Category: songs

Marisa Egerstrom 2019

 

“Very traditional; some sources suggest roots in the origins of patriarchy. Verses and variations arose out of contact with Robert Bly’s “men’s movements” participants, bullshit polyamory practices that reinscribe male manipulation of multiple women by pitting them against each other under pseudo-progressive ideological cover; and the modern insecurity of nostalgic men who refuse to just go to fucking therapy already. While it remains a song in underground circulation, there are known performances by the afternoon pandemic shift of Real Pickles kitchen workers.”

Chorus Don’t fall in love with a Vermont man He won’t love you back,ÿ no he won’t love you back! Don’t fall in love with a Vermont man No matter how beautiful he is. I fell in love with a Burlington guy He wrote nice poems to the Green Mountain sky He spoke low & sweet but when I started to swoon He vanished to the woods, howling at the moon I fell in love with a Brattleboro man He made art and music and built his home by hand His aesthetic was perfection; nothing less would do So out the door I went when I wasn’t perfect too I fell in love somewhere near Montpelier We talked of revolution and he said “y’know, I feel ya” When I asked him for a kiss he checked his calendar to see If his nineteen other girlfriends would allow some room for me I fell in love with a man from Putney Town We sang our song in forests and went camping all around He aligned my chakras and he made his prayers to Life Til one day, knocking at my door, came his raging wife Something ’bout that mountain air just makes you want to flirt Maybe it’s the rivers as they curve down through the birch But if you’ve paid attention to my cautionary tale You’ll keep your heart for boring men — maybe from New Hampshire!

 

 

Leon Rosselson 1973

 

The song inevitably met with mixed reactions when performed in clubs and pubs, but recalls a time when the feminist movement had a genuine momentum, and thanks in part to its sense of humour, is one of his more popular. Published in his book “That’s Not the Way It’s Got to Be” in 1973, recorded on “Love, Loneliness, Laundry” in 1977. “As I think songwriters have some responsibility to catch the spirit of the times, I wrote this song, drawn from observation and some personal experience, which had quite a vogue for a time. It was featured in a TV programme about Fringe Theatre songs, sung in music hall style by Liz Mansfield, who was at that time in the Red Ladder Theatre Company, and recorded in a miners’ club in Yorkshire. The women seemed to relish the performance; the miners looked distinctly uncomfortable.”

Nancy Kerr: https://nancykerr.bandcamp.com/track/dont-get-married-girls

https://nancykerr.bandcamp.com/track/dont-get-married-girls

Chorus 1 Don’t get married, girls – you’ll sign away your life You may start off as a woman but you’ll end up as ‘the Wife’ You could be a vestal virgin, take the veil and be a nun But don’t get married, girls, for marriage isn’t fun It’s fine when you’re romancing and he plays the lover’s part You’re the roses in his garden, you’re the flame that warms his heart And his love will last forever and he’ll promise you the moon But just wait until you’re wedded then he’ll sing a different tun? You’re his tapioca pudding, you’re the dumplings in his st?w And he’ll soon begin to wonder what he ever saw in you Still he takes without complaining all the dishes you provide But you see he has to have his bit of jam tart on the side Chorus 2 So don’t get married, girls, it’s very badly paid You may start off as the mistress but you’ll end up as the maid Be a daring deep-sea diver, be a polished polyglot But don’t get married, girls, for marriage is a plot Have you seen him in the morning with a face that looks like death He’s got dandruff on his pillow and tobacco on his breath And he wants some reassurance with his cup of tea in bed For he’s got worries with the mortgage and the bald patch on his head And he’s sure that you’re his mother, lays his head upon your breast So you try to boost his ego, iron his shirt and warm his vest Then you get him off to work, the mighty hunter is restored And he leaves you there with nothing but the dreams you can’t afford Chorus 3 So don’t get married, girls, men are all the same They just use you when they need you, you’ll do better on the game Be a call girl, be a stripper, be a hostess, be a whore But don’t get married, girls, for marriage is a bore When he comes home in the evening he can hardly spare a look All he says is, What’s for dinner – after all, you’re just the cook But when he takes you to a party he eyes you with a frown And you know you’ve got to look your best, you mustn’t let him down Then he’ll clutch you with that ‘Look-what-I’ve-got’ twinkle in his eyes Like he’s entered for a raffle and he’s won you for the prize But when the party’s over you’ll be slogging through the sludge Half the time a decoration and the other half a drudge Chorus 4 So don’t get married, it’ll drive you round the bend It’s the lane without a turning, it’s the end without an end Change your lover every Friday, take up tennis, be a nurse But don’t get married, girls, for marriage is a curse Then you get him off to work, the mighty hunter is restored And he leaves you there with nothing but the dreams you can’t afford

