Aine's Mudcat Songbook PermaThread

Subject: SB: No Bullshit From You by Amos
From: Joe Offer
Date: 25 Oct 10 - 01:54 AM

No Bullshit From You by Amos

Amos' Comments:  Here's looking atcha, 'Spaw, me lad; some misbegotten muse who couldn't read a map showed up in my headbones this afternoon reciting the following, which it seemed to me should be dedicated to you (not at you, please understand!).

Spaw's Response:  Truly lovely there Amos.........Although I am confused about the bullshit stuff.  I'm honest and sincere, basically a shy guy who would never dare to offend and wouldn't say feces if he had a faceful.  I'm generally so kind and considerate that its embarrassing to watch me kowtow to the higher life forms that rule my life.  My every breath is so sweet, it smells like Carnation milk.  I wouldn't dream of provoking those around me with sarcastic and nasty references, just not in my makeup.  So I am a bit confused by any reference to me in terms of giving bullshit to anyone.  Amos, I want you to know and be assured that I mean it with all due humbleness and with deep respect when I say fockoffasshole, which I believe is a German word, although its meaning is unknown to me.  -- Spaw


I've sailed across the open seas, 
At least four out of seven, 
I worked down on the hard-luck strand 
Where fortune comes unleavened 
I've cracked my bones a'breaking rock 
In hopes of finding gold 
And I've lived the soft suburban style 
And slowly, I've grown old; 
So I'm looking out from many years 
And I guess I think it's true 
I will share your joy, and support your tears 
But I want no bullshit from you!

Chorus:
The trains come in, the trains go out 
We're all on the same damn ride 
And each of us knows exactly how 
The truth should be described 
And you may say it's pale mauve 
And I know damn well its blue 
So even though you have my love, 
I want no bullshit from you 

I have let you whine and cry and pout 
When that was what you wanted 
And I've shut my mouth when those about, 
Their ditzy feelings vaunted. 
When you were feeling put upon 
I'd help you from your maze 
And trim your sheets and tend your helm, 
And tighten down your stays; 
And I have not run the open seas 
As I would have loved to do; 
So darlin' pay attention please, 
I'll have no bullshit from you. 

I've watched you try the temples on 
And spout their mindless slogans 
And I helped you out when your life got stuck 
In that hippie's beaded hogan! 
And I'll always drive you home again 
If your path seems a dead end 
And I hope you know I always hope 
To be an honest friend; 
But I got to say, from my heart of hearts 
And you'd best believe its true 
Although I hope we never part, 
I want no bullshit from you.

Subject: SB: No Tomorrow For The Poor by Barry Finn
From: Joe Offer
Date: 25 Oct 10 - 01:56 AM

No Tomorrow For The Poor by Barry Finn

Tune: Virginia Lags, Traditional

Inside the ghettos dwells the greatest of crimes
Where kids with no hope are serving their time
Where they're shocked into feeling that life has no price
They live and they die no tomorrow

With no higher learning, no place they can turn
They see daily the wealth from crime they can earn
They're under the gun every time that they turn
And we ask why they have no values

Their language is foreign, their culture is strange
There's slight chance for survival outside of a gang
To get life from drugs beats the pain of no change
There's no light at the end of their tunnel

There's abuse of all kinds that runs rampage with rage
And the cycle runs deeper with each passing age
Until lock them away is all we can say
They've been locked away all of their young lives

We'll draw cheap labor from them that'll slave
And watch while we help the rest into the grave
Keep them from good health, good schools and good wage
And hope that there isn't a backlash

So now let us finish and shake hands with our fate
And don't be surprised when you're a victim of hate
What they've been robbed of, to you they'll relate
You'll be hunted as prey by your victim

Barry Finn 1997

Subject: SB: Now Comes The Time by Allan C.
From: Joe Offer
Date: 25 Oct 10 - 02:00 AM

Now Comes The Time by Allan C.

Now comes the time
Now comes the time
Now comes the time when we all have to say goodbye.

We'll meet again
We'll meet again
We'll meet again and feel the love we share tonight.

It's hard to find a way to say "I have to leave now." 
For a moment just like this won't come again.
But someday we'll be together and I know it won't be long
'Til our hearts will overflow with love once more.

Now comes the time
Now comes the time
Now comes the time when we all have to say goodbye.

We'll meet again
We'll meet again
We'll meet again and feel the love we share tonight.

We'll meet again and feel the love we share tonight.

© Allan C. Clark

Subject: SB: Now Honor Him by MMario
From: Joe Offer
Date: 25 Oct 10 - 02:01 AM

Now Honor Him by MMario

With All Thy Heart, With All Thy Mind 
With All Thou Art, Now Honor Him. 
With All Thy Mind, With All Thy Soul; 
For All Thou Art, Now Honor Him.

Composer of the Skies, He Taught Each Star to Sing 
The Music of The Spheres, to Make The Heavens Ring. 
Each Planet on its Course, Each Comet on its Way 
The Moon to Rule the Night, and the Sun to Rule the Day.

Sculptor of the World, Beneath the Heavens High 
The Waters Gather'd in, to Let the Earth Be Dry. 
The Mountains He Made Tall, Each Valley set With Care; 
Each Rock and Grain of Sand, To Make The World Be Faire.

With All Thy Heart, With All Thy Mind 
With All Thou Art, Now Honor Him. 
With All Thy Mind, With All Thy Soul; 
For All Thou Art, Now Honor Him.

First Gardener of All, With Care and Nurturing 
He Made Each Growing Thing, That Buds or Blooms in Spring. 
Each Lily of the Field, Each Fruit or Grain or Vine, 
Each Flower, Herb or Tree, Now Sprang Forth From His Mind.

Shepherd of All Flocks, on Earth, the Sea or Sky 
Each Creature Made to Be; That Creeps or Swims or Flies 
The Hunter and its Prey, The Grazers in the Field 
Each Sparrow and Pea-Cock, Each After Its Own Kind.

With All Thy Heart, With All Thy Mind 
With All Thou Art, Now Honor Him. 
With All Thy Mind, With All Thy Soul; 
For All Thou Art, Now Honor Him.

Father of Us All, He Made Us to His Plan 
And When We Went Astray, He Led Us by His Hand. 
He Sent His Son to Earth to Show Us All the Way; 
So We Might Live With Him, Fore'er and a Day.

With All Thy Heart, With All Thy Mind 
With All Thou Art, Now Honor Him. 
With All Thy Mind, With All Thy Soul; 
For All Thou Art, Now Honor Him.

Subject: SB: Now You're Not There by The Shambles
From: Joe Offer
Date: 25 Oct 10 - 02:02 AM

Now You're Not There by The Shambles


The Shambles' Comments:  This is a song for my mom, bless her.


The moon rose low in the sky,
Like a young eagle first trying to fly.
Before he climbs and is soaring way on high.

I don't like the rules to this game,
It's filling up my heart with pain.
Why can't things stay the same?

Don't cry, there's no surprise,
The sun has rose and set in your eyes.
Welcoming eyes now filled with tears of goodbye.

There are things I still wanted to share,
Life's empty, now you're not there.
Don't think I didn't care.

It's OK, it's just the way,
All living things fade and decay.
Sun follows moon, night follows day.

There are so many things left unsaid,
They echo around in my head.
I can speak them, now you are dead.

The moon rose low in the sky,
Like a young eagle first trying to fly.
Before he climbs and is soaring way on high.

Roger Gall 1995.

Subject: RE: Aine's Mudcat Songbook PermaThread
From: Joe Offer
Date: 25 Oct 10 - 02:03 AM

This is a place-holder - just in case I need space to add a missed song...

Subject: SB: O Elian by Praise
From: Joe Offer
Date: 29 Oct 10 - 01:49 AM

O Elian by Praise

O Elian, where are you, my child?
O Elian, where are you.... ?
Your childhood gone, swept beneath the sea,
Elian, can you forgive me?

O Elian, where are you, my child?
O Elian, where are you.... ?
Your face, a poster in every crowd,
Elian, your mama weeps aloud.

O Elian, where are you, my child?
O Elian, where are you.... ?
Your life belongs to a world gone mad
Elian, your mama is so sad.

O Elian, where are you, my child?
O Elian, where are you.... ?
O Elian, precious Elian,
Elian, can you forgive me?

Subject: SB: Off To The Sugarbush Again by Bill Cameron
From: Joe Offer
Date: 29 Oct 10 - 01:50 AM

Off To The Sugarbush Again by Bill Cameron ("Willie-O") & Gary Glover
Tune: Limejuice Tub (Australian)

Willie-O's Comments:  Well, I've written a couple of songs about maple syruping (which I presume is what you mean by "maple harvest"), a subject I have a lot of experience with.  Here's one which borrows a tune and most of a verse from the Australian shearing song "Lime Juice Tub."   (Kangaroos don't show up much in this part of the world, but Watson's Corners, (which I have spoken of before, see "Gigs from Hell" thread) got some minor fame some years ago when a guy swore up and down he'd seen a 'roo cross the road.  Got a lot of attention, but best guess is it was a combination of bad whiskey, bad vision and a deformed calf . . . )

 

(Chorus:)

Here in east Ontario, when the sap is running it's time to go,
So grab your buckets, get the tractor chains,
We're off to the sugarbush again
(Response: "Off to the sugarbush again.")

