"Ain't no sunshine when she's gone..."
As I Sat Sadly By Her Side
Nick Cave
As I sat sadly by her side
At the window, through the glass
She stroked a kitten in her lap
And we watched the world as it fell past
Softly she spoke these words to me
And with brand new eyes, open wide
We pressed our faces to the glass
As I sat sadly by her side
She said, "Father, mother, sister, brother,
Uncle, aunt, nephew, niece,
Soldier, sailor, physician, labourer,
Actor, scientist, mechanic, priest
Earth and moon and sun and stars
Planets and comets with tails blazing
All are there forever falling
Falling lovely and amazing"
Then she smiled and turned to me
And waited for me to reply
Her hair was falling down her shoulders
As I sat sadly by her side
As I sat sadly by her side
The kitten she did gently pass
Over to me and again we pressed
Our different faces to the glass
"That may be very well", I said
"But watch the one falling in the street
See him gesture to his neighbours
See him trampled beneath their feet
All outward motion connects to nothing
For each is concerned with their immediate need
Witness the man reaching up from the gutter
See the other one stumbling on who can not see"
With trembling hand I turned toward her
And pushed the hair out of her eyes
The kitten jumped back to her lap
As I sat sadly by her side
Then she drew the curtains down
And said, "When will you ever learn
That what happens there beyond the glass
Is simply none of your concern?
God has given you but one heart
You are not a home for the hearts of your brothers
And God does not care for your benevolence
Anymore than he cares for the lack of it in others
Nor does he care for you to sit
At windows in judgement of the world He created
While sorrows pile up around you
Ugly, useless and over-inflated"
At which she turned her head away
Great tears leaping from her eyes
I could not wipe the smile from my face
As I sat sadly by her side
Weepy songs? We got 'em. They're an art form. "Smartlappen" - tearjerker songs - it's our blues music, our soul music, our polka and our MOR. Dutch pride, man! (In Greece, it seems, they got the same thing, and call it "dogs music").
The below is one of my favourites, from the Man, Andre Hazes.
(Think: big man, gold chains, drinks beer from cans and pretty much looks like an aged hooligan with too much dough - but has a little heart of pure, insecure, emotional gold underneath - bellows out his songs with that traditional long howl, that breaks where the sob in his voice comes through ... Think: comically inept lyrics (my favourite one in this song must be, "I feel like a Christmas tree without a top"), that really lay it on thick, which yields great moments of fun that neatly serve to veil how you're actually, sincerely moved ... )
Quote:Lonely Christmas
I'm sitting here, celebrating Christmas all by my own -
I'm serving my time, the punishment I deserved -
I stole for our family, but that was of no use in any case -
For you now celebrate Christmas with somebody else ...
How have you been able to forget me so quickly -
Why is there someone else now on my chair -
I am so lonesome here, in that cold chilly cell -
Can you really not understand how I feel?
Now you're sitting by the Christmas tree with someone else -
My children, they're singing "Silent Night" -
Yeh, silent is what it'll be for me that's for sure -
With nothing that softens my grief ...
My fellow people here they got themselves a package -
With the Christmas wish, "father o please come home soon" -
I didn't get mine, that causes me great sadness -
To not be welcome in your own home ...
Perhaps I'm still allowed to give my children something -
Give them something from the deepest of my heart -
Forget is not something I can do, hence this Christmas song -
A song so full of sorrow ...
For me there will be no candles burning here -
I feel like a Christmas tree without a top -
I feel so alone, oh where will I have to go -
In my thoughts I hear Christmas music ...
I'm sitting here, celebrating Christmas all by my own -
I'm serving my time, the punishment I deserved -
I stole for our family, but that was of no use in any case -
For you now celebrate Christmas with somebody else ...
Perhaps I'm still allowed to give my children something -
Give them something from the deepest of my heart -
Forget is not something I can do, hence this Christmas song -
A song so full of sorrow ...
The trick in these "smartlappen" is also to build the drama up in stages, the second (improbably) outdoing the first still (like in the song above, the children who prop up in the third verse)
If you're curious about how it sounds, try Kazaaing "Eenzame Kerst" ...
