My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean

For the Tony Sheridan recording, see My Bonnie.

"My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean" is a traditional Scottish folk song which remains popular in Western culture.

History

The origin of the song is unknown, though it is often suggested that the subject of the song may be Charles Edward Stuart (‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’). ^[1]

In 1881, under the duo of pseudonyms H.J. Fulmer and J.T. Wood, Charles E. Pratt published sheet music for "Bring Back My Bonnie To Me".^[2][3][4] Theodore Raph in his 1964 book American song treasury: 100 favorites, writes that people were requesting the song at sheet music stores in the 1870s, and Pratt was convinced to publish a version of it under the pseudonyms, and the song became a big hit, especially popular with college singing groups but also popular for all group singing situations.^[3]

Lyrics

My Bonnie lies over the ocean
My Bonnie lies over the sea
My Bonnie lies over the ocean
Oh, bring back my Bonnie to me
 
REFRAIN:
Bring back, bring back
Bring back my Bonnie to me, to me
Bring back, bring back
Bring back my Bonnie to me
 
Last night as I lay on my pillow
Last night as I lay on my bed
Last night as I lay on my pillow
I dreamt that my Bonnie was dead
 
REFRAIN
 
Oh blow the winds o'er the ocean
And blow the winds o'er the sea
Oh blow the winds o'er the ocean
And bring back my Bonnie to me
 
REFRAIN
 
The winds have blown over the ocean
The winds have blown over the sea
The winds have blown over the ocean
And brought back my Bonnie to me
 
REFRAIN

Parodies

Main article: Parodies of My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean

There are numerous variations and parodies of the song. Many of these are a result of the song being sung often to children and being a common campfire song for organisations such as the Boy Scouts.^[5] These campfire versions are occasionally accompanied by interactive movements, such as sitting down or standing up every time a word that begins with the letter "b" is sung.

In popular culture

• The Fleischer brothers filmed this song in DeForest Phonofilm, part of their Song Car-Tunes series, released 15 September 1925, and notable as the first film to use the ‘follow the bouncing ball’ technique.^[6][7]
• In The Beach Nut (October 16th, 1944), while surfing, Woody Woodpecker sings "My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean", albeit somewhat off-key.
• My Bunny Lies Over The Sea, a short ‘Bugs Bunny’ cartoon film whose title parodies the song, was released by Warner Brothers in 1948.^[8]
• A version of the song entitled just ‘My Bonnie’ was arranged and recorded during 1961 by Tony Sheridan with musical backing by The Beatles (at a time before they became famous and who were credited on the recording as the ‘Beat Brothers’).^[9]

References

1. ^ My Bonnie Lies ... !
2. ^ Burton, Jack. The blue book of Tin Pan Alley: a human interest encyclopedia of American popular music, Volume 1, p. 9, 47 (1965)
3. ^ ^{a b} Raph, Theodore. The American song treasury: 100 favorites, p. 201-03 (1964)
4. ^ Herder, Ronald. 500 best-loved song lyrics, p. 231 (1998)
5. ^ Campfire Song Book - Audience participation songs
6. ^ John Grant (2001). Masters of Animation. Watson–Guptill. ISBN 0823030415. http://books.google.com/books?id=fILQxHvuEHYC&pg=PA82&dq=famous-bouncing-ball. 
7. ^ IMDB entry
8. ^ Warner Brothers (1948) My Bunny Lies Over The Sea at the Internet Movie Database; Animation, Short, Comedy
9. ^ Everett, Walter (2001). The Beatles As Musicians: The Quarry Men through Rubber Soul. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195141054.