Uploaded September 2020 | Updated September 2026, 6 days ago
Day 184 of the American Songbag Stay-at-Home Series
The Traditional Ballad Index declares this is actually related to the song "Sweet Lulu" and not "Rye Whiskey".
Sandburg writes: "This song has a thousand verses, perhaps going back to the Scotch of the 17th century, we are told. It is the daddy, probably, of many of the Lulu songs. There is poetry, now wayward, now wild, in these stanzas, of moods like Robert Burns and like Provencal balladists of France. Usually singers keep to one tune throughout but I have heard singers make their independent variations with some stanzas. At its best it delivers a character and parts of a life story. "
Day 184 of the American Songbag Stay-at-Home Series
The Traditional Ballad Index declares this is actually related to the song "Sweet Lulu" and not "Rye Whiskey".
Sandburg writes: "This song has a thousand verses, perhaps going back to the Scotch of the 17th century, we are told. It is the daddy, probably, of many of the Lulu songs. There is poetry, now wayward, now wild, in these stanzas, of moods like Robert Burns and like Provencal balladists of France. Usually singers keep to one tune throughout but I have heard singers make their independent variations with some stanzas. At its best it delivers a character and parts of a life story. "