From the second rock back to Gruesome Gulch,
The sap ain't running very much.
Over in Quebec they say it flowed,
But not in east Ontario. (Not in east Ontario)

(Chorus)

It's home drinkin beer I'd rather be,
Than drilling holes in defenceless trees,
Humpin' buckets of sap for free
In mud and snow up to my knees
(Mud and snow up to my knees)

(Chorus)

Although we live beyond our means,
Our daughters wear no designer jeans
Nor are they bothered by fancy shoes
They're wild as Watson's kangaroos
(Watson's Corners kangaroos)

Our sugar shack is a relic fine,
You could say its past its prime
But if we stick a two by four in here
It might stand up for one more year.
(Might stand up...)

The pans all leak and they're full of scum
Sap pump's blown to kingdom come.
I've got an idea and I'll tell you it:
We'd be better off with a gravel pit.
(Better off with a gravel pit!)

Subject: SB: Oh, Damn It All by Morticia aka TerriM
From: Joe Offer
Date: 29 Oct 10 - 01:53 AM

Oh, Damn It All by Morticia aka TerriM
(Tune:  Danny Boy)

Oh damn it all, the pipes, the pipes are frozen
The plumber's here at half past twelve at night
To call him out is not what I'd have chosen
But it's ten below and I might get frostbite

And I can hear him cursing at the boiler
And I can feel cold water round my feet
I'd give my arm for just one cup of coffee
And both my legs, to feel a bit of heat

Oh damn it all, the pipes, the pipes are frozen
The plumbers gone and left me in the cold
He drew his breath over his teeth and said "Love,
I've never seen a boiler quite that old"

And then he said" What cowboy fitted this then?"
And then he charged me half my yearly pay
He said " The parts you need, well, they don't make 'em,
And I'll be back...a week on Saturday"

Oh damn it all, the pipes, the pipes are frozen
It's been ten days since I last had a bath
I swear I saw a penguin in the kitchen
And then the plumber came whistling up the path

Well I was cold, and wet and tired & tealess
I just saw red, a hammer came to hand
That's my defence, Your Honour, he provoked me.
She let me off and shook me by the hand.

Subject: SB: Old Glory Sails by Barry Finn
From: Joe Offer
Date: 29 Oct 10 - 01:54 AM

Old Glory Sails by Barry Finn
Tune: Empty Nets by Jim Payne

She's a three masted frigate with an entrance real fine,
A 54 gunner and well laid out in style.
She's been bruised, but not broken, scarred and well worn,
She's the oldest still serving and her back is still strong.

Chorus: And all the young nation hopes that her glory won't pale,
And she'll say in the service under full sail.

With the Barbary Pirates off of Tripoli's coast,
It was a battle fought fiercely and few lives she lost.
Like rolling thunder a broadside she poured,
Sending enemy ships to the ocean floor.

Chorus:

Off New Jersey she was sited by King George's fleet,
With no wind and alone she turned in retreat.
For two days and three nights the crew towed her o'r the shoals,
With brilliance and fresh wind she out distanced five foes.

Chorus:

At 14 knots she was fast for her time,
She out sailed most of the Ships Of The Line.
In battle the cannonballs bounced off her side,
Off Halifax she was christened with the name Ironsides.

Chorus:

The Guerriere she met with her 48 guns,
Within an hour her masts and her rigging were gone.
Like the Pitcairn and the Java who'd not be taken in tow,
They were all left for the waves to wash over their bows.

Chorus:

Never holed or dismasted by an unfriendly gun,
Two centuries of service and she stood every storm.
Now with new copper sheathing, planking, decking and frames,
In her glory she'll sail as the fleet's pride once again.

Chorus:

Barry Finn 1997

Subject: SB: Old Wives Tales by The Shambles
From: Joe Offer
Date: 29 Oct 10 - 01:57 AM

Old Wives Tales by The Shambles

The Shambles' Comments:  The following song is almost entirely (and intentionally) composed of proverbs, platitudes and clichés. Parents have, pretty much, to rely on these only, as the accumulated wisdom of humankind, in any formal way, does not appear to be directed to the business of producing, rearing and educating our children. Education is for passing on knowledge on far more important subjects You do need a licence to drive a car or keep certain types animals but practically anyone has the right to produce children.


You've gone and spoilt it for yourself
Look a gift horse in the mouth
You put your big foot in it
When you open your *north and south
You know the value of nothing
The price of everything
Know when it's going for a song
But not what makes you sing

Well where there's a will
Well, there's a way
Tomorrow is another day
But, if tomorrow never comes
It won't matter much anyway
You're only young once you know
You reap what you sow
The devil makes work for idle hands
Easy come and easy go

When wise words fail, try old wives tales
Try old wives tales, when wise words fail

Well, look at how you've grown
Soon have children of your own
Staying out until late at night
Talking on your telephone
The things you hear yourself say
"It wasn't like it in my day" 
Just use those words and proverbs
What's wrong with an old cliché? 
If you repeat it one more time
Maybe, the ball will cross the line? 
You win the game, set and match
Everything will turn out fine
This life is full of surprises
You won't win many prizes
There's plenty of sunsets
But the sun it also rises

When wise words fail, try old wives tales
Try old wives tales, when wise words fail

*North and south, is cockney rhyming slang. for mouth.

Roger Gall 1997

Subject: SB: The Once and Future Ken (McGrath of Harlow)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 29 Oct 10 - 01:59 AM

The Once and Future Ken by McGrath of Harlow

McGrath's Comments:  Bear with me a little, Americans and others - this is a song about a little local affair in England, the somewhat shambolic election campaign for a Mayor of London.  (I think this is the only time I've ever written a supportive song about a politician, in this case Ken Livingstone.  Only slightly tongue in cheek.  (Oh yes - a "wen" (in the last verse below) is "an indolent tumour esp. on the scalp or neck."  (Incidentally, William Cobbett referred to London as "the Great Wen", which makes it an insult with literary and historical connections, and some relevance for a would-be mayor of London.)   This is unusual for me in being a political song but not a "finger-pointing" song.  Well, it is so far as Tony Blair is involved, I suppose, but he's peripheral to Ken Livingstone in this one.  (I reckon that's why he's so against him, rather than anything political.  He hates getting upstaged.)   Why do I like Ken Livingstone?  Well, for one thing, any politician who goes to his political wake dressed up in a Red Devil suit is ok by me, and that's what Ken did when the GLC was abolished - up there on the stage in the park next to County Hall at the farewell celebration.  Hank Wangford wrote a song in which GLC stood for "Good Loud Country".  Roll on the Restoration - we should get some good concerts out of it.  If you click here you can get the version on my website with chords.  If anyone would like to sing it and wants the tune, send me a personal message with your email address, and I'll sing it in to a file, and send it as an email attachment.


"Oh the Once and Future Ken, 
He keeps coming back again - 
He's a rascal and a scamp", 
Says the Man at Number Ten, 
"He's a devil, and he's red 
I know he hides beneath my bed, 
Don't go voting for that crank, 
But for the Once and Future Frank." 

Chorus:
Oh Tony , Tony, Tony, 
I think you must be wrong 
For Ken's the man for London 
And he has been all along. (bis)

"Oh the Once and Future Frank, 
He is solid as a plank, 
he's got whiskers on his chin, 
A Santa Claus who'd run a bank, 
And he's worth his weight in gold, 
he's sure to do just what he's s told, 
Unlike that devil among men, 
The Once and Future Ken." 
Oh Tony , Tony, Tony...

"But the Once and Future Ken, 
He is all things to all men. 
That man is my despair," 
Says the Man at Number Ten. 
"When they sold off County Hall 
They should have sold him off and all - 
He keeps getting in my hair" 
Says the Once and Future Blair.

(Chorus) Oh Tony , Tony, Tony...

Oh the Once and Future Blair 
He says "It really isn't fair. 
He keeps coming back again -, 
oh I wish he wasn't there. 
He's a pestilential newt, 
Thomas Becket in a suit 
Will no one rid me of this wen, 
The Once and Future Ken?" 
Oh Tony , Tony, Tony... 

Oh the Once and Future Ken, 
he is on his way again. 
Old Mrs T and Tony B 
They tried to sink him in the Thames 
And they thought that he would drown, 
But they could never keep him down. 
And now old London will be free 
With the Once and Future GLC.

