Category: songs

 

 

Roberts & Barrand: https://johnroberts1.bandcamp.com/track/adieu-sweet-lovely-nancy

https://johnroberts1.bandcamp.com/track/adieu-sweet-lovely-nancy

Here’s adieu, sweet lovely Nancy, ten thousand times adieu, I’m a-going around the ocean, love, to seek for something new. Come change your ring with me, dear girl, Come change your ring with me, For it might be a token of true love while I am on the sea. When I am far upon the sea you knows not where I am. Kind letters I will write to you from every foreign land. The secrets of your mind, dear girl, Are the best of my good will, So let my body be where it might, my heart is with you still. There’s a heavy storm a-rising, see how it gather round, While we poor sailors are on the sea, are fighting for the crown. Our officers commanded us And them we must obey, Expecting every moment for to get cast away. There are tinkers, tailors and shoemakers, lie snoring in their sleep, While we poor souls on the ocean wide are ploughing through the deep. There’s nothing to defend us, love, Nor to keep us from the cold, On the ocean wide, where we must bide like jolly seamen bold. But when the wars are all over there’ll be peace on every shore, We will drink to our wives and our children and the girls that we adore. We’ll call for liquor merrily, And spend our money free, And when our money it is all gone we’ll boldly go to sea.

 

 

Hamish Maclaren 1930

 

Tune by Paul Davenport

The Teacups: https://haystackrecords.bandcamp.com/track/agamemnon

https://haystackrecords.bandcamp.com/track/agamemnon

Where is Henry Adams now, that planned the Agamemnon? Foundered on the River Plate, in Maldonaldos Bay. Oak and iron blood of her, his fine one, his darling, Sink him in his hammock, boys, he’s gone far away!ÿ Where are all the Beaulieu boys, that built the Agamemnon? Let them lie ‘neath waving grass, contented where they lay. Swords and swinging riveters, their sounds will not be waking them, Sink them in their hammocks, boys, they’ve gone far away!ÿ Where is Captain Nelson now, that sailed the Agamemnon? Fought and beat the Spanish crews in Cape St Vincent Bay – Oak and iron blood of her, his fine one, his darling,- Broach the keg of brandy, boys, and send him far away!ÿ Where are all the jolly tars, that crewed the Agamemnon? Men for whom the carronades were less hard work than play. Oak and iron blood were they, and every girl a darling, Sink them in their hammocks, lads, they’ve gone far away!ÿ Sing the shanty loud, my boys, we’ll rouse the Agamemnon! Stamp it round her capstan and her anchor we will weigh. Where are all the wooden walls, the cloud of sails a-bearing, They’re foundered, sunk or broken, and they’ve gone far away!ÿ

 

 

trad 

 

Often credited to itinerant Appalachian preacher Claude Ely who said he made it up while seriously ill at age 12. He didn’t, though, as a closely similar song was according to Debi Simons “printed in a 1933 hymnal from the Church of God in Christ, a predominantly Black Pentecostal-Holiness denomination to which the Ely family had close ties. And that written version was probably preceded by a long oral tradition, since variations of the phrase in the title may have been used in spirituals dating back to before the Civil War. The safest guess is that “Ain’t No Grave” was, in some form, a traditional sacred song that served as a kind of template around which singers could come up with their own riffs.”

Chorus: There ain’t no grave Can hold my body down (x2) When I hear that trumpet sound I’m going to rise right out of the ground Ain’t no grave Can hold my body down Well, look way down the river And what do you think I see I see a band of angels And they’re coming after me Well, look down yonder, Gabriel Put your feet on the land and sea But Gabriel, don’t you blow your trumpet Until you hear from me Well meet me, Jesus, meet me Meet me in the middle of the air And if these wings don’t fail me I will meet you anywhere Well meet me, Mother and Father Meet me down the river road And Mama, you know that I’ll be there When I check in my load

 

 

Adam Broome? 

 

Lullula arborea alaudidae Lullula [lusinea] alaudidae

There is a land I know right well Far beyond this ocean’s swell Where calling [loves] and plovers dwell And all is green and growing Where I’ll away before the day To walk the dewy footpath way In fields where scarlet poppies sway And gentle winds are blowing High above these wooded vales Through beech trees bent by autumn gales The sun arises like a grail For weather tides are flowing Chorus: There was a time when you were young Oh how soon that time was wrung Like summer leaves you’ve grown and gone Now winter skies are snowing By the churchyard wall you [rang] While flowers their blooms gone by No comfort for the tears I cry Greaving at your growing I’ve yet to find another place Where I feel the wind’s embrace It fills me with a loving grace And sets my mind to knowing Knowing that I feel you near In spirit and in memories dear Perchance I’ll turn and find you here When we were young and growing

 

 

trad 

 

Roud 1512, recorded by Cantwell Family 1964. Final verse rewritten by Alex Ellis

When I was a young man my father did say Summer`s a coming it’s time to make hay Now when hays been carted don’t you ever fail To drink gaffer`s health in a pint of good ale. Chorus Ale, ale, glorious ale Served up in pewter it tells it’s own tale Some folks likes radishes some curly kale But give I boiled parsnips and a great dish of taters And a lump of fatty bacon and a pint of good ale. Now take those teetotallers they drinks water neat. It must rot their gutses and give ’em damp feet. Now I always say that a man can’t grow stale On boiled beef and bacon and a pint of good ale. Our General Assembly, their pledge for to keep Except for our own rep they sit there and sleep Best send her a letter, phone call, or email Saying “bring down the price of a pint of good ale!”

