Posts

Phil Ochs 1966

Oh, I am just a student, sir, and only want to learn
But it’s hard to read through the rising smoke From the books that you like to burn
So I’d like to make a promise and I’d like to make a vow
That when I’ve got something to say, sir, I’m gonna say it now

Oh, you’ve given me a number and you’ve taken off my name
To get around this campus, why you almost need a plane
And you’re supporting Chiang Kai-Shek while I’m supporting Mao
So when I’ve got something to say, sir, I’m gonna say it now

I wish that you’d make up your mind, I wish that you’d decide
That I should live as freely as those who live outside
‘Cause we also are entitled to the rights to be endowed
And when I’ve got something to say, sir, I’m gonna say it now

Ooh, you’d like to be my father, you’d like to be my dad
And give me kisses when I’m good and spank me when I’m bad
But since I left my parents I’ve forgotten how to bow
So when I’ve got something to say, sir, I’m gonna say it now

And things they might be different if I was here alone
But I’ve got a friend or two who no longer live at home
And we’ll respect our elders just as long as they allow
That when I’ve got something to say, sir, I’m gonna say it now

I’ve read of other countries where the students take a stand
They’ve even helped to overthrow the leaders of the land
Now I wouldn’t go so far to say we’re also learning how
But when I’ve got something to say, sir, I’m gonna say it now

So keep right on a-talking and tell us what to do
But if nobody listens my apologies to you
And I know that you were younger once ’cause you sure are older now
And when I’ve got something to say, sir, I’m gonna say it now 

Nick Cope 2016

Cope lives in Oxfordshire and was the lead singer in Britpop band the Candyskins in the 1990s.

Chorus:
I’m a little lizard, standing on a rock,
standing on a rock because the sand is too hot
The sand is too hot, so I’m standing on a rock,
I’m a little lizard, and I’m standing on a rock
I’m a little lizard, and I’m standing on a rock

Now you have to understand, if you’re walking on the sand
That’s not a good plan, to go walking on the sand
You’re walking on the sand and the sand gets hot
You’re much better off standing on a rock

Now if your rock is getting hot you know you better jump
Yes you better jump if your rock is getting hot
If you don’t jump up you better find another rock
You better find another rock, a rock that’s not too hot

Now if you spot another rock you think is not too hot
You won’t know if it’s hot until you hop on top
And if you hop on top of the rock that’s not hot
You may find the rock you spotted is the hottest of the lot 

trad 

Bert Lloyd wrote for the Watersons' 1981 recording: "This song is sung pretty well everywhere on account of the simple comedy of the often repeated word 'cock'. Perhaps for the same reason it's scarce in print." It is apparently the origin of Old Macdonald Had a Farm. Steve Roud wrote about the latter "It is not clear quite why MacDonald comes into the picture, but the farm only gets his name in the early 20th century, and the reason why this particular version became the dominant one is that it was in fashion when sound recording was invented."

I went to market to buy a cock,
My cock did very well please me,
And every time I fed my cock,
I fed him all under a tree,
And my cock went cock-a-cock-a-cock-a-cock-a-doodle doo,
And after every farmer’s cock did my cock crow.

Arrowsmiths: (cow, sheep, pig, duck, donkey, monkey, lion)
Watersons: (hen, duck, goose, pig, sheep, cow) 

Sarah Pirtle 1988?

Are the cows in the field? No no no
The snow is high and it’s ten below
And where the fence runs I don’t know
I can’t wait for spring

Chorus:
I can’t wait for spring to come
For the ice to melt, for the brook to run
Fiddleheads growin’ in the noonday sun
I can’t wait for spring

Is the robin back? Look and see
It’s just the wren and the chickadee
And the old woodpecker in the hollow tree
I can’t wait for spring

When spring is come, here’s what
I’ll do Put on my hat, take off my shoes
And dance dance dance now the winter’s through
I can’t wait for spring 

Laurie Tupper & Micah Walter 2023

"This song draws on biblical and traditional apocalyptic song imagery. It was written during the time of the record-breaking California wildfires in 2020."

Dawn Watch (Tupper & Walter): https://dawnwatch.bandcamp.com/track/i-can-see-the-troubled-time

I don’t need a wonder or a sign (x2)
Lord, Lord, I can see the troubled time

Chorus:
I can see the troubled, troubled time (x2)
Lord, Lord, I can see the troubled time

I need no darkened, darkened sun (x2)
Lord, Lord, I can see what we have done

I don’t need no moon turned red (x2)
Lord, Lord, When the sky’s on fire instead

I don’t need no boiling boiling sea (x2)
Lord, Lord, This one’s warm enough for me

I don’t need no falling falling star (x2)
Lord, Lord, We are fallen where we are 

Davey Dodds 1970s

Windborne: https://windborne.bandcamp.com/track/i-can-hew

Chorus:
I can hew boys, I can hack it out
I can hew the coal, I can dance and shout.
I can hew boys, coal that’s black and fine,
I’m a collier lad, working down the mine.

