Dave's Music #108 People
I wanted to share a song by Siena Christie that is a beautiful and true ballad about Zara Alvarez that I mentioned to Siena would be a great song to enter in a songwriting contest... it ranks up there with Joe Hill or even dare I say Dylan's Hurricane She indicated it's really tied to the Coalition for Human Rights in the Phillippines but she would consider it. I will make you wait until the last song, but here is what Siena put on her Bandcamp page:
"Name on a List" is dedicated to the memory of Zara Alvarez, a brave and selfless human rights activist and 39-year-old single mother who was killed in August 2020. This song premiered at the All Saints Day Concert on November 1st, 2020, hosted by the Philippine-US Solidarity Organization (PUSO) of Vancouver.
In honor of Zara Alvarez and all martyred human rights defenders in the Philippines, 100% of proceeds from song purchases will be donated to the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) to benefit Filipino activists still at work today, and to advocate for the passage of the Philippine Human Rights Act (PHRA) in Congress.
Make a direct donation to ICHRP: paypal.me/ichrpus
Learn more about Zara Alvarez's life and work:
So my thought was to find songs for people, real or maybe fiction; and working kind of backward from my recent additions to the library so I could enjoy and learn more of them. (You see I didn't say NEW, many of these are older songs that are just new to the library. Remember GOOD #MusicHasNoExpirationDate )
1) Lil' Billy Rueben - The Roe Family Singers
Ha I was convinced this was a traditional song, but they claim they wrote it.. goes to show their excellent skill at songwriting a classic. Here are the lyrics:
Bill Reuben is a wee little man
The doctors will catch him if they can
When they do they’ll give him a tan
Run, little Billy, run
Run, little Billy Reuben, run, little Billy Reuben, run, little Billy Reuben
Run, Billy, run
Bill Reuben saw a sweet little girl
Sweetest lil’ girl in the whole round World
Stopped her ears with silent swirls
Run, little Billy, run
Bill Reuben saw a fine little lad
Decided to be his dad
One long hug drove the poor boy mad
Run, little Billy, run
You might think I’m being unfair
that I’m biased beyond compare
Well, you can call me jaundiced; I don’t care
Run, little Billy, run
The doctors will catch him if they can
When they do they’ll give him a tan
Run, little Billy, run
Run, little Billy Reuben, run, little Billy Reuben, run, little Billy Reuben
Run, Billy, run
Bill Reuben saw a sweet little girl
Sweetest lil’ girl in the whole round World
Stopped her ears with silent swirls
Run, little Billy, run
Bill Reuben saw a fine little lad
Decided to be his dad
One long hug drove the poor boy mad
Run, little Billy, run
You might think I’m being unfair
that I’m biased beyond compare
Well, you can call me jaundiced; I don’t care
Run, little Billy, run
credits
from The Owl and the Bat and the Bumblebee, released June 17, 2011
Written by Quillan and Kim Roe
Written by Quillan and Kim Roe
2) Moondog - Joseph Huber
Joseph did tell me that he does get specific to certain songs can't be streamed in Bandcamp until you buy... go figure, you can listen to the studio song on an audio video in Google, and likely stream it in that evil Spotify where you CAN'T Buy his music. Anywho, I found a great video of him live but here are the lyrics... the words go by so fast and while we never find out Moondog's real name.
You broke out of your pen, said, "Amen,"
You can't go home again if it's never been.
You just kept playing your song and then
You played it even louder even when they said, "When!"
You got a tattoo, didn't think it through,
Now you're getting gone to go be somebody new,
Two less shoulders to bump into
Letting loose while truth settles in.
Well, for 16 years your ma n' papa told you,
“Don't you know someday you got to put it all down,”
But you just didn't listen, you just couldn't listen,
You just kept a-wishin' and look at you now,
Well, you're out there prowling like a moondog howling
At the night eye full and round,
And everybody told me that you'd always be a-runnin'
And you'll never settle down.
You got plenty of steam, just running outta green;
Got enough for cheap beer and gasoline,
Mama told you, “Don't you let ‘em make you mean!”
But you're harder than the hinges of eternity it seems
You put some new lines on your old face
Trying to fix an old heart with a new place;
Fat on freedom where most got a taste,
Now there's no case for getting lean.
Now for 22 years, your ma n’ papa told you,
“Don't you know someday you got to put it all down,”
But you just didn't listen, you just couldn't listen,
You just kept a-wishin' and look at you now,
Well, you're out there prowling like a moondog howling
At the night eye full and round,
And everybody told me that you'd always be a-runnin'
And you'll never settle down.
Well, it's that old fire you never could kill,
Now your stuck between low and lower still,
Just a specter sent, your spine to chill;
An old ghost floating like wind under your sill,
Oh, but those old tunes, they still feel new
Enough to kick up a little dust to,
There ain't no sense in saving you,
You're gonna do just what you will.
Now for 34 years your ma n’ papa told you,
“Don't you know someday you got to put it all down,”
But you just didn't listen, you just couldn't listen,
You just kept a-wishin' and look at you now,
Well, you're out there prowling like a moondog howling
At the night eye full and round,
And everybody told me that you'd always be a-runnin'
And you'll never settle down.
You can't go home again if it's never been.
You just kept playing your song and then
You played it even louder even when they said, "When!"
