Young Men Are False

 
This week we have a lovely song to finish the fourth month of the year sung by Beth Cutter:

"I felt as though this song was written from the perspective of a young girl, out walking one morning who hears the birds singing and instead of finding it romantic, as one might expect, hears a denouncement of men. The second verse reveals why; because she has had her heart stolen by one of the false young men she sings of in the chorus. In the final verse she reveals her determination not to be won over by other suitor. What is not clear is if she will not be seduced because she is now too cynical or if it is because she is still hopeful that her young man might still 'prove true' to her. I feel it's quite an ambiguous song - Tim has an entirely different interpretation that includes a narrator. I hope my interpretation doesn't fall too far from the mark though!

There are many versions of the song but this particular one I heard on Pilgrims' Way's album Wayside Courtesies"

Beth

It was on one April morning, just as the sun was rising,
It was one April morning, I heard the small birds sing.
They were singing Lovely Nancy,
For love it is a fancy,
And sweet were the notes that I heard the small birds sing.


ch: Young men are false, young men they are deceitful;
Young men are false and seldom can prove true.
With their rambling and their ranging
And their minds they're always changing
And they're always looking out for some other girl new.

O if I had but my own heart in keeping,
O if I had my own heart back again:
Safe in my bosom
I would lock it up forever
And it would wander never so far from me again.

ch:

Why do you spend all your long time in courting?
Why do you spend all your long time in vain?
For I don't intend to marry,
I'd rather longer tarry.
So young men don't you spend all your long time in vain.

ch:

Diamond Joe

Another cracking song from Ali George, a great driving rhythm and an attack on greed and wealth:

Diamond Joe is a cowboy song that was collected by Cisco Houston. Bob Dylan recorded it on his 1992 album GOOD AS I BEEN TO YOU, Which is where I originally heard it. There are several songs of the same name from the American folk tradition. Some of them come from the same thread as this one, and some have nothing to do with it.

The song tells the story of a greedy ranch owner who mistreats his workers, cheats and lies. The narrator (one of Diamond Joe’s unhappy workers) tells of the unfair treatment he has received from his boss over the years. In the last few lines of the song he declares with venom:

“When I’m called up yonder, and it’s my time to go,
Give my blankets to my buddies, give the fleas to Diamond Joe.”

Ali

There is a man you'll hear about
Most every place you go,
And his holdings are in Texas
And his name is Diamond Joe.

And he carries all his money
In his diamond-studded jaw.
And he never was much bothered
By the process of the law.

Well, I hired to Diamond Joe, boys,
I did offer him my hand,
And he gave me a string of horses
So old they could not stand.

Well I liked to die of hunger
'Cause he did mistreat me so,
And I never earned one dollar
In the pay of Diamond Joe.

Well his bread it was corn dodger
And his meat I could not chaw,
And he drove me near distracted
With that waggin' of his jaw.

While he tellin' of his story,
And I mean to let you know,
That there never was a rounder
That lied like Diamond Joe.

Well, I tried three times to quit him,
Boys, but he did argue so
That I still am punchin' cattle
In the pay of Diamond Joe.

And when I'm called to heaven
Last thing before I go,
Give my blankets to my buddies
And give the fleas to Diamond Joe.

Saucy Sailor

A little gold and silver can go a long way it appears, when it comes to overlooking a
certain ragged, dirty and smelly appearance. However, jolly Jack (or possibly Henry)
is not taken in by the country girl's expression of adoration after she learns what he's
got in his pocketses, and he then promptly displays an approach to true love which is
equally mercenary. I rather like this cynical example of gender equality.

As the lady in the lounge of the Star seems to have spotted towards the end of verse
two, I learned this version from Steeleye Span, and it is probably drawn from the
older 'The Saucy Sailor Boy'.

An 1887 edition of "(50) SAILORS SONGS OR 'CHANTIES'" (Frederick J.
Davis RNR) lists The Saucy Sailor Boy as a "Song for Pumping the Ship Out", and
according to Stan Hugill (known as the "Last Working Shantyman") in all likelihood
the song originated on shore, sometime in the 18th century. In The Saucy Sailor Boy,
the protagonists are a sailor and a fisher girl, though other variants have the woman
engaged in a somewhat more 'earthy' occupation. A similar idea crops up in the well
known 'Wild Rover', where the sailor goes to an alehouse and pretends to have no
money, and the landlady refuses him credit, only to welcome him with open arms
once he reveals that he does indeed have a few readies to hand.

A Victorian collector, William Alexander Barrett, maintained that The Saucy Sailor
has been in print since at least 1781. He cited it as being highly popular with East
London factory girls.

Well. There you go.

(Thanks to Mudcatters everywhere for the academicky bits)


Rob

Come me own one, come me fair one,
Come now unto me
Could you fancy a poor sailor lad
Who has just come from sea?

You are ragged love, and you're dirty love
And your clothes smell much of tar
So be gone you saucy sailor lad
So be gone you Jack Tar

If I'm ragged love, and I'm dirty love
And me clothes smell much of tar
I have silver in me pockets love,
And gold in great store.

