Johnny be Fair
Buffy St. Marie, 1965· Songs Well-Known in America · p.180
Am G Am
Well, Johnny be fair and Johnny be fine and wants me for to wed
G E
And I would marry Johnny, but my father up and said
Am G E
I'm sad to tell you daughter what your mother never knew
Am G E Am
Johnny is a son of mine and so he's kin to you
Am . . . / G . . . / E . . . / Am (Twice between each verse)
Well, Jimmy be fair and Jimmy be fine and wants me for to wed,
And I would marry Jimmy, but my father up and said
I'm sad to tell you daughter what your mother never knew
But Jimmy, too, is a son of mine and so he's kin to you
Well, Billy be fair and Billy be fine and wants me for to wed,
And I would marry Billy, but my father up and said
I'm sad to tell you daughter what your mother never knew
But Billy, too, is a son of mine and so he's kin to you .
You’ve never seen a girl so sad and sorry as I was,
The boys in town are all my kin and my father is the cause
If life should thus continue I shall die a single miss
So I'll go to mother and complain to her of this .
Oh daughter, haven't I taught you to forgive and to forget
Even if your father’s sowing his oats, still you needn't fret
Your father may be father to all the boys in town, still
He's not the one who sired you, so marry whom you will.