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Great folk song lyrics
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: GUEST,JP Date: 13 Apr 10 - 08:05 PM Alistair Hulett, in my opinion one of our finest songwriters, sadly died a few months ago. A couple of samples: And the old men lilt how the blood was spilt On the banks of the river Boyne Three hundred years of hate and fear Clutched like a miser's coin (Among Proddy Dogs and Papes) The bailiff came wi' the writ and a' And the gallant lads of the Forty Twa They drove ye oot in the sleet and snaw The Gaels of Caledonia When yer house was burned and yer crops as well Ye stood and wept in the blackened shell And the winter moor was a living hell For the Gaels of Caledonia (Destitution Road, about the Highland Clearances) Or if you want traditional, how's this for chilling: They came to rob, they came to slay, They made their sport, they went their way. (Famous Flower of Serving Men) or in a lighter vein He gave her a wink and she rolled her eye Says he to himself "I'll be there by and by." (Lovely Joan) |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: GUEST,saulgoldie Date: 13 Apr 10 - 02:28 PM "And the ones who call the shots won't be among the dead and lame, And on each end of the rifle, we're the same." Christmas in the Trenches by John McCutcheon "There's a pale drooping maiden who toils her life away with a warm heart whose better days are o'er. Though her voice would be merry, 'tis sighing all the day, Oh hard times come again no more. Hard Times Come Again No More by Stephen Foster Saul |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: meself Date: 13 Apr 10 - 01:05 PM Where are the eyes that looked so mild, When my poor heart you first beguiled? Why did you skedaddle from me and the child? Johnny, I hardly knew ye. |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: Fred McCormick Date: 13 Apr 10 - 12:44 PM A few verse from various Child ballads I dreamed a dream last night, he said. Such dreams are never good. I dreamed by bower was full of swine, And my bride bed full of blood. Is Lady Margaret in her bower? Or is she in her hall? Or is she in her cold, cold coffin, with her face turned to the wall. Aft hae I played at the cairds and dice, With my ain dear rantin' laddie. But now I maun sit in my father's hall, And sing bah to my bastard baby. Willie stands at his hall door and strokes his milk white steed. When the rings they burst from off his fingers, And his nose began to bleed. Then up and spake the weather man. I fear we'll all be be drowned. For last night I saw the new moon with the old moon in her arm. Wha will lace mah shoes sae sma' And wha will glove mah hand. And wha will bind mah middle, With a new made linen band. Dinna ye mind, Lord Gregory, When we were at the wine, We changed the rings on our fingers, And I can show thee thine. Up then crew the red, red cock, And up then crew the grey. The eldest to the youngest said, "It's time we were away" The day does dawn, the cock does crow, The chunnering worm does chide. If we be missed out of our place, A sore pain we must bide. Woe be, woe be, my love he cries, Woe be to your family. Oh Don't you see my own heart's blood Come trickling down my knee. There was a lord in Edinburgh, And a false, false lord was he. he came a courting a rich king's daughter. And married thought she. For love comes in at my bedside, And love lies down beside me. Love so oppressed my tender breast. And love will waste my body. The stalk is withered dry my love. So shall our hearts decay. So be content to prove my love. Till God calls you away. Marvellous stuff! |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: GUEST,Jeff Parton Date: 13 Apr 10 - 12:12 PM Re the Tom Paxton song about 9-11, it's Firemen pounding up the stairs while we were running down That "pounding" is such a powerful word, so evocative. |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: GUEST,Wally Macnow Date: 13 Apr 10 - 11:55 AM Also I gave her the ring. She gave me the finger. |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: GUEST,Wally Macnow Date: 13 Apr 10 - 11:50 AM Perhaps my favorite "I asked her for water, she give me gasoline." - Tommy Johnson "Cool Drink of Water Blues" |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: PHJim Date: 13 Apr 10 - 11:42 AM Maybe I should call her up And even if she laughs at me At least I would get to hear her voice. Fred Eaglesmith |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: Richie Date: 12 Apr 10 - 11:20 PM One of my favorite stanzas, that I used in one of my songs: A cowslip ain't no kind of slip, To slip upon a cow. That's whay a catfish never answers, To a cat's meow. Richie |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: CET Date: 12 Apr 10 - 08:26 PM Well, Cdr Crabbe, it seems to me that Murray has it right, and that your response is a bit petulant. If you sing the song the way you punctuated it, you are singing gibberish. Kavangh's work deserves the respect of getting the punctuation (and the meaning) right. |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: Joe_F Date: 12 Apr 10 - 06:54 PM If I am forsaken, I'll not be forsworn, And he's surely mistaken if he thinks that I'll mourn. I'll get