Trad Tuesday: The Water is Wide sung by the Indigo Girls, Jewel, and Sarah McLachlan

The Water is Wide is of Scottish origin and dates back to the 1600s. It is a very popular folk song and has been sung by many performers. The version here is sung by the Indigo Girls, Jewel, and Sarah McLachlan at one of their Lilith Fair appearances.

Lyrics:

The water is wide, I cannot get over

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 so deep as the love I'm in

I know not if I sink or swim

I leaned my back 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

I reached my finger into some soft bush

Thinking the fairest flower to find

I pricked my finger to the bone

And left the fairest flower behind

Oh love be handsome and love be kind

Gay as a jewel when first it is 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