Category: songs

Leonard Cohen 1984

 

Leonard Cohen: Leonard Cohen – Hallelujah (Official Audio)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttEMYvpoR-k

I’ve heard there was a secret chord That David played, and it pleased the Lord But you don’t really care for music, do you? Well it goes like this The fourth, the fifth The minor fall, the major lift The baffled king composing Hallelujah Chorus: Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Well your faith was strong but you needed proof You saw her bathing on the roof Her beauty in the moonlight overthrew you Well she tied you to a kitchen chair She broke your throne, and cut your hair And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah Baby I’ve been here before I’ve seen this room, and I’ve walked this floor I used to live alone before I knew you. I’ve seen your flag on the marble arch Our love is not a victory march It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah There was a time when you let me know What’s really going on below But now you never show it to me, do you? And remember when I moved in you The holy dove was moving too And every breath we drew was Hallelujah Maybe there’s a God above But all I’ve ever learned from love Was how to shoot at somebody who outdrew you It’s not a cry that you can hear at night It’s not someone who has seen the light It’s a cold and broken Hallelujah You say I took the name in vain I don’t even know the name But if I did, well really, what’s it to you? There’s a blaze of light in every word It doesn’t matter which you heard The holy or the broken Hallelujah I did my best, it wasn’t much I couldn’t feel, so I tried to touch I’ve told the truth, I didn’t come to fool you And even though it all went wrong I’ll stand before the Lord of Song With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah

 

 

Nancy Kerr 2014

 

Written for Rich Arrowsmith’s 40th birthday. Middle 3 verses emphasizing forty not subsequently recorded.

Nancy Kerr: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unx1HqUBxlE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unx1HqUBxlE

Chorus Hand me down some changing rhyme Some embraces never bind Oh hand me down your dancing line Then I’ll know I’m home Then I’ll know I’m home When I arrived in this old town Hand me down oh hand me down When I arrived in this old town Some forty voices they gathered round And I was coming home I was coming home There’s forty acres in freedom’s field / And forty summers will bless the yield There’s forty nations upon the sea / and forty horsemen will ferry me Sing forty verses around the bar / With forty beers but not too far Some go ahead, some stay behind / We navigate by the souls we find I’m navigating by one more star / It’s shining bright to show I’ve come this far

 

 

John Grimshaw 

 

Ian Robb wrote in 1979: “This song dates from the beginning of the industrialisation of the textile trade in Lancashire. It deals with a particularly black period during which the supply of woven goods outstripped the market, partly due to mechanisation, causing a scarcity of jobs for weavers and a decline in wages for those fortunate enough to be employed. The ‘gentlemen and tradesmen’ of the song followed the official propaganda line in blaming the Napoleonic wars and Bonaparte himself for much of the starvation and hardship which resulted. Apparently, however, the working men and women of the factories and mills were not so easily taken in, and many of them, seeing little decline in the comforts of the ruling and merchant classes, held a sneaking respect and admiration for ‘Boney’, whom they regarded as a champion of the poor.”

Arrowsmith:Robb Trio

http://ellisnasqc.quickconnect.to/as/sharing/w8B3S30x/L011c2ljL0Fycm93c21pdGhfUm9iYiBUcmlvL0FsbCBUaGUgU2FsdC8wMyBUaGUgSGFuZGxvb20gV2VhdmVyJ3MgTGFtZW50Lm00YQ==

You gentlemen and tradesmen, as you ride about at will, Look down on these poor people, it’s enough to make you crill. Look down on these poor people as you ride up and down. I think there is a God above will pull your pride right down. Chorus: You tyrants of England! Your race may soon be run. You may be brought unto account for what you’ve sorely done. You pull down our wages, shamefully to tell, You go into the market and you say you cannot sell; And when that we do ask you when these bad times may mend, You quickly give an answer, “When the wars are at an end.” When we look on our poor children, it grieves our hearts full sore; Their clothing it is torn to rags, and we can get no more. With little in their bellies they to their work must go, While yours do dress as manky as monkeys in a show. You go to church on Sundays but I think it’s nowt but pride; There can be no religion where humanity’s thrown aside. If there be a God in Heaven, as there is in the exchange, Our poor souls must not come near there like lost sheep they must range. With the choicest of strong dainties your table’s overspread; With good ale and strong brandy you make your faces red. You invite a set of visitors, it is your chief delight, To put your heads together for to make our faces white. You say that Bonaparte has been the cause of all, And that we should all have cause to pray for his downfall. Well, Bonaparte is dead and gone and it is plainly shown That we have bigger tyrants in Boneys of our own. So now, my lads, for to conclude and for to make an end, Let’s hope that we can form a plan that these bad times may mend. So, give us our old prices, as we have had before, and we can live in happiness and rub out the old score.

