Copyright notice; © 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 David Dodd
Chocolate sandwiches, roses [of?] wine
Red ripe persimmons, my sweet Clementine
I go on, I go on, I can't fill my cup
There's a hole in the bottom, the well has dried up
I run through the forest, I cut past the vine
Head through the thickets, many a time
Octave of voices, sweet voices belie
I live [left for?] for the comfort of cold Clementine
[The 20 Jan 1968 version is essentially the same as the 2 Feb one, but with the first verse
only. The 26 Jan 1969 version is rather different (this comes from Ihor Slabicky):]
Chopped olive sandwiches, roses and wine
Cold ripe persimmons, my sweet Clementine
There's a chill in the meadow, a bottomless time(?)
I go on, I go on, I can't fill my cup
There's a hole in the bottom, the spring has dried up
Just a thought for the moment, it never was mine
Just like a cat(?) ...
... who drew a portrait ... of a prettier time
I go on, I go on, ... going back many years
... rock canyons ... all broken with tears
Corruptible poise and bring me a tear
and ... me ...
... fields and voices ... sweet voices behind
I left for the comfort of cold Clementine
First performance: Saturday, January 20, 1968 at the Eureka Municipal Auditorium in Eureka, CA. It only appearead twice more in live performance. The version on the box set is from February 2, 1968.
In a canyon, in a cavern
Excavating for a mine
Lived a miner, forty-niner
And his daughter, Clementine
[Chorus]
Oh my darling, Oh my darling,
Oh my darling, Clementine,
Thou art lost and gone forever
Dreadful sorry, Clementine.
Light she was an like a feather,
And her shoes were number nine,
Herring boxes without topses,
Sandals were for Clementine.
Drove she ducklings to the water,
Every morning just at nine,
Stubbed her toe against a splinter,
Fell into the foamy brine.
Ruby lips above the water,
Blowing bubbles soft and fine,
Alas for her, I was no swimmer,
So I lost my Clementine.
It might be stretching the point, but there does seem to be some connection between the narrator of Hunter's lyric and the miner who lost his daughter among the cold rock canyons at the bottom of a cold spring.