The Water is Wide – (Trad.) This English folk song describes the challenges of love. Although the words have been changed many times, we have chosen tonight to perform the traditional version of heartbreak.
Lyrics
The water is wide, I cannot get o’er
Neither have I wings to fly
Give me a boat that can carry two
And both shall row, my love and I
A ship there is, and she sails the sea
She’s loaded deep as deep can be
But not as deep as the love I'm in
I know not if I sink or swim
I leaned my back up against an oak
Thinking it was a trusty tree
But first it bent and then it broke
So did my love prove false to me
Oh love be handsome and love be kind
Gay as a jewel when first it's new
But love grows old and waxes cold
And fades away like the morning dew
Must I go bound while you go free
Must I love a man who doesn’t love me
Must I be born with so little art
As to love a man who’ll break my heart
When cockle shells turn silver bells
Then will my love come back to me
When roses bloom in winter’s gloom
Then will my love return to me