 

 

Alistair Hulett 2002

 

heid bummer = leader / gey close tae scunnert = to the brink of collapse / swap suppert = forcibly fed / ower blaistart = in an uproar / weel an’ brawly gouthart = in a quandary

Alistair Hulett: Alistair Hulett & Dave Swarbrick-Don’t Sign Up For War

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07KX91eKFdQ

See yon Arthur Henderson, head bummer of the working men When war broke out he pressed his suit and ran to catch the train He signed a deal in London, no more strikes until the fighting’s done In Glasgow town the word went round, take heed of John Maclean Chorus: He said a bayonet, that’s a weapon with a working man at either end Betray your country, serve your class. Don’t sign up for war my friend Don’t sign up for war When they turned him out of Langside Hall, John stood up at the fountain What he said was tailor-made to magnify the friction You patriots can roar and bawl, it’s nought but braggarts’ fiction The only war worth fighting for is war against oppression The police whisked him out of there and down to Queens Park station They told him plain, offend again and we’ll make you rue the day, son But Johnny didn’t turn a hair, he called for a demonstration A mighty throng ten thousand strong turned out against conscription The next time that they came for him, John kent they meant the business He didn’t plea for mercy, he said give me British justice The justice that he called for stunned many into silence When out of Hell the hammer fell, three years was the sentence The clamour to release Maclean reached fever pitch and more, man In a year and a half they called it off, but Christ it taxed him sore, man He came back old before his time, but he didn’t seem to care, man Do all you can, I’m still the one who’ll cause you to beware, man The last time they jailed Maclean he came gey close to scunnert With a rubber hose put up his nose they kept him swap suppert Let him out or keep him in, Red Clyde was ower blaistert Each way they turned the Government was well and brawly gouthart

 

 

Bobby McFerrin 1988

 

It was the first a cappella song to reach number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, a position it held for two weeks. Originally released in conjunction with the film Cocktail, the song peaked at number-one on September 24, 1988, displacing “Sweet Child o’ Mine” by Guns N’ Roses. The song also peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot Black Singles chart and number seven on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart. It was also a hit in the United Kingdom, reaching number two during its fifth week on the UK Singles Chart. In Canada, the song reached number-one in its eighth week. One critic noted it as a “formula for facing life’s trials” At the 1989 Grammy Awards, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” won the awards for Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

Bobby McFerrin: Don’t Worry Be Happy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFDOSq6Wxa0

Here’s a little song I wrote You might want to sing it note for note Don’t worry Be happy In every life we have some trouble But when you worry you make it double Don’t worry Be happy, don’t worry, be happy now Chorus: Don’t worry, be happy (x4) Ain’t got no place to lay your head Somebody came and took your bed Don’t worry Be happy The landlord say your rent is late He may have to litigate But don’t worry Be happy, look at me, I’m happy Ain’t got no cash, ain’t got no style Ain’t got no gal to make you smile But don’t worry Be happy ‘Cause when you worry, your face will frown And that will bring everybody down So don’t worry Be happy, don’t worry, be happy now In your life expect some trouble But when you worry, you make it double But don’t worry Be happy, be happy now

