trad
Chorus:
Oh, sinner man, where you gonna run to? (x3)
All on that day
Run to the rock, rock he was a melting (x3) All on that day
Run to the sea, sea it was a boiling…
Run to the sun, sun, he was a-freezing…
Run to the moon, moon she was a-bleeding…
Run to the Lord, Lordy won’t you hide me?…
Oh sinner man, should have been a-praying…
Run to the devil, devil says come right in…
Pete Sutherland 2003?
Written for Keith Murphy & Becky Tracy's son, whose name was changed by Pete for the song to maintain his semi-anonymity.
Oh me name is Paddy Murphy and I’m but three years of age
I’ll tell you folks I’m passin’ through me toilet training stage
Me dad says, Dear, whene’er ye hear the call from down below
Set sail for the nearest bathroom and sink the cheerio
Chorus:
Sink the cheerio, me boys Sink the cheerio
Set sail for the nearest bathroom and sink the cheerio
Now the thing they call the cheerio, I’ve eaten ’em by the score
But to toss one in the toilet it grieves me heart full sore
But target practice bein’ me trade, me hunger I’ll lay low
And train me guns upon it and sink the cheerio
Well when first I went to pee, me boys, the place was quite a wreck
And many’s the time me poor old Mam would have to swab the deck
Indeed ’twas she did first decree the way that things should go
And bade me stand upon me stool and sink the cheerio
Now the sinkin’ of the cheerio is no an easy task
A bit of oat designed to float, so stubbornly does it bask
Like an arrow through a bullseye ye must direct your flow
Takes much coordination to sink the cheerio
Well when first unto the cereal aisle me folks and I did stray
I stepped up to a grocery boy and to him I did say
Avast, me gallant grocery boy, I’ll bet ye didn’t know
Ye now behold the sailor bold that sank the cheerio!
So come all me jolly playmates and listen unto me
Be proud of your pea-shooters as ever a lad should be
For someday when we’re big boys, to some tavern we will go
Fill up the bowl again, me boys, and sink the cheerio!
Utah Phillips 2003
According to Mudcat, Phillips wrote it for the homeless shelter in Nevada City, and the tune is by Paul Kamm & Eleanor MacDonald.
Kirsty Bromley: https://kirstybromley.bandcamp.com/track/singing-through-the-hard-times
Sometimes our living gets so dark and lonesome,
It seems like there’s nothing we can do.
So we reach out to each other, and raise a song together,
And let our voices carry us through.
Chorus (x2)
We are singing through the hard times,
Singing through the hard times;
Working for the good times to come.
And when the war clouds gather, it’s so easy to get angry,
And just as hard not to be afraid;
But you know in your own heart, no matter what happens,
You just can’t turn your back and walk away.
So hand in hand together, we help each other carry
The light of peace within us every day;
If we can learn to live it, to walk and talk and give it,
That world of peace won’t be so far away.
Nic Jones 1978
Chorus and tune published by John Piersol McCaskey in 1892, attributed to Sir Walter Scott as Minstrel's Request.
Chorus (x2)
Dark the night and long till day, Do not bid us further stray.
Now the sun it doth decline,
Pour the beer and pour the wine;
Let us lead your thoughts astray
From the world and from the day.
We bring songs from history,
Love and war and mystery.
We can lead you from despair
Or can chill the darkening air.
You can choose to pass us by
With a cruel or scornful eye.
We will see the ending through;
Then we’ll turn and say to you
Fred Small 1991
Too many words too many sounds
Too many attractions turn me around
Too many miles in a chrome cocoon
I never get anywhere I can’t see the moon
Too many commercials too many lies
Too many celebrities I don’t recognize
Too many brand names too many magazines
I got so much sensation I can’t feel a thing
Chorus:
Simple living Got to get to simple living
Simple living Simple Simply living
Too many things we just throw away
If we put it in the garbage we’re gonna eat it someday
We turn on the lights and a river dies
We turn the TV on to see an eagle fly
Bridge:
Too much work with nothing to do
Too many dreams that never come true
Too much hurting without a second glance
Too much desperation they call romance
Gonna take this life pare it to the bone
Baby when you knock baby
I’ll be home I’ll make my breakfast sweep the floor
Open the window unlock the door
Gonna turn off the video the audio too
Open my eyes take in the view
See the divine in the veins of a leaf
In the hands of a beggar in the eyes of a thief
Nancy Kerr 2014
Nancy Kerr: https://nancykerr.bandcamp.com/track/sickle-and-harvest
Oh the trees they grew tall in my garden
Lush were the leaves so ambitiously springing
When the mistletoe fallen from heaven
Ushered in love so deliciously clinging
Chorus:
Sickle and harvest; fiddle and bow
Sing to my heart and play at your courting
Now look at me falling Freed like a miracle; seed
where I land I might never let go
How unwary the love that confesses
For morning undresses us sweet as a feather
But a melody never trangresses
And whiskey’s caresses might bring us together
Well all the bones in the clay are embracing
Facing eternity chasing each other
And all the trees with their branches unlacing
Bracing for mistletoe’s miracle lover
Oh for youth is a crow at the harvest
Beauty is bound to be fickle and flee us
Now the moon is a sickle in darkness
Kiss me whilst only true lovers might see us
trad
The Teacups wrote in 2020: "As far as we know, this shanty was only collected in one place: in 1886 by James Taft Hatfield on a crossing from Pensacola to Nice, aboard the Ahkera."