And when she heard him say so
On her bended knees she fell
"I will marry my dear henry,
For I love sailor lad so well."

Do you think that I am foolish love?
Do you think that I am mad?
For to wed with a poor country girl
Where no fortunes to be had

I will cross the briney ocean
I will whistle and sing
And since you have refused the offer love
Some other girl will wear the ring

I am frolicsome and I am easy,
Good tempered and free
And I don't give a single pin me boys
What the world thinks of me.

Pace Egging

Happy Easter! To celebrate this Sunday I decided to put together a version of a traditional English song which was used as a calling on song for the mumming plays of the season; these plays celebrate the cycle of life, death and rebirth with a variety of stock characters that took on different guises from year to year and occur at particular points in the year; Christmas, Easter and All Hallows.

Pace egging itself is a custom from the North East where eggs would be boiled in onion skins on Easter Sunday and then used for a variety of games or given to the local players as payment as well as money and food to pay for the play to begin.

Pace itself as a term is a corruption of the old English word "pasch" which means literally "Easter" so here is a literal Easter Egg song for you all, enjoy and have a lovely holiday!

Tim

Ch: Here's one, two, three jolly lads all in one mind
We have come a pace egging and we hope you'll prove kind
We hope you'll prove kind with your eggs and strong beer
For we'll come no more nigh you until the next year

And the first that comes in is Lord Nelson you'll see
With a bunch of blue ribbons tied round by his knee
And a star on his beast that like silver do shine
And I hope he remembers it's pace egging time

And the next that comes in, it is Lord Collingwood
He fought with Lord Nelson till he shed his blood
And he's come from the sea old England to view
And he's come a pace egging with all of his crew

The next that comes in is our Jolly Jack Tar
He sailed with Lord Nelson all through the last war
He's arrived from the sea, old England to view
And he's come a pace egging with our jovial crew

The next that comes in is old miser Brownbags
For fear of her money she wears her old rags
She's gold and she's silver all laid up in store
And she's come a pace egging in hopes to get more

And the last to come in is old Tosspot, you see
He's a valiant old man and in every degree
He's a valiant old man and he wears a pigtail
And all his delight is a drinking mulled ale

Come ladies and gentlemen, sit by the fire
Put your hands in your pockets and give us our desire
Put your hands in your pockets and treat us all right
If you give nought, we'll take nought, farewell and goodnight

England So Green

This week's song is sung by Anne Gregson and is part of a wider project that she'll tell you about below:

The song England so Green is part of a recently composed folk-inspired opera called Make Room for Mummers, which is based on the play performed by Widcombe Mummers from Bath. The opera will be performed by the Fiery Dragon Folk Opera Company. I'm leading the song here but in the opera it will be sung as a duet between Tim Graham (as St George) and Rosie Atkins (as the Princess).

Narrated in song by the legendary King Bladud, who founded the city of Bath and his fair Queen, Mrs Bladud, Make Room for Mummers tells the story of a brave knight called George and the beautiful Egyptian Princess who is hunted by a dreadful fiery Dragon, another brave but unfortunate knight called Bold Slasher, and a doctor who is so skilled that he can bring the dead back to life again.

The opera will be performed as a special event at Chippenham Folk Festival on either the 3rd or 4th of June and also at the Michael Tippett Centre of Bath Spa University on the 8th June. For more information see www.fierydragon.org.uk

Anne

Oh will you come along with me?
Far away across the sea
To a land that's always green
I'll take you to old England

England so green
England so green
The greenest land you've ever seen
England so green
England so green
I'll take you to old England

Oh good sir night if I may be correct
You stand so tall, so wonderfully (ahem) erect
And although strong and warlike you may seem
You are the answer to my marital scheme

England so green
England so green
The greenest land you've ever seen
England so green
England so green
Take me to old England

Where the grass is always green
And our lives will be a dream
I'll be King and you'll be queen
When we're in old England

England so green
England so green
The greenest land you've ever seen
England so green
England so green
When we're in old England

There's a lovely valley can be seen
From my castle can be seen
With a lake and rippling stream
Back in dear old land

England so green
England so green
The greenest land you've ever seen
England so green
England so green
Back in dear old England

So my darling take my hand
To this green and pleasant land
Where my castle's rather grand
You will love old England

England so green
England so green
The greenest land you've ever seen
England so green
England so green
You will love old England

England so green
England so green
The greenest land you've ever seen
England so green
England so green
You will love old England

The Cowgirl's Lovesong

This week's song comes from Sue Harding:

When I began to write songs for the Angel Ridge project, it was like beginning again in a whole new genre.  Things that started out as 'sampler' pieces as I tentatively began to explore the conventions of Americana folk turned out better than expected and I piled on the conventions both musically and lyrically just to see what would happen.

I am not an American and despite a shared folk heritage, this is not my tradition. I'm a complete fake. My perceptions of the American West are informed by the Cowboy films my dad watched on TV.  

