The ToneWay® Project: helping people play music


East Virginia [core]

I was born in East Virginia
North Caro- 4 lina I did 1 go
There I 4 courted a fair young 1 maiden
And her 5 name I did not 1 know

Well her hair was dark in color
And her cheeks were rosy red
Upon her breast she wore white lilies
Where I longed to lay my head

In my heart, you are my darling
At my door, you're welcome in
At my gate, I'll always meet you
For you're the girl, I tried to win

I don't want your greenback dollar
I don't want your watch and chain
All I want is you my darling
Say you'll take me back again

The ocean's deep and I can't wade it
And I have no wings to fly
I'll just get some blue-eyed boatman
For to row me o'er the tide

I'll go back to East Virginia
North Carolina ain't my home
I'll go back to East Virginia
Leave old North Carolina alone

I'd rather be in some dark holler
Where the sun don't ever shine
Than for you to be another man's darling
When you promised to be mine

Well when I'm dead and in my coffin
With my feet turned toward the sun
Come and sit beside me darling
Come and think on the way you done

It’s on Strum Machine!

Play & sing along with East Virginia (or any song you type in) in any key, at any speed, with real instrument recordings. You have to see it to believe it.

Play this song on Strum Machine

Available in these books:

Get Started Plus: Core Songs Edition
100 songs and our acclaimed play-by-ear learning method.
Big Print Songs
Over 200 songs.
Family Tradition
The reference manual, with lyrics to 330 songs.
The first two books feature large-print lyrics (20-point type) and include chords, historical info, jamming hints, and more.

...and on these CDs:

Five CDs, 100 songs. Recordings from the Abbott family and their friends.
Listen to sample tracks.

The MP3 collection has all 100 songs on one CD for a discount. See details.


A song from the The ToneWay Mountain Music Collection, which offers lyrics and free Song Clips (recordings for learning the song by ear) for nearly 400 traditional songs, many of which are often heard in bluegrass and old-time jam circles. The ToneWay Project also offers songbooks, CDs, and a free online video series for learning to play music by ear. http://ToneWay.com