Mick Haywood's Song Wordbook

Early Years

Leeds Years Batley Years Whitby Years
Old photo of man playing guitar

Huddie ‘Lead Belly’ Ledbetter.

Goodnight, Irene


‘Goodnight, Irene’ was written and recorded, first in 1933, by the American blues singer ‘Huddie ‘Lead Belly’ Ledbetter’. He picked up a couple of verses and the refrain of the song from the singing of his uncle, Terrill Ledbetter, which was based on a song called ‘Irene, Goodnight’ written by Gussie Lord Davis in 1886. He made the song his own, by writing additional verses and changing the rhythm of the song to waltz time.

The famous American Folklorist John Lomax made three separate recordings, in Louisiana State Prison, of ‘Lead Belly’ singing the song. On the first occasion in 1933, Ledbetter only sang two verses and two choruses. On subsequent visits, in 1934 he sang four verses and choruses, and in 1936 he sang six verses and choruses, with an extended spoken part.

Goodnight, Irene

Last Saturday night I got married,
Me and my wife settled down.
Now me and my wife are parted
I’ll take another stroll downtown.

Chorus
Irene goodnight, Irene
Irene good night
Goodnight Irene, goodnight Irene
I’ll see you in my dreams.

I asked your mother for you
She told me that you was too young
I wish I'd never seen your face
Nor heard your lying tongue.

Sometimes I live in the country
Sometimes I live in town
Sometimes I have a great notion
Jumping in, into the river and drown.

Stop ramblin' and stop gamblin'
Quit staying out late at night
Go home to your wife and your family
Stay there by the fireside bright.

I love Irene, God knows I do
I love her 'til the sea runs dry
If Irene turns her back on me
I'm gonna take morphine and die.

Photo of four people singing, one with a banjo

I first heard the song regularly played on the radio when I was growing up in the early 1950’s, it was always by The Weavers or Jo Stafford, never by Lead Belly, I expect the BBC had banned it due to some of the original lyrics being too risque for their listeners' ears.

I first sang it in during the 1957/8 skiffle craze, when we formed a skiffle group at school,and I was the lead vocalist and tea-chest bass player. It always went down well with audiences and was one of my favourite to perform. Other favourites we did were Freight Train, The Midnight Special, Tom Dooley, Pick a Bale of Cotton, and the Ballad of Jessie James.

During the school holidays we went on a week’s holiday to a school in Douglas, Isle of Man, and we busked during both crossings on the Liverpool to Isle of Man Ferry. We made a bomb and got several encores for Goodnight Irene.

While we were in the Isle of Man, I had the bright idea that we should chuck our school caps into Irish Sea on the return voyage, teachers found out, and that soon put paid to that.

The song has often been used as a finishing-off song at many of the folk clubs I have run over the years. At Batley Raggers at the Victoria Hotel, Hick Lane, Batley in the late 1960’s, if the Landlady, Irene, came into the club room at end of the night, to collect the empty glasses, she was always serenaded with it. That would inevitably always be followed by ‘Bless this house O Lord we pray, Keep it open night and day’ and ‘Poor old landlord can’t get the buggers out,Time Gentlemen Please!’.
More recently at Whitby Folk Club our most senior regular, ‘Curragh the Cornflake King Ellwood’, who died at the age of 86, loved to accompany the song whirling his concertina around above his head, while a different singer sang each verse.

Goodnight Irene

Goodnight Irene
The Weavers 
Released 1950
Album: Presenting The Weavers
Decca Records Inc.

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About Mick

Mick Haywood is a traditional folk singer & folk song collector who has run and organised folk clubs and festivals for many years. He now lives in Whitby, North Yorkshire.

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