Later when the music got me, anything from Blue Grass to Gospel to Rock and Roll, I created my own Wild West which became a place where anything could happen: a place for pioneers of all kinds and a perfect back drop for the human drama. I peopled this imaginary landscape with characters drawn unashamedly from a cast of stereotypes and cliches.  What I want is for the the story telling which drives these songs to have emotional integrity and to resonate with a contemporary listener.

The Cow girl's love song is celebratory even if there is no happy ending.  Unlike so many traditional folk songs where the abandoned girl is a helpless victim, the cowgirl in my song embraces  her experience. In my imaginary west, the figure of the  cowgirl has feminist overtones.  I suspect that the historical truth is far from that, but for me in this song she is a fully functional human being in  control of her own sexual and emotional destiny and a true pioneer. 

Sue

When Johnny said meet me
Where the creek gives the rise
He’d a slide to his hips
And fire in his eyes
I’m glad he remembered my name

It’s his wild words that won me
When he said I’d be dressed
In stars and the night
I thought I’d been blessed
I'm not looking for someone to blame

Where you been Johnny Slim
Where you been?
Blown with the wind
Johnny Slim
Till the next time we meet
Oh the memory’s sweet
You know you won’t stay very long

If he stole those sweet words
Well he never took nothing from me
When I’m with my Johnny
I'm free like a bee
I know he’ll go South all the same

But one night with Johnny
Sweet flowers hung on the breeze
I soaked up his songs
'Neath the sycamore tree
My happy heart a flickering flame

Where you been Johnny Slim
Where you been?
Flown with the birds
Johnny Slim
Till the next time we meet
Oh the memory’s sweet
You know you won’t stay very long

In the light all his fine words
Were gone but I swear
Love stuck in his throat
Like a long lost prayer
Adrift on the air as he whispered my name

Where you been Johnny Slim
Where you been?
Gone with the wind
Johnny Slim
Till the next time we meet
Oh the memory’s sweet
You know you won’t stay very long 

Sovay Sovay

In some respects I'm surprised that we've gone this long without a cross-dressing song! This lover's test (Roud number 5) is a popular one for singers having been done in its various guises by Martin Carthy , Anne Briggs, Bert Jansch and Chris Sarjeant to name a few.

The name Sovay appears in various forms such as Silvy, Shilo, Sally etc and is most likely a corruption of Sophie or Sylvie. The time signature is, to quote Martin Carthy quoting Bert Lloyd, "a beautiful illustration of (the) notion that all English folk music is cast in the time signature of one beat in a bar". If you look at the way that the song was originally performed to collectors such as is recorded in the Butterworth and Hammond notes, you can see the different ways they dealt with the irregularities of the singers and in Martin Carty's notes on the song, he purposefully wrote the tune without bar lines to give the stronger emphasis on a free flowing tune.

 This week John Wilson provides vocals and guitar:

"Lovers test each others commitment in numerous ways. None perhaps as graphic as a woman dressing as a highwayman, pointing a gun at her boyfriend and demanding a gold ring, given as a token of true love. The song's presumed happy conclusion is that even under the threat of death, the man does not give up the ring, and in so doing demonstrates that he will not give up his love either. Convinced of her boyfriend's depth of feeling the disguised woman spares his life. In this version of the traditional song the woman's explains why she has devised this test. As the song ends here, we assume all is well. What might be illuminating however is a final verse which would indicate the man's true reaction to his humiliating ordeal.

"Sovay sovay I should just like to say
That it was all very well to test me that way
If only you'd trusted our depth of romance
I wouldn't be standing, standing in a pair of soiled pants."

This, of course, is not a serious suggestion.

As it stands, it works as a complete story set out in economic terms with some perfectly compressed prose. In this, and the fact that it is taken from the point of view of a strong female lead, it is modern in tone. It is therefore a perfect candidate for a model of performance which requires an uncluttered and quick style of presentation. My version owes a debt to Martin Carthy, and in particular the version recorded with Brass Monkey."

John

Sovay, Sovay all on a day
She dressed herself in man's array
With a sword and a pistol all by her side
To meet her true love to meet her true love away did ride.

And as she was a-riding over the plain
She met her true love and bid him stand
Your gold and silver kind sir she said
Or else this moment or else this moment your life I'll have.

And when she'd robbed him of his store
She says kind sir there is one thing more
A golden ring which I know you have
Deliver it deliver it your sweet life to save.

Oh that golden ring a token is
My life I'll lose the ring I'll save.
Being tender-hearted just like a dove
She rode away she rode away from her true love.

Oh next morning in the garden green
Just like true lovers they were seen
Oh he spied his watch hanging by her clothes
And it made him blush made him blush like any rose.

Oh what makes you blush at so silly a thing
I thought to have had your golden ring
It was I that robbed you all on the plain
So here's your watch here's your watch and your gold again.

I did intend and it was to know
If that you were me true love or no
For if you'd have give me that ring she said
I'd have pulled the trigger I'd have pulled the trigger and shot you dead.