Here Katya skates to russian folk song in 2003 at Hallmark's Valentines Day Figure Skating Showcase

Be sure to comment & rate :)

Awen Explained with music from damh the bard

Hungarian violin virtuoso Felix Lajko (plays zither here) and singer Magdolna Ruzsa performs a folk song interpretation.

Vin Garbutt - vocal

This is just my first uploaded song to see how it goes.

I wrote this song in Australia at a time when there was a lot of discussion about Aboriginal land rights. Although written with the Australian situation in mind, the theme of displaced native inhabitants   more...is a universal one.

Lyrics:

The dark-skinned man in the forest
Is singing the song of his freedom
A song of the land that is lent him
To hunt and to live and to breathe in.

He sings of the good and the hard times
And the ancient unchanging past
And the land that will nourish his people,
The land that will claim him at last.

The white man rides up to the black man:
"If you've got a camp here, then move it.
This land belongs to me now
And I've got the papers to prove it."

The dark-skinned man in the forest
Of houses and shops without cease
Sings of the loss of his freedom,
And is jailed for disturbing the peace.  less

SONG I MADE UP ONE NIGHT

Willows song from the Wicker Man.sung by Damh the Bard

Warning - This song is scary!

Way back in my teen years, I used to love reading (and writing) horror stories. This early song was presumably influenced by this experience.

Lyrics:

Coming round the corner   more...with his eyes hanging down,
With a big red rag dragging round the town.
Not a hair on his great black head can be found.
Look out! Get away! Here comes the turtle man.

He can do you more harm than you'd ever think he can.
He's been around since time began
And I can tell you in truth that I ain't no fan
Of that big black ugly grey turtle man.

He's got nothing for you to see,
Nothing to get, to set free.
When he yawns there's more there than you'd ever think there'd be.
Look out! Get away! Hide while you can!
Here he comes. Here comes the turtle man.

I remember there were times when I wished I could die
Because that turtle man had me in his big ugly eye.
If you see him, you'd better try
To get away. Hide while you can!
Keep right away from the turtle man.

In these four white walls that hold me in tight
I think about the turtle man in the dead of night.
I scream at all the little people dressed in white,
"Look out! Get away! You know what I am!
You can't keep me here 'cause I'm the turtle man.
Look out! Get away! Hide while you can!
Here I come. Here comes the turtle man.  less

An old Dylan love song, from his early folk phase.
This is, sort of, in response to Kitty’s several Dylan covers over the last few days. I can’t keep up.

First song borrowing an electric guitar. Old folk song 'I never will marry' for Lynn who asked how the guitar playing was coming along

This ballad is also known as "Lord Beichan", "Young Beckie" or "The Turkish Lady", whose name may be Sophia, Isabel, Essels or Susan Pye. The earliest known version is a   more...broadside from 1624.

It has been claimed that the hero of this story was Gilbert a Becket, father of Saint Thomas a Becket of Canterbury, who was captured by the Turks during the Crusades and released by his captor's daughter, who followed him to London. The story goes that she knew only two words of English: 'Gilbert" and "London," and that she cried the name of her lover through the street of London until she found him. It sounds far-fetched, but it's interesting that, in all the variations on this ballad, the name of the knight is, to some degree, a corruption of "Becket".  less

This is an old Korean folk song called Arirang. I heard it many many years ago and had forgotten about it. For some reason it recently popped into my head again. It's a short and simple tune, but it's   more...very beautiful. I only hope I can do it justice.

I don't know exactly how it's supposed to go, so this is my best approximation from memory. This arrangement is completely from scratch.  less

I think the original idea for this video was a dream Spencer has of some difficult things that she and Ashley will overcome, but now I'm not entirely sure. I used a lot of editing in this video so comments   more...will be appreciated. :)

Fantasy on A Japanese Folk Song - Samuel R. Hazo
All clips and SoN belongs to Tom Lynch and The-N  less

A song about depression. Don't bother trying to cheer me up. I wrote this a long time ago and don't remember what, if anything, was the impetus for it. It was probably around the same time that I wrote   more..."I Don't Know Why."

Lyrics:

...I'm down
...I'm down, I'm down
...Never get up again
...I'm down, down in the dry lands
...The desert
...I'm down in the doldrums.

I'm in the middle of a circle of nowhere
People in a ring swing around my head
And the thoughts of a time long gone surround me
Whirling and swirling and weighing like lead.

I see a woman with deep black hair
And a twisted smile planted on her face
But her eyes don't blink and they stare right through me
To another time and another place.

I see a glittering sparkle of the sunlight
Only a glimpse of the brightness past.
Little pink hands are crushing my memory
Squeezing my mind into a pulp at last.  less

It's a sad thing when someone turns his back on his family.

This song is on my second CD, "Laws of Chance".

We all have to grow up some time. One of my early songs.

Lyrics:

Two little children grew up in the same neighbourhood.
Two little children treated each other so good
Now that they're grown up whatever happened   more...to the
Dreams they used to dream together?
Whatever happened to the time they shared?

Two little children no more, in the bright summer days.
Where has the sun gone? Where have the happy faces gone to?
Where is tomorrow, where are the promises that
Yesterday we made each other?
Whatever happened to the time we shared?  less

I wrote this children's song when I was not much more than a child myself, but I wrote it as a poem, because I hadn't yet thought about writing songs.

Lyrics:

The sun shone down on the city street
At half   more...past twelve at night
And all the people in their beds
Looked out at it in fright.

"Oh sun," they cried. "Oh mighty sun!
It's night. It is not day.
Your light won't let us get to sleep,
So will you go away?"

