My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean

Song Facts:

• Genre: Folk


• Traditional Song


• Featured in: "Woody Woodpecker Goes to Camp"

Artist Info:

"My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean" remains such outstanding examples within the history, popularity, and fame of English traditional Scottish folk songs. It stands to reason that the song comes out of the 19th century, but it has been re-sung so many times over the years. This song is common in most children's musical programs. It is therefore remembered with its easy melodic, repetitive lyrics. The simplicity and nostalgic nature of the song have hence helped it achieve the status of remaining popularly in use over the years.

Annotations and Meaning:

My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean is a depressing song of parting and longing. The basically repetitive nature, particularly of the words, centers on constant longing over a much-beloved individual who is far away. The term "Bonnie," derived from the Scottish, means beautiful and shows that the beloved by the singer is cherished and missed.
The refrain "Bring back, bring back, oh bring back my Bonnie to me, to me," can be taken as a plea for the return of the beloved whose return, still a desire in the most emotional heart of the individual, knows both physical and emotional distance over the ocean. The ocean, which forms a barrier in the lyrics, symbolizes that there is a great distance, and the unbridgeable obstacles that separate a person from his desires or loved ones.