It was first published as a song in 1866. The lyrics tell of
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the tragic love story of Maggie Clarke and George Johnson who,
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in the early 1860s, courted in Canada near Hamilton Ontario.
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They were married in 1864, but Maggie died less than a year
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later. Her husband immortalized their short life together in
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a poem which he published in a book of verse entitled 'Maple
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Leaves'. A young Englishman by the name of James Butterfield
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was so touched by the poem that he set it to music. Traces of
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the old mill can still be seen at Albions Falls near Hamilton.
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When You and I Were Young, Maggie
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Music by James Butterfield
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Lyrics by George Johnson
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Learn the story behind the song
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I wandered today to the hill, Maggie
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To watch the scene below
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The creek and the rusty old mill, Maggie
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Where we sat in the long, long ago.
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The green grove is gone from the hill, Maggie
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Where first the daisies sprung
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The old rusty mill is still, Maggie
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Since you and I were young.
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A city so silent and lone, Maggie
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Where the young and the gay and the best
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In polished white mansion of stone, Maggie
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Have each found a place of rest
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Is built where the birds used to play, Maggie
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And join in the songs that were sung
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For we sang just as gay as they, Maggie
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When you and I were young.
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They say I am feeble with age, Maggie
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My steps are less sprightly than then
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My face is a well written page, Maggie
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But time alone was the pen.
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They say we are aged and grey, Maggie
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As spray by the white breakers flung
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But to me you're as fair as you were, Maggie
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When you and I were young.
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And now we are aged and grey, Maggie
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The trials of life nearly done
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Let us sing of the days that are gone, Maggie
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When you and I were young.
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http://www.hpl.hamilton.on.ca/Collections/landmark/maggie.shtml
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When You and I Were Young, Maggie
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| Perry Como |
