Scarlet Ribbons

Words & Music by Words & Music by Jack Segal & Evelyn Danzig
Recorded by Harry Belafonte, 1956


G        Am7    D7       G
I peeked in to say good night,

 Am7   D7        Am7     G
And I heard my child in prayer.

  G      Am7        D7     G
"And for me, some scarlet ribbons,

  Am7     D7     Am7     G
Scarlet ribbons for my hair."


 G      Am7       D7           G
All our town was closed and shuttered,

Am7       D7         Am7        G
All the streets were dark and bare;

G       Am7      D7       G
In our town, no scarlet ribbons,

Am7     D7      Am7      G
Scarlet ribbons for her hair.


Bridge 1:

   G        Am7       G7       C
Through the night my heart was aching;

 Em     B+      Em6      Am7   D7 
Just before the dawn was break-ing,


G        Am7     D7     G
I peeked in, and on her pillow,

    Am7    D7     Am7    G
In gay profusion lying there,

G     Am7     D7          G
I saw ribbons,  scarlet ribbons,

Am7      D7      Am7      G
Scarlet ribbons for her hair.


Bridge 2:

G     Am7    G7    C   Am7
If I live to be a hun-dred

Em     B+     Em6       Am7   D7
I will never know from where


G           Am7    D7          G
Came those ribbons,   scarlet ribbons,

Am7      D7     Am7 D9   G
Scarlet ribbons for her hair.

The lyric and guitar chord transcriptions on this site are the work of The Guitarguy and are intended for private study, research, or educational purposes only. Individual transcriptions are inspired by and and based upon the recorded versions cited, but are not necessarily exact replications of those recorded versions.