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Just twenty years ago today, I held my mother's hand,
As she kissed and blessed her only son, going to a foreign land;
The neighbours took me from her breast and told her I must go,
But I could hear my mother's words, though they were faint and low.
Goodbye, Johnny dear, when you're far away,
Don't forget your dear old mother far across the sea;
Write a letter now and then and send her all you can,
And don't forget where e'er you roam that you're an Irishman.
I sailed away from Queenstown, that is the Cove of Cork,
A very pleasant voyage we had and soon were in New York;
My friends came to meet me there and work I got next day,
But through all this hospitality I could hear my mother say.
Goodbye, Johnny dear, when you're far away,
Don't forget your dear old mother far across the sea;
Write a letter now and then and send her all you can,
And don't forget where e'er you roam that you're an Irishman.
One day a letter came to me, it came from Ireland,
The postmark showed it came from home, it was not my mother's hand;
'Twas father who had wrote to say that she had passed away,
And just as if from Heaven above I could hear my mother say.
Goodbye, Johnny dear, when you're far away,
Don't forget your dear old mother far across the sea;
Write a letter now and then and send her all you can,
And don't forget where e'er you roam that you're an Irishman.
This variant was recorded by soprano singer Carol Brothers, who starred on the CBC Television program All Around The Circle, a half-hour musical variety series (1967-1979) produced in St. John's and occasionally other parts of Newfoundland (When Irish Eyes Are Smiling, trk#3, 1969, Paragon Records, Toronto, ON).
The Youtube video above features a cover recording by Declan Nerney (In The Beginning — A Picture Of My World, trk#2, 2008).
From Wikipedia:
Declan Nerney — Irish singer of country and Irish genre. Born in the town of Drumlish in County Longford, he started at the age of 16 in a local band the The Hi-Los. His big break came with his autobiographical song The Marquee in Drumlish. He has a huge following and charts on a regular basis not only in Ireland but in Scotland and England, and his recordings are sought worldwide. His work has extensive airplay on stations that feature the Country and Irish genre.
