Malvina Reynolds: Song Lyrics and Poems  

Notes: new words by Malvina Reynolds, copyright 1957 by Malvina Reynolds, renewed 1985. Music (and original words) by Woody Guthrie, copyright 1944 Folkways Music Publishers.

Chorus:
When I'm gone, Sally, don't you grieve,
When I'm gone, Sally, don't you grieve,
When I'm gone, Sally, don't you grieve,
And I told her not to grieve after me.

Restless foot and a roving mind,
I'm gonna leave this town behind,
Leave my honey so sweet and kind,
And I told her not to grieve after me.

(Chorus)

I am one of them rambling men,
Trav'ling since I don't know when,
Here I come and then gone again,
And I told her not to grieve after me.

(Chorus)

Big old road goes round the bend,
There's a pot of gold at the other end,
Sally says that I'll never mend,
And I told her not to grieve after me.

(Chorus)

I've been roaming everywhere
Never been satisfied anywhere;
I dream of Sally so sweet and fair,
And I told her not to grieve after me.

(Chorus)

Goodbye, Sally, my heart's delight,
I will come back when the moon is bright,
If you're gone, it will serve me right,
And I told her not to grieve after me.

(Chorus)

Malvina Reynolds songbook(s) in which the music to this song appears:
---- Little Boxes and Other Handmade Songs

Other place(s) where the music to this song appears:
---- Harold Leventhal and Marjorie Guthrie: The Woody Guthrie Songbook (New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1976)

Malvina Reynolds recording(s) on which this song is performed:
---- [none]

Recordings by other artists on which this song is performed:
---- The Coachmen: Here Come the Coachmen (Hifi SR-412, 1960)
---- Lonnie Donegan: "Sally Don't You Grieve/Betty Betty Betty" (45 r.p.m. single, Pye 7N15129, 1958)¹
---- Lonnie Donegan: Hit Parade Vol. 5 (33 1/3 e.p., Pye NEP 24104, 1958)
---- Lonnie Donegan: Lonnie Donegan (Dot DLP-3159, 1959)
---- Lonnie Donegan: Lonnie Donegan (Dot DLP-3394, 1961) [containing different material from the preceding]
---- Lonnie Donegan: Talking Guitar Blues: The Very Best Of (Castle Music NEECD 325, 1999)
---- Lonnie Donegan: Rock Island Line: The Singles Anthology 1955-1967 (Castle Music CMETD 580, 2002)
---- Lonnie Donegan: [other anthologies and reissues]; listen to youtube.com video
---- The Gateway Singers: Puttin on the Style (Decca DL 8413, 1957)
---- listen to youtube.com video
---- listen to youtube.com video
---- listen to youtube.com video

Additional note
1. One standard source indicates that this single climbed as high as number eleven on the British charts. Donegan (1931-2002), known as "the King of Skiffle," was a top star in the U.K. at the time.