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Down to ten

21 Mar 05 - 09:03 AM (#1439629)
Subject: Down to ten
From: Wolfgang

Well, this thread comes close to being a BS thread, but it’s about songs, so I post above the line.

I always have liked folk music and songs and since long have tried to find the lyrics to all the songs I have on records, tapes , and, later, CDs. Songs mean more to me if I know what they are about.

One day in 1996, I discovered the internet. Someone showed me how to make a search using a phrase from a song or a song title. After the first dozen of searches I realised that the same ‘Digital Tradition’ came up in most of these searches. I then went to their alphabet section and for more than 12 hours without interruption scanned that list for missing lyrics.

It was (from the lyrics collector’s point of view) like Christmas and Easter falling on the same day (as we say in German). I think I found roughly 120 of my close to 350 missing lyrics on one day. The only comparable day in my life (once more, only seen from a collector’s point of view; otherwise there’d be several other days to compete) was my first day in the Cecil Sharp House library some years before.

A bit later I discovered that friendly people in the discussion forum shared their lyrics with requesters from all over the world. I learned how to do searches, where to find other lyrics sites, my transcription ability improved etc, so the list of missing lyrics decreased with the time.

Of course, new missing lyrics can be added to the list with each new recording bought, but I still have the original 1996 list with then close to 350 missing and I can see that with Jim McLean posting ‘The Big Three’ yesterday only ten missing songs are left from that original list after eight/nine years of mudcatting:

This for that
Up and rin awa, Geordie
Farewell to the Faroes
A mistake no doubt
Nancy Brown (by D. O’Connor; NOT the well know song with the same title)
Aikey Brae (The McCalmans sing it close to what’s given in that thread but they add a verse I can’t understand; I’m still after that one)

and four I’ve never asked for here:
Sweeter than sugar (“You are a thousand times sweeter than sugar”)
Brain jam (”My mind’s in a mess so my friends they all tell me”)
Morning after love (“it’s the morning after love and the night before loneliness”)
Emigrant (an awful title for a song search, I know, but the line “you hear the sounds of butterflies” is what differentiates it from the other ‘emigrant’ songs.

That’s not a lyrics req thread (I know I should put the titles in separate threads) though obviously I would be grateful for a hint or more. It’s a thank you to all those who have helped during these years. I’m grateful for that and I’m glad I could help sometimes as well.

And if you think I talk too much and who’d care about my personal list of still missing songs from 1996 I think you’re right.

Wolfgang


21 Mar 05 - 09:18 AM (#1439639)
Subject: RE: Down to ten
From: Rapparee

Heck, Wolfgang, that's how I found the place, looking for lyrics for some of my favorite songs. And I learned that I was singing some of them wrong, because I had learned them by ear and Lady Mondegreen had been involved.

I'd like to help, but I'm afraid I don't know the ones you're looking for.


21 Mar 05 - 09:17 PM (#1440123)
Subject: RE: Down to ten
From: Joe Offer

No, Wolfgang, I don't think you talk too much; and yes, I think there are many people like me who care about your last-ten list.

And yes, I am @#$%^%^& frustrated because I can't help with a single song on your list!

-Joe Offer-


21 Mar 05 - 09:41 PM (#1440138)
Subject: RE: Down to ten
From: Peace

This for That. ????


21 Mar 05 - 09:45 PM (#1440142)
Subject: RE: Down to ten
From: Peace

"Up and rin awa, Geordie" written by James Hogg / Ian McCalman


21 Mar 05 - 09:52 PM (#1440147)
Subject: RE: Down to ten
From: Peace

http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/album/0,,289100,00.html

"Up and rin awa' Geordie" written by James Hogg / Ian McCalman

It is on that album from 1986.


21 Mar 05 - 09:55 PM (#1440151)
Subject: RE: Down to ten
From: Ebbie

'This for That' sounds like a great song. Hope it's the right one.


21 Mar 05 - 10:10 PM (#1440173)
Subject: RE: Down to ten
From: Malcolm Douglas

Enthusiasm is commendable, but best kept under control when it involves posting "information" which is obviously wrong ("brucie" on This for That) or redundant (we already know that the other song is based on a Hogg lyric. The question is, why did McCalman change the title, and did he make up a new verse all by himself?)


21 Mar 05 - 10:18 PM (#1440182)
Subject: RE: Down to ten
From: Peace

http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:1dvo0hlicE8J:www.irishmusicreview.com/sweeney.htm+incredible+string+band,+a+mistake+no+doub

"These include the frankly bizarre Brain Jam (which would not have sounded out of place on an early Pink Floyd album), while another track, Pretty Polly, continued his fascination with American roots music. Moynihan's leads include the very wistful Standing on the Shore and A Mistake No Doubt (which might have come straight from an Incredible String Band album)."

Quoted from the above link.


21 Mar 05 - 10:21 PM (#1440184)
Subject: RE: Down to ten
From: Peace

Of course, Malcolm. As always, Malcolm. Pardon me for intruding.


21 Mar 05 - 10:31 PM (#1440198)
Subject: RE: Down to ten
From: Malcolm Douglas

Don't whine. It's undignified.


22 Mar 05 - 05:38 AM (#1440346)
Subject: RE: Down to ten
From: Wolfgang

Thanks, guys (meaning here both genders), for trying. I search for these songs about once a year, look in songbooks, used libraries. So if any of these songs would be easily available on a link I would have made something very wrong ((which has happened of course).

So take it more as a bit of small talk about a hobby. If you are fond of song lyrics you know the feeling when seeing a title you have looked for since a decade in front of your eyes. It is for me like the feeling when I enter a big library with songbooks (Cecil Sharp House or the Irish equivalent in Dublin, don't know the name right now) and scan the book backs for names I have heard but never seen.

In another thread someone has written about seeing a certain bird as a lifetime achievement. For me, old books are the equivalent to seeing a rare bird and libraries for me are like churches.

Wolfgang


22 Mar 05 - 11:58 AM (#1440624)
Subject: RE: Down to ten
From: Peace

You are undignified. Mostly your manner. Very condescending.


25 Mar 05 - 05:35 PM (#1443840)
Subject: RE: Down to ten
From: GUEST,Gwendy

Morning after love ("it's the morning after love and the night before loneliness")
Emigrant (an awful title for a song search, I know, but the line "you hear the sounds of butterflies" is what differentiates it from the other 'emigrant' songs.

Right on there!