Songs about singing

Subject: RE: Songs about singing
From: Hrothgar
Date: 22 Jun 04 - 06:47 AM

Unison in Harmony - Jim Boyes

Subject: RE: Songs about singing
From: GUEST,Hugh Jampton
Date: 22 Jun 04 - 06:43 AM

"I`ve got a handful of songs to sing you"----- Tommy Steele

Subject: RE: Songs about singing
From: Dave Bryant
Date: 22 Jun 04 - 06:16 AM

I'd already suggested that.

Subject: Lyr Add: WHEN ALL MEN SING (Andy Barnes)
From: Gervase
Date: 22 Jun 04 - 05:13 AM

There's also Andy Barnes' "When All Men Sing" - guaranteed to shake the plaster from the wall:

WHEN ALL MEN SING

When snow transforms the hedgerow thorn,
And frost engilds the berry.
Good men and true the firelogs hew,
And in the inns make merry.
When singing all as with one voice,
It seems the very walls rejoice
And merriment about does spring;
When all men sing.
        Let every man so pitch his song,
        To help his neighbour sing along.
        To each and all contentment bring,
        When all men sing.

When lambs are seen and trees spring green,
Come forth in bloom the daisies.
For winter's end our thanks we'll send
At Easter-time sing praises
Then with a will, yea one accord.
We'll raise our voices to the Lord,
And praise above our heavenly King,
When all men sing.

When in the fields his scythe he wields,
Then hear his summer sound,
As man and boy their lungs employ.
The songs they echo round,
Rebound from hill and roof and spire;
Starting lowly, building higher,
So surely then his scythe will swing,
When all men sing.

When leaves they fall from elm tree tall,
Then every back must bend,
As young and old, with courage bold,
Their efforts they expend,
Ensuring autumn's gifts are stored
Afore cold winter winds is blowed.
Then comes and end to foraging,
When all men sing.

Here's songs in season every year,
Some voices sweet with others strong,
Gently round ascending;
With harmonies a-blending.
In unison pours forth the song,
Uplifting beams of inn or hall
And shaking plaster from the wall,
When all men sing.

Subject: RE: Songs about singing
From: Dave Bryant
Date: 22 Jun 04 - 05:09 AM

Incidently, I've only just noticed that there seems to be a verse missing from the DT version of "The Minstrel". It is the penultimate one, and from memory goes something like:

I sang my song in mill and coal-pit,
My voice all hoarse from dust and fumes.
I took my tune from the factory siren,
I found my rhythm in the looms.
But whether anybody listened,
Or paid attention, I couldn't say.
For I couldn't stand the smoke and the chimneys,
So I packed my bags and moved away.

Subject: RE: Songs about singing
From: Dave Bryant
Date: 22 Jun 04 - 05:01 AM

My most obvious choice would be When All Men Sing.

There is this wonderful song by Graham Pratt (probably best known for "The Black Fox") The Minstrel about the different type of songs through history: War, Love, Bawdy, Protest, Industrial etc.

DonMeixner: - I'm not sure that "The Merryman and his Maid" (it's actually a duet with Elsie Maynard) is really about singing - it's a song about a rejected lover who wins his love in the end - which of course Point singularly fails to do in the opera. I must admit to having sung it several times in folk clubs though - as well as on stage.

Subject: RE: Songs about singing
From: Long Firm Freddie
Date: 22 Jun 04 - 02:26 AM

"Sing, sing a song
Sing out loud
Sing out strong
Sing of good things not bad
Sing of happy not sad"

Etc ad nauseam!

LFF

Subject: RE: Songs about singing
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 22 Jun 04 - 02:19 AM

THE MAID ON THE SHORE:
She sat herself down in the stern of the ship
Her voice was so fair and so clear-o
She sang them so sweet, so neat and complete
She sang captain and sailors to sleep."

