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I Wish I Was Single Again

[ Roud 437 ; Ballad Index R365 ; GlosTrad Roud 437 ; Wiltshire 705 , 800 ; DT WISHSNGL ; Mudcat 81153 ; trad.]

Mary and Nigel Hudleston: Songs of the Ridings

George Townshend of Lewes, Sussex, sang I Wish I Were Single Again to Brian Mattews on 7 February 1960. This recording was included in 2012 on his expanded Musical Traditions CD rwissue, Come, Hand to Me the Glass. Brian Matthews and Rod Stradling noted:

Another music hall hit, written by James C Beckel in 1871. Surpisingly, there are 125 Roud instances of this song—though only 15 of them are English; the great majority come from the USA. Rather unusually, there are entries from Wales and New Zealand. Twenty sound recordings are known, but it looks as if an American one, by Dan Tate [see below] is the only other one available on CD.

Bob Davenport sang I Wish I Was Single Again in 1971 on his Trailer album Bob Davenport and the Marsden Rattlers.

Freda Palmer of Leafield, Oxfordshire, sang I Wish I Was Single Again to Mike Yates in 1974. This recording was included in 2015 on the Musical Traditions anthology of songs from the Mike Yates collection 19654-1878, I Wish There Was No Prisons, and in 2018 on Frda Palmer’s Musical Traditions anthology Leafield Lass. Mike Yates noted:

A well-known and frequently collected song, with 164 Roud entries, and one which seems to have once been especially popular in America. Freda’s song was popularised on the English Music Hall Stage by the singer Ernest Butcher (1885-1965), who called it I Married a Wife. Butcher’s final verse is omitted by Freda [see below].

Most commentators suggest that the song is based on another piece, When I Was Young (Roud 894), which more or less tells the same story, though from a woman’s point of view. This latter song was printed, c.1850, in the songster 120 Comic Songs sung by Sam Cowell and begins:

When I was a maid, O then, O then,
When I was a maid, O then,
As many bright stars as appear in the sky,
So many lovers were caught by my eye,
But I was a beauty then, O then,
But I was a beauty then.

Johnny Doughty sang When I Was Single Again at home in Brighton, Sussex, in summer 1976 to Mike Yates. This was included in 1977 on his Topic album of “traditional songs from the Sussex coast”, Round Rye Bay for More. Mike Yates noted:

Whilst this song of compounded marital error owes much to the Victorian Music Hall, the idea behind it is by no means new—one version, at least, appearing in The Westminster Drollery of 1672. The song is frequently met with today—a fact which possibly explains why so few collectors have bothered to note it down.

Shirley Collins sang I Wish I Was Single Again on the Albion Band’s 1977 album The Prospect Before Us. They noted:

The fast-growing recording industry of the 1930s had a considerable effect on the repertoires of many country singers and musicians. This version was first recorded on a Regal Zonophone 78 by the Irish singer and melodeon player, Frank Quinn, who emigrated to America to become Highway Patrolman Frank Quinn, and appears on several records with picture labels resplendent in his uniform astride a Harley Davidson. This version, unlike Patrolman Quinn’s, is not in waltz form, though the story line is from Quinn. It was gathered during a session with a pub pianist in Husbands Bosworth, Leicestershire.

Dan Tate of Fancy Gap, Virginia, sang The Devil’s Grandmother to Mike Yates on 10 August 1979. This recording was included in 2002 on the Musical Traditions anthology of songs from Yates’ Appalachian collections, Far in the Mountains Volume 1. Mike Yates and Rod Stradling noted:

Common in Britain, where it is usually called I Wish I Was Single Again, it was in the repertoire of Johnny Doughty among others. The song’s popularity is probably due to its frequent appearance on the Victorian stage and, in America, the minstrel show, although it is also known from a version that appeared in The Westminster Drollery of 1672.

Another version, sung by Leonard Emanuel, is available on Hollerin’ (Rounder CD 0071, 1976), although earlier recordings by Vernon Dalhart and Riley Puckett do not appear to be currently available on CD.

Sisters Unlimited (Janet Russell, Peta Webb, Sandra Kerr and Rosie Davis) sang When I Was Single in 1991 on their Harbourtown album No Limits.

