1. |
Spin
03:36
|
|||
|
Spin Spin Spin
Dust in my lungs choking back the songs I have sung
Mama don't you know where I am?
Daddy don't you know where I am? Spin Spin
Water wheel gears they do spin
Belts drive the looms
Belts drive the looms Spin Spin
Tender hearts tend the machines
Slender hands tie the threads
Slender hands tie the threads Spin Spin
Eyes in the dim
Never seeing what the day has been
Never seeing what the day has been Spin
Family farm so far away standing here days
and hours and days and hours and days and hours and days
Ma did you get my pay ? Spin Spin
Old machine taking my friends
No time to even cry
No time to even cry Spin Spin
Mercy each day I pray, Jesus sees me on Sunday
Jesus sees me on Sunday
Spin Spin Spin Spin Spin
|
||||
2. |
||||
|
Work Can't Wait For Beauty
Cold bright sun through the trees, my eyes alone face the east
Half moon hanging in the south, so pale as I look about
Frost chasing shadows, sky colors spin their tones
My eyes alone follow the patterns, of rippling clouds as they burn
Work can't wait for beauty, work can't wait for beauty,
Work can't wait for beauty, the job keeps pushing me on
Hill tops in the west get redder, where dawn light draws its line
My eyes alone breathe in the morning, knowing it'll soon be gone
North wind tugging at my face, I pay it no mind
I bow my head in silence, giving thanks for the time
Work can't wait for beauty, work can't wait for beauty,
Work can't wait for beauty, the job keeps pushing me on
Work can't wait for beauty, work can't wait for beauty,
Work can't wait for beauty, the job keeps pushing me on
My eyes alone breathe in the morning, knowing it'll soon be gone
|
||||
3. |
Happen
02:30
|
|||
|
Happen
It just happened to me , did it happen to you? It just happened to me,
Did it happen to you? It just happened to me
Saw you in the morning girl, hit without warning
When I saw you walking and you started talking with me
It just happened to me , did it happen to you? It just happened to me
Did it happen to you? It just happened to me
Hands we were holding girl, Sending the emotion
With our eyes locked a-gazing, I knew you were for me
It just happened to me , did it happen to you? It just happened to me
Did it happen to you? It just happened to me
Your smile showed to me, no need for words you see
All I want is to love you and you love me
All I want is to love you and you love me
In our time together girl, for worse or for better girl
Remember always this day and we'll still be you and me
It just happened to me , did it happen to you?
It just happened to me , did it happen to you?
It just happened to me , did it happen to you? It just happened to me
|
||||
4. |
Say I Love You
03:08
|
|||
|
Say I Love You
We loved and said good- bye No time to even cry
Why didn't you scream and shout as I was walking out and
Say I love you Say I love you Say I love you
You know it was on our minds we never did cross that line
Why couldn't we find a way to speak words that meant always and
Say I love you, say I love you, say I love you
If we couldn't say it then, who knows when
Who knows when, who knows when
But we've got our own lives to lead together or separately
No one gave us rules to live and not be fools and
Say I love you, say I love you, say I love you
If we couldn't say it then,who knows when
Who knows when, who knows when
Just say I love you, just say I love you, just say I love you
|
||||
5. |
||||
|
Four Trains Crash on the Airline Trail
East Thompson station switching cars on the empty west track ground
Schedule read next trains due all eastward bound
Find the trail, find the trail Walk the trail today
Only time is between us And four crashing trains
Long Island Express running late burning to make up time
Boston Freight slow ahead Norwich Boat Train behind
Find the trail, find the Airline Rail Walk the trail today
Only time is between us and four crashing trains
Putnam Depot west bound track Clear that December dawn
"We'll get these passengers moving No stations to warn"
Find the trail, find the trail Walk the trail today
Only time is between us and four crashing trains
Putnam ignored the age-old rhyme Never the twain shall meet
East is East, West is West Four trains met their fate
Find the trail, find the trail Walk the trail today
Only time is between us and four crashing trains
East Thompson crew still moving cars On the idle west side rail
Putnam sent the Boston Freight East on the west bound rail
One, two, three then four Four trains crashed as one
On the Airline Rail two men died In Eighteen Ninety-One
Find the trail, find the Airline Rail Walk the trail today
Only time is between us And four crashing trains
Find the trail, find the Airline Rail Walk the trail today
Only time is between us and four crashing trains
|
||||
6. |
||||
|
The Darn Man. It's a true story. I first heard of him from my father and other older adults in Dudley Massachusetts when I was young. The Darn Man lived during the 1800's, his bride-to-be met an untimely death just before their wedding. Retellers have debated whether she was killed in a horse carriage accident or during the sinking of a packet ship from New York bound to Connecticut. In any event, it was such a psychological shock to him, he went on a walkabout the rest of his life, staying at one family to the next on a route established over time. One stop was Keekamoochaug Brook Farm in Dudley. There, Preacher Williams kept a room at the ready for the Darn Man. The Darn Man would sit beneath the huge tree in front darning his coat with needle and thread provided by the lady of the house. Often mumbling softly to himself that his bride was soon to arrive that day. Descendants of Preacher Williams still live today. Rev. Charles Goodell published a short story, The Old Darn Man in 1923 if you have the notion to read it. If you define a real folk song as one created through oral tradition, this is, a real folk song.
|
||||
7. |
Darn Man
04:36
|
|||
|
Darn Man
The Darn Man started walking in June his wedding coat so fresh and new
Eyes empty, soul so scarred, to his bride he would be true
Darn Man Darn Man are you to wed?
