goodnight Irene

goodnight Irene

A phrase used to show one's shock or dismay. "Goodnight Irene" is the title of a 1930s folk song by Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter. Primarily heard in US. Well, goodnight Irene—I never expected so many people to come to a party for me! Goodnight Irene—that was the last of our money, and we're close to running out of gas.
See also: goodnight
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • et tu, Brute?
  • Tu
  • good night
  • German goiter
  • goiter
  • belly
  • OMG
  • airing
  • air (one's) belly
  • air one’s belly
References in periodicals archive
"Goodnight Irene is always the final song before kick-off, although I am not sure of the history behind it."
Goodnight Irene.) - Brother Joe, Joe, Graham, Lisa and Families.
That was back in the early '50s with Goodnight Irene, composed by Lead Belly and sung by The Weavers, the folk group Pete formed.
In 1949 Seeger founded The Weavers with Lee Hays, Ronnie Gilbert, and Fred Hellerman, and the group's recordings of Lead Belly's "Goodnight Irene," as well as Woody Guthrie's "So Long (It's Been Good to Know Yuh)," quickly became folk standards.
Eric Clapton Old Sock THE 21st studio album from the guitar legend sees him try his hand at classics such as All Of Me, Born To Lose and Goodnight Irene and making them equally as dull as dishwater.
A "Well, when I heard Goodnight Irene by Leadbelly, the version with Sonny Terry on harmonica.
It ended, of course, in curfew confusion, leaving The Boss and the Beatle to saunter offstage, but not before a brief Goodnight Irene, audible only to those closest to the stage.
PORTAS Irene Goodnight Irene, see you in my dreams.
Add to the mix the Scottish Power Pipe Band and then when it was all singing, all dancing, Ry Cooder sang "Goodnight Irene" and the audience joined in.
The only minor disappointment was that the sign-off number before the inevitable encore, the classic Goodnight Irene, was cut short.
It sparked a rousing chorus of club song Goodnight Irene from the Rovers faithful, but this game was a long way from being put to bed.
Blustery winds, a cabbage-patch pitch and Goodnight Irene reverberating into the sunset all put the Gasheads in the mood for some laughing gas and the conditions were perfect for Rovers to complete a grand slam of Cup upsets over the weekend.
Country tunes features include Blue Moon of Kentucky, You Are My Sunshine, Send Me the Pillow That You Dream On, Goodnight Irene, Black Hills of Dakota, On Top of Old Smokey, Back Home Again, Have You Ever Been Lonely, and You're Cheatin' Heart.
The Weavers topped the pop charts with 'Goodnight Irene' in 1950, and the Kingston Trio with 'Tom Dooley' in 1958, and everybody (at least those in urban areas and universities) was learning the guitar or banjo and going to a hootenanny.
At the same time, folk music's progressive thinking is emphasized by the durability and relevance of such chestnuts as "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?," "This Land Is Your Land" and "Goodnight Irene," performed with all the vigor and immediacy of the original recordings (even Fred Hellerman's faultless falsetto remains intact on the oft-covered "Wimoweh").