You got a tattoo, didn't think it through,
Now you're getting gone to go be somebody new,
Two less shoulders to bump into
Letting loose while truth settles in.
Well, for 16 years your ma n' papa told you,
“Don't you know someday you got to put it all down,”
But you just didn't listen, you just couldn't listen,
You just kept a-wishin' and look at you now,
Well, you're out there prowling like a moondog howling
At the night eye full and round,
And everybody told me that you'd always be a-runnin'
And you'll never settle down.
You got plenty of steam, just running outta green;
Got enough for cheap beer and gasoline,
Mama told you, “Don't you let ‘em make you mean!”
But you're harder than the hinges of eternity it seems
You put some new lines on your old face
Trying to fix an old heart with a new place;
Fat on freedom where most got a taste,
Now there's no case for getting lean.
Now for 22 years, your ma n’ papa told you,
“Don't you know someday you got to put it all down,”
But you just didn't listen, you just couldn't listen,
You just kept a-wishin' and look at you now,
Well, you're out there prowling like a moondog howling
At the night eye full and round,
And everybody told me that you'd always be a-runnin'
And you'll never settle down.
Well, it's that old fire you never could kill,
Now your stuck between low and lower still,
Just a specter sent, your spine to chill;
An old ghost floating like wind under your sill,
Oh, but those old tunes, they still feel new
Enough to kick up a little dust to,
There ain't no sense in saving you,
You're gonna do just what you will.
Now for 34 years your ma n’ papa told you,
“Don't you know someday you got to put it all down,”
But you just didn't listen, you just couldn't listen,
You just kept a-wishin' and look at you now,
Well, you're out there prowling like a moondog howling
At the night eye full and round,
And everybody told me that you'd always be a-runnin'
And you'll never settle down.
3) Sam Stone - Kelsey Waldon
This is how writing about someone is supposed to be like. Kelsey was hand picked by John to join Oh Boy Records; and thanks to them we get both a Bandcamp and great video.
4) Rene and Geogette Magritte with Their Dog After the War - Paul Simon
I picked up his "In the Blue Light" vinyl, and it's fun re-imaginations of older releases... love that he brought the arrangement and orchestra to the Late Show.
5) Aunt Peg's New Old Man - Robbie Fulks
I don't know if he's real or not but I love the story. Robbie is another person who puts restrictions on Bandcamp where people buy music mostly, it's out there, but you have to buy to stream it; I have it on vinyl. Strange use of Bandcamp, because YouTube has an audio video, and I bet it's on the evil Spotify. My favorite line is in red.
We came up the hill to meet him
In the dirt patch he was weedin'
That was our first look at Aunt Peg's new old man.
Uncle Hank was 75
Uncle Hank was 75
He lived well and then he died
None of us had nothin' against her new old man.
She liked his fiddlin', no doubt
Liked his help on the rural route
And the rest didn't bear thinkin' about
Aunt Peg's new old man.
She liked his fiddlin', no doubt
Liked his help on the rural route
And the rest didn't bear thinkin' about
Aunt Peg's new old man.
6) Jack Ashton - The Finest Kind
The Finest Kind is really the finest kind of music you can find. Ha.. three part harmony, but while Ian Robb has some of the releases on Bandcamp, not this one. There are many a Jack Ashton's out there and some writers; I just can not be sure who Matthew Byrne was writing about and Finest Kind covered. Anywho I did find Matthew's version both on YT and Bandcamp so I kept the song in my playlist.
7) Osceola's Last Words - Bill Staines
I recently imported an old Bill Staines vinyl that had a cover of a 1964 folk song, here are the opening lines:
In a dungeon deep at St. Augustine Chief Osceola Wept,
For his people and his golden land, His body had not slept,
Then Wildcat said, "Oh Chief I beg you go,
With me to stand against our mortal foe,
But Osceola raised his proud head high,
Said, "Do this ere I die."
For his people and his golden land, His body had not slept,
Then Wildcat said, "Oh Chief I beg you go,
With me to stand against our mortal foe,
But Osceola raised his proud head high,
Said, "Do this ere I die."
I can not find Bill's version out there to embed so here; this as close a version to his; but Bill's is better.
8) Mihaela Miheala - Amanda Pascali
Amanda wrote this after finding old love letters addressed to her father... great story Click Here
And here she is live singing it.
9) Brave Marie - Chain of Lakes
This playlist is amazing for connections to the Great River Folk Fest 1, 2, 7 and 10 played the fest, 5 would have were it not for the pandemic, and 8, 9, 10 I met through the songwriter contest.
Kyle Rasche does an excellent job telling Marie Curie's lifestory.
10) Name on the List - Siena Christie
Why I made this playlist, I hope you enjoy it. Beautiful writing about a painful story. She has plenty of other great songs she's written to submit to future songwriting contests if she chooses not to submit this one; but I think it ranks up there as one of her best.
She has a couple of videos out there for the song, this one brings the world together to get the message out.
As been the routine lately, here's a one click YouTube playlist of the songs above:
I hope you loved the journey to coal country. You can find and follow us on Facebook and as always Good Music has NO Expiration Date, so if you are listening to this ten years from now, it still will be awesome music. If this is a first time visit, check out the index of themes for past Reviews and Playlist editions and for the Reviews alone, click here.
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