Here's a bit of cloth needle and thread
Here's a bit of cloth needle and thread
His heart was filled with love and joy 'til fate shocked him all his years
A carriage tossed or a ship was lost,his bride lay dead ,he froze no tears
Darn Man Darn Man are you to wed?
Here's a bit of cloth needle and thread
Here's a bit of cloth needle and thread
Morning came and the Darn Man roamed, each day waiting for his bride
From family to family for food and rest, to darn his wedding coat and vest
Darn Man Darn Man are you to wed?
Here's a bit of cloth needle and thread
Here's a bit of cloth needle and thread
Days and years he ambled on his coat more patched and worn
Children laughed the Darn Man's here as they stared at his coat so forlorn
Darn Man Darn Man are you to wed?
Here's a bit of cloth needle and thread
Here's a bit of cloth needle and thread
Forty years the Darn Man made his rounds in the sweet New England hills
Time wore his wedding coat so thin, but time, his love would never kill
Darn Man Darn Man are you to wed?
Here's a bit of cloth needle and thread
Here's a bit of cloth needle and thread
|
||||
8. |
Pretend
02:50
|
|||
|
Pretend
Just pretend we have never been in love before today
Never felt this way, never felt this way
Oh I want to believe it's just you and me in
love can't you see, with me, with me
Love me now let's begin, moments do not come again
Is it love our future sees? Just pretend
Look at me what do you see turning in my head today
Never felt this way, never felt this way
Love me now let's begin, moments do not come again
Is it love our future sees? Just pretend
Take my hand begin again no wounds to bind today
Never felt this way, never felt this way
Oh I want to believe it's just you and me in
love can't you see, with me, with me
Love me now let's begin, moments do not come again
Is it love our future sees? Just pretend
|
||||
9. |
Heartless Scene
03:32
|
|||
|
Heartless Scene
This is no place to cry with so many eyes
Seeing my tears flowing down
Phone to my ear Still the words aren't clear
But I know the sounds of good-bye
One hand catching my tears Why won't you come near
And tell me straight to my face
Put down your phone leave me alone
Don't use me this way
Just let me go, Just let me go, Just let me go,
Just let me go, Just let me go, Just let me go, Just let me go
My eyes red on the lids You know what you said
Why does love turn to hate?
You're cutting and cruel I'm nothing like you
You're nothing to me
Why did you call me here to make this heartless scene
Why did you call me here or strangers to see
Just let me go, Just let me go, Just let me go,
Just let me go, Just let me go, Just let me go, Just let me go,
This is no place to cry with so many eyes
Seeing my tears flowing down
Phone to my ear Still the words aren't clear
I know the sounds of good-bye
|
||||
10. |
Cry
02:23
|
|||
|
Cry
See you walking down the track
Seems you'll never come back
No matter what I'd try to say
Ain't no words goin find a way
Know I'm gonna lose you
What'll I do without you?
Cry cry without you Cry without you Cry cry without you
Another day drifts on by
You left without saying why
My mind can only guess
You couldn't take the stress
Know I'm gonna lose you
What'll I do without you?
Cry cry without you Cry without you Cry cry without you
We never do all we can
Me I'm just another man
Who thought he found a woman
To give him forever lovin
Know I'm gonna lose you
What'll I do without you?
Cry cry without you Cry without you
Cry cry without you Cry without you
Cry cry without you Cry without you
Cry cry without you Cry Cry without you
|
||||
11. |
||||
|
Boston's Great Molasses Flood
January 15th 1919 on the cobblestone streets of the North End of Boston
There at the Purity Distilling Company
Death from sweetness is a long gone now Yet you still smell molasses in old Boston town
Take a deep breath on a hot Summer's day Feel that old molasses flowing your way
Sugar cane molasses in 1919 Boston town Meant to bring sweetness to people all around
What happy smile imagined that it would Turn to destruction of the Great Molasses Flood
Take a deep breath on a hot Summer's day Feel that old molasses flowing your way
Take a deep breath on a hot Summer's day Feel that old molasses flowing your way
A rough iron tank stood fifty feet tall In Boston's North End a million gallons full
Early Spring heat on a mid January day Molasses fermented and the sides they gave way
A tide of molasses pushed through the streets Trapping covering all it did meet
No way to swim no where to run Twenty-One lives were lost in that Great Molasses Flood
Take a deep breath on a hot Summer's day Feel that old molasses flowing your way
Take a deep breath on a hot Summer's day Feel that old molasses flowing your way
Men, women, children, horses too Glued in its mire lost in its goo
Brought down a train trestle browned up the harbor Stuck in the stones forever and tomorrow
Take a deep breath on a hot Summer's day Feel that old molasses flowing your way
Take a deep breath on a hot Summer's day Feel that old molasses flowing your way
Take a deep breath on a hot Summer's day Feel that old molasses flowing your way
The Great Molasses Flood
|
||||
12. |
||||
|
Lost Shirt Sea Shanty
The lyrics are from a poem written by my grandfather's cousin in 1859 while aboard a ship bound from Boston to Calcutta. Joseph was the only non-sailor aboard accompanying a cargo of spars his family had invested in. He kept a journal in which he penned a humorous poem about his misfortune washing his laundry as real sailors did, towing by rope in the sea. The words are his, the music mine. His journal is available in the book Boston to India 1858.
