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ADD: Father's Grave (Len Chandler) DigiTrad: BEANS IN MY EARS Related threads: Obit: Len Chandler (1935-2023) (8) Lyr Add: Len Chandler, The Bus Driver (5) Lyr Req: Takin' Me Away from You Train (L Chandler (5) Lyr Req/Add: Keep On Keepin On (Len Chandler) (23) Len Chandler contact info? (18) Lyr Req: Roll Turn Spin (Len Chandler) (29) Lyr/Tune Req: Bound to Fly (Len Chandler) (11) Selma Song - Right! Right! (Len Chandler) (12) Help with lead sheet (Len Chandler song) (3) Len Chandler in FTA (1) Origins: Beans in my Ears (Len Chandler) (29) beans in my nose? (25) (closed)
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Subject: Lyr ADD: Father's Grave (Len Chandler) From: Joe Offer Date: 20 Feb 23 - 06:17 PM I couldn't find this one yesterday when somebody was singing it in the Singaround, but I found it today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg88EcZn5LQ FATHER'S GRAVE (Len Chandler) With my swing blade in my hand, as I looked across the land And thought of all the places that I’d been, Of that old house that I called home, Where I’d always been alone And of that weedy grave that held my closest kin. CHORUS: (after each verse) And as I cut the weeds from o’er my father’s grave, father's grave, I swore no child I bore would be a slave. Oh, the old house was a shell, there were weeds around the well, And I touched the rusty hinge that held no door And the roof was caving in, It was always sort of thin, And I found the place where the ash pan burned the floor. I thought of all the glad and the good times that I had With my pockets full of purple plums each fall When the yard was wide and clean and the grass was short & green Now the underbrush has laid its claim to all. It made me feel so bad, lost the best friend that I had And I didn't get to hear the preacher pray Yes, and I was only eight, no, I can’t recall the date Nor the reason I was late, but a funeral just can’t wait And when I got to church they were rolling him away. Notes: Len (Chandler) and Cordell Reagon travelled together during the summer Caravan through Mississippi and other areas of the South. They visited the house where Cordell grew up in Waverly, Tennessee. Cordell had talked often about not getting to his father's funeral on time They went to the graveyard and cut the weeds down over the grave. They talked about freedom and about whether their children would have to go through the difficult changes they were going through in the next generation. This is a personal song, yet the chorus speaks for many in the movement. from Sing for Freedom: The Story of the Civil Rights Movement through its songs, edited by Guy and Candie Carawan (Sing Out!, 1989) |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Father's Grave (Len Chandler) From: Felipa Date: 20 Feb 23 - 07:11 PM https://www.heartwoodguitar.com/chords/len-chandler-fathers-grave/ Capo 5 Intro: / G - - - / D7/F# - - - / - - - - / C/G - - - / / G - - - / - - - - / - - - - / G D7/F# With my swing blade in my hand C G As I looked across the land G Em Am D7/F# And thought of all the places that I'd been, G Em Of that old house that I called home G Em Where I'd always been alone G Em Am D7/F# And of that weedy grave that held C/G G My dearest kin. Chorus: C D7/F# G Em And as I cut the weeds from o'er my father's grave, father's grave, C D7/F# C/G G I swore no child I bore would be a slave Chorus: C D7/F# G Em And as I cut the weeds from o'er my father's grave, father's grave, C D7/F# C/G G I swore no child I bore would be a slave |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Father's Grave (Len Chandler) From: GUEST,Guest Joan F Date: 24 Feb 23 - 09:54 AM Joe, you left out the next-to-last verse: I learned of violence done By my mother's brother's son Was it hate or hurt That held the hand to knife It was trouble in the mind Yes that's the only kind That would make my cousin Try to take his father's life I heard this song on my sister's Broadsides Ballads album when I was teen or preteen & thought he was singing "mine" which made perfect sense to me, but printed lyrics say "mind". To hear it get the Broadsides Ballads version, which isn't one of the songs on that album you can get to play on Spotify. You can play a much weaker version on Spotify, with a choir on the chorus, which it doesn't need. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Father's Grave (Len Chandler) From: GUEST,Guest Joan F Date: 24 Feb 23 - 09:58 AM If you look up the Heartwoods Guitar link, that verse is there. |
Subject: ADD: Father's Grave (Len Chandler) From: Joe Offer Date: 24 Feb 23 - 09:09 PM Thanks for catching that, Joan. The missing verse isn't in the Carawan Sing for Freedom book, but it is on the Len Chandler Folkways recording. Here is my transcription of that recording, which is different from the lyrics in the Carawan book in many places. FATHER'S GRAVE (Len Chandler) With my swing blade in my hand, as I looked across the land And thought of all the places that I’ve been, Of that old house that I called home, Where I’d always been alone And of that weedy grave that held my dearest kin. CHORUS: (after each verse) And as I cut the weeds from o’er my father’s grave, father's grave, I swore no child I bore would be a slave. The old house was just a shell, there were weeds around the well, And I touched that rusty hinge that held no door Oh, the roof was caving in, It was always sort of thin, And I found that place that the ash pan burned the floor. I thought of all the glad and the good times that I had With my pockets full of purple plums each fall When the yard was wide and clean and the grass was short and green Now the underbrush has laid its claim to all. I learned of violence done by my mother's brother's son Was it hate or hurt that held the hand to knife Oh, it was trouble in the mind, yes that's the only kind That could make my cousin try to take his father's life It made me feel so bad, lost the best friend that I had And I didn't get to hear the preacher pray Yes, and I was only eight, no, I can’t recall the date Nor the reason I was late, but a funeral just can’t wait And when I got to church they were rolling him away. |
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