Category: songs

trad 

The Teacups: https://haystackrecords.bandcamp.com/track/t-stands-for-thomas

Now I was a-walking on a May morning
And sat down by a tall lofty tree
For to hear two lovers talk and hear what they’ve got to say
And to find out something more about courting

Chorus:
And it’s T stands for Thomas, I suppose
J-O-N stands for John
And it’s W E and M stands for my sweet William
Because he is a clever young man

Come and sit down with me together on the grass
Sit on the grass so very green
It’s a long three-quarters of a year, darling dear
Since together you and I have been seen

No, I’ll not sit with you together on the grass
Not now or at any other time
For I heard you were in love with another pretty girl
And your heart wasn’t any longer mine

Oh, then I’ll go and climb a lofty, lofty tree
And I’ll rob a small bird of its nest
And if ever I should then come down without having a fall
I’ll get married to the lass I love best

Oh, then I’ll go and climb a taller tree than that
And I’ll harry a far richer nest
And if ever I should then come down without having a fall
I’ll get married to the lad I love best 

trad

Oh ye Scots working men, ye’ve gone crazy, I fear
Every day ye maun hae yer but beef and yer beer
Little ken ye I noo, though ye’ll soon come tae learn
That yer natural food is but tatties and herrin’

Chorus:
Tatties and herrin’, tatties and herrin’
Yer natural food is but tatties and herrin’ (last line of each verse)

Wi’ a pound in the week ye maun fair be content
Ye’ve aye got ten shillings for claes and for rent
Twa and six tae pit by gin ye need to be sparin’
Aye, and seven and sixpence for tatties and herrin’

When the harbour o’ refuge was first thought about
Aberdeen and Stanehive, they were fair pitten oot
Fan they heard that the convicts were gettin’ best farin’
O’ guid Buchan tatties and Peterhead herrin’

Fan the queen’s wantin’ men tae gang fecht wi’ her foes
It’s nae tae the roast beef devourers she goes
But awa’ tae the north amongst the brave and the darin’
Tae the lads that were brocht up on tatties and herrin’

Marcy Heisler & Zina Goldrich 2004

There’s a boy who works at Starbucks Who is very inspirational
He is very inspirational because of many things
I come in at 8:11, and he smiles and says, “How are you?”
When he smiles and says, “How are you?” I could swear my heart grows wings
So today at 8:11 I decided I should meet him
I decided I should meet him In a proper formal way
So today at 8:11 when he smiled and said, “How are you?”
I said “Fine, and my name’s Carol,” And he softly answered, “Hey”
And I told him “My name’s Carol, and thank you for the extra foam”
And he said his name was Taylor Which provides the inspiration for this poem

Chorus:
Taylor the latte boy Bring me java, bring me joy
Taylor the latte boy I love him, I love him, I love him

So I’d like to get my nerve up To recite my poem musical
He would like the fact it’s musical Because he plays guitar
And today at 8:11, Taylor told me he was playing
In a band down in the village in the basement of a bar
And he smoothly flipped the lever to prepare my double latte
But for me he made it triple (And he didn’t think I knew)
But I saw him flip the lever, and for me he made it triple
And I knew the triple latte meant that Taylor loved me too
I said, “What time are you playing? And thank you for the extra skim”
He said, “Keep the $3.55,” because this triple latte was on him

trad 

"Found in the Harris Collection, this ballad was one of two composed between 1885 and 1899 by a mill owner named Richard Driver of Valley Falls, RI. It was written during a time when the RI General Assembly was deliberating over ten hour work days. Driver was co-owner of a firm which operated a worsted mill in Gazza, a now-deserted village just outside of Mapleville. New melody by Armand Aromin, partially inspired by 'Cluck Old Hen'."

