Collected and transcribed by Mary Celestia Parler
Sung by Mrs. Pearl Brewer Pocahontas, Arkansas August 28, 1958
Reel 296, Item 7
Once I Had a Sweetheart
I once did have a sweetheart,
A sweetheart brave and true,
His hair was dark and curly,
And his darling eyes were blue.
He told me that he loved me,
And he always proved it so,
He often came to see me When the sun was sinking low.
He, like all the other boys,
He had his friends and chums And off together they would go For pleasure and for fun.
They overpersuaded my sweetheart,
I never knew what for,
Off together they did go To the Spanish and American war.
When he come to say goodbye My heart did overflow.
He said, Goodbye, my darling,
For Cuba I must go.
He takened off his finger ring And placed it on my hand;
When this you see remember me,
When I'm in some far-off land.
He promised that he would write to me,
And he kept his promise true.
The very last words I heard from him Was, I'll soon be home to you.
The war is almost over,
The end is just ahead,
Before those words I ever read My darling boy was dead.
(Cont'd)Once I Had a Sweetheart Reel 296, Item 7 Continued
Over there on the France bloody ground He met his awful doom Some German fired an awful shot That laid him in the tomb,
I'll always wear his finger-ring And keep his letter too,
I'll live and die a single girl For the boy who wore the blue.