A SONG FOR EACH DRINK:
Come all you jolly fellows and join us in song,
Let thunderous harmony sound.
For if men can still sing then the world's not so wrong,
And the rafters will ring in a round.
But a man cannot sing if he's troubled at heart,
As melodies over you steal,
So bring us a drink and we'll each sing our part,
And our voices with clarity peel.

WONDROUS LOVE:
To God and to the Lamb I will sing, I will sing, etc.
To God and to the Lamb, who is the great I AM
While millions join the theme, I will sing, I will sing, etc.

And when from death I'm free, I'll sing on, I'll sing on, etc.
And when from death I'm free, I'll sing and joyful be,
And through eternity I'll sing on, I'll sing on, etc.

also Worried Man Blues

Lots more passing references, as in a calling-on verse (Now come all you jovial fellows, come listen to my song It is a little ditty and it won't detain you long), or concluding verse (Well now my song is ended I've got no more to say So give us another pint of beer and we'll all of us go away).

~ Becky in Tucson

Subject: RE: Songs about singing
From: Little Robyn
Date: 22 Jun 04 - 01:57 AM

"They don't write 'em like that any more."

Subject: RE: Songs about singing
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 22 Jun 04 - 01:40 AM

Tickle Cove Pond:

When the bowline was fastened around the mare's breast,
William White for a shanty song made a request.
There was no time for thinking, no time for delay.
Straight from his head came this song right away.

LAST CHORUS :
Lay hold William Oldford, lay Hold William White,
Lay hold of the cordage and pull all your might,
Lay hold of the bowline and pull all you can,
And with that we brought Kit out of Tickle Cove Pond.

Not strictly traditional: written by Mark Walker; but late 19th century...

(From this site)
Mark Walker was born in Tickle Cove, Bonavista Bay, the son of Marcus Walker of Ireland and Jane (Mackey) Walker of Bonavista, B.B. A boat builder by trade, Mark Walker became well known as a song writer and balladeer--his most famous ballad being "On Tickle Cove Pond". It has been said that he was able to write a song about any subject at any time. Sometime in the mid-1870's he moved from Tickle Cove B.B. to Sweet Bay, B.B.

(Also in the DT, without attribution: TICKLE COVE POND.)

~ Becky in Tucson

Subject: RE: Songs about singing
From: DonMeixner
Date: 21 Jun 04 - 11:32 PM

Jack Point's Song from The Yoeman of the Guard. "I have a song to sing Oh..."

Subject: RE: Songs about singing
From: GUEST,freda
Date: 21 Jun 04 - 10:45 PM

The People Have Songs

by Miguel Heatwole (Aussie folkie & choir conductor)

Subject: RE: Songs about singing
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 21 Jun 04 - 10:42 PM

How Can I Keep From Singing?

Jerry

Subject: Songs about singing
From:
Date: 21 Jun 04 - 09:54 PM

This evening I was listening to Padraigin Ni Ullachain and Len Graham's recording "When I was Young." When I came to the lyrics of
"I Once Had a Granny" (her music to Hugh Quinn's lyrics) I was struck by the lyrics

" I once had a granny
Of songs she had many
There ne'er will be any
Shall sing them so well

...

As she baked on a griddle
Her tongue like a fiddle
Lilted rum tum tiddlely um tum
And sweet songs as well"

And that got me to thinking (always dangerous): are there many traditional songs about singing? Among humans, I mean (leaving aside bird songs, like "The Singing Bird" or "The Nightingale"). To be honest I can't think of any. The one that comes immediately to mind for me is Tommy Makem's own composition, "Sing Me the Old Songs" with the chorus that declares

"Sing me the old songs of laughter and pleasure
Sing me the old songs of sorrow and pain
Sing from the heart, sing of love without measure
The good times, the bad times, the sunshine and rain"

That doesn't count for two reasons: one it isn't traditional, and more importantly it is really a song about nostalgia, not singing

So that is my question: do people know of good traditional songs about humans singing?

Chris Brennan
[e-mail]