Category: songs

Madison McLeod 2023

Written for a new tradition made up by Boss Morris of ceremonially touching the water in a spring to welcome in the spring. McLeod was out walking with partner Sam Sweeney on Selsley Common during the pandemic and saw water bubbling up from the ground, and they stuck their fingers in to see how deep it went, and then realized doing so felt like a folk tradition. The tradition and the song were meant as a joke but it proved popular as an actual folk ritual, attracting hundreds of people each year.

Oh we are merry morris folk
We gayly dance and sing
We wake from weary winter
To find the joyous spring

Chorus:
Put your finger in the spring
Put it in, put it in
Put your finger in the spring
Finger in, finger in
Put your finger in the spring
To see what the season brings

Down the secret garden path
We’ll find the hidden treasure
But only once your finger’s in
Will you know such pleasure

Tickle through the undergrowth
Until the water flows
Gently slip a digit in
And see the green leaves grow 

trad 

Archie Fisher recorded in 1976 on The Man With a Rhyme, where he wrote "A version of 'Skipping Barefoot Through the Heather' that I learned from Belle Stewart. Each variant of this song has its own charm in melody and text." weel faur'd = well favored. Lane = alone. Yowes thegither = ewes together. Loon = lad. Lo'ed = loved.

As I roved out one fine simmer’s morn
Among lofty hills, moorlands and mountains,
It was there I spied a weel faur’d maid
As I, wi’ others, was oot a-huntin’.

No shoes nor stockings did she wear,
And neither had she cap nor feather,
But her golden hair hung in ringlets fair
And the gentle breeze blew ’round her shoulder.

I said, “Braw lassie, why roam your lane,
Why roam your lane amang the heather?”
She said, “My faither’s awa’ frae hame
And I’m herdin’ a’ his yowes thegither.”

I said, “Braw Lassie, if ye’ll be mine,
And care to lie on a bed of feather,
In silks and satins you will shine,
And you’ll be my queen amang the heather.”

She said, “Kind sir, your offer’s good,
Ah, but I’m afraid it was meant for laughter.
For I see you are some rich squire’s son
And I am but a poor shepherd’s daughter.

“But had ye been a shepherd loon
A-herdin’ yowes in yonder valley,
Or had ye been some ploughman’s son,
Wi’ a’ my heart I could hae lo’ed ye.”

Now, I’ve been to halls and I’ve been tae balls,
I’ve been to London and Balquidder,
But the bonniest lass that e’er I saw
She was herdin’ yowes amang the heather.

So we both sat down upon the plain,
We sat awhile and we talked thegither,
And we left the yowes to stray their lane
Till I lo’ed my queen amang the heather. 

Nancy Kerr 2010

Swan song for her 12 years living on narrowboats on the inland waterways. Their boat community was drifting away, and she was pregnant; they soon thereafter moved to Sheffield.

Nancy Kerr & James Fagan: https://kerrfagan.bandcamp.com/track/queen-of-waters

Well away my love away for we’re sailing home today,
On a boat called memory (hail home, hearts that long for the land)
Oh she’s like some Persian queen with her opal robes serene,
In the lamplight shimmering (hail home, hearts that long for the land)

Chorus:
On a blue-jay morning feathering thorny memories
Hail home, hearts have been too long away,
On a well-worn byway travelling, magpie gathering
Farewell queen of waters.

Well it’s hard to roll in mirth when your feet don’t touch the earth,
And the wolf comes hungering (hail home, hearts that long for the land)
Folly never foots the bill and we all shall pay in full,
For a life of melody (hail home, hearts that long for the land)

Well I should have sowed my corn, but I danced until the dawn,
Like an ant grasshoppering (hail home, hearts that long for the land)
Oh there must be better ways, for to keep the debts at bay,
And the whiskey trickling (hail home, hearts that long for the land)

