“Oh, My Darling Clementine” (or simply “Clementine“) is a traditional American Western folk ballad, usually credited to Percy Montross (or Montrose) (1884), although it is sometimes credited to Barker Bradford.
Song lyrics to My Darling Clementine (1884), a classic Western song. Like many older songs, there are multiple versions
Oh my darling, oh my darling
Oh my darling, Clementine
You are lost and gone forever
Dreadful sorry, Clementine
In a cavern, in a canyon
Excavating for a mine
Dwelt a miner, forty-niner
And his daughter, Clementine
Oh my darling, oh my darling
Oh my darling, Clementine
You are lost and gone forever
Dreadful sorry, Clementine
Light she was and like a fairy
And her shoes were number nine
Herring boxes, without topses
Sandals were for Clementine
Oh my darling, oh my darling
Oh my darling, Clementine
You are lost and gone forever
Dreadful sorry, Clementine
Drove she ducklings to the water
Ev’ry morning just at nine
Hit her foot against a splinter
Fell into the foaming brine
Oh my darling, oh my darling
Oh my darling, Clementine
You are lost and gone forever
Dreadful sorry, Clementine
Ruby lips above the water
Blowing bubbles, soft and fine
But, alas, I was no swimmer
So I lost my Clementine
Oh my darling, oh my darling
Oh my darling, Clementine
You are lost and gone forever
Dreadful sorry, Clementine
How I missed her! How I missed her
How I missed my Clementine
But I kissed her little sister
I forgot my Clementine
Oh my darling, oh my darling
Oh my darling, Clementine
You are lost and gone forever
Dreadful sorry, Clementine
Media references to My Darling Clementine
Film
- The song plays during the opening credits for John Ford’s 1946 movie My Darling Clementine, with Henry Fonda as Wyatt Earp and Cathy Downs as a title character. It also runs as a background score all through the movie.
- In the 1952 MGM cartoon studio short film Magical Maestro the cartoon character Butch, as a canine opera singer named the Great Poochini, is transformed by a magician into a country singer who sings the main verse of the song.
- In the 1963 film Hud starring Paul Newman, the song is played prior to the start of a movie being watched by two characters, who join in on the singing.
- The 1990 film Back to the Future Part III
- Henry Casey (Scott Bairstow) briefly sings this song while he and White Fang sail across the river in the 1994 film White Fang 2: Myth of the White Wolf.
- In the 2004 film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, there are two references to the song (specifically its use by Huckleberry Hound): one at the beginning and one at the end, both regarding the name of Clementine (Kate Winslet). Joel (Jim Carrey) mentions the song to Clementine when they introduce themselves, and Clementine sings the chorus to Joel on a train to Montauk.
- In the 2022 movie Murder at Yellowstone City, gold prospector Robert Dunnigan (Zach McGowan) anachronistically sings the song as he makes his way home after celebrating striking gold, just before he is shot and murdered. This movie is set in 1881, three years before the song is dated (1884).
Television
- Sung by Leslie Uggams in Sing Out Sweet Land (1970)
- In 1986, the song was turned into an episode of the TV series Tall Tales & Legends entitled “My Darlin’ Clementine” with Shelley Duvall as Clementine and narration by Randy Newman.
- In the 2001 Columbo episode “Murder With Too Many Notes“, Lieutenant Columbo, played by Peter Falk, sings the first verse of the song along with Billy Connolly’s character Findlay Crawford. Columbo also sings the song in the 1978 episode “Make Me A Perfect Murder.
- A mangled rendition of “Darling Clementine” is Huckleberry Hound’s signature tune, sung in many episodes of the The Huckleberry Hound Show. But it often ends up as “Oh my darling what’s her name”.
- In the Season 5 M*A*S*H episode “Movie Tonight,” aired February 22, 1977, Colonel Potter, sings the lyrics, “In a cavern in a canyon excavating for a mine…” during the last scene of the episode while the crew is performing surgery on wounded soldiers. The rest of the crew joins in on a sing-along. The episode ends when they all sing the lyric, “Dreadful sorry, Clementine.” This occurs after the 4077th M*A*S*H views the 1946 John Ford classic film “My Darling Clementine“.
- On Star Trek:Voyager, Jeri Ryan and Robert Picardo sing a bit of the song while the Holo Doctor reprograms one of Seven of Nine’s Borg implants.