Lyrics

George Townshend sings I Wish I Were Single Again

When I was a single young man,
When I was a single young man,
When I was single my pockets would jingle,
I wish I was single again.
Oh again, again and again,
Oh again, again and again
When I was single my pockets would jingle,
I wish I was single again.

I married a wife, oh then, oh then,
I married a wife, oh then,
I married a wife, the plague of me life,
And I wish I was single again.
Oh again, again and again,
Again, again and again,
I married a wife, the plague of me life,
And I wish I was single again.

My wife she died, oh then, oh then,
My wife she died, oh then,
My wife she died, I laughed ’til I cried,
I knew I was single again.
Oh again, again and again,
Again, again and again,
My wife she died, I laughed ’til I cried,
I knew I was single again.

I went to the funeral, oh then, oh then,
I went to the funeral, oh then,
Sweet music did play, and I danced all the way
For I knew I was single again.
Oh again, again and again,
Again, again and again,
Sweet music did play, and I danced all the way
For I knew I was single again.

I married another, oh then, oh then,
I married another, oh then,
I married another far worse than the other
And I wish I was single again.
Oh again, again and again,
Again, again and again,
I married another far worse than the other
And I wish I was single again.

Now come all you single young men, young men, Come all you single young men, Be kind to your first, You’ll find your second worse And you’ll wish yourself single again Oh again, again and again Again, again and again Be kind to your first, You’ll find your second worse And you’ll wish yourself single again.

Freda Palmer sings I Wish I Was Single Again

When I was a young man, oh then, oh then, oh then,
When I was a young man, oh then.
I’d a horse to ride upon and a sword beside my side
And money in my pocket to spend, spend, spend.

Chorus:
Again and again and again,
Again and again and again,
For when I was single
My pockets they jingled,m
Oh I wish I was single again,
I was glad I was single again.

I married my wife, oh then, oh then,
I married my wife, oh then,
I married my wife, she was the plague of my life,
Oh I wish I was single again.

My wife she did die, oh then, oh then,,
My wife she did die, oh then.
My wife she did die and I laughed till I cried
For I was glad I was single again.

I followed her to the churchyard, oh then, oh then,
I followed her to the churchyard, oh then.
The band of music played and I danced all the way
For I was glad I was single again.

As I was a-coming back, oh then, oh then,
As I was a-coming back, oh then.
As I was a-coming back I met another lass
And I was glad I was single again.

I married the other, oh then, oh then,
I married the other, oh then.
I married the other, she was a damn sight worse than t’other,
And I wish I was single again.

[Ernest Butcher’s final verse:
Young men who have wives, oh then,
Young men who have wives, oh then.
Be kind to the first, for the next may be worse
And you’ll long for the first one again.]

Johnny Doughty sings When I Was Single Again

I married a wife, oh then,
I married a wife, oh then.
I married a wife was the pride of me life
But I wished I was single again.
Again and again and again,
Again and again and again,
I married a wife, was the pride of me life
But I wished I was single again.

My wife she died, oh then,
My wife she died, oh then.
My wife she died and I laughed till I cried
For I knew I was single again
Again and again and again,
Again and again and again,
My wife she died and I laughed till I cried
For I knew I was single again.

I married another, oh then,
I married another, oh then.
I married another far worse than the other,
I longed to be single again.
Again and again and again,
Again and again and again,
I married another far worse than the other,
I longed to be single again.

Dan Tate sings The Devil’s Grandmother

Oh, I married me a wife, oh then (×3)
She’s the joy of my life and I wish I was single again.

My wife taken sick, oh then (×3)
And the fever being quick and I wish I was single again.

My wife she died, oh then (×3)
And I laughed till I cried, and now I’m single again.

(Oh) I married me another, oh then (×3)
The Devil’s grandmother and I wish I was single again.

She bought her a rope, oh then (×3)
And she swung me up, but I wish I was single again.

My heart did ache, oh then (×3)
And the rope it did break and now I’m single again.

Repeats verses 2 and 3.

Spoken: It’s all there, I tell you.