Songs about young and old

Subject: Lyr Add: Youth Is Wasted on the Young
From: The Shambles
Date: 06 Dec 98 - 07:55 AM

Posted this song in the 'Why I Hate Folk Music Thread'.

But I thought it might be an idea to start a new thread for the posting of songs on this subject.

Youth is wasted on the young

If the truth be told,

Experience is wasted on the old

And youth is wasted on the young

When you have your youth

You have no finer weapon than the truth

And you wield it like a sword

When youth is gone

You need all your strengh just to go on

And the truth now cuts you to the bone

If the truth be told,

Experience is wasted on the old

And youth is wasted on the young

Which one is right

The one certain, keen and ready for the fight?

Or the one, unsure, who knows the price to pay

Who are the fools

The ones who want to change all the rules?

Or the ones, who have changed them once before?

If the truth be told,

Experience is wasted on the old

And youth is wasted on the young

Roger Gall 1997

Subject: RE: Songs about young and old
From: Philippa
Date: 06 Dec 98 - 09:41 AM

That's a broad category! I started with songs of contact with the two generations and went on from there. Peggy Seeger 'Little Girl Child' Murray McLauchlan 'Child's Song' (Tom Rush sang it - where's he now?) Gordon Lightfoot 'Sit Down Young Stranger' Utah Phillips 'Daddy what's a train?' Ewan MacColl "My Old Man", "Joy of Living" "When I was young, I had no sense, I bought a fiddle for 18 pence, The only tune that it would play was over the fields and very far away" "All Used Up", various songs about aging An Sean Bhean Bhocht, Four Green Fields (Tommy Makem), The Bold Fenian Men, Daniel O'Connell (allegorical use of the old woman) the Keech in the Creel, the Spinning Wheel, Casadh an t-Sugáin, the whistling Thief -and many many more songs where parents are at odds with their children over courtship millions of lullabies Somebody else has done this: I just checked and the DT has categories for @age, @youth, @child

Subject: RE: Songs about young and old
From: Roger in Baltimore
Date: 06 Dec 98 - 10:00 AM

Phillipa,

Tom Rush is still singing, writing, and recording. For more information, you can try the Tom Rush web site. It lists his upcoming experiences.

Roger in Baltimore

Subject: RE: Songs about young and old
From: BSeed
Date: 07 Dec 98 - 12:06 AM

John Prine has (at least) a couple of good songs about young & old: "Hello in There" and "Grampaw Was a Carpenter." --seed

Subject: RE: Songs about young and old
From: Barbara Shaw
Date: 07 Dec 98 - 12:02 PM

"Who Will Watch the Home Place" by Kate Long (recorded by Laurie Lewis) is about a grandchild looking through the things that belonged to her grandfather and wondering what will happen to the things and the memories after she is gone.

Subject: RE: Songs about young and old
From: Ritchie
Date: 08 Dec 98 - 04:06 AM

I like "Father & Son " by Cat Stevens and I've been able now to sing both parts from a personal point of view.

love and happiness

Ritchie

Subject: RE: Songs about young and old
From: northfolk
Date: 08 Dec 98 - 10:21 AM

Sally Roger's song Circle of the Sun certainly fits this category and is a wonderful song. and Pete Seeger's rendition of Get Up and Go, at least I think that is the name, is a tongue in cheek look at aging...If only we all could do it with the vitality that Pete has!

Subject: RE: Songs about young and old
From: anna
Date: 08 Dec 98 - 02:41 PM

And there's also that great song by Archie Fisher, "Generations of Change", sung by Cila Fisher and Artie Trezeise, with the chorus:

But those days are past, and the time come at last When the weakness of age must make way for the young.

It's about each generation finding its own work, its own way in the world.

Subject: RE: Songs about young and old
From: Barbara
Date: 08 Dec 98 - 08:59 PM

What about Kilkelly?

Or for me, this time of year the one that hits so close to home that I think I wrote it, is "Twelve Days Home For Christmas".
Blessings,
Barbara

Subject: Lyr Add: THE ONLY TIME THAT MATTERS IS NOW (Gall)
From: The Shambles
Date: 09 Dec 98 - 06:06 AM

Can we see it Barbara?