 

 

Phil Ochs 1964

 

Phil Ochs: Draft Dodger Rag

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_T9MHFldX1E

Oh, I’m just a typical American boy From a typical American town I believe in God and Senator Dodd And in keepin’ old Castro down And when it came my time to serve I knew “better dead than red” But when I got to my old draft board Buddy, this is what I said Chorus: Sarge, I’m only eighteen, I got a ruptured spleen And I always carry a purse I’ve got eyes like a bat and my feet are flat And my asthma’s getting worse Yes, think of my career, my sweetheart dear And my poor old invalid aunt Besides, I ain’t no fool, I’m a-goin’ to school And I’m working in a defense plant I’ve got a dislocated disc and a wracked up back I’m allergic to flowers and bugs And when the bombshell hits, I get epileptic fits And I’m addicted to a thousand drugs I got the weakness woes, I can’t touch my toes I can hardly reach my knees And if the enemy came close to me Why I’d probably start to sneeze Ooh, I hate Chou En Lai, and I hope he dies But one thing you gotta see That someone’s gotta go over there And that someone isn’t me So I wish you well, Sarge, give ’em hell Kill me a thousand or so And if you ever get a war without blood and gore I’ll be the first to go

 

 

Emma Azelborn 2025

 

Emma Azelborn: https://emmaazelborn.bandcamp.com/track/dragons-of-kilpatrick

https://emmaazelborn.bandcamp.com/track/dragons-of-kilpatrick

we are the glinting gilded girls who heard the calling sea her voice it drew us diving to a future swimming free we left our lives behind us to embrace the rolling waves but may those who aim to pillage know we keep the village safe we keep the village safe chorus: beware! beware! our teeth and claws! beware! beware! our fiery jaws! our shining scales protect their sails! we’re the dragons of kilpatrick a wicked storm came rushing in when the tide was low a stranded crew beyond the rocks had nowhere they could go the wind it blew them over, surely everyone would drown but we picked them up and flew them all the way to solid ground all the way to solid ground we send out a dragon guard with every trading boat to keep a watch for danger and to bring them safely home when pirates tried to board them, they were in for a surprise a toothy smile, foreboding wings, and bright reptilian eyes and bright reptilian eyes the raiders of the northern lands attacked our rocky coast we rose up from the water to defend it from their blows they ignored our roaring bellows when we shook the air with rage so we scorched their ships to ashes and they all went down in flames they all went down in flames we are the glinting gilded girls who heard the calling sea and now we are defenders who keep kilpatrick free to any who would challenge, may you hear our warning cry: if you should try to hurt them, then be prepared to die then be prepared to die

 

 

trad 

 

Gale Huntington collected it from the journal of the Cortes (1847). Eliza Carthy wrote in 2017: “It’s so good and tempting to think about this in modern terms. It’s as if they knew worse rulers, espousing freedom, were to come than the ones who betrayed Napoleon in his final days. Not spitting maybe, but Twitting?”

Eliza Carthy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmFP905gA9w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmFP905gA9w

One night sad and languid I went to my bed; I scarcely declined on my pillow, When a vision surprising came into my head, I thought I was crossing the billow. I dreamt, as my vessel dashed over the deep, I beheld a huge rock standing craggy and steep That rock where the widows were once known to weep O’er the grave of that once famed Napoleon Now I dreamt, as my vessel drew near to the land, I beheld, clad in green, a bold figure, With the trumpet of fame he held in his hand, On his brow there was valour and vigour. “A stranger,” cried he, “Dost thou venture to me From the land of thy sires-Old England-where they boast they are free? Now a story, a true story, I tell unto thee Concerning that once-famed Napoleon.” “Now remember the years were immortally told I crossed through the Alps, famed in story; For the legions of France were the sons of my pride, I led them them to honour and glory. ‘Twas on the fields of Marengo where I tyranny uphurled. My banner, the Eagle, was ever unfurled To a standard of freedom all over the world, To the signal of fame,” cried Napoleon. Now, as a soldier, I’ve borne both the heat and the cold, I’ve marched to the trump and the cymbal. By the dark deeds of tragedy I have been sold Though mortals before me did tremble. You rulers and princes their stations demean Like scorpions they spat out their venomous feen But as liberty all over the world shall be seen,” As I awoke from my dreams, cried Napoleon.