myself up in some right high degree And pass as light by him as he can by me. |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: GUEST,Bernie Date: 12 Apr 10 - 06:51 PM Ian Tyson again,from his latest,"Yellowhead to Yellowstone"... ...a song to his estranged[and only]daughter...one of the saddest and loveliest of all... Poplar trees are turning,how long has it been now since I heard a word from you since you blessed me with a smile how long has it been .. Evertything is so still;I can hear a dog bark though,like you,he's far away though like you he's gone from me how long has it been.... How our horses couldn't wait to run school bus afternoons in early fall the races that you always won through the fields of our dreams... Now i'm waiting out the flight delays waiting for the storm to pass waiting for the sky to clear;and I see your face I don't think I know you,but I know I love you ... still ...... |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: Commander Crabbe Date: 12 Apr 10 - 06:28 PM I do |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: Tootler Date: 12 Apr 10 - 04:54 PM Commander Crabbe wrote: It was originally a poem and if I ever read it as such I promise I'll punctuate it as such. Until then, while I choose to sing it, I'll arrange it and perform it any way I want. Of the many times I have done so, no one has ever complained that I got the punctuation wrong in that line. All very well, but if you sing those last two lines the way you punctuated them, they completely lose their meaning. As they are effectively the "summing up" at the end, then the rest of the song loses its meaning. Raglan Road is a superb song, but is not easy to sing because the phrasing of the words and the phrasing of the tune do not always match, so you need to think very carefully how you are going to phrase it so as to make the meaning clear to your listeners. |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: Stringsinger Date: 12 Apr 10 - 02:26 PM She's like a swallow that flies so high, She's like a river that never runs dry, She's like the sunshine on the lee shore, I love my love and love is no more. |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: meself Date: 12 Apr 10 - 08:36 AM "It was originally a poem and if I ever read it as such I promise I'll punctuate it as such. Until then, while I choose to sing it, I'll arrange it and perform it any way I want. Of the many times I have done so, no one has ever complained that I got the punctuation wrong in that line." That's because almost no one knows or cares what this poem/song means, and they are quite content to enjoy it as a meaningless but tuneful jumble of words and images, or to impose on it whatever fanciful interpretation comes into their heads. See the pertinent threads for examples of same. |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: GUEST,Continuity Jones Date: 12 Apr 10 - 04:43 AM Now it's been 25 years or more I've roamed this land from shore to shore From Tyne to Teign, or Severn to Thames From moor to vale, from peak to fen Played in cafes, pubs and bars I've stood in the street with my own guitar But I'd be richer than all the rest If I had a pound for each request For 'Duelling Banjos', 'American Pie' It's enough to make you cry 'Rule Britannia', or 'Swing low...' Are they the only songs we English know? Seed, bark, flower, fruit They're never gonna grow without their roots Branch, stem, shoot They need roots After the speeches, when the cake's been cut The disco's over and the bar is shut At christening, birthday, wedding or wake What can we sing 'til the morning breaks When the Indians, Asians, Afro-Celts It's in their blood, below their belt They're playing and dancing all night long So what have they got right that we've got wrong? Seed, bark, flower, fruit They're never gonna grow without their roots Branch, stem, shoot They need roots and Haul away boys, let them go Out in the wind and the rain and snow We've lost more than we'll ever know 'Round the rocky shores of England We need roots And a minister said his vision of hell Is three folk singers in a pub near Wales Well, I've got a vision of urban sprawl There's pubs where no-one ever sings at all And everyone stares at a great big screen Overpaid soccer stars, prancing teens Australian soap, American rap Estuary English, baseball caps And we oughta be ashamed of all we walk Of the way we look, at the way we talk Without our stories or our songs And the guy next door's a west indian fella but we get on well chat about uri gellar and next to him there's an African born but he always helps me mow my lawn How will we know where we come from? If this Sat Nav gives up and dies We've lost George Cole and the tv remote behind the sofa that's where it lies Seed, bark, flower, fruit Never gonna grow without their roots I'd go out now and tend that garden if I could only find them blasted boots Haul away boys, let them go Out in the wind and the rain and snow Out in the hail and the fog and the sun as well down past the piggery with it's awful smell We need roots |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: Commander Crabbe Date: 11 Apr 10 - 08:14 PM Murray My most humble apologies! However, you try singing the line with your