This song is about the place where adolescents go, or where they want to be. It's usually only just behind a closed bedroom door, but it may as well be on another planet.

THE ONLY TIME THAT MATTERS IS NOW

My feelings, every day are torn,
My thanks, like a badge to be worn.
Don't expect my gratitude
My attitude?
I didn't ask to be born
Horizons, you always will see clear,
Doubts here, you'll never find
Music is always played loud here
We're proud here with nothing to prove

On opinions, I've been force-fed
Your thoughts, spin in my head
Don't feel like I'm on display here
I'll stay here
With my thoughts instead
Here, no feelings of guilt
No walls to tear down
Or windmills to tilt
Music is always played loud here
We're proud hear with nothing to prove

Here, no price to pay
I can stay out
All night and all day
There's no one to stop me from growing
Or going,
My own way
Here, we see who we choose
No favours to win, or to lose
Music is always played loud here
We're proud hear with nothing to prove

The only time that matters, is now
Can't stay young, I don't know how
The future, never concerns the young
For when the future comes
Youth takes it's bow!

Roger Gall 1996

Subject: RE: Songs about young and old
From: Bill Cameron
Date: 09 Dec 98 - 10:14 AM

Generations of Change is a fine song, and was recorded by Fisher & Tresize on the album "Cilla & Artie" (Topic Records, 1979). But it's not by Archie Fisher. It's by Matt Armour. Lyric is in the DT, (search for Generations) credited to Matt.

Tune is basically "Streets of Laredo."

Bill

Subject: Lyr Add: Twelve Days Home for Christmas^^
From: Barbara
Date: 09 Dec 98 - 11:49 PM

I think this has been here before, but I couldn't find it.
On the first day home for Christmas my mother said to me:
1.You've no decent clothes to wear.
2.You've put on some weight,
3.You should get a job,
4.Visit your Aunt Sally
5.No boyfriend yet!
6.What's that in your suitcase?!
7.Do you smoke marijuana?
8.Ester has three kids now,
9.Sarah's getting married,
10.Are you still on foodstamps?
11.Your life is a disaster!
12.We will always love you.

blessings,
Barbara

Subject: RE: Songs about young and old
From: Jo Taylor
Date: 11 Dec 98 - 06:10 PM

'Maids when you're young never wed an old man' - hate that song!

Subject: RE: Songs about young and old
From: The Shambles
Date: 11 Dec 98 - 07:19 PM

If that the one about "he's lost his (silly words for rude bits), I tend to agree.

Subject: Lyr Add: LET THE YOUNG (Frank Molloy)^^
From: Harald
Date: 11 Dec 98 - 07:56 PM

A friend of mine - a Dubliner named Frank Molloy, living for many years in Frankfurt/Germany - wrote a song about young and old

You can also find the song and more at this site

Let The Young

Now I'm young and in my teens
There's a lot of things that I ain't seen
I can work, or study hang out or play
Get married, get stone any old day

Ceasers, bishops, generals and kings
Are all over 40 and the've done their thing
They're power crazy dishonest and dump
They don't care a damn about the needy and young

Good kings all, we went to your schools
We learned all your golden rules
You oldies tried it and you got it wrong
So now you better listen to this song

Let the young govern the country
Let the old fight the wars
Let the young govern the country
Let the old fight the wars

Subject: Lyr Add: THE CARETAKER (Johnny Cash)^^
From:
Date: 11 Dec 98 - 08:27 PM

Do you remember a song by Johnny Cash -


THE CARETAKER
Words and music by Johnny Cash
As recorded by Johnny Cash on “Songs of Our Soil” (1959)

I live in the cemetery; Old Caretaker they call me.
In the wintertime, I rake the leaves, and in the summer I cut the weeds.
When a funeral comes, the people cry and pray.
They bury their dead, and they all go away.
But through their grief, I still can see
Their hate and greed and jealousy.
So here I work, and I somehow hide
From a world that rushes by outside,
And each night when I rest my head,
I'm as contented as the peaceful dead.

But who's gonna cry when old John dies?
Who's gonna cry when old John dies?

