Joan first learned heard this song as a Charlie Poole recording from 1928 with the title "I Once Loved a Sailor." Poole recorded the song with only one verse, and feeling like the song needed a second verse, Joan wrote one. Years later, thanks to the magic of the Library of Congress online archives, she discovered that the song, written in 1904 by the tin pan alley duo of Ren Shields and George Evans, in fact originally had two verses. However, the added second verse had stuck, and is included on this recording.
lyrics
I once loved a sailor, and once a sailor loved me
But he was not a sailor who sailed on the wide rolling sea
He owned an airship, could fly like a bird on the wing
And every evening when the sun drew near, he’d fly to my window and sing
Come take a trip in my airship, come and we’ll sail round the stars
Come and we’ll travel to venus, come and we’ll sail on to mars
No one will know if we’re kissing, no one will tell if we spoon
Come take a trip in my airship, and we’ll visit the man in the moon
Sure I loved that sailor, and sure he loved me too
And we’d go roving together, up in the sky so blue
Night after night at my window, I’d wait again and again
And sure enough he would come to me, he’d be singing his sweet refrain
Come take a trip in my airship, come and we’ll sail round the stars
Come and we’ll travel to venus, come and we’ll sail on to mars
No one will know if we’re kissing, no one will tell if we spoon
Come take a trip in my airship, and we’ll visit the man in the moon
Hailing from the cold waters of San Francisco Bay, Penny Opry specializes in bringing old music back from the dead, with a sound concocted to lift spirits and bring life to the party.
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