MAGGIE MAY

Questions?
Song Title
MAGGIE MAY
Writers
Whyton
Publisher
Essex Music Benelux B.V.
% Publisher Controls
100
Territory Controlled
Luxembourg
Themes/Keywords
1950's, Girl, Gold Digger, Heartbreak, Love, Pay, Roam, Sailor, Steal
Lyrics
I was paid off at the pool in the port of Liverpool,
Only three pounds ten a week, that was my pay,
I was rarin’ for to go but I soon spent all my dough,
On a girl by the name of Maggie May.

CHORUS
Oh! Maggie, Maggie May, why have you gone away,
And you said that we would never ever part.
Tho’ I roam from here to China, there’s not a girl that’s finer,
Even tho’ you broke an honest sailor’s heart.

How she wept and how she pleaded for some money that was needed
To make her poor sick mother well and strong.
I felt so broken hearted that with my pay I parted,
I never thought that I was doing wrong.

CHORUS

Then next day I went to call to take Maggie to a ball.
Oh the thought of it still makes my heart feel sore.
For the tears came to my eyes when I saw to my surprise,
That “gone away” was written on the door.

CHORUS

Alternative verses
The first time I saw Maggie she took my breath away,
She was cruising up and down in Cannon Place,
With a figure so divine and her voice so refined,
Being a sailor I gave chase.

Now in the morning I awoke, I was flat and stone broke,
No jacket, trousers, waistcoat did I find,
And when I asked her where, she said, “My very dear Sir,
They’re down in Kelly’s pawn shop, number nine.”

To that pawnshop I did go, no clothes there did I find,
The police, they took that girl away from me,
And the judge he guilty found her for robbing a homeward bounder,
She’ll never walk down Lime Street any more.

Recordings

Recording Artist Genre Mood Arrangement Era iTunes
THE VIPERS SKIFFLE GROUP Folk Happy, Upbeat Acoustic Guitar, Drums, Group Sing, Vocal 1950's Buy >

Disclaimer: Information on this page is intended for research purposes only. All information, including publisher, writer and split information is subject to change.
Please contact the appropriate performing rights organization to verify the information above.