So we’ll bid our ship adieu, there’s a mooring in the blue,
Where the gulls are gathering (hail home, hearts that long for the land)
Oh she’s like some Persian queen and her like shall ne’er be seen,
Only in our reverie (hail home, hearts that long for the land)

Pete Seeger 1960-63

Don’t you know it’s darkest before the dawn
And it’s this thought keeps me moving on
If we could heed these early warnings
The time is now quite early morning

Some say that humankind won’t long endure
But what makes them so doggone sure?
I know that you who hear my singing
Could make those freedom bells go ringing

And so keep on while we live
Until we have no, no more to give
And when these fingers can strum no longer
Hand the old banjo to young ones stronger

So though it’s darkest before the dawn
These thoughts keep us moving on
Through all this world of joy and sorrow
We still can have singing tomorrows

Sean Cooney 2025

Part of Peter's Field folk opera about the Peterloo Massacre of 1819. 60,000 people walked peacefully many miles from across Lancashire and further afield to attend a mass meeting in the centre of Manchester to advocate for parliamentary reform at a time when only a tiny proportion of people had the vote. They were to be addressed by the famous radical speaker Henry 'Orator' Hunt. Local magistrates sent in soldiers to disperse the unarmed crowd and aid the arrest of the speakers. At least 18 people were killed and hundreds injured and assaulted. The magistrates and military were completely exonerated and only recently have the victims of Peterloo been properly commemorated.

Jesus was a working man he threw the merchants out
And he said there’ll be a banquet, boys, for all those who have doubt
‘Cause no camel can through a needle get, quicker than any rich man
But if any camel heard just what we’ve [et], then [I] might say it can
Help the poor, big Jesus swore, and all your mates may wag
He said share your homes and all you own, and dance in your radical rags

Big John Ball he spoke to all from hedge and field and lane
When he said “God made us equal”, boys, then he got sent to jail
Well the men of Kent to London went in 1381
And when the king agreed to concede they must’ve thought it won
‘Til Big John Ball got hung and drawn and fifteen hundred [stag]
But now’s the time to sing his rhyme and dance in your radical rags

Winstanley he said to me, property’s a rig.
So he took his spade to St. George Hill and he began to dig
Well the year was 1649 the earth was theirs to share
But the thugs they came and beat him there and squashed him like a prayer
But in the room of reason where there’s none that can get [scrag]
Winstanley’s spade got up and played, dance in your radical rags

So Old Tom Paine he took the reins and he began to sing
My own mind is my own church [and then he be more king]
Well an outlaw in his native land he fired like a [tench]
When he went to France and won the vote even though he never spoke French
And when he died, his bones got dug and carried in [covered sbag]
And from inside his old bones cried, dance in your radical rags

‘Cause it’s plain we were and plain we are and plain we will remain
Until this Norman yoke gets broke and we are freed from chains
Where e’er they march for liberty, we’ll be at the front
So now we’re off to Manchester to hear big Henry Hunt
And when he takes off his white hat and waves it like a flag
With ball and [pain] we’ll rise again and dance in our radical rags 

Nowell Sing We Clear: "Harnett Kane's Southern Christmas Book describes La Guignolee, a New Year visiting custom from French communities in Missouri. We learned this English version, The Rag Dance Song, from George and Gerry Armstrong of Chicago."

Chorus:
Good evening, master and good mistress And all the good folk who live here. (x2)
We’ve come to ask for mistletoe On this last day of the old year. (x2)

If you really want to please us, just say so
Please feed and wine us, We only want a pig’s ear, then we’ll go,
And we’ll wish you a Happy New Year.

If you really want to please us, just say so
Go fetch your daughter, We only want a kiss and then we’ll go,
And we’ll wish you a Happy New Year.

If you really want to please us, just say so
Go grab your rag bag, We only want a rag dance, then we’ll go,
And we’ll wish you a Happy New Year. 

