Lyr Add: John Barleycorn (Jon Berger, Stan Rogers)

Subject: Lyr Add: JOHN BARLEYCORN (Jon Berger, Stan Rogers)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 16 Dec 07 - 09:57 PM

I found a request for this song buried in a very old thread, but the thread was so confused, and covered so many songs that I thought it would be best to start a new thread for it.

Copied from The MOTley Morris web site (which also has the tune):

The tune [THE IDIOT] was written and sung by Stan Rogers. MOTley Morris uses this tune, with Jon Berger's words to John Barleycorn for the dance The Drunken Idiot.

The John Barleycorn words, written by Jon Berger, are:
^^
JOHN BARLEYCORN

1. John Barleycorn to the sea has gone
In a ship both stout and new,
The thirst to slake of Captain Drake
And all his loyal crew.
To venture brave o'er wind and wave,
The Spaniard for to halt,
And though he die of Spanish grape
He'll live as English malt.

CHORUS: So we'll cut him down and we'll bind him round
And we'll serve him worse than that,
For we'll grind his bones between two stones
And we'll bung him in a vat.
Then we'll drink his health in nut-brown ale,
And we'll raise our glasses high,
For before that he can live again
John Barleycorn must die!

2. John Barleycorn's to the courting gone
All dressed in fine array,
In pewter clad from toe to head
To win a lady gay.
The poetry that he declaims
Will stand him in good stead,
For the ladies fair do all declare
They love it more than bread. [Chorus]

3. John Barleycorn's to the hangman gone
And the reason I'll unfold:
'Tis for robbing honest Englishmen
Of their silver and their gold.
In a grave unknown by cross nor stone
John Barley will be lain,
'Til the rainy days have gone their ways
And he rises up again. [Chorus]

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: John Barleycorn (Jon Berger, Stan Rogers)
From: Dave Swan
Date: 16 Dec 07 - 10:46 PM

Here's a link to Jon's website. I remember singing this with him in the 80's. He's a hell of a talent in many ways, and a nice guy.

D

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: John Barleycorn (Jon Berger, Stan Rogers)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 17 Dec 07 - 01:44 AM

Did Stan Rogers record it? I thought I had all his CD's, and this song isn't familiar to me.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: John Barleycorn (Jon Berger, Stan Rogers)
From: Dave Swan
Date: 17 Dec 07 - 10:55 AM

Stan recorded The Idiot as such, his original composition. I don't think he ever recorded Jon's lyric.
D

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: John Barleycorn (Jon Berger, Stan Rogers)
From: ClaireBear
Date: 17 Dec 07 - 01:36 PM

Two minor corrections (I'm Jon's singing partner, then and sometimes now, so I know this one cold):

Second verse, second line should read

    All dressed in rich array

(It's the alliteration, don'tcha know)

Third verse, third line should read

    'Tis for robbing honest English folk

(The love of drink is all-inclusive.)

Great song, written by a great friend.

Cheers,
Claire

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: John Barleycorn (Jon Berger, Stan Rogers)
From: Dave Swan
Date: 17 Dec 07 - 02:19 PM

I hoped you would show up on this one.

Do you remember the year Jon wrote it? I mean the date of composition, not the events of the year itself, of course. Big chunks are missing from the 80's.....

Was Stan aware of it?

D

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: John Barleycorn (Jon Berger, Stan Rogers)
From: ClaireBear
Date: 17 Dec 07 - 04:09 PM

Whew, that's a tough one. It would heve been about fall 1982, I think, so Stan was still alive. As for as I know Stan never heard about the rewrite...as I recall, we opted not to record it or put it in our songbook rather than have to tell him about it!

Many chunks of the '80s are a bit lost in the mists of time for me too (why would that be, I wonder?), but I think that date is about right. Somehow I doubt Jon would have written it after Stan died...and I know that we didn't have a Barleycorn song that effective for our first couple of years as performers. He wrote it to replace the dreadful "Bass Ale, Bass Ale all over the town" that we'd been singing.

Cheers,
Claire

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: John Barleycorn (Jon Berger, Stan Rogers)
From: MMario
Date: 09 Oct 13 - 12:03 PM

popping to the top...

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: John Barleycorn (Jon Berger, Stan Rogers)
From: ClaireBear
Date: 09 Oct 13 - 07:30 PM

Oh good, Mmario, you found it! Have fun.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: John Barleycorn (Jon Berger, Stan Rogers)
From: Mo the caller
Date: 05 Jul 24 - 09:08 AM

not heard that version. I like it, very much the folkies version though, my singing teacher hadn't heard the original so maybe I should sing that to her first.