Henry Lee - Ralph Stanley

Get down, get down, little Henry Lee

And stay all night with me

The very best lodging I can afford

Will be fare better’n thee

I can’t get down, and I won’t get down

And stay all night with thee

For the girl I have in that merry green land

I love far better’n thee

She leaned herself against a fence

Just for a kiss or two

With a little pen-knife held in her hand

She plugged him through and through

Come all you ladies in the town

A secret for me keep

With a diamond ring held on my hand

I never will forsake

Some take him by his lily-white hand

Some take him by his feet

We’ll throw him in this deep, deep well

More than one hundred feet

Lie there, lie there, loving Henry Lee

'Til the flesh drops from your bones

The girl you have in that merry green land

Still waits for your return

Fly down, fly down, you little bird

And alight on my right knee

Your cage will be of purest gold

In deed of property

I can’t fly down there, I won’t fly down

And alight on your right knee

A girl would murder her own true love

Would kill a little bird like me

If I had my bend and bow

My arrow and my string

I’d pierce a dart so nigh your heart

Your warble would be in vain

If you had your bend and bow

Your arrow and your string

I’d fly away to the merry green land

And tell what I have seen