Fare Thee Well (Dink's Song)

In the *Best Loved American Folk Songs* collection, John Lomax says he collected this song in 1904 from a woman identified only as "Dink", whom he met in a levee builders' camp on the Brazos river in Texas. He describes it as a variant of another song, "Careless Love", with which it shares several verses, and he writes,

>
> The one-line refrain, as Dink sang it in her soft lovely voice, gave the effect of a sobbing woman, deserted by her man. Dink's tune is really lost; what is left is only a shadow of the tender, tragic beauty of what she sang in the sordid, bleak surroundings of a Brazos Bottom levee camp.
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>

Though the the song shares floating verses and some common tropes with other pieces of the period, many collectors classify it as a separate song rather than a derived variation.

Though no official recording exists, the song is a perennial favorite on Longest Johns livestreams.

## Lyrics

These lyrics are based on the version performed by the Longest Johns in their livestreams, the original lyrics can be found here.

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> If I had wings like Noah's dove
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> I'd fly up the river to the one I love
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> {Chorus}
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> Fare thee well, oh honey
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> Fare thee well
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> I had a man who was long and tall
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> He moved his body like a cannon ball
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> {Chorus}
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> I remember one evening, in the pouring rain,
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> In my heart was an aching pain
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> {Chorus}
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> So sure as a bird, flying high above
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> Life ain't worth living without the one you love
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> {Chorus}
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> Fare thee well
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>
>

## Recordings

#### Streaming/Purchase

* Amazon Music
* Amazon Purchase
* Anghami
* Apple Music
* Deezer
* Spotify
* Tidal

#### Full Band Streams

* The Longest Johns Impromptu Singing Stream! (17 Nov 2018)
* The Longest Johns and Friends, February Edition (New donation system) (27 Feb 2019)
* The Longest Johns and Friends, March. w/Sam Brookes (22 Mar 2019)
* The Longest Johns Early Octobermas (2 Oct 2019)
* Spooktober Spectacular and Farewell to Anna Livestream (30 Oct 2019)
* Welcome to a New Decade with The Longest Johns (22 Jan 2020)
* The Longest Johns Save the Day! Or maybe just sing and chat... (29 Apr 2020)
* Welcome to the Live Stream, We've got Fun and Sings! (22 Jul 2020)
* 100k Subscriber Thank You Stream (19 Aug 2020)
* We Built This Stream(y) on Shant and Folk (11 Nov 2020)
* We're Going to Wellermania! (14 Apr 2021)
* Nice Stream Sundae (Wednesday) (1 Sep 2021)
* Be Stream And Not Heard (6 Oct 2021)
* Cadbury Stream Egg (13 Apr 2022)
* Strème de Menthe (27 Jul 2022)
* In Space No One Can Hear You Stream (19 Oct 2022)
* Sega Streamcast (15 Feb 20223)
* Stream Girls (27 Apr 2023)

#### Chill Streams

* The Longest Johns - Andy and JD sing some folk songs and shanties! (2 Jun 2018)
* Roll on up to Chilltown with Andy and JD (30 Mar 2020)
* JD & Andy Chilltime - 13/01/2020
* Welcome to the Chilldome! With Andy - 15/03/2020
* Welcome to the Chilldome! Playing mostly folk music... - 20/04/2020
* Roll on down to Chillbury Town with Andy & JD - 04/05/2020

#### Gaming Streams

* Sea of Thieves Tall Tales Marathon for Charity: Part 1 (24 Jun 2020)
* GHOST SHIP! And some singing I guess... - 19/06/2020
* Sea of Sings. Tonight we hit the high C's... - 10/07/2020
* Sea of Sings! Let's get boaty! - 20/07/2020
* Sea of Sings, Arena edition! w/ KHARITES\_ & xSHUMBAx - 24/08/2020
* Sea of Sings! with Captain\_Falcore! SHANT! - 2/11/2020
* A Stream! Ho! Stream away, we'll Sea of Thieves together, with Kharites - 04/06/2021
* Sloop, Sloop, a tasty Sloop, Sloop... Singing and Sailing Monday Style - 28/06/2021
* Ah For Just One Time, I would Sing and Sail in Sea of Thieves! - 23/08/2021

1. ↑ https://mudcat.org/Detail.CFM?messages\_\_Message\_ID=2044433