For many years, I've sung The Wild Goose Shanty (sometimes as a self-parody, 'cos you can fit as many syllables into each line as you want). Whilst it's a good chorussy singable song, Kate's The Wild Goose on her Sleepless CD, using the same words (plus a fourth verse) and with recognisably similar tune, has transformed it completely, and made it trancendentally beautiful, heartbreakingly lovely, and I'm obsessed with it.

What gives it that quality? It's not the words, 'cos they're not much above banal (except, perhaps, her 4th verse), and I don't think it's Kate, 'cos her other songs don't move me, don't touch my soul, in quite the same way (don't get me wrong: without The Wild Goose the CD would be high up among my favourites, but this particular song itself is off any scale I can imagine - as I say, I'm obsessed). So what is it about this song?

Incidentally, I went out and bought the CD after Mike Harding had played The Wild Goose on his BBC Radio-2 program on Wednesday evening a few weeks ago. Dave Burland is guest vocalist on the track and I'm sure Mike Harding referred to him as "Uncle Dave Burland". Is he Kate Rusby's uncle?