AKA | There’s a long, long trail a-winding |
First Published | 1914 |
Writer/composer | Stoddard King / Zo Elliott | Roud | RN23525 |
Music Hall Performers | Ada Reeve |
Folk performances | Collected from the singing of: Copper, Jim; England : Sussex ; 1936 Pardon, Walter; England : Norfolk ; 1974 Gavan, Loy; Canada : Quebec; 1978 Hart, Bob; England : Suffolk ;1975-78 Kane, Alice; Northern Ireland : Belfast no date Modern Performances: New Victory Band, A Harp and a Monkey |
Nights are growing very lonely, days are very long I'm a-growing very weary only listening for your song Old remembrances are thronging through my memory Thronging till it seems the world is full of dreams Just to call you back to me. There's a long, long trail a-winding Into the land of my dreams Where the nightingales are singing And a white moon beams There's a long, long night of waiting Until all my dreams come true Till the day when I'll be going down That long, long trail with you. All night long I hear you calling, calling sweet and low Seem to hear your footsteps falling everywhere I go Though the road between us stretches many a weary mile Somehow I forget that you're not with me yet When I think I see your smile.
A sentimental song extremely popular throughout the English-speaking world during World War I. Millions of people fearing for their loved ones found solace in the words and music. In the British Halls it was popularised by Ada Reeve, but it was also sung and recorded by John McCormack. It was written by two young American men while still students at Yale.
The power of the song and its persistent popularity is reflected in the dozens of versions that have been recorded, including ones by Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby, The Sons of the Pioneers, and characters in the comedy TV series M*A*S*H
There’s a long long trail has been collected from traditional singers in Canada, England and Ireland and was widely sung by troops from English-speaking countries in World War I. Given its popularity there are many parodies, for example There is a long long worm a-crawling in the Prairie Home Companion Folksong Book.
Three contrasting versions!
A 1915 recording by James Reed and J. F. Harrison, with Bamforth postcards:
The Sons of the Pioneers(1941)
A Harp and a Monkey (2018)
Sources:
- Entries in the Roud Indexes at the Vaughn Williams Memorial Library: https://archives.vwml.org/search/all:single[folksong-broadside-books]/0_50/all/score_desc/extended-roudNo_tr%3A23525
- Kilgarrif Sing Us
- Lyrics: monologues.co.uk
- UK Sheet Music and cover personal copy
- Ballad index entry
Last Updated on May 10, 2023 by John Baxter | Published: May 10, 2023