When I began working in Philadelphia in my late teens, I learned that the music my family was singing was called “folk.” I don’t remember learning this song but I have a hunch I heard it there.
I’m a rambler, I’m a gambler;
I’m a long way from home.
And the people don’t like me,
They can leave me alone.
I’ll eat when I’m hungry,
Drink when I’m dry,
And the whiskey don’t kill me,
I’ll live ‘til I die.
If you go down to Canso,
Don’t go there for long,
For their dark eyes are pretty,
But their fingers are strong.
They’ll anchor your drifting
In their smiles and their thighs,
And their tresses will bind you,
And there’s gold in their eyes.
There’s changes in the ocean,
Changes in the sea,
There’s changes in my true love;
There’s no change in me.
I’m a rambler, I’m a gambler;
I’m a long way from home.
And the people don’t like me,
They can leave me alone.