The Vox Hunters: https://thevoxhunters.bandcamp.com/track/ten-hours-a-day

Chorus:
Oh we want less work, we want more play
We want to work ten hours a day
We want to stop one hour for noon
And we want these things and we want them soon

Oh we all want more time to read
More time to take a mental feed
More time to grasp the eternal facts
And stamp them on our intellects

We want more truth, we want more light
We all want to have our rights
We want to make our miseries less
We want change, we want progress

We all want more time to eat
Our daily bread, our daily meat
And thus enjoy the fruits of toil
The food for which we sweat and broil

Besides had we more time to eat
Our food would taste both fresh and sweet
And from it we should get more good
For eating slow would mend our blood

And when the blood is poor and thin
The wrinkles soon come on the skin
And thousands to this very day
At forty-five look old and grey

This state of things ought not to be
What is it else but slavery
When we are forced to work for wealth
Until we undermine our health

And this is done ten thousand times
And from it comes ten thousand crimes
We sin against the laws of health
And plant a curse beneath our wealth

This hurry up, this go ahead
This long hour race for daily bread
Will have an end, it does not pay
We therefore want ten hours a day

Our blood is now so very thin
It cannot shine right through the skin
It cannot make us red and fresh
Nor can it make good solid flesh

Bob Franke 1982

Sally Rogers record it in 1982; Franke first recorded it in 1983. Franke added the third verse to this song as a message of hope in the depths of the AIDS epidemic.ÿ

It’s so easy to dream of the days gone by;
It’s a hard thing to think of the times to come.
But the grace to accept every moment as a gift
Is a gift that is given to some.

Chorus:
What can you do with your days but work and hope?
Let your dreams bind your work to your play.
What can you do with each moment of your life,
But love ’til you’ve loved it away,
Love ’til you’ve loved it away.

There are sorrows enough for the whole world’s end;
There are no guarantees but the grave.
But the lives that we lived and the times that we spent
Are a treasure too precious to save.

As it was so it is, as it is shall it be,
And it shall be while lips that kiss have breath.
Many waters indeed only nurture love’s seed
And its flower overshadows the power of death. 

Bill Harley 1984

"This started out as a kid's song, ended up being for adults and now is on a kid's recording. It's for the adults that are going to hear it."

Chorus:
If you’ve got potatoes and I got tomatoes We could have dinner together
If you got a raincoat and I got a tugboat We’ll sail no matter the weather
If I had money and the sky was sunny We could spend the day by the shore
You know I’d be glad to share what I had That’s what friends are for

If you’re down on your luck, you don’t have a buck There’s holes in the toes of your shoes
You’re scrounging for pennies, You can’t find any, you’ve got nothing left to lose
Don’t you worry about dollars, Just give me a holler a whistle and yodel-ay-ee-ooo
If I got a nickel we’ll go buy a pickle I’d be happy to share it with you

If the job that you’ve got just makes your mind rot Everybody takes you for granted
You’re frying your mind to five from nine And you feel like you’re on the wrong planet
Don’t mess with those blues; you’ve got nothing to lose In walking from a place like that
Why we can sing in the streets and be light on our feet We’ll split what goes into the hat

When you get older, people get colder Don’t give you the time of day
They just ignore you, they don’t care for you Just cause your hair’s gone grey
Don’t feel alone, get on the phone Dial my number give me a ring
I’ll be that way too, wearing corrective shoes We can get together and sing 

Leon Rosselson 1974

 

Nancy Kerr: https://nancykerr.bandcamp.com/track/the-ant-and-the-grasshopper

https://nancykerr.bandcamp.com/track/the-ant-and-the-grasshopper

The ant and the grasshopper, everyone knows how the story goes, How the ant was diligent, never spent Anything lightly, laboured wisely, And gathered his store for tomorrow. As for the grasshopper, clad in the summer sunshine, Light as the wind on the broken water, His song he gave to the summer days, Singing, “Where the dance leads I’ll follow.” Then came a hard winter, nothing grew, and the cold wind blew, But the ant was safe and sound, underground. Carefully counting his pile around him, Dividing his time until tomorrow. Now see the grasshopper, blown by the north wind’s fury, Hungering for the easy summer, Comes to the ant and says, “My brother, give me bread, Now’s the dance that I must follow.” “Why did you waste the summer, summers don’t last forever, You’re just an idle beggar, you must pay the price, sacrifice. You wouldn’t need me, you took life easy – Take the punishment that follows.” Now see the grasshopper reel like a dry leaf falling, Weaving a dance that will last forever, Back goes the ant to his nest to work, to feed, to rest, For him there will always be tomorrow.