Once I was a young man, dashing with the girls.
Now no one wants an old man; I lost my handsome curls.
But I want to say, when my time comes,
Lay me facin' the risin' sun.
Put me in a corner where I buried my pup.
Tell the preacher to pray, then cover me up.
Don’t lay flowers where my head should be.
Maybe God will let some grow from me.
And all the little children that I loved like my own,
Will they be sorry that old John's gone?

Who's gonna cry when old John dies?
Who's gonna cry when old John dies?



Bobby Bob

Subject: RE: Songs about young and old
From:
Date: 12 Dec 98 - 08:48 AM

That's what I found at home:
'Run the Film Backwards' and 'Silver in the Stubble' by Sydney Carter;
'Activity Room' by Ruth Pelham, about an old people's home;
'Annie Brown' by Adam McNaughtan and 'The Reason For It All' by Eric Bogle - both about old women dying alone and being found long afterwards;
'Good Bye Love' by Tommy Sands, about having to take his mother to an old people's home;
'How Do I Know' (my youth is all spent, my get-up-and-go has got up and went...), particularly funny if you got a chance to hear it sung by Hamish Imlach;
the lovely 'John Anderson My Jo', even with the bawdy lyrics;
'Maids When You're Young Never Wed an Old Man' (ok, I'll take that back!);
'Much Too Much Trouble' by Judy Small and Alison Lyssa, about an old woman who feels unwanted at her children's;
'Nearer To Nettles' by Jez Lowe, about poverty in old age;
'Old Men and Children' by Frank Hennessy,
'The Oldest Swinger In Town' by Ed Pickford, which makes fun of a well-known type, and
'Yesterday's Bread' by Harvey Andrews, a bitter satire on what this (i.e. any Western) society can spare for their old.
I haven't checked the DT, but some at least should be in there. - Susanne

Subject: Lyr Add: SILVER IN THE STUBBLE^^^
From: Bill Sullivan
Date: 12 Dec 98 - 09:38 AM

Its in the Database. Type STUBBLE.

SILVER IN THE STUBBLE (Sydney Carter)

(ACBG) Am G Am / Am G Am / Am G Am G Am G / Am G Am

Early in the Morning, Hear the razor roar, There's silver in the stubble And it wasn't there before.

CHORUS For the leaves are getting greener, And spring is on the way; Girls are getting prettier And younger every day.

Silver in the stubble; Winter in the wood. Fare you well, you wicked world, I'm going to be good.

Time to think of Heaven; Time to think of Hell. Time to go to church on Sunday, Hark, I hear the bell.

But if any girl is willing, She only has to say; I'll hang my halo on a shelf Until another day.

Subject: RE: Songs about young and old
From: Barry Finn
Date: 12 Dec 98 - 05:06 PM

Been looking for "Sissy Lee", about a homeless aged widow, who's life is at it's end & she no longer feels the urge to hand on. I'll bring up the orginial thread request. Thanks, Barry

Subject: RE: Songs about young and old
From: Sandy Paton
Date: 13 Dec 98 - 01:35 AM

May I suggest "Time Has Made a Change in Me," beautifully sung by Lucy Simpson (and friends) on Folk-Legacy's Sharon Mountain Harmony (only available as a cassette, for now -- C-86).

Sandy

Subject: RE: Songs about young and old
From: Sandy Paton
Date: 13 Dec 98 - 02:16 AM

Should have added that it's also the title song on Jerry Epstein's strongly tradition-oriented Minstrel CD.
Sandy

Subject: RE: Songs about young and old
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 13 Dec 98 - 09:57 AM

Or, there's always "My Children are Laughing Behind My Back" and "The Good Boy".

BTW- If you mention a song that we don't have, and you post it, we will have it. Nag. Nag. Nag.

Subject: RE: Songs about young and old
From: Ritchie
Date: 13 Dec 98 - 10:17 AM

mee an the boys DIScusshed thisss topi-hicc over a few drinkshh...the uver night an sum one came up with... 'The cat's in the cradle '... by ?????? At that point whee aal got maudling ...it all seemed soo clear at the time an now ish all gone...sorta hazy...

Soo now i'm ona mishun to find out if it fits..

love & happiness

Ritchie

Subject: RE: Songs about young and old
From:
Date: 13 Dec 98 - 07:33 PM

There is "The Circle Game" by -- Joni Mitchell??