(Chorus) Oh Tony , Tony, Tony, 
I think you must be wrong 
For Ken's the man for London 
And he has been all along. (bis) 

And when we are together, 
it's that which makes us strong - 
and Ken's the man for London 
and we knew it all along 
And when we are together, 
it's that which makes us strong, 
and Ken's the man for London 
and we knew it all along.

Kevin McGrath (2000)

Subject: SB: Only In America? by McGrath of Harlow
From: Joe Offer
Date: 29 Oct 10 - 02:03 AM

Only In America? by McGrath of Harlow

McGrath's Comments:  I put this on another thread. I think we ought to carry on our disputes in song sometimes . . . No names in this song - that's not what it's about. This song is about the people who had their votes stolen, not about the man who may have benefited by the theft, or the man who may have lost out... (This'd fit to all kinds of tunes - Villikins and his Dinah/Betsy from Pike, 1913 Massacre; I've got a tune for it, but I can't put a name to it yet. Sounds familiar.)

Chorus:

They were dimpled and pimpled and simple and clear,
They were somebody voting for someone's idea.
And they should have been counted, but that wouldn't do -
For somebody stopped it, 'cos he thought he might lose.

When the year of elections came round in it's time
That big politician, oh his words were so fine,
He said "Trust the people", and "Count every vote"
But the words that he said, it's in water they're wrote.

When the voting was done with and the counting came on,
Before it was over, he said "I'm the one",
For on the first count he came in by a nose,
And he said, "Now it's finished, let the counting be closed."

But there's thousands and thousands of votes thrown away,
By the worn out machines that have long had their day,
And when they were counted the votes they were true -
But the man who was winning said they wouldn't do.

Chorus:
They were dimpled and pimpled and simple and clear,
They were somebody voting for someone's idea.
And they should have been counted, but that wouldn't do -
For somebody stopped it, 'cos he thought he might lose.

And he stood like a stone, with his head in the sand,
And the battle was waged in the courts of the land
And the counting was halted, and his friends did their stuff,
And the votes lying waiting - well they weren't good enough. 

Chorus:
They were dimpled and pimpled and simple and clear,
They were somebody voting for someone's idea.
And they should have been counted, but that wouldn't do -
For somebody stopped it, 'cos he thought he might lose.

And somebody said "Well at least now it's done",
And someone conceded, though maybe he had won,
And somebody lives in a House on the Hill-
But the votes that weren't counted are haunting him still.

Chorus:
They were dimpled and pimpled and simple and clear,
They were somebody voting for someone's idea.
And they should have been counted, but that wouldn't do -
For somebody stopped it, 'cos he thought he might lose.

Subject: SB: The Shannon Knows by Matthew Richards
From: Joe Offer
Date: 29 Oct 10 - 02:04 AM

Only The Shannon Knows
words & music by Matthew Richards

Based somewhat on a real-life experience.   --Mbo


Prologue:

When I was but a young man, nineteen years old or so
I met the first and only love that I would ever know
The feeling, yes, it laid me low--Oh, it seems so long ago...
And only the Shannon knows
Only the Shannon knows

1.) I saw her in the field one day, at potato digging time,
I'd taken up a job there, for the whole harvest time;
And when she turned her face to me, her long brown hair unfurled,
I saw a beauty that ne'er again will be seen upon this world
Everyday that girl was there, and as I watched here more,
I felt the grip of love on me, which I'd never felt before;
And as the days passed quickly by, the deeper in I fell,
And exactly where it'd take me in the future, none could tell.

Chorus:
That riverland it rolled and flowed, down to the waterside,
As the autumn of my dreams rolled in, and then ebbed like the tide;
Her bonny face still haunts me so--Oh, it seems so long ago...
And only the Shannon knows
Only the Shannon knows

2.) I never knew her name, until one day by chance,
I saw it on a workers list, upon which I had glanced;
And when I had learned it, it was like music to my mind,
And the beauty of it greatly justified who it described.
I asked some folks about her, from round about those lands,
They said she'd 'been in trouble' and had a baby on her hands;
"A baby isn't trouble!" I said, and be it as it might,
A baby is a miracle in any sort of light.

3.) It wasn't really perfect, thought--for it seemed she did not see
The boy who loved her from afar, and adored her quietly;
But one day I flashed a smile at her, and she returned it back to me,
Our eyes me for a moment, then she turned and walked away.
So I thought that I should ask her to a ceilidh in the town,
With dancing, fiddles, pipes, and more, and cider all around;
But when I went to ask her, a tear fell from my eye,
For I saw my bonny lassie in the arms of another boy.

Subject: The Only Time That Matters Is Now (The Shambles)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 29 Oct 10 - 02:06 AM

The Only Time That Matters Is Now by The Shambles


The Shambles' Comments:  This song is about the place where adolescents go, or where they want to be. It’s usually
only just behind a closed bedroom door, but it may as well be on another planet.


My feelings, every day are torn,
My thanks, like a badge to be worn.
Don’t expect my gratitude
My attitude?
I didn’t ask to be born
Horizons, you always will see clear,
Doubts here, you’ll never find
Music is always played loud here
We’re proud here with nothing to prove

On opinions, I‘ve been force-fed
Your thoughts, spin in my head
Don’t feel like I’m on display here
I’ll stay here
With my thoughts instead
Here, no feelings of guilt
No walls to tear down
Or windmills to tilt
Music is always played loud here
We’re proud hear with nothing to prove

Here, no price to pay
I can stay out
All night and all day
There’s no one to stop me from growing
Or going,
My own way
Here, we see who we choose
No favours to win, or to lose
Music is always played loud here
We’re proud hear with nothing to prove

The only time that matters, is now
Can’t stay young, I don’t know how
The future, never concerns the young
For when the future comes
Youth takes it’s bow!

Roger Gall 1996.

Subject: SB: Over the Edge of the World by Kevin McGrath
From: Joe Offer
Date: 30 Oct 10 - 09:08 PM

Over the Edge of the World by McGrath of Harlow

(Originally posted in this thread)

McGrath's Comments:  Here is a song I wrote a couple of years ago when my wife's mother died. Last week (March 6th 2001)my brother Brian suddenly died over in Ireland, and I found myself remembering it as I walked up to his place, and I sang it in the pub after we buried him on Sunday. It seemed to fit him well.  I just sang the first two verses - the last one didn't seem necessary. (Maybe it might work better as a first verse, with the other two to follow.) I find songs can help a lot sometimes. I hope maybe this one might - and I've put it up on my website tonight, with chords, but no notes, Over the Edge of the World

Now you've left us behind and you've gone on your way,
over the edge of the world.
You left without warning with so much to say.
Are you just round the corner, or far far away?
Well, goodbye, and I hope I might see you some day,
over the edge of the world.
Now you've gone where nobody can find you,
over the edge of the world.
To follow a star, like the wise men of old,
to search for a treasure, far richer than gold,
and to find a great secret, can never be told,
over the edge of the world.

I'm watching and waiting and trying hard to see
over the edge of the world.
Now your prison is opened, and now you are free,
and that's how I always have known it must be.
And maybe now somewhere you're waiting for me,
over the edge of the world.
Now you've gone where nobody can find you,
over the edge of the world.
To follow a star, like the wise men of old,
to search for a treasure, far richer than gold,
and to find a great secret, can never be told,
over the edge of the world.

Well, I stood at the cross at the far end of town,
and it felt like the end of the world.
The cars and the lorries went round and around,
there were some headed up, there were some headed down -
but there's none of them headed for where you were bound,
over the edge of the world.
Now you've gone where nobody can find you,
over the edge of the world.
To follow a star, like the wise men of old,
to search for a treasure, far richer than gold,
and to find a great secret, can never be told,
over the edge of the world.

© Kevin McGrath

Subject: SB: Quicksilver by The Shambles
From: Joe Offer
Date: 30 Oct 10 - 09:10 PM

Quicksilver by The Shambles

You still search for Eldorado
Look for that city of gold
The golden curse of our nation
Lives are now brought and sold
Black river, Rio Negro
Flows tainted with your spoil
Invisible poison
In the flood water, boils

Quicksilver, runs in our river
Quicksilver, runs in our veins
All thought to your profit
All thought to you gain
No thought to our future
No thought to our pain

With our old foes encroaching
We knew where to make a stand
But you poison the fish in
The life blood, the veins of our land
Our young men are ailing
Our children, they fail to thrive
While you polish your trinkets
We try to stay alive

Quicksilver, runs in our river
Quicksilver, runs in our veins
All thought to your profit
All thought to your gain
No thought to our future
No thought to our pain

Witness the rape of our forest
Soil the last paradise
You juggle the money markets
We struggle to pay the price

Quicksilver, runs in our river
Quicksilver, runs in our veins
All thought to your profit
All thought to your gain
No thought to our future
No thought to our pain

Roger Gall 1995

Subject: SB: Pitman's Redundancy Pay by bill\sables
From: Joe Offer
Date: 30 Oct 10 - 09:12 PM

Pitman's Redundancy Pay by bill\sables

bill's Comments:  Some of the words are in the Geordie Accent, the language of the North East Mining area of England.

