One Night as I Lay on My Bed

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"One Night As I Lay On My Bed" (Roud 672) is a traditional English-language folk song.

Contents

Synopsis

A young woman lies in bed thinking of her lover. She hears him tapping at her window, asking to be allowed in. She warns him that her parents will hear them. He replies that they are sound asleep. She lets him in.

Commentary

The theme of the song is so common in the UK, USA and Canada that the phrase "Night-visiting song" has been coined to cover all possible versions. This category is so huge that even minor variations are classed as being a different song. "Cold Haily Windy Night" has the same story but takes place in the rain. It is Roud 135. "Blow The Candle Out" has the same story but has the discussion taking place inside the bed rather than outside the house. It is classed as Roud 368. In addition there is "The Grey Cock" (Child 248, Roud 179) where the couple are woken by a cock, and "I'm A Rover" (Roud 3135) where alcohol is a significant element.

Historical background

A fragment of a song in Johnson's "Scots Musical Museum" inspired Robert Burns to write a fuller version, published in 1803.

Cultural relationships

Romeo and Juliet is the best-known story to contain the theme of a secret sexual liaison.

Standard references

Broadsides

"Drowsy sleeper" in Bodleian 1817.

Textual variants

The song exists under the titles:

The tune for "Darlin' Corey" (Roud 5723) is similar to one of the tunes for "Drowsy Sleeper". Most versions concern a hard-drinking woman who is fond of moonshine, and avoids hard work. One version, as sung by The Kingston Trio, has the chorus "Wake up, wake up, darlin' Corey. What makes you sleep so sound? The revenue officer's a comin', gonna tear your still house down." This might possibly be a relic of its origins in the song "Who's that Knocking on My Window". It could be considered as a female version of "I'm A Rover".


Literature

The opening paragraphs of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights might have been inspired by the song, but in this case the lover is a ghost.


Television and movie references

Sung by Dick Dewey (James Murray) and the rest of the church choir to Fancy Day (Keeley Hawes) in Nicholas Laughland's adaptation of Thomas Hardy's "Under the Greenwood Tree", 2005.


Recordings

Album/SinglePerformerYearVariantNotes
Blue Sky Boys1938Katie Dear
Carter Family 1938Who's That Knocking On My Window
At the Cafe de Paris Marlene Dietrich 1954Go 'Way from my Window
Singing Family of the Cumberlands Jean Ritchie 1955Awake Awake Ye Drowsy sleeper
I Wander As I WanderJohn Jacob Niles1958Go 'Way From My Window
Hedy West Hedy West 1963Awake Awake
Old Love Songs and BalladsDillard Chandler1963Awake Awake
Four Strong WindsIan and Sylvia1963Katie Dear
Joan Baez 5 Joan Baez 1964Go 'Way From My Window
Early Morning RainIan and Sylvia1965Awake Ye Drowsy Sleeper
Manchester Angel Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger 1966One Night As I Lay On My Bed
Esther Ofarim Esther Ofarim 1968Go 'way from my window
Hark! The Village Wait Steeleye Span 1970One Night As I Lay On My Bed
Adieu To Old England Shirley Collins 1974One Night As I Lay On My Bed
Abyssinians June Tabor 1983One Night As I Lay On My Bed
The Rose in June Louis Killen 1989One Night As I Lay On My Bed
Voices in Harmony Swan Arcade Go From My window
Lady Diamond Bryony Griffith & Will Hampson 2011Arise, arise

Musical variants


References