|
||||
13. |
Lost Shirt Sea Shanty
03:11
|
|||
|
Lost Shirt Sea Shanty
Lyrics by Joseph Manning Smith, Jr.(1837-1870)
Three weary months of life at sea on board ship Mary Ann
Our voyage not accomplished yet by many a good league's span
The shirt for weeks had stuck to me / I trusted him a friend
But Nature's law is uncontrolled and all things have an end
Here is the tale of my undershirt I tried to wash it clean
Here is the tale of my undershirt sailors all, save me (him)
Here is the tale of my undershirt I lost it to the sea
I thought to have my soiled shirts clean We had no laundress there
The sailors wash I oft had seen by towing clothes with care
One lone worn and adhesive shirt I fastened to a line
And from the cabin window hung Ah! Luckless plan of mine
Oh! stern hard fate; or else design or carelessly tied string
Into the limpid sea of brine my woolen shirt did fling
Into old Ocean's awful deep my dirty shirt did slip
I looked, I saw the thing was gone and wept with quivering lip
No evil comes without some good I miss my shirt 'tis true
But will no more attempt to tow My clothes in ocean blue
Here is the tale of my undershirt I tried to wash it clean
The Indian Ocean has thee now Far in its depth I ween
Longitude was seventy-five latitude nineteen
February 23rd, 1859, Requiescat in Mare
|
||||
14. |
Tony's Tab
03:14
|
|||
|
Tony's Tab
Hey Hey bartender bring me another beer
Just one more and I'll settle my tab and I'll be gone from here
You won't see me 'til payday comes
Then back for another evening 'til the last song issu ng
Settle my tab when the last song is sung
Settle my tab when the last song is sung
Hey bartender bring me another beer
You know the one I've been drinking of for oh so many years
Before the twist top was ever born and each song ends with a little sip
'Til the last song is sung
Settle my tab when the last song is sung
Settle my tab when the last song is sung
Hey bartender bring me another beer
Just one more and I'll settle my tab it's the songs I love to here
The music playing stirs my soul. Just one more and I'll settle my tab
When the last song is sung
Settle my tab when the last song is sung
Settle my tab when the last song is sung
Settle my tab when the last song is sung
Settle my tab when the last song is sung
|
||||
15. |
Sleep Baby Lullaby
03:29
|
|||
|
Sleep Baby Lullaby
Time to go to sleep to-night, sleep baby sleep
Time to go to sleep to-night, sleep baby sleep
Rest your head upon my breast, sleep baby sleep
Rest your head upon my breast, sleep baby sleep
Safe and warm in my arms, sleep baby sleep
Safe and warm in my arms, sleep baby sleep
Children we shall always be, sleep baby sleep
Children we shall always be, sleep baby sleep
Sleep baby sleep, sleep baby sleep
|
||||
If you like Jonathan Jay Babcock, you may also like:
A Picture for a Frame
by Noble Dust
Boston group excels at making songs driven by taut, multilayered vocal harmonies and supported by Americana arrangements.
go to album
The Toronto-based sextet make moody, cinematic sounding music that blends psych-folk and post-rock.
go to album
Mind, Man, Medicine
by The Secret Sisters
The Alabama duo's fifth album exults in dusty Americana, showcasing rich vocal harmonies alongside blissful folk instrumentation.
go to album
Little Green
by Cara Beth Satalino
Cara Beth Satalino's delicately melodic yet resilient indie folk songs sparkle with lyrical wit and hard-won wisdom.
go to album
Dakota Blue Moon
by Jackson Harden
Gorgeous acoustic Americana from North Carolina, stripped-back and sublime.
go to album
Breaking and Mending
by Lisa/Liza
Lisa/Liza's delicate psychedelic folk tunes make something beautiful and graceful from the traumatic experiences of chronic illness.
go to album
I Don't Like My Chances On The Outside
by lilo
The London-based duo's intimate folk music explores love, friendship, and loss.
go to album