Now Jonty Broon the pitman was off to work one morning
He'd got his bait and pit boots on, the day was still just dawning
He put on his cap and left the house, met his mates out in the street
They didn't know the shock they'd get before coming home that neet
'Cos as they walked into the yard they heard the buzzers call
And saw a great big notice, it was plastered on the wall
It was put there by the coal board, "They were very sorry but
Due to economic pressures, the pit had got to shut"
Some said they'd go to Nottingham, some leave the pit for good
But Jonty sat there thoughtful like and said to Tommy Judd
"I've been involved in pitwork all my married life
And the hardest part of all this is how to tell the wife"
So he went and told his missus, it was very hard to say
But she said "Now divent worry man, I've saved for a rainy day
Ye knaa up in the wardrobe, I've got two biscuit tins,
Wey I've saved a bit of money there in case the times got thin."

"Now we've been married fowerty years and I asked you when I was a bride
Not to ever ask me what I kept inside
In all that time you've worked so hard through strikes and war torn years
And never once have you asked me what was in them tins upstairs
Well now that things have altered I think it's time I said
What I've got in them biscuit tins we've kept beside the bed".
They opened up the first tin and lifting up the lid
Found shillings, two bobs, and half croons, there was nearly fifty quid
He asked her where it had come from, "Did you keep it from my pay"
She said every time they had made love she put half a croon away
A tear filled that old pitman's eye he broke down and he said
"If I'd known that forty years ago I'd have brought you all my trade"
But then he got the other tin and laid it on the floor
Inside he found two chicken eggs and ten thousand pounds or more
He said "Now this is funny, This thing has got me foxed
I just can't fathom out why these eggs are in this box"

She said " Sometimes I got lonely when you were doon the pit
Wey I mebbies was unfaithful, but just a little bit
Now every time it happened I put an egg away
Ye knaa just a little token to remind me of that day"
Now Jonty thought, that's only twice that she had gone astray
And thought of all the many times that he had played away
So he said he would forgive her 'cos she was a canny wife 
"But how come all that money, I've never earned that in my life"
She said " Ye think I divent knaa that you've been with other wimmen
I've listened to the gossop man, I knaa that you've been sinnin
Now for all that money in the tin I think you should be grateful
'Cos I used te gan and sell the eggs every time I had a crate full


Bill Sables

Subject: SB: The Planets Seven by Joseph Mary Plunkett+tune
From: Joe Offer
Date: 30 Oct 10 - 09:15 PM

The Planets Seven by Joseph Mary Plunkett, Tune by McGrath of Harlow
(For the chords, click here)  "The flowers of heaven and earth are the same flowers."   Joseph Mary Plunkett 1887-1916. 

McGrath's Comments:  Joseph Mary Plunkett. I've got a battered selection of his poems I picked up in a junk shop in Clonmel.  It must have been printed fairly soon after he was shot - because it talks of him as being dead, but it never mentions the circumstances of his death.  Wartime censorship I imagine.  Anyway, here's a ballad he wrote that's included in the introduction written by his sister Geraldine. I've never seen it anywhere else: 

The planets seven that swing through Heaven 
On a golden tether round their Lord the Sun, 
Are not so humble, but they sometimes grumble, 
That their life is humdrum with but little fun. 
Though that shining sickle the moon's not fickle,
Yet she's sometimes mickle and more times less, 
But my love, my blessing, would give them a lesson 
Both the stars and crescent in graciousness.

There's many a flower in a heavy shower 
Would say that its hour of grief was black 
And the bearded barley would take it hardly 
In the morning early to be cut and stacked; 
The silver herring off the coast of Kerry 
Is not so merry to meet with death, 
But my love, my children, she would beguile them 
With her easy smiling while he stopped their breath.

If the stars lack teachers, or ever a preacher 
To recall the creatures to the ways of God, 
Let them cease to whistle and come and listen 
Kneeling like Christians upon the sod; 
Then Saint Columba will shake the slumber 
Of Death that cumbers their tired eyes 
And my love will glance with a look entrancing 
And send them dancing to Paradise. 

Subject: SB: Pleasures Of A Backdoor Man by Amergin
From: Joe Offer
Date: 30 Oct 10 - 09:16 PM

Pleasures Of A Backdoor Man by Amergin

Chorus:
My toothbrush is in the drawer
The glasses I got her in a box
My beer is in the storage shed
My books are hiding neath her socks
Gone are my prints from the glass
Gone are my butts from the trays
Gone are all traces of my existence
Gone is the happiness of yesterday

I open the door and step outside
The cold rain freezing my cheeks
"Chris is coming, you have to go"
My tongue moves but never speaks
The clouds gather to darken my thoughts
As I slowly amble to my beatup van
But I think to myself and smile
Such is the pleasure of a backdoor man

Chorus

The parking lot shines with sorrow
As it lies within the morning gloom
"I can't see us together in 20 years"
I hear the wind crying in winter's womb
The clouds are pregnant with the tears
As I step inside my blue beatup van
My smile grows wide and bitter
Such is the pleasure of a backdoor man

Chorus

Her kitchen light shines through the glass
Like a star in the morning twilight
"I am old enough to be your mother"
I hear the laughter of the dying night
The clouds break loose their tears
As I drive away in my beatup old van
Salting the curves of my cheeks
Such is the pleasure of a backdoor man

Chorus

Subject: SB: Porcelain Angels by Dharmabum
From: Joe Offer
Date: 30 Oct 10 - 09:18 PM

Porcelain Angels by Dharmabum

Martha had a little place,
In the corner of the house,
Where she collected little angels,
Made of porcelain & glass,
Walt never thought much of them,
He'd just always walk on by,
Just something else to collect more dust,
Never really caught his eye,
That's pretty much the way it went
Or so he seemed to feel
Till Martha died a year ago,
And it all became too real.

Seems like things all fell in place,
A little bit too late,
Before their dreams were ever really shared,
And he told her that he loved her,
But he wished he'd said it more,
He never knew how much he really cared.

They were married in the forties,
Right after the war
A single rose & a borrowed suit,
Was all they could afford,
Then came banks & then the mortgages,
There were kids & there were bills,
At times it felt like a carnival,
With all the noise & thrills,
And at times she drove him crazy,
He never knew the reason why,
She could laugh with him one minute,
Then the tears would fill her eyes.

Some days there was laughter,
Some days there were tears,
Sometimes, the love was hard to find,
But they stood beside each other,
And they made it through the years,
Good or bad, they didn't seem to mind.

Now he wakes up every morning,
On the same side of the bed,
That he shared with her for forty years,
Where she used to lay her head,
And he sits down to his breakfast,
At a table set for two,
As he stares into his coffee cup,
Cause there's nothing else to do,
Now he takes a little time each day,
To do the simple little things,
As he picks up every angel,
And wipes the dust off of its wings.

Some days there's still laughter,
He can hear it in the walls,
Sometimes, he sees her when he sleeps,
But the days are getting shorter,
Leaves are falling from the trees,
And the memories, are all he's got to keep.

© R. Horvath 2000.

Subject: SB: Portaferry Mudcats by Micca
From: Joe Offer
Date: 30 Oct 10 - 09:20 PM

Portaferry Mudcats by Micca
(Tune:  Galway Bay) (originally posted on this thread)

Maybe someday I'll go back to Portaferry
And hear again that lively music scene
To join the Mudcats there a making merry
And watch the Guiness sink in Fiddlers Green

When we got there we said "It's the edge of nowhere"
"It isn't" said big John ,"but Never fear"
If the rain stops, and the sun comes out tomorrow
You'll get damn good view of it from here

And did it Rain? Oh bless me, this is Ireland
It poured down like the sky'd begun to crack
But we were snug and warm inside the Fiddlers
A drinking that vile stuff that's coloured black

In Dumicans we drank a lot of porter
You ask me how I know? Well here's the proof
I was on my 13th visit to the toilet
Before I noticed that it had no roof

Now Skipjacks Birthday it occurred in Ireland
And we all signed a card for his good sake
And smiled when he was given a small prezzie
His very own DIY birthday cake

We sang a lot and stayed late at the drinking
And some played music till the early dawn
Including many tunes of Local vintage
And no one seemed to notice No Bodhran!!!

