Trad.
Recorded on the Minnesota Party Tape (Sept. 1960)
Tabbed by Eyolf Østrem
Capo 1st fret (sounding key Bb major)
The chords vary slightly from verse to verse, but the below is the main pattern.
Chords:
Bm7 x24232 C#m7 x46454
A . Bm7 . C#m7 . Bm7 .
A Bm7 C#m7 Bm7 A Bm7 C#m7 Bm7
I wish I was a red rosey bush
D E7 A Bm7 C#m7 Bm7
By the banks of the sea
D E7 A Bm7
And every time my true love passed
C#m7 Bm7 A Bm7 C#m7 Bm7
She'd take a rose from me
I wish I had a little white box *) I put her in and I'd take her out, and kiss her, then I'd put her back again
I wish I was in some dark hollow Where the sun don't ever shine for If my true love belongs to another I know she'd never be mine.
I wish I was a red rosey bush By the banks of the sea And every time my true love passed She'd pick a rose from me
*) At least that's what I hear. Another version of the text has:
I wish I had a golden box To keep my true love in I'd take her out, and I'd kiss her twice Then I'd put her back again