Saturday, October 31, 2009

Havering Folk Club Halloween Night

Havering Folk Club likes to celebrate Halloween Night on the nearest Wednesday so this year it was on October 28th 2009. Some people dress up, most probably, but Linda and I were neither prepared nor really in the mood for costumes so we came as ourselves :-)



Last year's Halloween Night event was choreographed by the Hillbilly Express and this year was similar but even more chaotic, with Simon and Pep dual MCing.

Music and Poetry....


Having already rehearsed The Rowan Tree at the beginning of the month without video capture I was prepared to have another go especially for Halloween night and this was after my version of Loudon Wainwright's Be Careful There's a Baby in The House.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Be careful there's a baby in the house

Lyrics to Be careful there's a baby in the house by Loudon Wainwright


Be careful there's a baby in the house,
And a baby will not be fooled
It will think and do what it wants to
until you get it schooled.

Be careful there's a baby in the house,
And a baby will play it for real
if your I love you is an IOU don't expect to get a good deal

look out momma, look out dad
your bundle of joy will not be had
if the blanket is blue if the blanket is pink
you'd best watch what you do you'd best watch what you think

Be careful there's a baby in the house,
And a baby can spot your schtick
all the coochy coochy coo is a lot of poo poo when you spread it on that thick

Be careful there's a baby in the house,
And a baby is better than smart
it can waddle through all the stuff you do never mind your big head start

Girl from the north country Trad/Dylan/Roy Harper

If you're traveling in the north country far,
Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline,
Please remember me to one who lives there.
She once was a true love of mine.

If you go when the snowflakes storm,
When the rivers freeze and summer ends,
Please see for me she has a coat so warm,
To keep her from the howling winds.

Please see for me that her hair's hanging long,
That it rolls and flows all down her breast.
Please see for me that her hair's hanging long,
That's the way I remember her the best.

I'm wonderin' if she remembers me at all.
Many times I've often laid,
In the darkness of my night,
In the brightness of my day.

So if you're traveling in the north country far,
Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline,
Remember me to one who lives there.
She once was a true love of mine.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Thankyou Mister Hubble - Loudon Wainwright

Thankyou Mister Hubble by Loudon Wainwright

unrecorded

Am................................Dm..............Dm7
Thankyou Mister Hubble, for your telescope
E............................................................Am.....................
We learned there's more than double now , the amount of rope
Am...................................................F....................................
We have with which to hang ourselves, things are so much worse
E..........................................................Am..........................E
There's so much more that's out there,I'm talking universes.

Thankyou Mister Hubble, for your telescope
Why go to the trouble now to push the envelope?
We're just so insignificant what the hells the point?
We're not handfuls but specks of dust in this gigantic joint

C..............................G.................C...................G......
We used to thing that jupiter and mars were pretty large
E............................Am...................E...........................Am......
and though our little world was small somehow we were in charge

The milky way so miniscule despite what we pretend
It's hardly worth looking at through your giant lenses

Thankyou Mister Hubble, for your telescope
I hate to burst the bubble but god there's not much hope
or faith that such a thing exists what is religion worth?
What in god's name would waste six days to make this puny earth?

Monday, October 19, 2009

If by Roy Harper

Lyrics to IF by Roy Harper from the Once Album

Could be this weeks Roy Harper song for the Tuesday Night Andy Roberts Webcast

If it was right to be believing,
And write his name in blood
And then I met him when I died,
Well I'd have it out with god
But if it means
Degrading scenes
And sanctioning crusade
I'd know we couldn't stand man to man
Without feeling afraid, feeling afraid.


If it was wrong for not believing,
In fairytale facade
And then I met him when I died,
Well I'd apologise to dog
But if it meant
I went down on my knees
Well where's the spirit gone
Where's the love you're all talking of
When you can't stand man to man?
Man to man
When you can't stand man to man.

I find it hard to believe,
In these 'gospels' that I've heard
The forked tongue of the bible belt,
The ayatollah's word
I don't believe most anything
Spoken by anyone
As hell's fanatic paranoids
Fire heaven's loaded gun

If it was right to be believing,
Then it must be in this
That difference is beautiful,
And living it is bliss,
There are no teams
There is no side
That life on earth is done
By living the love you're only talking of
By standing man to man
Man to man

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

When The Waters Rise - Blog Action Day

October 15th is Blog Action Day so I performed my song "When The Waters Rise - blog action day" last night at Havering Folk Club




When the waters rise

When the waters rise, when the waters rise,

It's started to rain, could go on forever
The puddles grow then join together | As the waters rise

With energy a change of current
The trickle soon becomes a torrent And the waters rise

We'll have to move abandon camp,
where once was desert now is damp And the waters rise

The balance kept by plants and sea
has pushed beyond the boundary
Now the gas surrounds us like a cloak
a million years gone up in smoke

The climate's changed, the world's in motion,
Then the ice caps melt and join the ocean And the waters rise

In the short term we can head for the hills,
In the longer run we'll all grow gills and the waters rise

The weather warnings made no mark,
Now there's no time left to build the Ark As the waters rise..