How did we entertain ourselves between times?
even Irish pubs must sometimes close, alas
we drank a lot of tea, and wine from boxes
and Jude and Cat give seminars on Bras

No mention will be made of all the farting
Or of jiving in the pub on Saturday night
And you know that we are too polite to mention
The night time noises from the poltergeist

John Moulden, John and Jacky sang so sweetly
And Frank and his musicians, they were grand
The local folks made welcome all these strangers
And everyone played like it was one band

Oh Maybe someday I'll go back to Ireland
If the Mudcats meet again in County Down
I'll return again to rest myself in Barholm
And enjoy again the welcome in the town

Subject: SB: The Price To Pay by The Shambles
From: Joe Offer
Date: 30 Oct 10 - 09:21 PM

The Price To Pay (The Party, Party Song) by The Shambles

Well, you saw me walk in that door
Looked at you and liked what I saw
Living life is what it's for
Nothing more

I could talk to you all night
It was dark, 'til you put on the light
No need to be polite
It's alright

C'mon and party on, my dear
You bring the whisky, I'll bring the beer
It's Paddy's night and New Year
Over here

Let's get out of this bar
My place ain't heaven, but it's not too far
Remember, wherever you go,
Well there you are

It may not last too long
But it's alright, 'til it's all wrong
If it lasts 'til the booze is gone
Then you're the one

C'mon and party on, my dear
You bring the whisky, I'll bring the beer
It's Paddy's night and New Year
Over here

We wear the scars of many battles
The wrong moves made at the wrong time
The past spreads behind us, like a bruise
We're prisoners free, to repeat the same crime….

Well, pass that bottle round
Think I'm on that 'holy ground'
Nothing's lost and nothing's found
We'll paint this town

Tomorrow is another day
We'll drink this night away
We know the price to pay
And it's OK

C'mon and party on, my dear
You bring the whisky, I'll bring the beer
It's Paddy's night and New Year
Over here

© Roger Gall 1997

Subject: SB: The Pride of Llanfair by Matthew Edwards
From: Joe Offer
Date: 30 Oct 10 - 09:25 PM

The Pride of Llanfair by Matthew Edwards

Matthew's Comments:  An 18th century broadside, fresh from the press!   It owes something to a memory of a poem by Dafydd ap Gwilym about the girls of Lanbadarn, (except he was treated less generously!).  Anyway, it's a small tribute to the town which has given so many happy memories at Llanstock.  As for the air, I think it comes from something in the singing of Gabriel MacArdle, but I haven't been able to pin it down yet.


It was on Sunday morning as the church bell was ringing,
The blackbird was singing his sweet notes in the air.
The girls of the parish to the church were all thronging,
And my love's among them; she's the pride of Llanfair.

As she walks through the churchyard, all the old men fall silent,
As they gaze on her beauty that shines like a star,
And the young men and boys are all secretly hoping,
For a smile from the lips of the pride of Llanfair.

O how sweetly her voice rings 'mid the church's high rafters,
In melodious hymns, while I whisper a prayer,
O dear God in Heaven, its to You I am praying,
For one word from the lips of the pride of Llanfair.

One kiss and a parting, for I must be going;
I'll return in the springtime, or in the new year.
In the green woods and valleys where the Banwy is flowing,
I will walk with my true love, the pride of Llanfair.

Subject: SB: The Princess of Wester Sion by DaveP
From: Joe Offer
Date: 30 Oct 10 - 09:28 PM

The Princess of Wester Sion by DaveP
(Click here for midi - The song is in 3/4 time)


(|C)You were the (|)princess of (|G)Wester Si(|)on,
who (|Am)held out for (|)Christmas when (|)all hope was (|)gone.
You (|C)lived in a (|)castle on the (|G)bank of the (|)Tay
and (|Am)laboured for (|)duty by (|Em)night and by (Am)day.

CHORUS:

(|F)Who pays the (|)piper can (|C)pick out the (|)song
to (|G)drown out our (|)dreams as the (|C)days pass a(|)long.
(|F)Who pays the (|)piper to (|C)sing loud and (|)true
to (|G)drown out the (|)calls of the (|Am)dancer
(||G )the (|)dancer for (|Am)you.

Tayside in summer, a magical place,
to be with you there brought a smile to my face.
I wanted a lover, you wanted a friend,
We danced 'till the Sun brought the dance to an end.

CHORUS

You now have your freedom, a new place to start,
no more nights of fear, in charge of your heart.
Remember the dancer who once came to stay,
who came when you called him, but then slipped away.

CHORUS

Subject: SB: Protest Neurosis! by Amos
From: Joe Offer
Date: 30 Oct 10 - 09:32 PM

Protest Neurosis! by Amos
(Tune To Be Determined)

Codwallop left of me, codwallop right!.
Codwallop twisted from black into white.
Codwallop passed on from parent to child,
Thinking as muddy as crocs on the Nile.

Rich with illogic, and rife with disparity;
You'd think no-one ever learned thinking with clarity!
Facts which aren't factual (none can assess them)
Sins which aren't harmful (but folks still confess them.)

Thinking so muddled it could lead to perdition,
Romantic nonsense and pretend intuition;
Justifications, and logical flaws
'Til you will swear that there oughta be laws!

Blatant insanity, crazy but lawful;
Newsprint reporters whose thinking is awful;
Mixed up religions, and loony-bin teachers
Folks center stage who should stay in the bleachers!

Demented morals and schemes to enforce them!
Psychotic hubbies and wives who divorce them!
Icons ridiculous, of gods who love peepees!
Neurotic housewives, dramatic and weepy!

Mad politicians, with schemes so self-serving!
Management plans which are veering and swerving!
Drool-bait for telly, and jail-bait for fun...
Welcome to Earth, the third rock from the sun!

Subject: RE: Aine's Mudcat Songbook PermaThread
From: Joe Offer
Date: 30 Oct 10 - 09:34 PM

Somehow, after that "Protest Neurosis" song, I think we all need a break. But this message doesn't really have anything to do with that. It's just here to fill space in case I find out later I missed a song and need to fit it in....

Subject: RE: Aine's Mudcat Songbook PermaThread
From: katlaughing
Date: 30 Oct 10 - 09:35 PM

Joe, pardon me if this has already been asked and answered, but do we have a spot for just tunes from the songbook? I was specifically looking for one Jeri wrote called "katlaughing," but you can imagine the search results on that!:-)

Thanks!

---

There's this (click), Kat - but I don't know how far the project got. Ask Amos.
-Joe-

Subject: SB: The Provo's Song by Lonesome EJ
From: Joe Offer
Date: 30 Oct 10 - 09:41 PM

The Provo's Song by Lonesome EJ
(This song was first posted in this thread)

My Father used to tell me, when I was but a lad
"You'll be an IRA man, like me and my old Dad!
'Tis Ireland for the Irish, and never compromise!"
His words would echo in my head as sleeping closed my eyes.

Tim and I and Michael turned to flinging bricks and rocks
At the pale faced English soldier-boys riding in their armored trucks.
And at the tender age of 16 (a lad of brave reknown)
I joined the Provo army in a house in Portadown.

On my chest I wore a Crucifix, in my coat an Armalite.
I was pledged to Pope and Erin, and to further Freedom's fight.
My childhood friends and I, we fought, Brothers true in arms,
And if we served our country's cause, then we could do no harm.

Tim was shot in '81 by a stranger on his stair,
Michael went to prison for the bomb at Connell Square,
My own Dad, my Brother Mark, and two of my friends more
Were killed inside MacArtain's Pub by a bomb tossed through the door. 

I swore vengeance for their sakes, and for the sake of Bobby Sands
And in their names, and Ireland's, I've blood upon my hands.
But still we'd come no closer to my Father's sacred prize-
"Ireland for the Irish, and never compromise!" 

And then one night my own dear Wife, she took me by the hand
Saying "I love you and little Meg more than I love this land.
To seek the future with a gun is neither strong nor wise.
The time has come for Green and Orange to find a compromise."

I lay long awake that night, then fell into a dream:
Tim and Mark and my old Dad stood by my bed, it seemed
I woke and held my Mary close in the darkness of our room
As the words my Dad had spoken came back to me in the gloom.

" My son, there is no glory seeking vengeance for the past,
And Hate should sleep like Ireland's dead beneath a veil of grass.
When Irishmen, together, shall make the killing cease,
'Tis Ireland for the children, for Brotherhood and Peace." 

