Lead Sheets Free
Blow the Candles Out

Lead sheets free: "Blow the Candles Out" is an unforgettably beautiful folk song from England.

lead sheets free Blow the Candles Out sheet music

Please scroll down the page for the download links.

Being a folk song, you will encounter variations in the song lyrics.  

Sometimes the words are, "When I was apprenticed in LONDON..." and sometimes they are "When I was 'pprenticed in PLYMOUTH," as I have them here. The Kingston Trio in the video below says "PORTLAND:"

Yikes!  Where are the chord symbols?

Don't worry; the version below has chords notated above the music.  

I wanted to use the sheet above for my students, and decided NO CHORD SYMBOLS would be a good exercise.  They will need to figure out where the i, iv, and v chords will go (and also the III and VII chords, if they so choose).

Okay; below are the same lead sheets free, but with chord symbols added.

These are "safe bet" chords.  The minor V chord that coincides with the word "pain" could also be a major V chord - that is, A major instead of A minor.  Try it!  There is some additional drama with it.

Lead sheets for Blow the Candles Out, with chord symbols

Please scroll down the page for the download links.

Also, the VII chord, C major, can be substituted for the V chord, Am.  That is very common in minor English tunes, going down a step from the main chord to use the chord built on the seventh step of the scale.

There are a lot of verses with this song.  Why have I only included the first verse?

I will be frank with you. 

The lyrics are too darn suggestive for young kids, in my estimation.  This is a song about SEDUCTION, and it doesn't necessarily end well, depending on which version of the folk song lyrics you find. 

Of course, A HUGE AMOUNT of folk music is about that very topic - the used and abandoned maiden.  That isn't necessarily the case with this story, but there's too much detail for me.  Okay, I'm a prude, at least when it comes to my students.

I've searched and searched for alternate lyrics, to no avail... but the traditional ones are quite easy to find, if you are interested in singing all the verses.  I like the words the Kingston Trio uses... the story ends with, 

"...we went to see the parson, and she became my wife!" but I'm afraid those lyrics are surely copyrighted, so I can't place them here.

This is also not the last word on the melody notes... you will find other versions of this tune, more common than the one I have given you here. But in my opinion, this is the prettiest version.  The real difference comes at measure 12, the descending line in skips.

The video below features the same melody I have arranged here.  It is a performance of Blow the Candles Out sung by the St Paul's Concert Chorale:





The links for the lead sheets without chords:


Download Blow the Candles Out in Dm


Download Blow the Candles Out in Em



The links to the lead sheets that include chord symbols:


Download lead sheets free Blow the Candles Out in Dm, with chords


Download English folk song in Em, with chords

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About the Author

Dana Thynes

Hi, I'm Dana!  (Say that like "Anna".)  I'm the owner of Music-for-Music-Teachers.com, and a newer site, SingTheBibleStory.com.

Like some of you, I've been playing the piano since early childhood, and have added a few other instruments along the way, plus an interest in arranging and composing music.

You can find out more about me and the reason for this website at my About Me page.