Here's another version of the same song recorded at the previous Tuesday Evening 7.00pm Live Webcast

Andy Roberts Music on Sound Awesome!

Another place for Andy Roberts Music on t'internet : Andy Roberts Music Sound Awesome!

I don't know if it's worth it but it doesn't take long to join one of these sites, create a profile and upload a track - in this case The Wreckers Prayer.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Drinking Song by Loudon Wainwright

Drunk men stagger, drunk men fall,
Drunk men swear and that's not all,
Quite often they will urinate outdoors.
Like widowed women, drunk men weep,
Like children curled up, drunk men sleep,
Like a dog, a drunk will crawl around on all fours.

Be he broke bum or rich rake, his dinner be it bread or cake
His beverage be the worse of whiskey, finest wine.
Puke it stinks and so it seems that drunkards go to great extremes
But there has yet to be a perfectly straight line

Drunks talk strong when drunks are weak,
It's easy for a drunk to speak -- straight from the heart
Yeah, drunks will fight they're not afraid
To kiss the mistress, make the maid
It's a manly art.

Oh but the drink a toll will take, blood vessels in the nose will break
Bags beneath the eyes another sign

Drunks get ugly, so it seems that drunkards go to great extremes
But there has yet to be a perfectly straight line.

Drunks are friendly when they're drunk and
Drunks are hostile when they're drunk
Which drunk it is, it all depends upon.
When drunks aren't drunk, they thirst for drink,
Elephants are grey not pink
When the drink evaporates the man is gone, gone , gone, gone

Back to the yachts and the subway cars
The hip-flasks and fruit jars
Flat on the face and flat on the behind

Oh, drunks get drunk and so it seems that drunkards go to great extremes
There has yet to be a perfectly straight line.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

One More Cup Of Coffee

One More Cup Of Coffee by Bob Dylan

Your breath is sweet
Your eyes are like two jewels in the sky.
Your back is straight, your hair is smooth
On the pillow where you lie.
But I don't sense affection
No gratitude or love
Your loyalty is not to me
But to the stars above.

One more cup of coffee for the road,
One more cup of coffee 'fore I go
To the valley below.

Your daddy he's an outlaw
And a wanderer by trade
He'll teach you how to pick and choose
And how to throw the blade.
He oversees his kingdom
So no stranger does intrude
His voice it trembles as he calls out
For another plate of food.

One more cup of coffee for the road,
One more cup of coffee 'fore I go
To the valley below.

Your sister sees the future
Like your mama and yourself.
You've never learned to read or write
There's no books upon your shelf.
And your pleasure knows no limits
Your voice is like a meadowlark
But your heart is like an ocean
Mysterious and dark.

One more cup of coffee for the road,
One more cup of coffee 'fore I go
To the valley below.

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

The Rowan Tree Folk Song

The Rowan Tree


Last Week at Havering Folk Club I tried out a new song called "The Rowan Tree" which is a song about four witchee witches I wrote when I was in Scotland recently. There really is a rowan tree in my front garden which I planted myself some years ago and it is a matter of folklore that the Rowan tree is supposed to help keep witches away. It's a suitable topic for the Halloween night session coming up later in October but I thought I'd give it an airing first, and the feedback was very encouraging. You can never tell with a new song if the initial enthusiasm is going to die away to nothing or if it's going to become a lasting part of the repertoire. There wasn't a video from the Havering Folk Club performance but we do have a recording from the previous Tuesday night session which was a lively one too. Here's The Rowan Tree video:



The lyrics to the Rowan Tree have been posted both on the Andy Roberts blog and on the youTube video so there's no need to reproduce them here.



Deep River Blues



Earlier at the session I played my version of "Deep River Blues" and then afterwards, John from Foxen showed me the proper chords :-)

I play it in C for some reason:



Next week it's the turn of Smolowik to have his members featured evening at Havering Folk club so I'm looking forward to that.
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