For me, I only sing a song if it means something deep to me - and they number around 60 now - too many to mention individually here. A lot of the time, the words of the song conjure up various images, which probably helps me to put real feeling into them.

Agreeing with many of you, as a Bogle fan, No Man's Land and Band Played Waltzing Matilda, but also 'Shining River' 'cos i grew up near the River Tees and saw how polluted it was in my younger years, from the industry of Teesside.

But I guess the real Tear-Jerker for me is Phil Coulter's 'The Old Man'. My Dad was a country-loving guy who came from the Yorkshire Dales; was a musician who played and sang loads of folk songs, and started me on the trail to the hobby I love so much now.

The words of the song just summed him up, and the usual "if onlys" when he passed away some 14 years ago:

The tears have all been shed now
We've said our last goodbyes
His soul's been blessed, and he's laid to rest
And it's now I feel alone
He was more than just a Father
A teacher, my best friend
He can still be heard in the songs we shared
When we play them on our own

Cho:
I never will forget him
For he made me what I am
Though he may be gone, the memories linger on
I miss him, The Old Man

As a boy he'd take me walking
By mountain, field and stream
He taught me things not known to Kings
Secrets 'tween him and me
Like the colours of the pheasant
As he rises in the dawn
And how to fish and make a wish
Beneath the holly tree

I thought he'd live forever
He seemed so big and strong
But the minutes fly, and the years roll by
For a Father and his Son
And suddenley when it happened
There was so much left unsaid
No second chance, to tell him "Thanks"
For everything he'd done


Rgds

Old Folkie