Leilani watched it for the first time after almost a year and commented, for this song you should always have a slight cold, or find something to cry about shortly before (Sonja adds: So the audience gets how sad the text really is, as it’s usually sung like a happy song… Clementine drowns, and in a verse Leilani left out her dad commits suicide as he can’t get over the death of his child… but according to Wikipedia it is obvious that the song is in fact a tongue-in-cheek parody of a sad ballad.)
In a cavern, in a canyon,
Excavating for a mine,
Dwelt a miner, forty-niner,
And his daughter Clementine.
Refrain:
Oh my darling, oh my darling,
Oh my darling Clementine
You are lost and gone forever,
Dreadful sorry, Clementine.
2. Light she was, and like a fairy,
And her shoes were number nine,
Herring boxes without topses,
Sandals were for Clementine.
4. Drove she ducklings to the water
Ev’ry morning just at nine,
Hit her foot against a splinter,
Fell into the foaming brine.
5. Ruby lips above the water,
Blowing bubbles soft and fine,
But alas, I was no swimmer,
Neither was my Clementine.
11. How I missed her, how I missed her,
How I missed my Clementine,
Til I kissed her little sister,
And forgot my Clementine
She had started singing lessons just a month or so before the recital, and was asked to participate just 2 weeks before… and Clementine was one of the few long enough songs Leilani knew at that time.