"Black Is the Color" (American Folk Song)

[Source: melody and chords from pages 197 and 206, Party II, The Southern Mountains and Backwoods, Lonesome Love Songs, No. 100, from "The Folk Songs of North America in the English Language" by Alan Lomax (Garden City, NY: Doubleday Dolphin Books, 1960, 1975).]

1. But black is the color of my true love's hair,
Her cheeks are like some rosy fair,
The prettiest eyes and tbe neatest hands,
I love the ground whereon she stands.

2. I love my love and well she knows,
I love the ground whereon she goes,
If you now more on earth I see,
I won't serve you as you have me.

3. The winter's past and the leaves are green,
The time is passed that we have seen,
But still I hope the time will come
When you and I shall be as one.

4. I go to the Clyde for to mourn and weep,
But satisfied I never could sleep,
I'll write you a letter in a few short lines,
I'll suffer death ten thousand times.

5. So farte you well, my own true love,
The time has passed, but I wish you well,
But still I hope the time will come
When you and I shall be as one.

6. I love my love and well she knows,
I love the ground whereon she goes,
The prettiest eyes and tbe neatest hands,
I love the ground whereon she stands.