Davy, who sang and performed with a set of "dancing dolls" outside a public house in Liverpool. The dolls were attached to the end of a plank, and when the plank was struck and vibrated, this caused the dolls to "dance". Seth Davy was in fact a Jamaican who performed outside the Bevington Bush Hotel around the turn of the century. It was located just north of Liverpool City Centre.
The original song contains lyrics and idiom specific to Liverpool. In an Irish version, the first-line mention of Bevington Bush appears as Beggars Bush, referring to a location in Dublin.
It has been performed by Danny Doyle, The Irish Rovers, The Dubliners, Rolf Harris, The Weavers and Max Boyce, among others.
See https://www.irish-folk-songs.com/whiskey-on-a-sunday-song-lyrics-and-chords.html for the original lyrics by Glyn Hughes, along with a tin whistle tab.
The Irish Rover's Lyrics: Come day go day, I wish in my heart it was Sunday Drinkin' buttermilk through the week and whiskey on a Sunday He sits on the corner by ould beggar's bush atop of an ould packing crate He's got three wooden dolls who can dance and can sing And he sits with a smile on his face Come day go day, I wish in my heart it was Sunday Drinkin' buttermilk through the week and whiskey on a Sunday His tired ould hands tug away on the strings, the puppets they dance up and down It's a far better show than you ever will see In the fanciest theatre in town Come day go day, I wish in my heart it was Sunday Drinkin' buttermilk through the week and whiskey on a Sunday I'm sad to relate that ould Sad Davie died in nineteen hundred and four His three wooden dolls in the dustbin are laid Their songs will be heard never more Come day go day, I wish in my heart it was Sunday Drinkin' buttermilk through the week and whiskey on a Sunday Some dark stormy night should your passin' that way and the winds blowin' up from the sea you can still hear the voice of ould Sad Davie As he sings to his dancin' dolls three CHORUS Come day go day, I wish in my heart it was Sunday Drinkin' buttermilk through the week and whiskey on a Sunday
On the Web:
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