Red Wing - sung by Jack Marti

Recently a man called me and asked if I could record this song for him, so he could give it to his wife for her birthday. Apparently they had been searching for a recording of the song for years, but couldn't find one anywhere. This intrigued me, as I was very familiar with the tune, but had never heard the words sung before. So I looked it up on You Tube to see if anyone had done a vocal arrangement of it. I could not find one. So I told him I would do it. And here it is!

There once was an Indian maid,
A shy little prairie maid,
Who sang a lay, a love song gay,
As on the plain she'd while away the day;

She loved a warrior bold,
This shy little maid of old,
But brave and gay, he rode one day
To battle far away.

Now, the moon shines tonight on pretty Red Wing
The breeze is sighing, the night bird's crying,
For afar 'neath his star her brave is sleeping,
While Red Wing's weeping her heart away.

She watched for him day and night,
She kept all the campfires bright,
And under the sky, each night she would lie,
And dream about his coming by and by;

But when all the braves returned,
The heart of Red Wing yearned,
For far, far away, her warrior gay,
Fell bravely in the fray.

Now, the moon shines tonight on pretty Red Wing
The breeze is sighing, the night bird's crying,
For afar 'neath his star her brave is sleeping,
While Red Wing's weeping her heart away.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Red
• Wing
• Indian
• maid
• folk
• song
• flatpicking
• guitar
• Taylor
• 810B
• Tyler
• Banjitar

[tipitou62]

this song is what note (tone)?



[JacksOldtimeMusic]

@tipitou62 I capoed it on the fourth fret and played it in G, which would technically be the key of B.

[Randidan]

P.S. ! I forgot to thank you for posting the lyrics... ...and I listened to a couple of other versions and discovered that at least one of my favorite old versions was only slightly slower than yours!! ~~that's what age & memory will do to you...Thanx again; I "fave'd" it...

[Randidan]

Thanx for doing such a gr8 job of this!! It could be a little slower, considering the subject matter and traditional treatments, but it's really nice to hear it in good sound [I'm used to the pre-1910 versions!!].

[fluffypope]

There's a good semi-serious version by Spike Jones. It's on his CD box set.

[Peggy91193]

Love this song! Thanks for sharing!

[barker131776]

Thank you so much. I'm 49 and my grandmother used to sing me this song when I was just a baby and a toddler.

[Pepelaputr]

I wore out a 45 rpm record of this song when I was a child in the 50's. I remember dancing on my Father's shoes to it. I cannot tell you who did the arrangement though. There is a reference on Wikipedia to it's composition in 1907 that includes a link to a cylinder recording from back then.

[SparklingSherry]

My grandmother used to sing this to me. Thank you!

[DieHardThunderhead96]

Who ever disliked this song is a troll XD I absolutely love this song!! It was also one of my great grandma's favorite songs to play on the fiddle :)

[mustiguan]

alright. thanks for posting.

[davensako]

This tune stirs memories and feelings from a simpler, kinder and quieter era... before freeways, billboards, television and neon. You heard tunes like this on the radio or at picnics in the park. Sweet, haunting, beautiful. Thank you.