Subject: SB: Rachel Corrie by InOBU
From: Joe Offer
Date: 01 Nov 10 - 02:19 AM

Rachel Corrie by InOBU
(Words by Lórcan Otway; Tune-traditional) (All rights reserved Otway 2003)

I wish I could look into your hardened eyes,
who drove that tractor as young Rachel dies
Have you lost all your love, could you possibly see
You've become like the monsters of your sad history

Is there love in your tractor, of fifty two tons
is hope and desire in your tanks or your guns
is there the light of kindness in your bullets of lead
do these things feel remorse for the innocent dead

If she could be with us, Rachel Corrie would say
sing another one's story, not mine if you may
Sing a song about Ali, who was only eight
when a tank driver's hatred sealed Ali's sad fate

Sing a song of a mother, expecting new life,
who grew up in hopelessness, terror and strife
Young Nuha who died when her home was struck down
by an Israeli army tractor in her Gaza Strip town

But Rachel forgive me, if I sing of your love
how you cared for the ones few ever think of
perhaps some who can't feel a strangers cold pain
by your murder may understand Israel's shame

I wish I could find a few gentle lines
to plant in your hearts some sheltering vines
I wish I could bring you some small bit of love
As a gift to remember Olympia's dove

Subject: SB: Rachel Corrie by McGrath of Harlow
From: Joe Offer
Date: 01 Nov 10 - 02:20 AM

Rachel Corrie by McGrath of Harlow
(soundfile of song available here)

McGrath's Comments:  March 17th 2003 -- Here's a song about Rachel Corrie, aged 23, killed on 16th March 2003 when she was crushed by an Israeli amtu bulldozer as she stood in its path as it was advancing to demolish a Palestinian house in Gaza.  Here is a link to a thread about it on the Mudcat, which contains links to the story, and to moving emails whuch she had written to her family on the West Coast of America only a few days before.

Well I know her name was Rachel, and they say that she was shy,
And they say she's got a family to mourn,
And they live out on the West Coast, that's half a world away,
Only twenty three - she'd hardly yet been born,
But she was standing in the way of the war
Standing in the way of the war.
Standing in the path of the monster once again.
Trying to find some way to stop the killing and the pain
Standing in the way of the war.

Standing in the way of the hatred rolling down,
Standing up with nothing in her hands,
All the way from Washington to the Gaza strip she came,
And she died there with that nothing in her hands.
She was standing in the way of the war
Standing in the way of the war.
Standing in the path of the monster once again.
Trying to find some way to stop the killing and the pain
Standing in the way of the war.

Standing in the way as the crushing tracks came on,
"We shall not be moved, just like a tree"
All that she could do was put her body on the line
And hope that she could make the driver see.
She was standing in the way of the war
Standing in the way of the war.
Standing in the path of the monster once again.
Trying to find some way to stop the killing and the pain
Standing in the way of the war.

Subject: SB: Radio Song by Spider Tom
From: Joe Offer
Date: 01 Nov 10 - 02:22 AM

Radio Song by Spider Tom

Mudcat radio, there you go, 
You'll grow to love it, don't ya' know, 
Just tune in, to the show.
Listen through the rain and snow.

Mudcat, Mudcats, where it's at 
Riding high, never flat, 
And it will never scare your kat. 
Keeps you sitting where you're sat.

Mudcat Radio, I'm alert, 
Seen 'em sitting, Max and Bert, 
Playing songs, and mixing dirt. 
The camera, was feeling hurt.

Mudcat Radio, speed and haste, 
Make my world, a smaller place, 
Nothing so good goes to waste. 
Tell me how to cut and paste.

Subject: SB: The Rainbow Promise by MMario
From: Joe Offer
Date: 01 Nov 10 - 02:23 AM

The Rainbow Promise by MMario

When all the world was water, and nowhere was dry land
God made us a promise, and sealed it by His hand.
An arc of light across the sky, in multi-coloured hue
A covenant, forever, He made to me and you

Chorus:
Remember the Rainbow promise, the skies aren't always grey
But it's up to us to cherish, the world we have today

When the footsteps in the sand are marchin' single file
When problems hover 'round us, and nothin' seems worthwhile
When it seems if all our dreams are nightmares of our mind
Reach out and take the comfort, left for us to find

Chorus

There'll always be another dawn, the rain will always end
And if we only will believe, we'll always have a friend
Remember we are not alone, no matter how it seems
But we must choose the way to go, not drift along life's stream

Chorus 

Subject: SB: Rains Of April Mournful Song by MichaelAnthony
From: Joe Offer
Date: 01 Nov 10 - 02:27 AM

Rains Of April Mournful Song by MichaelAnthony

MichaelAnthony's Comments:  I was listening to some recorded guitar playing I had done when I had visited my brother, heard a melody in there and then the lyrics came and by the evening the song was done!  It was one of those experiences where everything falls together kind of magically.  It seemed like an old folk tune...a style I don't usually write in...and I searched and found the Mudcat.

The rains of April, cold and long
Cried and wailed this mournful song:
The dead are where the dead belong
The dead you love cannot come home.

Then the storms of summer, bold and strong
Lashed at me with fiery tongue:
You hold your heart just like a dog
Who lay beside his master's plot.

"The perished are not dead," said I
With flowers and tombstones they survive
I've photographs above my bed
The songs of the fiddler are in my head
I burned her voice to gramophone
Though they're gone I say I'm not alone.

But the storms of summer called my lie
And told it to the Autumn sky
The August night did sing that song:
The dead you love cannot come home.

This pen is awkward in my old hand
Those of my kin now understand:
The rains of April cried a song:
The dead are where the dead belong

Yes the rains of April wailed the song
And learned it to the summer storm
Who told it to the autumn sky
The night of August, same refrain
I'll be no fool to hear the winter sing the same.

That bridge we built o'er Miner's Creek
That bridge today is old and weak
I pray my body not ye find
But just the winter's mournful siren:

The dead are where the dead belong
The dead you love cannot come home.

Subject: SB: Ranzo, Benbow by Schantieman
From: Joe Offer
Date: 01 Nov 10 - 02:29 AM

Ranzo, Benbow by Schantieman
(Tune: Dido, Bendigo (trad.); New words by Steve Freedman circa 1987)

Schantieman's Comments:  This was written one night whilst attempting to sleep in the car at Whitby FF.  There really was a pub called (something like) the Duke of Wellington in Whitby.  The age of the song can be deduced from its reference to 'opening time', a concept now lost in the mists of history.

As I was a-walking one fine summer's evening
I overheard some folkies all singing.
There were twenty-two of them in the Duke of Wellington
So early, just as the pubs were opening

Chorus:
And they sang Ranzo, Benbow, Drop of Nelson's Blood-oh
Loud enough to set the rafters ringing
Then they sang Shoals of Herring, On a Monday Morning.
These were the songs that they were singing.

Well, the first song being long, and only just beginning
I made straightway to the toi – let.
As I was coming out, I heard somebody shout,
"We haven't heard you sing us all a song yet!"

So I sang . . .

Now the next song being loud, and one with a chorus,
I joined in and we sang it all together.
Then we all sang Twanky Dillow and the Banks of the Green Willow,
And then we sang about the blooming heather!

Then we sang . . .

Now the evening, it drew on, and the clock reached eleven,
The landlord rang the bell and shouted, "Time!"
So we all said, "Half past ten" and began to sing again –
The harmonies we sang were oh – so fine.

And we sang . . .

Repeat chorus ad nauseam.

Copyright ©2002 S J Freedman (unless I can claim it earlier. I've certainly been singing it for years!)

Subject: SB: Red Pine's Yellow Blues by Willie-O
From: Joe Offer
Date: 01 Nov 10 - 02:30 AM

Red Pine's Yellow Blues by Willie-O

Willie-O's Comments;  Who was it said "there are more species of pine under the sun than you could ever dream of..."   Count 'em, nine species of pine.   In one verse.   Willow weep for me.   I should warn you all that I'm going to start a fire under some more sap this afternoon... for I am, Willie-O.

I ent pining away fir yew, baby,
But I'd spruce myself up like a Colorado Blue
I'm nut aspen to be poplar,
Willow warn me where the coppices are
I wooden sitka dog on yew... 

On the Ponderosa pining for a chance to loblolly 
Got a stand of lodgepole baby you ain't never seen the like
I wooden pitch yew out, Norfolk around on yew
Red n Jack think I'm southern yellow, but I'm an eastern white guy too.

Subject: SB: Reply To Lilac Acres by MMario
From: Joe Offer
Date: 01 Nov 10 - 02:32 AM

Reply To Lilac Acres by MMario

MMario's Comments:  Listening to 'A Letter from Lilac Acres' (Jed Marum) I kept thinking that it needed a reply from Louisa's spouse- and the more times I have heard it, the more I felt the need. Tho' the deed wasn't done in an attempt at flattery, it is definitely imitative, downright plageristic in many ways. This is the text I came up with - using Jed's tune and the same format:


My Darling Louisa, I'm on my way home
I should be beside you, 'fore the corn is full grown
May God speed my journey and hasten the day,
That embrace you once more, I finally may.

For the sights I have seen, and the deeds I have done,
Are not tales of glory to regale our young sons;
May they grow to manhood, through the years live their lives
Not knowing of battle, war, bloodshed and strife

And I beg the Lord over, and over again
to speed me home safely to thee
For so many have fallen, so many good men
And to hold you again is my only dream

Now I'm counting the moments, It can't be too soon
signed, your Loving Robert, on this first day of June

May God guide you and guard you, 'till I hold you again.