On Saint Monday’s day, it’s well I do admire,
When I sit at home by my own coal fire.
Then it’s off to the pub, for a glass or two
For to work on a Monday, that would never do.

Well I like my whiskey and I like my beer.
I’ll drink fourteen pints and I’ll still feel queer.
I can hold my liquor good as any man.
And I’ll dance and sing as long as I can.

Well my boy’s fourteen, he’s a strappin’ lad
And he’ll go to the pits soon, just like his dad.
And when Friday comes, we’ll pick up our pay.
And we’ll drink together, to round out the day.

And its when I’m dead, oh I know full well,
I’ll not go to heaven, I am bound for hell.
And my pick and shovel, old Nick he will admire,
And he’ll set me hewin’ coal for his own hell fire. 

Nancy Kerr 2010

Written mostly while in Australia, Kerr initially was intending to sing it herself but upon hearing it in James Fagan's voice she begrudgingly acknowledged it worked well as a "James song"

Nancy Kerr & James Fagan: https://kerrfagan.bandcamp.com/track/i-am-the-fox-2

Chorus:
I am the fox and I’ll tell you true
What your hounds do think of me and I of you
When lavish scraps fall no longer from your knee
He will slip his rope and we will brothers be

You masters all in fine sheets at night
Dreaming of your dinners rich and pennies bright
When you awake, raging naked to the air
You will find your coffers stripped and cupboards bare

Then comes a day when the trumpet sounds
And the hunter hears no howl from fox or hound
Then he who owns every army in the land
Will have to go with bowl a-begging in his hand

On yonder vale where the snow lies bare
Winter winds will hide our scent from hart and hare
Then fox and hound, bound no more by slavery
Will bare their fangs and bite the hand of poverty 

Phil Ochs 1964

Ochs said of the song that it "borders between pacifism and treason, combining the best qualities of both." He also wrote "the fact that you won't be hearing this song on the radio is more than enough justification for the writing of it." In August 1968, Ochs performed it during the protests outside the Democratic National Convention, inspiring hundreds of young men to burn their draft cards, which Ochs described as the highlight of his career. Second verse tweaked by Alex Ellis

Oh, I marched to the Battle of New Orleans
At the end of the early British wars
A young land started growing The young blood started flowing
But I ain’t a-marching anymore

For I’ve fought my Native neighbors in a thousand different fights
I was there at the Little Big Horn
I heard many men a-lying I saw many more a-dying
But I ain’t a-marching anymore

Chorus:
It’s always the old to lead us to the wars
Always the young to fall
Now look at all we’ve won with the saber and the gun
Tell me is it worth it all?

For I stole California from the Mexican land
Fought in the bloody Civil War
Yes, I even killed my brothers And so many others
But I ain’t a-marching anymore

For I marched to the battles of the German trench
In a war that was bound to end all wars
Oh, I must have killed a million men And now they want me back again
But I ain’t a-marching anymore

For I flew the final mission in the Japanese skies
Set off the mighty mushroom roar
When I saw the cities burning I knew that I was learning
That I ain’t a-marching anymore

Now the labor leader’s screamin’ when they close the missile plants
United Fruit screams at the Cuban shore
Call it peace or call it treason Call it love or call it reason
But I ain’t a-marching anymore 

trad 

In 1930 Douglas Kennedy states that the song was collected by Dr C.H. Moody of Ripon, North Yorkshire in 1925 and forms part of a sword-dance play performed around Christmas.

The Davenport Family: https://gavinandamydavenport.bandcamp.com/track/hunton-calling-song

Chorus:
Make us room for we are a-coming
All for to make you understand,
Just where and what we have been a-doing
Since we left yon foreign land.

The first to come in it is Lord Nelson,
He is the hero of the isle.
‘Twas he that has gained a garland of victory
At the Battle of the Nile.

The next to come in is the Duke of Wellington,
He who fought his battle through.
‘Twas he that has gained a garland of victory
On the plains of Waterloo.

The next to come in is the Highland laddie,
He’s got ships all on the main,
Merchandise of every description,
Now he’s returning home again.

The next to come in is Tom the tinker,
All your kettles he will mend,
And if you please do let him but venture
Tom will treat you as a friend.

The next to come in is Dick the cobbler,
He’s got little else to lose,
Except for a patched and ragged waistcoat
And a pair of worn-out shoes. 

trad 

Well the boys and the girls went a huckleberry hunting (Way-hay-hay-ah!)
Well the boys and the girls went a huckleberry hunting (And sing hi-lo, my ran-zo-ray)

Then a little girl ran off, And the boy he ran after,

He said, “I’ll be your beau If you’ll have me for a feller,”

What would you give for a fine leg of mutton

I would give you gold and I would give you these

I’m the lead goose of the Wild Goose nation

I’m the shantyman of this working party