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I Live Not Where I Love lyrics

Mary Black

O come all ye maids who live at a distance
Many's a mile from off your swain
Come and assist me this very moment
For to pass away some time
Singing sweetly and completely
Songs of pleasure and of love
For me heart is with him altogether
Though I live not where I love

When I sleep I dream about you
When I wake I take no rest
Every moment thinking on you
My heart o'er fixed in your breast
But although far distance
May be of assistance
If from my mind your love remove
For me heart is with him altogether
Though I live not where I love

All the world shall be of one religion
All living things shall cease to die
If ever I should prove false to my jewel
Or any way his love deny
Oh the world shall change
And be most strange
If from my mind your love remove
For me heart is with him altogether
Though I live not where I love

So farewell lads and farewell lassies
Now I think I've made my choice
I will away to yonder mountain
Where I think I hear his voice
And if he hollows I will follow
Around the world though it is so wide
For young Thomas he did promise
I should be his lawful bride

So come all ye maids who live at a distance
Many's a mile from off your swain
Come and assist me this very moment
For to pass away some time
Singing sweetly and completely
Songs of pleasure and of love
For me heart is with him altogether
Though I live not where I love

Song Details

Mary Black Collected Album
Mary Black

Songwriter: Traditional English Folk Song - pre 1845.

Brief: The story of love from a distance. The narrator is describing her love for her beloved Thomas although he is far away. When she is awake, she thinks of him constantly and dreams about him when she is asleep. She will remain true to him and hopes that one day they will be re-united and forever together.

Glossary:
swain - a male lover or admirer
o'er - over

Genre: Folk Song / Ballad

Covers/Albums: Finbar & Eddie Furey (I Live Not Where I Love), Mady Prior & Tim Hart (Celtic Love Songs), Steeleye Span (Live at a Distance), Simon Nicol (Before your time...), Karen Mal (Dark-Eyed Sailor), Deirdre Starr (The Tree Below the Road)...

Album by Mary Black: Collected (1984)

Songs by Mary Black on this site:
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