Category: songs

Lui Collins 1992

 

The ocean does not cry aloud when she is asked to leave She does not fight the moon’s pull, the tugging on her sleeve The time has come for parting, she’s only just arrived Surrendering to the moon’s pull, the ocean stays alive. The moon, it is her constant call, she rests not in one place No claim on her the shore holds, it but reflects her face A mirror to her visage, she knows herself in love Thus looking outward finds herself – then comes the call from above: Chorus: “Surrender,” the moon calls, “these boundaries are not your own “Surrender,” the moon calls, “and I shall lead you home.” The ocean does not question why she’s drawn from shore to shore She does not ask the Heavens, “Then which do I love more?” For she is not possessed by the west nor by the east Her life is held in mystery, the secrets of the deep. In deepest, darkest waters precious gems of life are born In depths of secret longing the ocean births her own The coral grows beneath the waves, the pearl is forged anew As far below the surface ocean’s beauty reigneth true. The ocean does not cry aloud when she is asked to leave She does not fight the moon’s pull, the tugging on her sleeve And trusting in the parting, and knowing self in love Surrendering to the moon’s pull, the ocean stays alive.

 

 

Alex Sturbaum 2020

 

“I wanted there to be more explicitly LGBTQ songs in the folk tradition (after all, we’ve always been around), and while reading Nathaniel Philbrick’s “In the Heart of the Sea”, it occurred to me that whaler’s wives had to sometimes fall in love.”

Alex Sturbaum: https://alexsturbaum.bandcamp.com/track/sweet-mary-starbuck

https://alexsturbaum.bandcamp.com/track/sweet-mary-starbuck

I married John Coffin just two years ago And he’s a fine man, as all Nantucket knows And he’s bound to make second mate, or so I hear If the Charles brings home enough oil next year At twenty a mother, at nineteen a bride With a child on my knee and another inside My heart it was broken, and swept out to sea Where my sweet Mary found it and brought it to me Chorus: Sweet Mary Starbuck from Nantucket town If she were the sea I would willingly drown And her voice like a bell on a clear winter’s day Sets my heart a-ringing and winging away At meeting one morning she came to me there With the Nantucket wind in her flyaway hair Her hand, soft and certain, clasped mine in the lane And I felt my heart shiver when she spoke my name Her words came in whispers, in trembling lines Her cheeks red as roses, her eyes all a-shine Then she kissed me so gently, so soft and so sure The world spun round once, and at once I was hersÿ On Nantucket our men go to hunt for the whale And they live at the mercy of teeth, sea, and gale But in town life goes on, and it goes on apace With children, and letters, and Mary’s sweet face So when John comes I’ll give him a kiss and a smile And a good whaleman’s wife I will be for a while And in time I’ll stand watching his sail fade at sea Then go home where my true love lies waiting for meÿ

 

 

trad 

 

Widespread in Cornwall, popularized by Charlie Bate. Some overlap with a Thomas Arne operetta from 1761, but to a different tune. First published in 1857.

Jackie Oates: Sweet Nightingale – Jackie Oates – Broadwindsor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANbOWvQcM1w

My sweetheart, come along, don’t you hear the fond song, The sweet notes of the nightingale flow? Don’t you hear the fond tale of the sweet nightingale As she sings in the valley below. (x2) My sweetheart, don’t fail, for I’ll carry your pail All down to the valley below You shall hear the fond tale of the sweet nightingale Pray let me alone, I have hands of my own; And about you, sir, nothing I know I can hear the fond tale of the sweet nightingale Pray sit yourself down with me on the ground, On this bank where the primroses grow. You shall hear the fond tale of the sweet nightingale So she sat herself down with him on the ground, On the bank where the primroses grow. And they heard the fond tale of the sweet nightingale This couple agreed to be married with speed And soon to the church they did go. Never more she’s afraid for to walk in the shade

 

 

Nancy Kerr 2010

 

James Fagan hears an Americana feel in this song. Kerr always thinks of Emily Smith because of her recording of it.

Nancy Kerr & James Fagan: https://kerrfagan.bandcamp.com/track/sweet-peace

https://kerrfagan.bandcamp.com/track/sweet-peace

I’ll take wine, just a little in the evening And I’ve been known for my bar room dancing And I don’t care if you’re selling or you’re saving I just want to know, where we go will we gather in peace Certain souls they don’t care where you wander They just want to know if you’re following Jesus Well I can’t see right over those mountains I just want to know, where we go will we gather in peace Chorus Sweet peace, the seed that we cling to Like a willow weeping, carry it home Sweet peace, the song that we sing you Like a river calling, carry it home I can see that we’re heading for a harvest While there’s a storm in the north and fire in the forest Well I need friends, not the pennies in my pocket I just want to know, where we go will we gather in peace I can’t speak for my sons or my daughters But wouldn’t they cry if they never saw summers They won’t care about saints or sinners They’ll just want to know, when we will gather in peace

 

 

Pat Humphries 1990

 

The Amidons: https://amidonmusicpublishing.bandcamp.com/track/swimming-to-the-other-side

https://amidonmusicpublishing.bandcamp.com/track/swimming-to-the-other-side

Chorus: We are living ‘neath the great big dipper We are washed by the very same rain We are swimming in this stream together Some in power and some in pain We can worship this ground we walk on Cherishing the beings that we live beside Loving spirits will live forever We’re all swimming to the other side I am alone and I am searching Hungering for answers in my time I am balanced at the brink of wisdom I’m impatient to receive a sign I move forward with my senses open Imperfection, it be my crime In humility I will listen We’re all swimming to the other side On this journey through thoughts and feelings Binding intuition, my head, my heart I am gathering the tools together I’m preparing to do my part All of those who have come before me Band together and be my guide Loving lessons that I will follow We’re all swimming to the other side When we get there, we’ll discover All of the gifts we’ve been given to share Have been with us since life’s beginning And we never noticed they were there We can balance at the brink of wisdom Never recognizing that we’ve arrived Loving spirits will live together We’re all swimming to the other side

 

 

trad 

 

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

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 anoth?r pretty girl And your heart wasn’t any longer min? 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 

 

Old Blind Dogs: https://youtu.be/XkXdPSiZQ-Q?si=wCOLEheEzn6k14rx

https://youtu.be/XkXdPSiZQ-Q?si=wCOLEheEzn6k14rx

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’ Tatties and herrin’, tatties and herrin’ Yer natural food is but tatties and herrin’ 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’ Tatties and herrin’, tatties and herrin’ Aye, 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’ Tatties and herrin’, tatties and herrin’ 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’ Tatties and herrin’, tatties and herrin’ Tae the lads that were brocht up on tatties and herrin’

 

 

Marcy Heisler 2004

Zina Goldrich 

Kristin Chenoweth: https://youtu.be/BKNPC7Rnf0s?si=I4oH_AUWzyP9X8-8

https://youtu.be/BKNPC7Rnf0s?si=I4oH_AUWzyP9X8-8

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 Kristin,” And he softly answered, “Hey” And I told him “My name’s Kristin, 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

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.