We heard Mary Black's beautiful treatment of this song and were immediately hooked - we just had to learn it. The original, as written by Ron Hynes, is somewhat different with more verses... but we used the lyrics from Mary Black's version as a starting point (and we even made some alterations of our own).

Listen to MP3 extract (Nov 2007) Listen to full song

Jimmy and Val

Sonny lives on a farm in a wide open space
Take off your shoes, stay out of the race
Lay down your head on a soft river bed
Sonny always remembers the words Momma says

Sonny, don't go away - I'm here all alone
Your daddy's a sailor, never comes home
Nights are so long, silence goes on
I'm feeling so tired and not very strong

Sonny works on the land, though he's barely a man
There's not much to do, but he does what he can
Sits by the window in his room by the stairs
Watching the waves rolling out beyond the pier

Sonny, don't go away - I'm here all alone
Your daddy's a sailor, never comes home
Nights are so long, silence goes on
I'm feeling so tired and not very strong

Many years have rolled on, Sonny's old and alone
His daddy, the sailor, never came home
Sometimes he wonders what his life might have been
Still, from the grave, Momma's voice haunts his dreams

Sonny, don't go away - I'm here all alone
Your daddy's a sailor, never comes home
Nights are so long, silence goes on
I'm feeling so tired and not very strong

Sonny, don't go away - I'm here all alone
Your daddy's a sailor, never comes home
Nights are so long, silence goes on
I'm feeling so tired and not very strong

Sonny, don't go away...