A Folk Song A Day

I think Jon hits the nail on the head when he calls this “A truly horrible song – only really useful if you get in to a ‘who can sing the most gruesome song’ contest (it happens). Pete Flood discovered this in a broadside and set it for the Bellowhead version. The tune he wrote is great for Bellowhead but doesn’t work unaccompanied so I’m using Rounding The Horn.”

I’ve never had the ‘pleasure’ of a most gruesome song competition, but having been through a fair degree of murder, death and general misfortune in the course of this project, it’s fair to say the climax of this one takes the biscuit. A warning then to all you fair maidens on the dangers of drink and a all you idle, rich lotharios beware your wanton ways as upsetting the wrong widow can have dire consequences for the tootsies amongst other parts(Oo-er!) To be found on Matachin of course and you can check Mainly Norfolk for the details of that. As a distraction from the festering remains, this Mudcat thread offers an entertaining beginners guide to cursing and I’d have to agree it’s rather a shame its gone out of fashion… I can think of a few I’d lay a hex on!!

 
You can buy the February digital album now from all good download stores.

Here we are with the Kipling /Bellamy combination again and Jon says, “A bit on the wordy side but worth it for the refrain. Last verse bit the dust though…”

An interesting poem given a suitably hymnal setting by Bellamy, although despite addressing The Lord it adopts a Humanist, if not somewhat agnostic tone. I suppose there’s a touch of the carpe diem about it too, altbeit tempered by a humility that verges on the self deprecating. It certainly takes an optimistic line on mankind’s mores, which could be debateable. I think what I like about this and some of the other Kipling poems is the way that humanity rises to the top above any sense of orthodoxy. Kipling is clearly a complex and controversial subject and perhaps another project for later. Mainly Norfolk is a good source of all things Bellamy so the best place to check out the poem, including the missing bit.

You can buy the February digital album now from all good download stores.

Bonus track: Grey Funnel Line (After show session live at Courtyard Arts, Hereford, 19th Feb 2011 with The Remnant Kings + audience)

Jon credits the Silly Sisters as his source saying. “Maddy and June’s version is unbeatable, but this is also a great song for harmonies, if it doesn’t drag too much. Cyril Tawney certainly knew how to write ’em.”

I’ll add an amen to that. Mainly Norfolk covers the recordings and we have Cyril’s own thoughts on the song here. It gives a marvellous insight into the creative process and the sailor’s life in one hit, I’m much taken with the idea that it’s the first evening aboard ship, with the prospect of many more to come that generates the deepest feeing. Like so many things, the first hurdle is the toughest.
You can buy the February digital album now from all good download stores.

Jon’s on the money in calling this, “A powerful song from the radio Ballads, I believe. Sung on FSC – despite being a tad wordy for communal singing – the strength of the melody drives it on.”

This is a Ewan MacColl song from the original Radio Ballads that were produced during the late 50s and early 60s and this naturally enough, comes from the one about fishing. A quick diversion to the BBC is recommended if you don’t know anything about these, while Mainly Norfolk has details of the various recordings. There isn’t a mass of detail and there’s more about the 2006 series, but it’s still interesting. I think I’m right in saying that they are all available on CD, although two new ones were broadcast last year aren’t. The format of mixing song and vox pops is effective and can lend extra emotional weight to some very good songs. I think I’ll have to put a set aside as a project for later, or I might download them to my phone. Mind you, the simple tales told without artifice and combined skilfully with music can fair bring a lump to the throat and blubbing on the bus is hardly ideal. There’s a real vérité feel to Ewan’s song and I can visualise boiling seas and oil skins, with the concertina catching the roll and pitch of the boat. It’s also a coming of age song and now a historical memento, adding to the poignancy.
You can buy the February digital album now from all good download stores.

Bonus track: Bird In The Bush (After show session live at Kirkgate Arts, Cockermouth, 18th Feb 2011 with The Remnant Kings + audience)

Jon acknowledges Steeleye’s version of this and says, “This is a great atmospheric seduction song and I’ve always loved the ‘drink down the moon’ line.”

Oddly, Mainly Norfolk suggests, correctly I believe, that Steeleye’s version from Now We Are Six adds some extra verses from The Cuckoo. There are plenty of alternate versions, however, from Anne Briggs and Shirley Collins, Norma & Lal Waterson and Frankie Armstrong, all of which follow the same sequence of events. It’s another of those coded songs, although the meaning is fairly apparent, which makes me wonder why it was necessary to be so coy. Whose sensibilities were being protected here? I note the song as we know it might well have been through the censorship mincer as well, being considered a little too racy by the collectors. This Mudcat thread is quite amusing with someone getting a bit carried away with the pagan Goddess stuff. Nice theory though it is, it’s probably a layer of ‘meaning’ too far and gets fairly shrift from the cognoscenti, even a handy, passing pagan doesn’t buy it. Whatever the symbolism, I like this song and Jon’s guitar works a treat.

You can buy the February digital album now from all good download stores.