My Darling Clementine
VERSE 1
In a cavern, in a canyon,
Excavating for a mine,
Dwelt a miner, forty-niner,
And his daughter Clementine.
CHORUS
Oh my darling, oh my darling
Oh my darling, Clementine
Thou art lost and gone forever,
Dreadful sorry, Clementine. |
VERSE 2
Light she was and like a fairy,
And her shoes were number nine,
Herring boxes without topses
Sandals were for Clementine.
CHORUS
Oh my darling, oh my darling
Oh my darling, Clementine
Thou art lost and gone forever,
Dreadful sorry, Clementine. |
VERSE 3
Drove she ducklings to the water
Every morning just at nine,
Hit her foot against a splinter
Fell into the foaming brine.
CHORUS
Oh my darling, oh my darling
Oh my darling, Clementine
Thou art lost and gone forever,
Dreadful sorry, Clementine. |
VERSE 4
Ruby lips above the water,
Blowing bubbles soft and fine,
But alas, I was no swimmer,
So I lost my Clementine.
CHORUS
Oh my darling, oh my darling
Oh my darling, Clementine
Thou art lost and gone forever,
Dreadful sorry, Clementine. |
VERSE 5
Then the miner, forty-niner,
Soon began to peak and pine,
Thought he oughta join his daughter,
Now he's with his Clementine.
CHORUS
Oh my darling, oh my darling
Oh my darling, Clementine
Thou art lost and gone forever,
Dreadful sorry, Clementine. |
VERSE 6
There's a churchyard on the hillside
Where the flowers grow and twine
There grow roses, 'mongst the posies,
Fertilized by Clementine.
CHORUS
Oh my darling, oh my darling
Oh my darling, Clementine
Thou art lost and gone forever,
Dreadful sorry, Clementine. |
VERSE 7
In my dreams she still doth haunt me,
Robed in garments soaked in brine.
Though in life I used to hug her,
Now she's dead, I draw the line.
CHORUS
Oh my darling, oh my darling
Oh my darling, Clementine
Thou art lost and gone forever,
Dreadful sorry, Clementine. |
VERSE 8
Now you scouts may learn the moral
Of this little tale of mine.
Artificial respiration
Would have saved my Clementine.
CHORUS
Oh my darling, oh my darling
Oh my darling, Clementine
Thou art lost and gone forever,
Dreadful sorry, Clementine. |
VERSE 9
How I missed her, how I missed her,
How I missed my Clementine.
Till I kissed her little sister
And forgot my Clementine.
CHORUS
Oh my darling, oh my darling
Oh my darling, Clementine
Thou art lost and gone forever,
Dreadful sorry, Clementine. |
The song Clementine (a.k.a. My Darling Clementine)
is usually attributed to American poet, Percy Montross, circa 1880.
Montross is believed to have based his composition on the English drinking song
Down by the River Liv'd a Maiden by H. S. Thompson (1863).
My Darling Clementine is a strange song
about a big-footed maiden who drowns and maybe comes back from the dead
and her fickle lover who moves on to her younger sister.
As gruesome and perverse as the lyrics are,
My Darling Clementine
is a popular Boy Scout campfire song and baby's lullaby to this day.
Other reasons for its continued popularity are its clean simple tune
and that only two guitar chords (D & A7) are required to accompany it.