 

 

Nancy Kerr 2014

 

Nancy Kerr: https://nancykerr.bandcamp.com/track/hard-songs

https://nancykerr.bandcamp.com/track/hard-songs

Some kind stranger grows my food Back bent hard in the harvest sun Red is the flag and red the mud Hard songs running in her blood Some kind stranger picks my coffee Back bent deep in the forest heat Green is the flag and green the plant Cold seas running in his heart Some kind stranger sews my clothes Back bent low on the sweatshop row Black is the flag and the smoke of coal Mother’s tears running in your soul Chorus: Mother’s tears running in your soul Cold seas running in your heart Hard songs running in your blood Nimble fingers stitching pride Hunger rules the rich divide Red is the blood and black the hole Mother’s tears running in your soul Seabound sailor give us wings Nations end where peace begins Labours end and the soul departs Cold seas running in our hearts

 

 

Gordon Peterson 1989

 

Eddie Vedder: Eddie Vedder – Hard Sun (Music Video) HD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez8b2VHjVB0

When I walk beside her I am a better man When I look to leave her I always stagger back again Once I built an ivory tower So I could worship from above And when I climbed down to be set free She took me in again Chorus: There’s a big, a big hard sun Beatin’ on the big people In the big hard world When she comes to greet me She is mercy at my feet When I stay to pillage her She just throws it back at me Once I dug an early grave To find a better land She just smiled and laughed at me And took her blues back again And when I go to cross that river She is comfort by my side When I try to understand She just opens up her eyes Once I stood to lose her When I saw what I had done Burned down and threw away the hours Of her garden and her sun So I tried to warn her And turned to see her weep Forty days and forty nights And it’s still coming down on me

 

 

trad 

 

Recorded by Copper Family 1955, tune by Richard Leveridge 1740s-50s for Roast Beef of Old England, lyrics late 18th century

Roy Bailey: Hard Times of Old England

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7R9kWdERx7s

Come all working people who travel alone And pray come and tell me where the work has all gone Long time I have travelled and never found none Chorus: And it’s oh the hard times of old England In England very hard times Provisions you buy from a shop, it is true But if you’ve got no money, there’s none there for you So what are poor folk and their families to do You go to the shop and you ask for a job They answer you there with a shake and nod ‘Tis enough to make poor folk to turn out and rob You see working people a-walking the street From morning till night for employment to seek And scarcely they have any shoes to their feet Soldiers and sailors have just come from war Been fighting for Queen and for country sure Come home to be starved, better have stayed where they were

 

 

Leon Rosselson 1999

 

Rosselson has remarked that the song emerged from a play he’d written, but further details are not known. “The ‘I’ is not the songwriter; the old man is an imagined character, and Harry may not exist, may never have existed. But maybe sometimes people need a saviour to believe in and Harry, even if he doesn’t exist, has got a lot more going for him than, say, the Gospel Jesus.”

Nancy Kerr: https://nancykerr.bandcamp.com/track/harrys-gone-fishing

https://nancykerr.bandcamp.com/track/harrys-gone-fishing

My heart was cold as midnight, my mind was worry worn As I wondered through the city where William Blake was born Past huddled shapes in doorways and towers made of glass Then an old man came towards me and he would not let me pass The years had withered in his face, was he drunk or in despair? He led me to a silent street, said “see that waste ground there? They never should have knocked it down, if only we’d known how We could’ve stopped them doing it.” I said “it’s too late now” Chorus 1: And h? said “Harry could’ve done it, ’cause h? could put right every wrong He could turn sighs into silence and silence into song He could turn frowns into laughter, he could turn lost into found He could turn wine into water, or is it the other way around? Yes Harry could’ve done it, and Harry was my pal But Harry’s gone fishing in the paradise canal” He said “you see that pile of rubble with the barbed wire all around That used to be our local now it’s a battle ground” He said “I’ve lived my life here in this god forsaken street That pub was our one bit of hope it’s where we used to meet Now they want to build an office block with a car park there as well A tarty supermarket; I hope they rot in hell They say it will improve the place but it won’t do much for me What I need is a bit of beach and the salt wind from the sea” Chorus 2:ÿ And he said “Harry could’ve done it, ’cause he’d have made it turn out right He could turn the lonely into fighters and the mighty into blight He could turn saints into sinners he could turn ashes into sparks And he could turn the tables on the bankers and the sharks Yes Harry could’ve done it, and Harry was my pal But Harry’s gone fishing in the paradise canal They say it will improve the place well nobody asked me What I want is a bit of beach and the sunlight on the sea A lovely stretch of sand where me and all my mates can meet With gentle waves to paddle in and wash our tired feet And we’ll stretch out on our deckchairs, let the sunshine soothe our pain And we’ll make the high and mighty serve us winkles and champagne It isn’t very much too ask; I’ll be a long time dead Do you think you could arrange that?” I laughed and shook my head Chorus 3: And he said “Harry could’ve done it. ’cause he was always on our side He could turn Punch and Judy into Bonnie and Clyde He could turn shalt not into why not, he could turn is into seems He could turn armies into forests and darkness into dreams And it would turn your blood to fire when it was Harry’s turn to speak But one thing he would never do is turn the other cheek” So I left him in that silent street, an old man lost in space His wild-eyed delusions dancing on his wizened face And I walked on through that city with it’s temples made of brass Then a great crowd swept towards me and they would not let me pass The hungry and the homeless, downtrodden and distressed A wretched ragged rabble of the outcast and oppressed The unwashed and the unwanted on whom the sun has never shone And the banners they were waving said “Harry lives on” Chorus 4: And they sang “Harry’s gone fishing, but he will turn up by and by When a Saman sun rises in a bright morning sky And he’ll turn shalt not in to why not, he’ll turn is into seems He’ll turn armies into forests and darkness into dreams He’ll turn saints into sinners, he’ll turn ashes into sparks And he will turn the tables on the bankers and the sharks He’ll turn frowns into laughter, he’ll turn lost into found He’ll turn wine into water – no wait; the other way around And the rich shall wear the saddle and the poor shall wear the crown When Harry rises up and turns the world upside down