The sun refused, and said to them,
"I really want to stay.
I've never been out at night before.
I've only seen the day."

So they argued and argued the whole night long,
The sun against the town,
Until at last the sun gave up
And, to their joy, went down.

Soon daytime came and all got up,
But something wasn't right;
It was as dark as dark could be
As if it was still night.

The darkness stayed the whole day long
And all the night long too,
'Til they pulled their blinds next morning
And the sun came peeping through.

He said, "I stayed at home all day
To frighten everyone.
Maybe that will teach you all,
Never argue with the sun."  less

I wrote this rather silly song in my late teens. It was originally called "Mandy", and was about a totally fictional character. When I actually met Mandy, and married her, I thought I'd better   more...change the title. After all, she had nothing in common with the woman in the song.

Lyrics:

Candy, oh, Candy, why did I marry you?
Candy, oh, Candy, you make me feel so blue.
Candy, oh, Candy, won’t you tell me true,
Why do you stand on your head in the corner whenever I talk to you?

Candy, oh, Candy, your face is, oh, so sweet.
Candy, oh, Candy, your beauty can't be beat.
Candy, oh, Candy, your clothes are clean and neat.
Why did you spoil your appearance, love, by cutting off your feet?

Candy, oh, Candy, you fill me with strange fears.
Candy, oh, Candy, why do you bite my ears?
Candy, oh, Candy, you frighten me to tears.
Why do you have to swing around all night on the chandeliers?

Husband, oh, husband, now don't be such a bore.
Husband, oh, husband, it's not against the law.
Husband, oh, husband, come sit down on the floor
And I'll tell you the story of my life, that you've never heard before.

My mummy was a maniac; my daddy was a nut.
Our life was very interesting; we never got in a rut.
'Til one day Daddy left, to live by himself in a little hut,
So Mummy ran round with an axe and they had to lock her up.

By that time I was too far gone to live a normal life.
I lived on snails and rats' tails until I became your wife.
I'm sorry it disturbs you when I eat my soup with a knife,
But, husband, I'm not young enough to change my way of life.

"If you cannot beat them, join them" is a proverb wise, my son.
Now I too swing on the chandeliers; we've broken every one.
Through the windows we take shots at passers, with my gun.
The neighbours don't respect us now, but, boy, do we have fun!

Candy, oh, Candy, I'm glad I married you
Candy, oh, Candy, now I don't feel so blue.
Candy, oh, Candy, we're such a happy two,
And, 'til they come to lock us up, I'll be a nut like you.  less

old time traditional folk ballad

This song is based on the traditional sailors' belief that sighting a mermaid is an omen foretelling a shipwreck. It is also known as "Waves On the Sea", "The Wrecked Ship", and the   more...oldest known version, "The Praise of Saylors", dating back to around 1630.  less

Though "Song of the Ghost" was the first song I wrote, as I've mentioned elsewhere, the lyrics of this one were written some time earlier. It was written as a poem well before I bought a guitar   more...and started singing, so I would have been 15 or younger. The story is basically the traditional theme of the mermaid luring a sailor to his death.

Influences? Coleridge I guess.

Lyrics:

For seven days a red-hot sun
Beat down upon his ragged shirt.
His food was gone. He felt so weak.
His limbs were sore. They ached and hurt.
His lips were parched and swollen up.
His throat was dry, and throbbed with pain.
He gazed at the unyielding sky
And hoped and prayed that it would rain.

The raft rocked gently to and fro.
He murmured, "Rain, for Heaven's sake!"
He would not dare to fall asleep
For fear that he might never wake.
"Oh, can there never be," he moaned,
"A break from this remorseless heat?"
But as he spoke these very words
There came a breeze, so cool and sweet.

And soon he heard the lovely sound
Of music tinkling through the air,
Until he spied, upon a rock,
A girl with long and golden hair.
So moving was the music that
Her fingers played upon her harp
The sailor felt a flow of love
Come gushing forward from his heart.

Her lips were red, her teeth like pearls,
Her eyes the colour of the sea.
The sailor saw her fish-like tail,
And worshipped her upon his knee.
He cared no more for anything
Except the mermaid fair he'd found.
He swam towards her from the raft
And she laughed sweetly as he drowned.  less

This anti-war song was written at the time of the Vietnam war, but it is equally applicable to the USA's invasion of Iraq.

Lyrics:

Can't you hear the children crying?
Can't you hear their voices calling?
  more...Can't you hear the moans of dying?
Can't you hear the big bombs falling?
Can you put it from your mind?
Are you deaf and dumb and blind?

Can't you see a nation's sin?
Can't you see that war's absurd?
Can't you see beneath the skin?
Can't you look behind a word?
Will empty words block up your mind?
Are you deaf and dumb and blind?

Can't you raise your voice in protest?
Can't you call for peace and sanity,
And then back your words with action?
Can't you speak from your humanity?
Can you close your mouth and mind?
Are you deaf and dumb and blind?

This song is on my fourth CD, "Pigs Might Fly and Other Politically Incorrect Songs."  less

This is another variation of "The Maid Freed From the Gallows" or "Hangman, Hangman." The song is widely known throughout Europe, with fifty versions in Finland alone.

The earliest   more...recording of this song that I'm aware of is "Gallis Pole", sung by Leadbelly. It has since been recorded by many singers in many different ways. Some notable examples are Odetta, John Jacob Niles, Almeda Riddle, Jean Ritchie, Peggy Seeger, The Limeliters, The Kingston Trio and, of course, Led Zeppelin.

The rendition here is based mainly on Odetta's version of the song.  less