The Teacups: https://haystackrecords.bandcamp.com/track/shiney-o
Captain, captain, you are a dandy (Way-ay-ay-ay, shiny-o)
Captain, captain, you love your brandy (Way-ay-ay-ay, shiny-o)
Won’t you ferry me over to Dover / Queenstown to Dover’s a hundred miles or over
Captain, captain, how deep is the water? / It measures one inch, six feet and a quarter
Captain, captain, I love your daughter / Captain, captain, I love your daughter
Shiny-o is the captain’s daughter / For her I’m sailing across this water
Rivers, rivers, rivers are a-rolling / Rivers are a-rolling and I can’t get over
trad
Earliest recording on Mainly Norfolk 1966 was "originally from a Gloucestershire set printed by Lucy Broadwood in her English County Songs published in 1893. Cecil Sharp found the song being sung in Oxfordshire, Warwickshire and Gloucestershire; the Hammond Brothers found it in Dorset and George Gardiner heard the song in Hampshire and Sussex. More recently, Gwilym Davies has recorded versions from singers in Devon, Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire."
Melrose Quartet: https://melrosequartet.bandcamp.com/track/shepherds-song
We shepherds are the best of men that e’er trod English ground
When we come to an alehouse we value not one crown
We spends our money freely and we pay before we go
For there’s no ale on the wold where the stormy winds do blow
A man that is a shepherd does need a valiant heart
He must not be faint-hearted, but boldly play his part
He must not be faint-hearted, be it rain or frost or snow
With no ale on the wold where the stormy winds do blow
When I kept sheep on Blockley Hill it caused my heart to beat
To see the ewes hang out their tongues and hear the lambs to bleat
So I plucked up my courage, and o’er the hills did go
And penned them in, in the fold, where the stormy winds do blow
As soon as I had folded them I turned my back in haste
Unto some jovial company, good liquor for to taste
For drink and jovial company, they are my heart’s delight
While my sheep lie asleep all the fore-part of the night
Peter Smith 2020
Melrose Quartet: https://melrosequartet.bandcamp.com/track/sheffield-wassail
It is so many weeks since we’ve seen the evening sun
And solstice time has sung its rhyme and wassail time is come
Chorus:
Here’s to you and your families, young lovers and old friends,
We’ll welcome in the New Year now we’ve seen the old one end.
So here we come a wandering, upon this wintry night
And here we come a-wassailing to make the future bright
God bless the old and weary whose times is nearly run
And all the unsung carers who are paid a paltry sum
And God bless the young and hearty, whose futures are unclear
We wish them work and plenty and a prosperous New Year
So think on those who have no home who sleep from door to door
And damn the rich and famous, who greed for more and more
God damn the politicians who lie and cheat each day
And damn the institutions who help them on their way
God bless the keepers of this pub and all who dwell within
So raise your glass and raise your voice and sing the New Year in
The old year’s gone forever, God bless it and good cheer
I’ll raise my glass and wish you all a happy New Year
trad
Nancy Kerr assembled this version from "less well-known versions of this archetypal gardener-as-lover song, based around a melody collected by Ella Mary Leather in Weobley, Herefordshire."
The Melrose Quartet: https://melrosequartet.bandcamp.com/track/the-seeds-of-love
I sowed the seeds of love It was all in the spring
In April May and in June likewise
While small birds they do sing (x2)
My garden was planted well With flowers everywhere
But I hadn’t the liberty to choose for myself
The flowers that I loved dear
My gardener he stood by And I asked him to choose for me
He chose me the violet the lily and the pink
But those I refused all three
In June there’s a red rose bud And that’s the flower for me
For often have I plucked at the red rose bud
Til I gained the willow tree
Come all you false young men Don’t leave me to complain
For grass that has often been trampled underfoot
Given time it will rise again