Subject: SB: Rise Up Screaming by Barry Finn
From: Joe Offer
Date: 01 Nov 10 - 02:35 AM

Rise Up Screaming by Barry Finn
Tune: Jack In The Green by Martin Graebe

A pub session or a party is a very strange thing
They're all out of fashion no more do they sing
For they read from a book or copy a tape
They imitate sounds no mortal should make

There's no sound in the kitchen, no sound in the hall
There's a murderous screech that plays off the walls
Where is the music, where are the songs
In the mouths of monsters where no sound belongs

Dead pan they look as they sing in your face
They'll spit out the words and the tunes they'll disgrace
A song will be beat o'r and over to death 
And in a round robin they'll resurrect it again

No more will be heard a version that's lost
Or a variant that's rare or two songs were crossed
The borrowing or sharing of a tune or a song
Will be according to the Bible all else will be wrong

And now for the future , it's bleak for the song
No young mortal will dare to carry it on
They'll be none around who without books can sing
Or swap without tapes or rise up singing 

Copyright Barry Finn 1996

Subject: SB: The Road by skarpi
From: Joe Offer
Date: 01 Nov 10 - 02:37 AM

The Road by skarpi

skarpi's Comments:  "The road" is the road of life, and this is my thinking of the life; it came today when I was wondering about it.  We walk around the road of life; either we go straight or we get on side road and get lost in some problems that get us along with the side roads.  And in the end, we try to build up a new one; most of the people.

The road it's long and narrow,
the road it's far away.
I saw people walking through,
with their children and you.
Now the road it's no longer there
now the road it's no longer there.

The road had its story,
and great people walked there by,
it was bound for its glory
and I am sorry I didn't try.
For it's no longer there
for it's no longer there.

I will try to build another,
and it will have to be a little long.
We will have to stand together,
and we'll all sing this song.
Now the road it will be there
now the road it will be there.

Subject: SB: The Road Goes Ever On (Tolkien), tune by Mbo
From: Joe Offer
Date: 01 Nov 10 - 02:40 AM

THE ROAD GOES EVER ON
Poem J.R.R. Tolkien

The road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began
Now far ahead the road has gone
And I must follow, if I can
Pursuing it with eager feet
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet
And wither then? I cannot say
Wither then--I cannot say

Roads go ever on and on
Over rock and under tree
By caves where never sun has shone
By streams that never find the sea
Over snow by winter sown
And through the merry flowers of June
Over grass and over stone
And under mountains in the moon
Under mountains in the moon.

Roads go ever on and on
Under cloud and under star
Yet feet that wandering have gone
Turn at last to home afar
Eyes that fire and sword have seen
And horror in the halls of stone
Look at last on meadows green
And trees and hills they long have know
Trees and hills they long have know.

The road goes ever on and on
Out from the door where it began
Now far ahead the road has gone
Let others follow it who can!
Let them a journey new begin
But I at last with weary feet
Will turn toward the lighten inn
My evening rest and sleep to meet
Evening rest and sleep to meet.


--Mbo

---

Click to play

Subject: SB: Roll Down To It by Praise
From: Joe Offer
Date: 01 Nov 10 - 02:41 AM

Roll Down To It by Praise

Praise's Comments:   For Kayla, and all the Mudcat friends I grew closer to in the last week, and you all know who you are!   I have a new concept today coming out in the start of a song.  I was up on the sunny glory mountain all weekend, and here's Monday with a valley full of work.  So I did some work, then went back up to check out the mountains and clouds . . . and came back to work.  The tune and chorus popped into my head, the rest of the words are from how it's been all the last week with those I love.  I'm doing it in church first chance I get.  Anyone is welcome to add verses, you know how spirituals can be as long as an all day car trip among friends.  Just respect the basic concepts in it please or they won't make in into my word processor!

Strolling Bluesy Chorus:

Ya gotta roll down to it (Roll down to it),
Roll down to it (Roll down to it),
Roll down to it, from
High! on the mountain of love.
YEE HAHH!

Blues/testify Verse:

Well sometimes we know know who we really are,
When we're up-- where the sun is clear.
Sometimes we think it will all be like that,
And then sometimes, we're down with the fear.
But I've got a new way to make it all work,
And honey, right in this valley here-
You gotta just ROLL down to it, and remember that Jesus is near!

Ya gotta roll down to it (Roll down to it),
Roll down to it (Roll down to it),
Roll down to it, from
High! on the mountain of love.
YEE HAHH!

You see He's glad to come down and show you the way,
All you have to do is ask.
Are you still tryin' to crawl UP to the valley of life?
Now darlin' that is a much harder task!
You see Jesus is up there, but down He will come,
And put all-new wine in your flask.
When old super-test Jesus gets deep inside you--
He peels you right outta your mask!

Ya gotta roll down to it (Roll down to it),
Roll down to it (Roll down to it),
Roll down to it, from
High! on the mountain of love.
YEE HAHH!

No longer I'll crawl, one valley to the next,
I'll start up on the slope to His way.
And I'll roll on down to whatever He asks me
To do for Him each brand new day.
And as I roll on down, wrapped in His arms,
Honey! I'm headed your way!
So baby roll right down with me,
And then you will learn to say...

Ya gotta roll down to it (Roll down to it),
Roll down to it (Roll down to it),
Roll down to it, from
High! on the mountain of love.
YEE HAHH!
Ya gotta roll down to it (Roll down to it),
Roll down to it (Roll down to it),
Roll down to it,
from...
Hi-ai-yi-igh!...
On the mountain...
You know I'm up here on this mountain!...
On this ole mountain, baby, of luh-uh-uh-oh-love... yea-eh-eah! 

Subject: SB: Rosa, Oh, Rosa by Bev and Jerry
From: Joe Offer
Date: 01 Nov 10 - 02:42 AM

(This song was placed in a thread entitled 'Rosa Parks')

Rosa, Oh, Rosa by Bev and Jerry

Bev and Jerry's Comments:  We present folk music programs in schools and one of our programs is entitled "Afro-American History". We needed a song about Rosa Parks but we couldn't find one we liked so we wrote this one. It is based on something she said which was that she would not stand up to give a white person her seat but that she would stand up for justice.

No I won't stand up I'm tired 
All day long I stood on my feet
I earn my living just like you
I don't have to give up my seat

Chorus:
No I won't stand up, I'm tired
No I won't stand up, I'm not gonna do it 
No I won't stand up, I'm tired 
No I won't stand up, that's all there is to it 

No I won't stand up, I'm tired 
Don't like you treating me this way 
Jim Crow is riding on this bus 
And the time has come to disobey

No I won't stand up, I'm tired 
Oppression is at every hand 
Disgrace and shame are everywhere 
See if you can make me stand

But I will stand up for justice 
I'll stand against all your attacks 
And I will stand and shout the truth 
And I'll stand up for the rights of blacks

Final Chorus:

Yes I will stand up, I'm tired 
Yes I will stand up, I am not gonna do it 
Yes I will stand up, I'm tired 
Yes I will stand up, that's all there is to it

Subject: SB: Rosie Again by KingBrilliant
From: Joe Offer
Date: 01 Nov 10 - 02:45 AM

Rosie Again by KingBrilliant
(The tune should be sort of swingy & waltzy -- or whatever fits)

KingBrilliant's Comments: This song took its starting point from an old whore who used to frequent one of the town pubs about twenty years ago. It was making me think about what it might be like to be an old tart who's looks had gone. She comes out as a bit of a game old bird in the song anyway. The chorus was written a while ago & has a bit of pathos whereas the verses are a bit of a laugh with the joke on the sailor boy. It's a mismatch, but that's just the way it came out (so I'll call it contrast) & hopefully it works OK.  

She's a blowsy old whore from the Old Boar's Head 
She's used up and dried up and tired she said
But still she sits with her pint
Hoping one night 
In a generous light 
Some young man will sit by her side 
And it'll be Rosie again, Rosie again, 
Rosie again, once more 

A tipsy young sailor fresh in from the boat 
With money to burn and a thirst in his throat 
Was too whiskey'd to see and too horny to care 
What a wreck he would raise if he sat in that chair 
He jumped in with a will for to sink or to swim 
She favoured the boy with a lecherous grin 
Old Rosie was raising the rigging with him 

She's a blowsy old whore from the Old Boar's Head 
She's used up and dried up and tired she said 
But still she sits with her pint 
Hoping one night 
In a generous light 
Some man young will sit by her side 
And it'll be Rosie again, Rosie again, 
Rosie again, once more 

Now the wind it blew cool and the wind it blew warm 
Rose and her sailor boy kicked up a storm 
Dancing her round with lust in his heart 
The sailor boy courted the filthy the old tart 
They sailed off away for to finish the game 
We all watched them go & we heard when he came 
Old Rosie was raising the rigging again 

She's a blowsy old whore from the Old Boar's Head 
She's used up and dried up and tired she said 
But still she sits with her pint 
Hoping one night 
In a generous light 
Some young man will sit by her side 
And it'll be Rosie again, Rosie again, 
Rosie again, once more.

