The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #39057 Message #554022
Posted By: Geoff the Duck
19-Sep-01 - 12:15 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: The Hanged Man
Subject: ADD: The Hanged Man (Bob Pegg)
Many thanks for this thread, it has made me fish out and listen to an old favourite LP. My copy is the Complete Mr. Fox, which contained both the band's LPs - Mr. Fox and The Gypsy both recorded in the early 1970s. I first heard the recordings around 1976, and when I later saw the double LP on sale bought my own copy. As a response to this thread I decided to transcribe the song, but before I got round to the job some words had already been posted. I lifted Clansfolk's transcription and edited in Malcolm Douglas's corrections. I then read the lyrics whilst listening to the recording and spotted a couple of discrepancies which I have altered. The following should be an accurate set of words :-
THE HANGED MAN by Bob Pegg (Recorded by Mr Fox on the album Mr Fox)
When I was a young man I used to dress so neat Many hearts beat faster as I walked down the street Then as I grew older the women had their fill 'Til the only heart that beat was mine as I came down the hill
Chorus Walk in a valley that never saw the sun Step by the stones where the icy waters run Stand in a church where the village choir once sang And roll along the pathway where the dead man used to hang
You take the road, the road you took before The one by the rocks where the river leaves the moor I'll take the road where the hill and forest meet Where the fallen flowers hide the stones that wait to trip your feet
Chorus
The trees of the forest the rocks all around Saw me swing my haversack as I raced gaily down The badger in the bushes the fox in his lair Heard me give a whoop and cry as I fell through the air
Chorus
Waking in the forest beneath the spreading pine I saw my body hanging like a shirt upon a line Vines crept up my fingers where they had come to rest And in my open mouth the wild bees came to build their nest
Chorus
Many ages later the village people came Took me from my resting place and tied up my remains In an old sheep blanket they bore me down the hill My corpse is in a far off grave but I remain here still