Paul Williams & Kenneth Ascher 1978

Jim Henson told them that the opening scene should feature Kermit the Frog by himself, singing and playing the banjo. Williams and Ascher wrote most of the song fairly quickly at Williams's house but got stuck trying to think of appropriate words for the part in the chorus that eventually became the phrase "the rainbow connection"; they were looking for a way to tie in the chorus to the song's theme of rainbows.

Why are there so many songs about rainbows
And what’s on the other side?
Rainbows are visions, but only illusions
And rainbows have nothing to hide
So we’ve been told, and some choose to believe it
I know they’re wrong, wait and see

Chorus:
Someday we’ll find it, the rainbow connection
The lovers, the dreamers, and me

Who said that every wish Would be heard and answered
When wished on the morning star?
Somebody thought of that And someone believed it
Look what it’s done so far
What’s so amazing that keeps us stargazing?
And what do we think we might see?

Bridge:
All of us under its spell We know that it’s probably magic

Have you been half asleep And have you heard voices?
I’ve heard them calling my name
Is this the sweet sound That calls the young sailors?
The voice might be one and the same
I’ve heard it too many times to ignore it
It’s something that I’m supposed to be

Jess Arrowsmith 2023

"For everybody who has ever been told to mime at the back of the choir, or finds singing in front of others mind-blankingly terrifying."

Melrose Quartet: https://melrosequartet.bandcamp.com/track/raise-your-voice

Once there was a man, and he had no song,
He felt his head was empty and his voice was wrong,
And though he often tried, his songs were trapped inside
He couldn’t find the place where they belong

Chorus:
But raise your voice with mine
For now’s the perfect time to join the song

Once there was a woman, and her songs were loud
She sang them in the shower, and she sang them proud
But when her friends were near, her voice it shrank with fear
And left her shaking, mute, before the crowd.

Now if you want to sing but don’t know how or why
Don’t listen to the ones who say you should not try
There’s bound to be a way you’ve not tried before today
To free your voice to soar beneath the sky

Once there was a singer and he made his choice
To leave his doubts behind him and to find his voice
The journey that he’s on is to learn just one more song
And sing it out and make his friends rejoice 

Shelley Posen 2001

Becky Wright & Nicole Singer: https://beckyandnicole.bandcamp.com/track/ram-in-the-thicket

Now in the Bible, so I’ve read,
God spoke to Abraham and thus He said,
“Before three days are past and gone,
You must sacrifice Isaac, your beloved son.”

Chorus:
Don’t despair, there’s a ram in the thicket,
God is there, there’s a ram in the thicket,
He hears your prayer, there’s a ram in the thicket,
There’s a ram in the thicket by the grace of God

Next morning Abraham did depart
With a grieving soul and an aching heart
He took young Isaac by the hand
But he didn’t tell his son about his God’s command

“Father, for this sacrifice
I see the fire and I see the knife
But where’s the ram?” young Isaac cried,
“Oh, my son, God will provide”

Abraham, he bound his son,
And laid him down upon the altar stone
He raised the knife to do God’s command
But God called, “Abraham, stay thy hand”

Abraham freed the son he loved
He proved his faith in his God above
And if your faith is strong and true
There’s a ram in the thicket will be waiting for you 

Nancy Kerr 2010

James Fagan said on the 10th anniversary listening party of Twice Reflected Sun that this one's fun, has a bit of an Americana feel. Kerr said she always thinks of Emily Smith because of her recording of it.

Nancy Kerr & James Fagan: https://kerrfagan.bandcamp.com/track/rammed-earth

We could walk in the woods where we all are still children
In the darkness where folly is free
But the shadows must flee and like lizards they scatter
When you throw your bright light upon me

Chorus:
For rammed earth and cool walls
Shelter our hearts and counter our faults
And your wedgewood eyes strip me down
And teach me the hardest craft of all

You can show me a bird with the wings of an angel
And it shares in my summer and spring
For when heads they hang heavy with thoughts’ gravitation
We can switch on our nature and sing

So build me a house from the bones of the dragon
And set it with blood and with lye
For I hear by the songs that you teach to your children
We are made of the same you and I