punctuation to the the last bar of "The dawning of the day", the tune to which it is most frequently sung. It was originally a poem and if I ever read it as such I promise I'll punctuate it as such. Until then, while I choose to sing it, I'll arrange it and perform it any way I want. Of the many times I have done so, no one has ever complained that I got the punctuation wrong in that line. Quote "I do so hate to be pedantic" Hmmmmmmmmm! Maybe not I think. Yours mistakenly CC |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: Bluegrassman Date: 11 Apr 10 - 07:21 PM The farmers dog can only bark But the cold north wind can bite. From a Butch Hancock song called "You've never seen me cry" and performed by the Flatlanders. |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: Murray MacLeod Date: 11 Apr 10 - 06:02 PM I do so hate to be pedantic, but Commander Crabbe has got the punctuation badly wrong in his line from Raglan Road, notwithstanding the fact that most people mistakenly sing it the way he punctuated it. It's not: When the angel woos, the clay he'll lose, his wings at the dawn of day It is: When the angel woos the clay, he'll lose his wings at the dawn of day. |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: autoharpbob Date: 11 Apr 10 - 08:11 AM "If it wasn't for the 'gators, I'd sleep out in the woods" "T'would been better for us both had we never, in this wide and wicked world had never met For the pleasures we've both seen together, I am sure love I'll never forget" |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: PHJim Date: 10 Apr 10 - 10:55 PM They say I am feeble with age, Maggie My steps are less sprightly than then My face is a well written page, Maggie But time alone was the pen. They say we are aged and grey, Maggie As spray by the white breakers flung But to me you're as fair as you were, Maggie When you and I were young. George Johnson |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: MGM·Lion Date: 10 Apr 10 - 10:39 PM I buyed me a little bull about four inches high And everybody feared him that ever heard him cry For when that he did bellow it was such melodious sound That all the walls of London came a-tumbling to the ground Sing tadladay |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: Commander Crabbe Date: 10 Apr 10 - 07:29 PM ENGLAND 1914: Ralph McTell "But the gas-lamps stand like soldiers, Hiss warnings to the wind Their evening vespers prophecy of war." THE SETTING: Ralph McTell "Outside the trees they grew starlings like apples. Their bustle and chatter, not dampened by the rain." The Wild Geese/Norland Wind: Violet Jacob And far abune the Angus straths I saw the wild geese flee A lang lang skein o' beating wings wi' their heids towards the sea and aye their cryin voices trailed behind them on the air Oh wind Hae mercy, haud yer wheesht, for I daurna listen mair. Deep Dark River: (Lloyd Roberts) And always I hear the stir of men slipping Down the Chaudiere, their thin blades dripping Catch the low wraith of a long bark canoe And the wilod sweet chansons of a phantom crew The Outside Track: Henry Lawson And one by one and two by two, they've sailed from the wharf since then. I've said goodbye to the last I knew, the last of the careless men And I can't but think that the times we had were the best times after all. As I turn aside, raise a lonely glass and drink to the bar room wall. Raglan Road: Patrick Kavanagh When the angel woos, the clay he'll lose, his wings at the dawn of day. CC |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: GUEST,CS Date: 10 Apr 10 - 07:21 PM "That's why traditional lyrics tend to work better for me than most singer-songwriter lyrics - they make you see something, rather than spending a lot of time telling you about it." Well put CET, there is a sparse and direct commentary with most Trad. lyrics which assume the listeners complicity irrespective of how 'otherworldly' or unreal the circumstances depicted are. There is a magic in this as it triggers the listener into a childlike suspension of disbelief, or so I think... |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: Mr Fox Date: 10 Apr 10 - 07:11 PM If you had been a practical man, You would have been forewarned. You would have seen that it never could work, And I would have never been born. - Never any Good, Martin Simpson I see angels on Ariels in leather and chrome, Swooping down from heaven to carry me home - '52 Vincent Black Lightning, Richard thompson Brown hair zig-zag around her face And a look of half-surprise Like a fox caught in the headlights There was animal in her eyes - Beeswing, Richard Thompson Then he became a burning bush With a flame that leapt so high And he sang the song the spider sings When she comes to court the fly - Jack Rowland, Trad/Martin Carthy Great silence hung from tree to sky The woods grew still, the sun on fire As through the wood the dove he came As through the wood he made his moan - Famous Flower of Serving Men, Trad/Martin Carthy As I walked out one fine spring day I saw twelve jolly dons decked out in the blue and the gold so gay And to a stake they tied a child new-born Then the bells were rung and the songs were sung and they sewed their corn - Scarecrow, Lal Waterson |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: CET Date: 10 Apr 10 - 06:24 AM Richard, you beat me to it with Child Owlett! It's one of my favourites - better described as stomach-churning rather than heart-rending, but doesn't it just put you in the moment? That's why traditional lyrics tend to work better for me than most singer-songwriter lyrics - they make you see something, rather than spending a lot of time telling you about it. |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: Tootler Date: 10 Apr 10 - 05:22 AM Was there ever a greater cry of anguish than the last stanza of "The Well Below the Valley"