 

 

Sue West 

 

Chorus: Drink to the laddies, in beer or in wine Drink to the laddies in whiskey so fine Drink to the laddies in water so clear Oh, drink to the laddies and wish them good cheer Drink to the laddies, the great and the small Drink to the laddies, the short and the tall Drink to the laddies, whether curly or bald Oh, drink to the laddies, for I love them all When they are young, they are handsome and fine When they grow older, they’re just like good wine When they are ancient and their beards have turned gray Oh, still they’ll delight you – both night and day When I was a young maid, my mother, she cried Beware of the laddies and all of their lies Beware of the laddies, never heed what they say But she drank to the laddies till her dying day Well the laddies will charm you and tell you such lies They’ll tell the truth on the day the pig flies Yet still they are pleasant and so full of play So I’ll drink to the laddies till my dying day

 

 

trad 

 

Bob Walser: “My singing of this song is amalgamated from multiple sources including a version from longshoremen of the Ball Steamship Company in Tampa Florida (AFC 7092 B2 – primary melody, verses 1 and 3), a menhaden fishing version released on the LP Virgina Traditions, sung by Walter Kegler and the crew of the Barnegat, recorded 8 August 1950 off Crab Island, NJ by an NBC radio crew (verses 1, 4, 5 and 6). My lyrics for verse 2 are taken from Lydia Parrish’s Slave Songs of the Georgia Sea Islands p. 250 where the song is called “Communion Hymn” but used for weed cutting. Other versions can be found in Odum & Johnson’s 1926 collection American Negro Songs and Spirituals p. 136; and Bruce Jackson’s classic collection of prison songs Wake Up Dead Man pp. 245 ff. which has versions used for logging and flatweeding.”

Bob Walser: Drinkin’ That Wine

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

Oh, if my mother asks for me, Tell her that death done summon me, You ought to been there ten thousand years Drinkin’ that wine. Chorus: Drinkin’ that wine, wine wine Drinkin’ that wine, oh yes my Lord You oughta been there ten thousand years Drinkin’ that wine. Ain’t but one thing that I done wrong, Stayin’ in the wilderness mos’ too long. Down by the river, we’re gonna walk Me and my Lord gonna have a little talk. Two white horses side by side, One of them horses I’m gonna ride. If you get there before I do, Tell my mother I’m coming too.

 

 

trad 

 

Collected by Sandy Ives from Charles German in PEI. In the late 18th and early 19th century it appeared in broadsides and a number of songsters under the titles “Contentment” or “The Friendly Society.” Popularized by Joe Hickerson.

Joe Hickerson: Drive Dull Care Away

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcgOorCbW4k

Why should we of our lot complain Or grieve at our distress? Some think if riches they could gain T’would be true happiness Alas in vain is all their strife Life’s cares will not allay, Chorus So while we’re here with our friends so dear We’ll drive dull care away. Away, away, away away. We will drive dull care away. So while we’re here with our friends so dear We’ll drive dull care away. Why should the rich despise the poor? Why should the poor repine? While in a few short years we shall In equal friendship bind. They’re both to blame, they’re all the same We are all made of one clay, The only circumstance in life That ever I could find, To conquer care and temper strife Was a contented mind. With this in store we have much more Than all things else convey, So always make the best of life Nor render it a curse, But take it as you would a wife For better and for worse. Life at its best is but a jest, Like a dreary winter’s day,