© Kristin King (2001)

Subject: SB: Rough Diamond by The Shambles
From: Joe Offer
Date: 01 Nov 10 - 02:46 AM

Rough Diamond by The Shambles


I need to learn
You, teach me how to earn
Try to kill the flame inside
That needs to burn

I need to run
Not to walk in line
Take hold of this rough diamond
And make it shine

Not to pass some test
But to be my best
To be as good as I can be
And not step on the rest

You teach me the how
But not the why
You teach me how to crawl
When I've wings to fly

Trample all the new growth in the forest
To get some to the top of the tree
You let me wear this badge of failure
When it's you that's failing me

I may not be wise
But you may be surprised
If you could see the world
Through my eyes

Don't take, the few
Teach me too
Then you can learn from me
As I learn from you

Teach me how to grieve
How to believe
How to find a lover
And how to leave

How to share
How to care
Show me wild horizons
And take me there

Roger Gall 1996.

Subject: SB: Run With Me by Amergin
From: Joe Offer
Date: 01 Nov 10 - 02:47 AM

Run With Me by Amergin

They lie in the grass
Her head upon his chest
Gazing up at the pink sky
As the sun drifts west
His hand runs through
Strands of her blonde hair
He kisses the top of her head
Feeling the summer heat
Of the sun's dying glare 

Chorus:
He whispers softly in her ear
As we lie together in the lea
My heart is content,
My love,
Why don't you run with me? 

She turns down her head
Lips puckered to kiss his chin
He kisses back, and stares at her
Revealing a crooked grin
He runs his hand down her side
Feeling the curves of her waist
She reaches over to finger
His hand, so gently placed 

Chorus: 
He squeezes her to his body
Feeling her heat in her breath
They talk and joke and laugh
The world as quiet as the death
She looks up at him smiling
Glistening with summer dew
He looks down and studies her eyes
The colors of green, brown, and blue 

Chorus:
She whispers softly in his ear
"Across the west I will pursue
The makings of my heart, my dear,
So I will run with you" 

Subject: SB: Running Waters by Amos
From: Joe Offer
Date: 01 Nov 10 - 02:49 AM

Running Waters by Amos

Amos' Comments:  This song is played in a cascading, tumbling series of chords in double-D tuning.

The rivers in the heart's own time drive deep
Beside the frozen barricades
And the careful guards cannot imagine words
To the songs
Of running waters

The sergeants on patrol have certain airs
Preventing passage in defense
Their keenest eyes will never see the fires
That warm the depths
Of running waters

Chorus:
Rolling in the moment,
Living in the freedom
Of driving to the ocean and its distant calling bell;
Deeper than the hardest hurt that ever the heart can know
Running waters
Sooner or later
Running waters always tell.

Though the fallen moon has left a frosted night
The streets made careful in their pain
It is distant meadows that have sent the sunfire
Forming deep songs
In running waters

The shades of mother's warning dim the light
Keeping the safety seeming whoie
Cool hearts in safer corners cry for fires
That warm the depths
Of running waters

Chorus:
Rolling in the moment,
Living in the freedom
Of driving to the ocean and its distant calling bell;
Deeper than the hardest hurt the heart can know
Running waters
Sooner or later
Running waters always tell

Copyright ©2002 by Amos Jessup

Subject: SB: Saviour Of The Land by Mrs. Shambles
From: Joe Offer
Date: 01 Nov 10 - 02:50 AM

Saviour Of The Land by Mrs. Shambles

The Shambles' Comments:  Not one of my songs but another fine song from Mrs. Shambles. She says, "It was written about the back of the head of a complete stranger who was driving the car in front of me one morning!" You have been warned.


She has heard that he's returning home
To take the reins once more
The freedom that he fought for
Should have opened her some doors
Through the fear, she understands his shunning of her kiss
But the man that she is shackled to
She would dearly like to miss

Coming home from war, he is a hero
Honoured as a saviour of the land
Knowing only duty to the service
And men at his command

She'd offered him a sanctuary
But a prison, it's become
The chains are bound so tightly
She's not free enough to run
She sees the medals on his chest
That he gained for valiant deeds
Will he never see the ones at home
Are the ones with greatest needs

Coming home from war, he is a hero
Honoured as a saviour of the land
Knowing only duty to the service
And men at his command

She applies the same old make-up
To cover her new bruise
The children sit so quietly
Too afraid to move
He plays domestic warfare
As he sees as his birthright
But the ones who loved him dearly
Have their nightmares through the night

She does not see the hero that they speak of
Not for her the saviour of the land
Seeing only painful days before her
Living with a man who must command

Katrina Gall 1996.

Subject: RE: Aine's Mudcat Songbook PermaThread
From: Joe Offer
Date: 01 Nov 10 - 02:51 AM

Guess I'd better post another space-filler message in case I missed one....

Subject: SB: Say A Prayer For Dirty (MichaelAnthony)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 19 Nov 10 - 12:22 AM

Say A Prayer For Dirty submitted by MichaelAnthony

MichaelAnthony's Comments:  I live near an area of Atlanta called L5P. You wouldn't believe the stuff crazed people give you when you give them some change.  This was all on paper, no tune for it.  I was walking up to the gas station to get some cigarettes when I made the mistake of making eye contact with him, and then I had no choice but to deal with him.  I gave him exactly enough money, including tax, to buy a 22-ounce beer.  I decided to have one myself to deal with what I had in my hands.  Personally, I'm not through figuring out the risks of association with this subject matter. But Dirty doesn't seem to have anything to lose, so I posted it.

Wel I live here in Georgy the year is 2000
An they call me Dirty or Crazy, an I beg for my housein
Twaz 4 years ago those olympics ride thro here
And some people they dont anser to no one did these things I fear

Now I stay in Atlantah and thats where it happend
It waz ninehunert ninteensix and I woodve been there
Maybe been killed as I stud there
The bombs berstine in the air at the Olympick Park
but my freind he too drunk we went to his home

Now we didnt watch the television but I was ichin for an eskape
Been pondring too much about the plane been shot down
And hunerts of people saw the missils they lookd like pink fire works
And the plane it exploded it warrant no coincidence
And hunerts of people killed body piaeces fell in to the ocean
I was trubbled that night and hopin for some ansers
But some people dont anser to know one wont listen to 200 diffrent witneses about missils.
An today.

An the next morning we wached the television had some coccola an cigars
Now I can tell when a man is lyin but that man Jewell warrant lyin
But the paper said he done it put the bomb in that bag
An some people don't answer to no one who trick him into signing away his rites
Im really troubled why they dont anser to no one.
An today I get remindid case of that Ho Ly chinaman is Jewell all agein
Cause some people dont anser to no one do politics.

Now that Rudolf he wicked and is sure going to hell if he bomb the clinics
But any 1 with any commen sense know he no motive to bomb those olympicks
So who did it some people dont anser to no one just like the people on that plane dont no more.
An two people at the park no more.

Now at that very time twaz fours years ago
That wanted new legeslasen to get throu the congress conserning explozons
Now Im realle troubled an some people don't anser to no one dont ansir to no one.

An if you were to come at me and have me commuted
Or arrested for trees or rail road me bad
Im Dirty and Im a coward and dont know nothin
I beg for my housein an pay by makin up the beds
I'L take a drink if its offerd to quit down my restlesnes

So say a prayer for Dirty and to give me back my sanite.
An for the people they dont anser to no one.
Cept if theres a god but Im not figurin on a god right now
Im still yung an still hav my memory.
And you could remembra and 25 years on down we can find out what is provd true.
But 25 years on down some people still dont anwer to no one cause evrybody craze.

So say a prayer for Dirty an to give me back my sanite
Cause Im Dirty and Im a coward and dont know nothin
I beg for my housin and pay by makin up the beds
I'L take a drink if its offerd to quit down my restlesnes.

Subject: SB: Say Goodbye by Mbo
From: Joe Offer
Date: 19 Nov 10 - 12:24 AM

Say Goodbye by Mbo (Words & Music)


Say goodbye
Tomorrow you'll be far away
I hope you know just how much
We enjoyed your stay

Say goodbye
It's so bad to see you go
We were such friends, we had some fun
I won't be the same without you

Chorus:
We were young, the world was ours
And we were on our way
The days pass by, oh how time flies
Till none of us remain

Say goodbye
It's been such a crazy ride
But don't give up the dreams you had
Don't cast them to the side

For you know
This was just a stepping stone
You're moving up, up in life
The life you call your own

But don't forget when
Chorus

Say goodbye
Now it's time to depart
Don't be sad, please don't cry
Don't trouble your heart

Say goodbye
We must now say Godspeed
Don't look back, don't look back
Just follow your heart's lead

Chorus

Matthew Richards (2000)