From a woman who had committed incest (most likely been forced to) with her uncle, brother and father and had killed or seen killed the babies resulting from these liaisons. I found an almost identical verse in an American version of the Cruel Mother when the ghosts of her murdered babies tell her
Puts an entirely different complexion on essentially the same verse yet equally powerful. Burton Coggles: sorry for pinching your suggestion or is it a case of "great minds" [grin]. |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: Bert Date: 10 Apr 10 - 03:30 AM When the wind whistles cold on the moor at the night All along down along out along lee Tom Pierce's gray mare doth appear ghastly white.... |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: beeliner Date: 10 Apr 10 - 12:57 AM Townes VanZandt: "Silver Ships of Andilar" Of those that sailed the silver ships From Andilar I am the last The deeds that rang our youthful dreams It seems shall go undone North for the shores of Valinor Our bows and crimson sails were made Our captains were strong, our lances long And our liege the holy king The hills did turn from green to blue And vanish as on the decks we watched But every thought in that noble company Was forward bound To the lifeless plains of Valinor Where reigns the dark and frozen one And with tongues afire and glorious eyes We pledged our mission be The clime from mild to bitter ran The wind from fair to fierce did blow Oath and prayer did turn to thoughts Of homes left far behind Longed every man for some glimpse of land And the host that did await us there But each new day brought only a sea And sky of ice and gray Thanks give no word can drag you through Those endless weeks our ships did roll Thanks give you cannot see those sails And faces bleach and draw Ice we drank and leather did chew For the oceans are unwholesome there The dead that slid into the seas Did freeze before our eyes Then a wind did fling the ships apart Each one to go her separate way The sky did howl, the hull did groan For how long I do not know And what men were left when the winds had ceased Grew dull and low of countenance For soldiers denied their battle plain On comrades soon must turn So one by one we died alone Some by hunger, some by steel Bodies froze where they did fall Their souls unsanctified Until only another and I were left Then just before his flame did fail We shone ourselves brothers-in-arms To serve the holy king Perhaps this shall reach Andilar Although I know not how it can For once again he's hurled his wind Upon the silver prow But if it should my words are these Arise young men fine ships to build And set them north for Valinor 'Neath standards proud as fire |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: MGM·Lion Date: 10 Apr 10 - 12:03 AM A woman is a branchy tree, A man a singing wind, wind; And from your branches carelessly He'll take what he can find, find, He'll take what he can find... Get home to your father's garden Where you may weep your fill And think on your own misfortunes Brought on by your wanton will The King looked o'er his left shoulder And a grim look looked he; "An 'twere not for my oath, Earl Marshall," he cried, "Hanged you should be!" And he took her by her lily-white hand And he led her away to the hall And he cut off her head from her neckbone And kicked it against the wall! The Brown Girl she was standing by With knives both keen and sharp Between the long ribs and the short She pierced fair Eleanor's heart "Oh never will I forget, forgive, As long as I have breath. I'll dance upon your green green grave Where you do lie beneath." And so on and so on and so on... Aaaahhh ~~ say what you will: they just don't write 'em like that any more... ~Michael~ |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: mousethief Date: 09 Apr 10 - 10:52 PM The silence of a falling star Lights up a purple sky This is gorgeous. |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: MGM·Lion Date: 09 Apr 10 - 10:39 PM Another traditional floater I would nominate is the "Sad is the fortunes of all womankind" opening stanza which is the topic of another ongoing thread at this moment. ~Michael~ |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: Acorn4 Date: 09 Apr 10 - 04:06 PM "Money doesn't talk, it swears, propaganda all is phoney!" Bob Dylan |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: MGM·Lion Date: 09 Apr 10 - 02:17 PM "MtheGM lamented the absence of "quotes from actual folk songs". As one pedant to another, I would point out that there were a few of those (in the narrower sense of "folk songs") before his posting." === Indeed, Richard, your