I’ve made up my mind to sail away
AKA | Sail Away |
First Published | 1901 |
Writer/composer | Bennett Scott | Roud | RN24223 |
Music Hall Performers | Tom Costello |
Folk performances | Collected from the singing of: Costello, Celia; England: Birmingham; 1967 |
A transcription from YouTube by John Baxter 2/8/2022 Farewell to home and to all those I love Sadly the parting grieves me These words may be the last you will hear For I'm leaving this dear old land Though I have failed in the land that 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’ve made up my mind to sail away, Sail away, sail away. I don’t mean to waste another day, I’ll find luck somewhere. In our colonies I mean to try. Yes I’ll try, do or die. For a time I shall stay but I'll come back some day And I may be a millionaire Though I may go from the land that I love My heart I leave behind me Sweetheart 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
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 in the early 1900s and was the first major success for songwriter Bennett Scott. 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.
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 (1909) and The Miners dream of home (1891). You find more like this in my selection of songs on Emigration and empire.
As recorded by Tom Costello in 1903:
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%3A24223
- Kilgarrif Sing Us
- Lyrics: personal transcription
- Sheet Music (substantially amended US version by Andrew B Sterling) Arizona State University: