Songs and Tunes
by
Michelle Brophy and Rob Brown
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For this, the "25th Anniversary Edition" of The Broadside, we've collected several tunes and a couple of local songs for your enjoyment.
The tunes presented in this issue are all original compositions and were collected from local musicians living in the St. John's area. All of them differ in style. Some of the titles indicate quite clearly the source of inspiration!
The first song was collected from Greg and Mike Walsh from Bay de Verde. They learned the song from their parish priest a few years ago. Its message is an obvious one!
The second song was collected from Stan Pickett of Fair Island, Bonavista Bay. Stan's inimitable narrative about collecting the song is also included.
Thanks very much to those who contributed to this issue. If you'd like to have some of your own work featured, please send your submissions to either rob.brown@c-core.ca or contact the St. John's Folk Arts Council office.
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(Inspired by the winter of 2001, complete with a snowplow!)
Nice Advice
(Father Edward Brophy, Bay de Verde,
from the singing of Greg and Mike Walsh)
I was just a young man at the start of married life,
And I asked me aged father how to treat me darlin' wife.
He said, never hit a woman me little darlin' man
Now, don't ever hit a woman, with a hatchet in her hand.
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Chorus:
Thank you very much for the very nice advice,
I used it once or twice when I was on thin ice.
______________________________________
Me father often told me with a twinkle in his eye
He said don't ever, ever, ever ever, never tell a lie.
Me father said that tellin' lies was really quite uncouth
Don't ever tell a lie if you can fool 'em with the truth.
Me father often told me to never ever steal
Don't ever take a penny b'y no matter how it feels.
Don't ever rob a copper me little darlin' man
Now, don't ever steal a cent, unless 'tis over twenty grand.
I used to drink a drop of beer when I was very young,
And it weakened up me knees a bit; it loosened up me tongue.
Me father said that drinkin' beer was really quite a sin,
Sure 'twas better to drink whiskey or even rum or gin.
And now I got a lad of me own, he's barely six years old
And he's saucy as the crackie, and he's always being bold.
I got so mad at him last week, I took him across me knee
I said "you must be like your mother 'cause your certainly not like me."
Sally, Sally
(Stan Pickett)
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I came upon this song in the mid 1980's, I think, when I was visiting my parents in Centreville, Bonavista Bay. I had already collected some of my father's songs by that time. He told me that my Aunt Jane Pickett used to sing and also knew some songs, so we went up to her house. She was 86 years old at the time, but her memory, as they say, was as "sharp as a tack". She sang a couple of songs for me, and I wrote down the words. Sally, Sally was one of them; I liked it because of the subject matter.
My Aunt sang it in minor key, but at the end of the second line, "in a men's array," she went from the C major chord (if you were singing in the key of E minor) to a D major chord, which raised the melody significantly. I didn't like that part, so I brought it down to the E minor chord again. My decision to do this was influenced by the songs of Steeleye Span and Fairport Convention. Fairport Convention's Martin Carthy, sang the same song, titled Sovay, Sovay, in a minor key and used a minor chord at the end of the second line.
Anyway, after reading in the Express about Agnes Walsh's attempts to salvage our cultural heritage, especially its songs, I'm sure she would be proud of me for saving this song from my aunt, since her lyrics are different from Martin Carthy's. She probably will not like what I have done to the melody of the song, but I'll take my chances.
- Stan Pickett
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