post, pedant-2-pedant, made me check back: & there was indeed one [count them 1] post from Stringsinger containing several lines among a selection which would indeed qualify. Pedantic apologies ··· ~Michael~ |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: Mavis Enderby Date: 09 Apr 10 - 02:14 PM Tootler, you beat me to it with Brigg fair! |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: MGM·Lion Date: 09 Apr 10 - 02:10 PM "Having said that I don't know how many (if indeed any?) Americans recognise any distinction between traditional (very old) and contemporary (not so old) folk music. Honest here." GUEST CS ===== One who most assuredly did, Sis, was the late great Sandy Paton; don't think I have ever met anyone much more conscious of the distinction. ~Michael~ |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: Richard Mellish Date: 09 Apr 10 - 02:08 PM MtheGM lamented the absence of "quotes from actual folk songs". As one pedant to another, I would point out that there were a few of those (in the narrower sense of "folk songs") before his posting. However there has been a preponderance of recently-composed songs throughout this thread. Perhaps this reflects a general (though by no means universal) difference between the old songs, which tend to be largely matter-of-fact about the events recounted, and the new ones, which more often describe explicitly what the protagonists felt and thought. For words that "take your breath away" how about the description of the fate of the innocent Child Owlet? (The following is hastily pasted from the DigiTrad. Other versions are similar.) There wasnae grass nor heather knowe Nor broom nor bonnie whin But drappit wi' Chylde Owlet's blood And pieces o' his skin There wasnae stane on Elkin Moor Nor yet a piece o' rush But drappit wi' Chylde Owlet's blood And pieces o' his flesh Or the climax of the version of The Daemon Lover, where he grows taller than the ship's mast and dashes it to pieces? Richard |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: MGM·Lion Date: 09 Apr 10 - 02:06 PM Vaughan Williams once said that he thought 'Searching For Lambs' had the most beautiful tune he had ever heard. Some of its lyrics are quite lovely also: How hero-like the sun do shine How pleasant is the air I'd sooner rest on my true love's breast Than any other where... ~Michael~ |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: GUEST,CS Date: 09 Apr 10 - 02:00 PM The OP said: "I hope this won't turn into trad vs. non-trad thread. What I had in mind was a discussion of lyrics with power, so whether it's singer-songwriter or trad.that does it for you, have at it." Yes, I had similar thing resulting from another thread I initiated recently where I put "folk" but meant something quite broad. My summation would be that it would be helpful if people creating threads clearly deliniated their terms and wants in the OP. I used the term "folk" when I was meaning "traditional & singer/songwriter" others read "folk" to mean "traditional only", so I had to explain the broader terms of my OP. Having said that I don't know how many (if indeed any?) Americans recognise any distinction between traditional (very old) and contemporary (not so old) folk music. Honest here. |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: MGM·Lion Date: 09 Apr 10 - 01:54 PM "I hope this won't turn into trad vs. non-trad thread " ================================ No, indeed CET; this is one thread where contribs from both sides of that divide, right across the spectrum, should be welcome. I made that earlier observation because it seemed from the first few posts that traditional wasn't getting anything of a look-in at all. ================= "That said, it would be interesting to hear from folks on my side of the Atlantic about traditional lyrics that take your breath away," you go on. Can I suggest one such from over here: "Hug you & kiss you & tell you more lies Than the cross-ties on the railroad and the stars in the skies". That certainly a very beautiful one, & certainly from your side of the Atlantic, because over here, our railWAYS have SLEEPERS, not cross-ties. ~Michael~ |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: Tootler Date: 09 Apr 10 - 01:40 PM And surely, one of the most beautiful love songs ever written:
The simplicity of the language makes it more telling. |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: DonMeixner Date: 09 Apr 10 - 01:35 PM There are so many great songs and with true bits of poetic brilliance in them. The quote from Brave Wolfe is an excellent example. How does one find just a few to choose from. Ian and Sylvia's song The French Girl, I assume by Ian Tyson just captivates me again every time I hear it. The line from Along Side the Sante Fe Trail She had a smile like an acre of sunflowers brings to me a face I haven't seen in 40 years but I remember it still. And Henry Lawson's poem set to music Reedy River is just one rolling collection of pictures. I don't have a favorite but those I mentioned will do until I find one. Don |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: Tootler Date: 09 Apr 10 - 01:30 PM There's not enough quotes from Traditional songs on this thread. They are the true folk songs.