 

 

trad 

 

The Teacups: https://haystackrecords.bandcamp.com/track/vignette-ii-the-harvest-jug

https://haystackrecords.bandcamp.com/track/vignette-ii-the-harvest-jug

Now I am come for to supply your workmen When in harvest dry they do labor, hot and sweat Good drink is better for them than meat In winter time when it is cold, I likewise then good drink can hold Both seasons do the same require And most men do good drink desire

 

 

trad 

 

Johnny Collins from 1973: “Lucy Broadwood’s Wiltshire version of a song used at the traditional harvest supper. When the guests were seated a labourer, carrying a jug of beer or cider, filled a horn for every two men-one on each side of the table. As they drank, the first verse and chorus were sung and repeated until the man reached the end of the table. The second verse was then sung in the same manner.”

Here’s a health unto our master, the founder of the feast.ÿ We hope to God with all our hearts his soul in heav’n may rest;ÿ That all his works may prosper, whatever he takes in hand,ÿ For we are all his servants, and all at his command.ÿ Chorus So drink, boys, drink, And see that you do not spill For if you do you shall drink two, for ’tis our master’s will. And now we’ve drunk our master’s health, why should our missus go free? For why shouldn’t she go the heaven, to heaven as well as he? She is a good purvider, abroad as well as at home, So fill your cup and sup it up, for ’tis our havest home. Now harvest it is ended, and supper it is past,ÿ To our good mistress’ health, boys, a full and flowing glass,ÿ For she is a good woman, and makes us all good cheerÿ Here’s to our mistress’ health, boys, so all drink off your beer.

 

 

trad 

 

Ewan MacColl wrote in 1962: “Poetic licence has been strained to breaking point in this vigorous ballad. The battle fought upon the plains of Cromdale in Strathspey did, in fact, result in the army of 1,500 Highlanders being defeated by Sir Thomas Livingstone’s Hanoverians. Montrose, the hero of the song, was not present at the event. Some forty-five years before, however, he won a victory at the Battle of Auldearn against the Whig forces and it is probable that the two events have been dovetailed to provide us with a fine, optimistic, if somewhat chronologically inaccurate song.”

Andy M. Stewart: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUzShbHwsRM

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

As I came in by Achin doon, Just a wee bit frae the toun, Tae the Highlands I was bound To view the haughs of Cromdale. I met a man in tartan trews, I spiered at him what was the news, Quo’ he, “The Highland ar my rues That e’er we came to Cromale. “We were in bed, sir, every man, When the English host upon us came; A bloody battle then began Upom the haughs of Cromdale. The English horse they were so rude, They bathed their hoofs in Highland blood. But our brave clans, they boldly stood Upon the haughs of Cromdale. “But, alas! We could no longer stay, For o’er the hills we came away, And sore we do lament the day That e’er we came to Cromdale.” Thus the great Montrose did say; “Can you direct the nearest way? For I will o’er the hills this day, And view the haughs of Cromdale.” “Alas, my Lord, you’re not so strong. You scarcely have two thousand men, And there’s twenty-thousand on the plain, Stand rank and file on Cromdale.” Thus the great Montrose did say, “I say, direct the nearest way, For I will o’er the hills this day, And see the haughs of Cromdale.” They were at dinner, every man. When the great Montrose upon them came; A second battle then began Upon the haughs of Cromdale. The Grant, Mackenzie and Mackay, Soon as Montrose they did espy, O then they fought most valiantly Upon the haughs of Cromdale.