The Cuckoo

A traditional folk song that has travelled through many singers and versions, now joining the dark songbook.

Status: Traditional repertoire · working songbook
Writer / source: Traditional
Rights: Band-supplied working version of older repertoire. No separate copyright clearance is asserted.
Related Scrips recording: No Scrips recording linked yet.

Source research

Documented lineage

Earliest evidence: An older text appears in A Book of Nursery Songs and Rhymes (1895), edited by Sabine Baring-Gould; this does not establish the band’s version.
Aliases / index: The Cuckoo Is a Pretty Bird · Roud 413
Working arrangement: Key Am · Capo 0; Chorus opens the song, followed by breaks and verses with repeated chorus cues. Words and capitalization follow the supplied working sheet.

Evidence 01 Download full research note ↓

Lyrics + partial chord notes

Working song sheet

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Chorus
[Am]Oh, the cuckoo, she's a pretty bird
and [G]she warbles as she flies
[Am]She never gets lonesome
Till the [G]fourth day of [Am]July

Break

Verse 1
I've gambled in England
and I've gambled down in Spain
oh I gambled with five aces
now I've gambled my last game

Repeat Chorus

Break

Verse 2
Oh its gamblin thats brought me prison
and its gamblin that's brought me pain
ill never see the cuckoo or hear her song again

Repeat Chorus

Break

Verse 3
jack o diamonds jack o diamonds
i know you of old
you robbed my poor pockets
of silver and of gold

Repeat Chorus

Break

Archive note

The band-supplied sheet now includes the chorus and three verses, with break and chorus-repeat cues. Am/G chords are marked on the chorus only; verse chords have not been invented.

Chords

Am · G