 

 

trad 

 

Steeleye Span: TOPPOP: Steeleye Span – All Around My Hat

https://youtu.be/QUw59M8dTBg?si=ARKOqMCOZqBWA4o7

Chorus: All around my hat I will wear the green willow, All around my hat, for a twelve-month and a day. And if anyone should ask me the reason why I’m wearing it: It’s all for my true love who’s far, far away. Fare thee well, cold winter and fare thee well, cold frost, Nothing have I gained but my own true love I’ve lost. I’ll sing and I’ll be merry when occasion I do see; He’s a false deluding young man, let him go farewell he. The other night he brought me a fine diamond ring But he thought to have deprived me of a far better thing. But I being careful like lovers ought to be; He’s a false deluding young man, let him go farewell he Here’s a quarter pound of reasons, and a half a pound of sense, A small sprig of time and as much of prudence. You mix them all together and you will plainly see. He’s a false deluding young man, let him go farewell he.

 

 

Jess Arrowsmith 2018

 

Jess Arrowsmith solo: All the Salt in the Sea ‘Songs for a Long Night’ but the recording on the album of the same name by the Arrowsmith:Robb Trio has great harmonies from Ian Robb, though it is not available digitally.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcFMEevk7Ho

When we are gone from this place, a dim remembered face Can bind us all together, our mothers and our sons And every link in that chain, forged with love, blood and pain Can remind us all forever of where once we had begun Chorus All the salt in the sea cannot preserve me All the heat in the fire cannot bring my heart’s desire All the birds in the sky cannot teach me to fly But the love in my soul can keep me whole Now if we have purpose here, give up duty and fear Cherish family, cherish friends, our fathers and our daughters To each moment hold fast, as if each were your last And hope each day will end with embraces, smiles and laughter. When reasoned thought can’t explain untold suffering and pain Take solace in good company, our partners and our neighbours If we strive, do our best to fill their hearts with happiness Then our own soon full can be, and so reward our labours

 

 

Utah Phil 1999?

 

Roy Bailey: All Used Up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHs_P2Pfx24

I spent my whole life making somebody rich I busted my ass for that son of a bitch He left me to die like a dog in a ditch And told me I’m all used up He used up my labor, he used up my time He plundered my body and squandered my mind Then he gave me a pension, some handouts and wine And told me I’m all used up My kids are in hock to a god you call Work Slaving their lives out for some other jerk And my youngest in ‘Frisco just made shipping-clerk He don’t know I’m all used up Some young people reach out for power and gold And they don’t have respect for anything old For pennies they’re bought, for promises sold Someday they’ll be used up They use up the oil, they use up the trees They use up the air and they use up the seas But how about you, friend, and how about me What’s left, when we’re all used up Outside my window the world passes by It gives me a handout, then spits in my eye And no one can tell me, ’cause no one knows why I’m still living, but I’m all used up Sometimes in a dream I sit by a tree My life is a book of how things used to be And the kids gather ’round and they listen to me They don’t think I’m all used up And there’s songs and there’s laughter and things I can do And all that I’ve learned I can give back to you And I’d give my last breath just to make it come true And to know I’m not all used up They use up the oil, they use up the trees They use up the air and they use up the seas But as long as I’m breathing they won’t use up me Don’t tell me I’m all used up

 

 

John Warner 1994

 

Warner says this basic story happened “frequently”. This particular group helped a rich explorer named Pawe? Strzelecki in 1840, and if not for the convicts and his Koori guide Charlie Tarra he would have died. They were later pardoned, likely with his assistance. Nancy Kerr & James Fagan: https://kerrfagan.bandcamp.com/track/andersons-coast and John Roberts John Roberts – Anderson’s Coast, 3/25/12 have slightly different harmonies on the “return to thee” line of the chorus but both are good.

Old Bass Strait roars like a great mill race And where are you, my Annie? And the same moon shines on this distant place As shone that night on my Annie’s face. Chorus And Annie dear, don’t wait for me, I fear I’ll never return to thee. There’s naught to do but endure my fate And watch the moon, the lonely moon, Light the breakers of wild Bass Strait. We stole a vessel and all her gearÿ And from Van Diemen’s north did steer Till Bass Strait’s wild waves, they wrecked us here. A mile inland as our path was laid We found a government stockade, Long, long deserted, but stoutly made. And somewhere’s west port Melbourne lies Through swamps infested with snakes and flies And the fool who walks there, the fool he dies. We hail no ships, though time it drags, For our chain gang roll and government rags, They mark us out as Van Diemen’s lags. We fled the lash and the chafing chain, We fled starvation and brutal pain, But here we are, and here remain.

 

 

Jess Arrowsmith 2023

 

“The post-feminist trap for the woman who thinks she has to do everything. Self therapy via song writing perhaps?”

Melrose Quartet: https://melrosequartet.bandcamp.com/track/anthem-of-a-working-mum

https://melrosequartet.bandcamp.com/track/anthem-of-a-working-mum

When I was a little girl I knew that I could do it all Now that I’m a woman grown, I just want some time at home All my life is hurrying, worrying All my life is busy ’cause I just can’t let go When I was young and in my prime I’d read to while away the time Now the books stay on the shelf, the laundry doesn’t do itself I once had freedom every day to choose when I would rest and play Now my time’s not mine alone, a mother’s work is never done Stress and headaches sometimes hit, knock me back a little bit I’ve got to change before I break or kill myself with too much cake