Trad Northumbrian. I'm sure that any parent whose children are teenagers or older will recognise this scenario. |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: PHJim Date: 09 Apr 10 - 01:04 PM Wilder Than Her - Fred J. Eaglesmith Well I'm wilder than her, and what else can I say But I guess that's why she fell in love with me She's a house on fire, she's got all those charms I'm a house on fire, too, but I got four alarms And I'm wilder than her, and it drives her out of her mind I guess she thought that she was just one of a kind But she's a summer storm, and I'm a hurricane One just blows through town, one blows the town away And I'm wilder than her When we go drivin' in our cars, racing through the night She can drive as fast as me but she stops at all the lights She says it's 'cause I'm crazy and she's probably right But I think that the reason is that I'm twice as wild chorus But when she takes my hand and she looks me in the eye I see something that I've never seen in my life She takes the fire and turns it down low She takes the night and makes it not so cold She takes the distance and breaks it into miles She makes my life just a little less wild |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: PHJim Date: 09 Apr 10 - 01:02 PM The silence of a falling star Lights up a purple sky And as I wonder where you are I'm so lonesome I could cry Hank Williams |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: CET Date: 09 Apr 10 - 12:54 PM I hope this won't turn into trad vs. non-trad thread. What I had in mind was a discussion of lyrics with power, so whether it's singer-songwriter or trad.that does it for you, have at it. That said, it would be interesting to hear from folks on my side of the Atlantic about traditional lyrics that take your breath away. There are plenty of fine songwriters that don't manage to achieve this: Lennon/Macartney to name two. I wouldn't include many Bob Dylan songs either. Much as I like his music, he never wrote anything (IMHO) that equalled the emotional impact of Stan Rogers or Ian Tyson at their best. Here's some more: La reine a fait faire un bouquet De belles fleurs de lise Et la senteur de ce bouquet A fait mourir Marquise (Le roi a fait battre tambour) Hard to get any simpler than that and it's all there in high definition - the bitter hatred of the queen for the Marquise, who is only the victim of the philandering king. You can practically put yourself in the room in the royal palace where the Marquise dies alone. |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: mrmoe Date: 09 Apr 10 - 09:58 AM Carl Watanabe's "where the uplands roll" if you say my name where the uplands roll and the answer you get ain't very kind they'll be spoken by my hard friends of old and my hard friends of old, I don't mind I met a green eyed girl where the chaparral rolls and grows high up to meet the yellow pine her name and age best be unknown it's enough just to say she once was mine she was fair but her ways were much fairer yet and her laughter could dance against the wind her manner charmed everyone that she met 'til they held her as dear as next of kin each young man placed his wealth and his soul in her hand but none of them could be so proud for she did choose a stranger to the land and she came to me with her head bowed our wedding day would come when the spring flowers bloomed like two horses we danced into the sun the stallion pranced and the mare would follow before our wedding day a child would come soldiers kill and we honor them with fortune and fame but a baby who's harmed not one life but is early to come is bathed full in shame so must die unborn to a doctor's knife as the doctor took our unborn babe seeds of sorrow took root upon her mind in her body the poison from his unwashed blade left a wound who's cure we'd never find so if you say my name where the uplands roll and the answer you get ain't very kind they'll be spoken by my hard friends of old and my hard friends of old, I don't mind but if they say not a word about me at all but are reminded of a young girl once so fine then listen close to the words that they recall and they'll tell you of a girl who once was mine |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: Tug the Cox Date: 09 Apr 10 - 09:42 AM The whole of 'I sowed the seeds of love' takes some beating. |
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Subject: RE: Great folk song lyrics From: Deckman Date: 09 Apr 10 - 09:37 AM GREAT THREAD ... I'll contribute after I wake some more ... Bob(deckman)Nelson |
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