Henry's Songbook

Sally free and easy, that should be her name
Sally free and easy, that should be her name
Took a sailor's loving for a nursery game

Oh the heart she gave me was not made of stone
Oh the heart she gave me was not made of stone
It was sweet and hollow like a honey comb

Think I'll wait till sunset, watch the ensign down
Think I'll wait till sunset, watch the ensign down
Then I'll take the tide wale to my burying ground

Sally free and easy, that should be her name
Sally free and easy, that should be her name
When my body's lifted think she'll die of shame

Sally free and easy

(as sung by The McCalmans)

[1979:] [This] song dating from 1958 and Tawney's most performed song - and frequently misinterpreted through lack of appreciation of precisely this point - is also based strongly on a tradition, that of the negro blues. Tawney himself has described the song as a 'full-blooded holler', which emphasises this element in the song - present not only in structure but in feeling. (Woods, Revival 113)