Songfacts®:

• This song begins "When I was a young man I ran away from home, I went to join the circus..." According to the James Martin biography John Denver: Rocky Mountain Wonderboy, "Molly" is "A winsome, bittersweet ballad [which] uses the circus life as a metaphor for the predicament of every artist who must tour."
  
  Although Denver did not exactly run away and join the circus, he did flunk out of higher education, much to the consternation of his family, especially his test pilot father. And although "Molly" was recorded very early on in his career, later he did find himself in something of a predicament. His infidelities while touring far away from his wife Annie (for whom he wrote one of his most endearing songs) cost him his marriage. >>>

  Suggestion credit:
  Alexander Baron - London, England
• This was written and originally recorded by the comedian/songwriter Biff Rose in 1968.