{"id":16732,"date":"2022-08-02T15:21:57","date_gmt":"2022-08-02T15:21:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=16732"},"modified":"2026-06-10T15:10:02","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T15:10:02","slug":"ive-made-up-my-mind-to-sail-away","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/ive-made-up-my-mind-to-sail-away\/","title":{"rendered":"I’ve made up my mind to sail away"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
AKA<\/strong><\/td>Sail Away<\/td><\/tr>
First Published<\/td>1901<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Writer\/composer<\/td>Bennett Scott<\/td>Roud<\/strong><\/td>RN24223<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Music Hall Performers<\/strong><\/td>Tom Costello<\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>Collected from the singing of:<\/strong>
Costello, Celia; England: Birmingham; 1967
<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Farewell to home and to all those I love,
Sadly the parting grieves me;
(These words came from a brave British heart
When leaving this dear old land.)
Though I have failed in the country I love,
Still I've the world before me;
And my hopes speed high, so once more goodbye,
Give me a grip of your hand ...

I\u2019ve made up my mind to sail away, sail away, sail away.
I don\u2019t mean to waste another day,
I\u2019ll find luck somewhere.
In our colonies I mean to try, yes I\u2019ll try, do or die.
For a time I shall stay but I'll come back some day and I may be a millionaire!<\/em>

Once in a new land I'll work with a will,
Fortune may then smile on me;
Here I seem to be all in the way,
But still I shall not despair.
One star of hope for the wanderer shines,
Over the ocean billows;
Mighty, rich and grand \u2014 Britain's Daughterland \u2014
I know they'll welcome me there.

Tho' I may go from the land that I love,
My heart I leave behind me;
Dear one I shall be thinking of you
When far from my country's shore.
Love, something tells me that I'm bound to succeed
If you'll be faithful to me.
Soon across the main I'll come back again
Then we shall part never more.

<\/pre>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Cecilia Costello sang a fragment of this song for song collectors Pam Bishop and Charles Parker in 1967. It was originally a hit for  Tom Costello<\/a> in the early 1900s and was the first major success for songwriter Bennett Scott<\/a>.  He wrote both the words and music for this one by himself, but he would later have many hits providing music for lyrics by AJ Mills<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Emigration ballads could always move an audience in the Halls, probably because so many would have friends or family who were fleeing poverty at home to seek opportunities abroad.  Other examples include The Black sheep of the family <\/a> (1909) and The Miners dream of home <\/a>(1891). You find more like this in my selection of songs on Emigration and empire<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As recorded by Tom Costello in 1903:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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