Favorite Folk Songs

There are so many songs one likes. But what distinghishes a song you merely like, from one that absolutely mesmerizes you upon hearing it? For me, there is a subtle interaction between melody and lyrics. A beautiful melody with mundane lyrics is merely a pleasant song. But the songs below have that rare quality that marries the two in perfect harmony (so to speak). Here are some of my favorite songs currently (most of which I heard on KBCS FM [Bellevue, WA]):

Music from Mud Acres)
Killing the Blues (listen here)–Roly Salley

The melody of this song is so slow, mournful and elegaic that it matches perfectly the tale it tells of faded dreams and lost love.

Leaves were falling, just like embers,
In colors red and gold, they set us on fire
Burning just like moonbeams in our eyes.
Chorus:
Somebody said they saw me, swinging the world by the tail
Bouncing over a white cloud, killing the blues.

Now I’m guilty of something …
I hope you never do
Because there is nothing
Any sadder than losing yourself in love.

Chorus

And then you’ve ask me …just to leave you
To set out on my own
And get what I needed.
You want me to find what I’ve already had

My Old Friend the Blues–Steve Earle
I guess I’m a sucker for a long, slow ballad. The melody and lyrics of My Old Friend the Blues (Listen Here) interact in a very similar way to Killing the Blues. The tablature and lyrics are from E-Tabs.org

G
Just when every ray of hope was gone
C G
I should have known that you would come along
D D7
I can’t believe I ever doubted you
C D7 G
My old friend the blues
G
Another lonely night in this town
C G
The Sleep dont take me first you’ll come around
D D7
I know I can always count on you
C D7 G
My old friend the blues
G7 C
Lovers leave and friends will let you down
G
But your the only sure thing that I found
D D7
No matter what I do I’ll never lose
C D7 G
My old friend the blues

SOLO

G7 C
Lovers leave and friends will let you down
G
And your the only sure thing that I found
D D7
No matter what I do I’ll never lose
C D7 G
My old friend the blues
G D D7
Just let me hide my weary heart in you
C D7 G
My old friend the blues

–From Steve Earle Guitar Town
MCA Records 1986

June Carter (Sure Can Sing)–Kieran Kane

While this song came out around 1997, it couldn’t be more apt today just after June Carter’s death a few weeks ago. June Carter is a terrific antidote to all the lame singing and gaudy, flashy fashion statements made by country’s reigning divas (Twain, etc., you know who I mean). They can’t sing, sure can’t write a song; but they look pretty good (well, actually kinda cheap & tawdry) in a sexy outfit. June Carter was the opposite of that in every way. She & Johnny were the heart of country.

I couldn’t find the lyrics online. But you can learn a whole lot more about Kane, his music and this song at either TakeCountryBack.com or SomeKindofParadise.com

GREEN SUMMERTIME Robin & Linda Williams, Jerome Clark

Green Summertime (Listen Here) is one of the perfect summer songs with a slow, soaring melody and beautiful instrumentals by Robin and Linda

Far off in the by-and-by
I see a traveler in the sky
But my dreams do not take wings
For I’m captive to familiar things
In this world of mine
In the green summertime

On a gravel country road
By the bed of the old railroad
The dust follows turning wheels
And blows away across the fields
In this world of mine
In the green summertime

BRIDGE:
Though I know them all too well
And I have heard all they have to tell
My steps will always walk this ground
To these old friends I am bound

On the streets of my little town
The moonlight comes streaming down
The dead wait in their graves
For the Lord their souls to save
In this world of mine
In the green summertime

BRIDGE:

Far off in the by-and-by
I see a traveler in the sky
But my dreams do not take wings
For I’m captive to familiar things
In this world of mine
In the green summertime

Silly Sisters: The Grey Funnel Line
[Cyril Tawney]

Another beautiful, slow ballad with an elegaic air. The Grey Funnel Line (Listen Here) is – of course – the British Navy. For more, visit Infomatik

>From Maddy Prior and June Tabor’s album Silly Sisters

Lyrics

Don’t mind the rain or the rolling sea
The weary night never worries me
But the hardest time in sailor’s day
Is to watch the sun as it dies away
It’s one more day on the Grey Funnel Line.

The finest ship that sailed the sea
Is still a prison for the likes of me
But give me wings like Noah’s dove
I’d fly up harbour to the girl I love
It’s one more day on the Grey Funnel Line.

Of Lord if dreams were only real
I’d have my hands on that wooden wheel
And with all my heart I’d turn her round
And tell the boys that we’re homeward bound.
It’s one more day on the Grey Funnel Line.

I’ll pass the time like some machine
Until blue water turns to green
Then I’ll dance on down that walk ashore
And sail the Grey Funnel Line no more.
And sail the Grey Funnel Line no more.