Then on the lighter side there is "You Are Old, Father William", by Lewis Carroll from one of the Alice books. (The annotated version says that it is a parody of a well-known Victorian poem.)I've never heard a recording but I sing it to the tune my mother used to use.

Subject: RE: Songs about young and old
From: schmuze
Date: 14 Dec 98 - 10:38 AM

What about "Dancing at Whitsun" and "Port of Call (Alan Reid, Battlefield Band, that's a lovely one about an old sailor.

Subject: RE: Songs about young and old
From:
Date: 15 Dec 98 - 03:09 AM

I forgot 'Cheeky Young Lad' by Harvey Andrews, a rather chilling tale of getting old while the world around you seems to stay young (and gradually gets stronger than you). - Susanne

Subject: RE: Songs about young and old
From: alison
Date: 16 Dec 98 - 07:45 AM

Hi,

Cat's in the Cradle, was Harry Chapin, but redone more recently by Bon Jovi.

Slainte

alison

Subject: RE: Songs about young and old
From: Ritchie
Date: 16 Dec 98 - 08:16 AM

Thanks Alison,

Have a drink on me !

love & happiness

Ritchie.

Subject: RE: Songs about young and old
From: The Shambles
Date: 12 Jul 99 - 07:45 PM

I recently saw a short TV advert which used 'Cat's in the Cradle' as a soundtrack. It was trying to get people to inform on people they knew to be invoved in terrorism in Ireland.

I don't want to go in to the rights and wrongs of the campaign, but the film, useing the song was very effective. It changed the occupation of the singer to that of a terrorist. The son eventually following in his fathers footsteps and the father attended his son's funeral.

I don't know what the author would have thought about it?

Subject: RE: Songs about young and old
From: Banjer
Date: 12 Jul 99 - 08:11 PM

Reading this thread brings to mind one song that I have been searching for. I can't remember who did. It was one of the early C&W artists famous for his recitations. The name of the song, best as I can remember was "Daddy's Evening Prayer". It dealt with a father saying grace and asking that his oldest boy, (who was about to leave home for the first time) be watched over and asking at the end that the Lord not make him wait too much longer to take "go home" Red Sovine, maybe?

Subject: RE: Songs about young and old
From: skipy
Date: 20 Sep 06 - 08:23 AM

Hi All,
anyone got the words to
Annie Brown, by Adam McNaughtan.
Skipy

Subject: RE: Songs about young and old
From: leftydee
Date: 20 Sep 06 - 10:12 AM

The Cape by Guy Clark, song about being young and old but always knowing that "Life is just a leap of faith." One of my top ten songs ever!

Subject: RE: Songs about young and old
From: Forsh
Date: 20 Sep 06 - 10:45 AM

All of the above are good to great songs, and to add, I recently came across (no pus please) a gut called Donal O'Connor who does a lovely song entitled 'Your Song' You can hear it HERE
There's a glitch on the site, so you may have to press the 'Stop Buttons' on the players before you press the 'Play'.. they do work, I am listening to it now!
By the way, check out the festival there too.

Subject: Lyr Add: ANNIE BROWN (Adam McNaughtan)
From: eddie1
Date: 20 Sep 06 - 10:49 AM

Hi Skipy
Here you go

Eddie


ANNIE BROWN
Adam McNaughtan

Sometimes cities are ruthless, a town can be cruel to its own
And Glasgow's indifference left an old woman alone
From the Calton she came, her name was old Annie Brown
And six months she lay dead before her body was found

Now she'd lived in the east end of Glasgow for all of her days
She looked after her folks when her brothers were wed and away
Annie was fifty when she saw her mother laid down
So there wasnae much chance o' a man for old Annie Brown

But she decided to stay in the Calton that she knew so well
Glasgow was changing faster than Annie could tell
All the people who could moved out as the buildings came down
There were few neighbours left to care for old Annie Brown

Now she'd bought all her needs in the big London Road superstore
But the manager said, We get old folks in here by the score
So how should I notice if one of them isn't around
But record my regrets for the death of old Annie Brown

Do you know the old woman who lives five or six doors away
What would you do if you didnae see her the day
If you missed her for a week, would you maybe take a look round
Ach, don't wait till you miss her, her name might be old Annie Brown