Song of the Day--May 20, 2009

Though doubtless it'll be May 21 by the time I submit, because I was busy getting the aforementioned Huck Finn essay in on time. For the same reason, I'm not going to comment much on the song: "Angel in the Dark" by Jade Redd. It's spooky. And pretty. Enough said.

Listen to it:

Song of the Day--May 19, 2009

Today I present to you a song both mysterious and exhilarating: "The Mummer's Dance" by Loreena McKennitt. McKennitt seems fond of long songs with repetitive melodies, and this one is no exception. But where some of her songs grow tedious, the repetitions for this one have enough subtle variations and interludes between verses to stay engaging. With its absolutely beautiful lyrics invoking the images of spring, tranquil yet bursting with life, and its strangely enthralling chorus that is both lovely and hypnotizing, Loreena McKennitt's lush, rich voice more than does the words justice.

Listen to it:


Lyrics:
When in the springtime of the year
When the trees are crowned with leaves
When the ash and oak, and the birch and yew
Are dressed in ribbons fair

When owls call the breathless moon
In the blue veil of the night
The shadows of the trees appear
Amidst the lantern light

Chorus
We've been rambling all the night
And some time of this day
Now returning back again
We bring a garland gay

Who will go down to those shady groves
And summon the shadows there
And tie a ribbon on those sheltering arms
In the springtime of the year

The songs of birds seem to fill the wood
That when the fiddler plays
All their voices can be heard
Long past their woodland days

(Chorus)

And so they linked their hands and danced
Round in circles and in rows
And so the journey of the night descends
When all the shades are gone

"A garland gay we bring you here
And at your door we stand
It is a sprout well budded out
The work of our Lord's hand"

(Chorus x2)

Song of the Day--May 18, 2009

Today, I get to combine two of my favorite things: good music and mythology. For those of you familiar with Arthurian legend, you will remember that Mordred is Arthur's son by his half-sister Morgauss. He is the one who is fated to bring the fall of Camelot. Morgauss is a bitter woman who is constantly after Arthur's throne. Now, against that backdrop, I present today's song of the day: "Mordred's Lullaby" by Heather Dale. Heather Dale's amazing vocals are hypnotic and bitter at the same time, making this a powerful song that invokes well the hatred, the passion, and the tragedy behind the legend. Unfortunately it doesn't mention the utter kick-ass magical powers of Morgauss, but I digress.

Listen to it (lyrics included in video):

More Music

I'm designating myself the music recommender/reviewer/whatever person, since I don't even update my own blog so I need some motivation to update this one. Today's song is "O'er the Hills and Far Away" by Connie Dover. It has an excellent, lively rhythm, and Connie Dover's voice is at once piercing and rich. It tells the story of Jocky, a piper's son, and his (what else?) unrequited love for Jenny.

Listen to it:


Lyrics (from Connie Dover's site):

Jocky met with Jenny fair
Between the dawning and the day
But Jocky now is full of care
Since Jenny stole his heart away

Although she promised to be true
She proven has, alack, unkind
The which does make poor Jocky rue
That e'er he loved a fickle mind

Jocky was a bonny lad
That e'er was born in Scotland fair
But now poor lad he does run mad
Since Jenny causes his despair.

Young Jocky was a piper's son
He fell in love when he was young
And all the tunes that he could play
Was O'er the Hills and Far Away

Chorus
And it's o'er the hills and far away
It's o'er the hills and far away
It's o'er the hills and far
The wind has blown my plaid away

He sang when my first my Jenny's face
I saw she seemed so full of grace
With mickle joy my heart was filled
That's now alas with sorrow killed

Oh were she but as true as fair
'T would put an end to my despair
Instead of that she is unkind
And waivers like the winter wind.

(Chorus)

Hard was my hap to fall in love
With one that does so faithless prove
Hard my fate to court a maid
Who has my constant heart betrayed

Since she is false whom I adore
I'll never trust a woman more
From all their charms I'll flee away
And on my pipes I'll sweetly play.

Ever find a song...

...that you just can't stop listening to? Just recently I re-discovered the song "Cad E' Sin Don Te Sin" and have been listening to it obsessively ever since. This version, by Orla Fallon, is just absolutely lovely, despite the repetitiveness of the song, perhaps because of the gentle and lovely quality of her voice. You can listen to it here.

Lyrics (from getalyric.com):

Chuaigh mé 'un aonaigh 's dhíol mé mo bhó

Ar chúig phunta airgid 's ar ghiní bhuí óir

Má ólaim an t-airgead is má bhronnaim an t-ór

Ó caide sin don té sin nach mbaineann sin dó?



Má théim 'na choilleadh chraobhaigh 'cruinniú sméara nó cnó

A baint ullaí do ghéaga nó a buachailleacht bó

Má shínim seal uaire faoi chrann a dhéanamh só

Ó caide sin don té sin nach mbaineann sin dó?



Má théimse chuig airnéal 's rince 's spórt

Chuig aonaigh nó rásaí, 's gach cruinniú den tseoirt

Má bhíonn daoine súgach, 's má bhím súgach leo

Ó caide sin don té sin nach mbaineann sin dó?



Deir daoine go bhfuil mé gan rath is gan dóigh

Gan earraí, gan éadal, gan bólacht nó stór

Ach má tá mise sásta mo chónaí i gcró

Ó caide sin don té sin nach mbaineann sin dó?



Chuaigh mé 'un aonaigh 's dhíol mé mo bhó

Ar chúig phunta airgid 's ar ghiní bhuí óir

Má ólaim an t-airgead is má bhronnaim an t-ór

Ó caide sin don té sin nach mbaineann sin dó?



TRANSLATION

I went to the market and traded my cow

For five pounds in money and a gold guinea coin

If I drank all the money and my gold I did share

Since it's no one's concern, then so no one should care



If I go to the green woods wild berries to store

Plucking apples from bowers or herding the cows

If I relax in the shade for an hour or more

Since it's no one's concern, then so no one should care



If I go to the céilís, to dances or sports

Attend markets and races and events of that sort

If I see people merry and their merriment share

Since it's no one's concern, then so no one should care



People are saying I'm a cad gone astray

Without goods or possessions, no cow and no care

If it's my own desire to live in a craw

Since it's no one's concern, then so no one should care



I went to the market and traded my cow

For five pounds in money and a gold guinea coin

If I drank all the money and my gold I did share

Since it's no one's concern, then so no one should care