 

 

Sheldon Currie 1964

 

Currie wrote the song while homesick, and then based the 1976 short story “The Glace Bay Miners’ Museum” on it, which was adapted into the film “Margaret’s Museum”.

Jess & Rich Arrowsmith: The Ballad of Charlie David

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boUmfEuD7XA

My brother was a miner, his name was Charlie Dave, He spent his young life laughing, and digging out his grave. Chorus Oh Charlie David he was big, and Charlie Dave was strong, And Charlie Dave was two feet wide, and almost six feet long. When Charlie David was sixteen, he learned to chew and spit, He went one day with Grandpa, and went to work in the pit.ÿ When Charlie David was sixteen, he met his Maggie June, On day shift weeks they met at eight, on back shift weeks at noon. When Charlie David was sixteen, he said to June “Let’s wed” Maggie June was so surprised, she fell right out of bed. When Charlie David was sixteen, June had a little boy, Maggie June was not surprised, and Charlie jumped for joy. When Charlie David was sixteen, the roof fell on his head, His laughing mouth was filled with clay, now Charlie David is dead.

 

 

Jim Malcolm 2004

 

Old Blind Dogs: Battle Of Waterloo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMGMtb82wUo

Spring comes tae Kirrie Aw the world’s in bloom Winter is forgiven now Fooled by April’s broom Kirrie, oh Kirrie You were aye my hame ‘Til Napoleon’s bloody cannon hit their aim Jeanie, oh, Jeanie I am surely done Stricken down in battle At the mooth o Boney’s guns Jeanie, oh, Jeanie Aye sae dear tae me Let me hold you in my mind before I dee Chorus: For the cold returns in autumn When the wind rak?s the trees And the summer li?s forgotten In a cold bed of leaves As winter begins, aye mind Boney It wasn’t only you Who was broken on the field of Waterloo Surgeon, oh, surgeon Leave me wae my pain Save your knife for others Who will surely rise again Surgeon, oh, surgeon Leave ma blood to pour Let it drain into the bitter clay once more Daughter, oh, daughter Listen, dear, tae me Never wed a sodger Or a widow you will be Daughter, oh daughter Curse your lad to die E’er he catches the recruitin’ sergeant’s eye Boney, oh, Boney War was aye your game Bloody field your table Cannon yours to aim Boney, oh, Boney We aye live the same Drillin’ laddies not to fear the muskets’ flame

 

 

Rudyard Kipling 1906

Peter Bellamy 1972

Based on folklore documented in Greek Anthology and the Middle Ages. Since bees can be considered part of the family, it is believed that if the owner of bees passes away, the family must tell the bees of the death so they are allowed to grieve, or the bees will fly away or die as well. This practice can extend even further to telling the bees about any death in the family, birth, marriage, or secrets.

Rosie Hodgson & Rowan Piggott: Rosie Hodgson & Rowan Piggott at The Thomas Lord, Petersfield | The Big Walk 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuATS3_OBSk

Chorus: Bees! Bees! Hark to your bees! “Hide from your neighbours as much as you please, But all that has happened, to us you must tell, Or else we will give you no honey to sell!” A Maiden in her glory, Upon her wedding-day, Must tell her Bees the story, Or else they’ll fly away. Fly away-die away-Dwindle down and leave you! But if you don’t deceive your Bees, Your Bees will not deceive you. Marriage, birth or buryin’, News across the seas, All you’re sad or merry in, You must tell the Bees. Tell ’em coming in an’ out, Where the Fanners fan, Because the Bees are just about As curious as a man! Don’t you wait where trees are, When the lightnings play; Nor don’t you hate where Bees are, Or else they’ll pine away. Pine away-dwine away-Anything to leave you! But if you never grieve your Bees, Your Bees will never grieve you!