Well, I guess if you're not in Europe it might be hard to find on your node. With KaZuperNodes I can sometimes find US nodes, so perhaps it works v.v. too?
this is in honor of "smartlappenweekend", btw, of which i had to miss tonight cause i had to work late ... (how appropriate ;-).
apart from songs of rejected, betrayed or snubbed love, there are, of course, many songs about ... "mother".
Quote:Mama, can I talk with you a little while
Like in the old days, so nice and so familiar
Even if I have left the old home
I miss you and I had to come see you a while
Say mama, how do you like these flowers
I bought them for a very sweet lady
I've known her a long time, I guess I'll just say what's her name
Mama, these flowers are for you
No, mama, I will never forget you
You who were always there for me
Even when you had sadness yourself
Yes, between us two there is so much
So much that binds us
Even though I am now a man
I will always also remain your child
O Mama, now please don't start crying
Or do you show your joy with a tear, like me
I would like to shelter here with you a little more
Then I'll be able to withstand the storm of life again
No, mama, I will never forget you
You who were always there for me
Even if you had sadness yourself
Yes, between us two there is so much
So much that binds us
Even though I am now a man
I will always also remain your child
Another "smartlap" about "mamma", a famous one (again from Andre Hazes):
Quote:The Kite
My son had his birthday yesterday
He became eight years old my darling
He asked me for a kite
And that he got
But his ball, his bike, his toy train
No, he didnt look at those no more
Because his kite meant everything to him
Only I didnt know why
And then one certain morning he said "father, will you go with me"
The wind, it's favourable now, so I take my kite with me
In his one hand a kite, in the other a letter
I couldnt understand him but then my little son dear said:
I have here a letter for my mother
Who is high up in the heavens
This letter I tie to my kite
So she will receive it, she whom I miss
And when she then reads how much I love her
That I cant get used to that other woman
I have here a letter for my mother
Who is high up in the heavens
I have here a letter for my mother
Who is high up in the heavens
This letter I tie to my kite
So she will receive it, she whom I miss
Heh. Effective, no? <blinks a way a tear>
The trick is also how these songs combine lots of traditional white slang words with slightly anachronistic-sounding "adorned" language.
So - spurned love, mamma dear and then there is the third main topic of a typical smartlap ... your hometown / neighbourhood. (Kinda like country more than blues, then, perhaps?)
Drukwerk is an atypical band to do smartlappen (for one because its a band rather than a lone singer) - and they did political stuff, too, back in the 80s ("Let the Rich Pay for the Crisis") - which is normally a no-no. But their "Hey, Amsterdam" is a classic.
Note that "Mokum" is the (originally Jewish) term of endearment for Amsterdam, and that the Bloemgracht is in the middle of the Jordaan, the once famous/notorious working class neighbourhood that eight out of ten smartlappen used to extol. Where they were invented, really. And note that mosta the people who used to live there have long moved out to the suburbs, back when relative prosperity came in the 60s/70s, or to the "dormitory towns" like Almere (they actually moved the "Jordaan festival" to Almere last year). Hence the, "when you come back after quite some years".
Quote:Hey Amsterdam
I was born in Amsterdam
Up three high behind on the Bloemgracht
Where you could hear, back in your den/bed,
When your neighbour made a racket late at night
The streets they were there to play in
We roamed through the entire town
We still believed in sharing equally
We nicked apples on the market
And hey, Amsterdam, they say that you've changed
Hey, Amsterdam, you cant do no more right
But who says so, he aint no Amsterdammer
Because Amsterdam, you're still just like back then
And if you come back after quite some years
You hear them say, Mokum, that's dead and gone
But I dont believe none of those tales
When I walk through the city like this
The market salesman they're still snarling
The Nieuwe Dijk is busier than ever
I see a little kid steal some apples
No Amsterdam never changes
On Sunday afternoon you can go to the Wallen [Red light district]
And if you walked slowly you got to see more
Inconspicuously all of us
See that one bumping up and down ten times
And Sunday night was time for a fight
Didnt matter against who
Until the police came to add aggro
Then we'd just fight them, instead
And hey, Amsterdam, they say that you've changed
Hey, Amsterdam, you cant do no more right
But who says so, he aint no Amsterdammer
Because Amsterdam, you're still just like back then
That drunken guy who lay in the doorway
And my ma she didnt dare no go to him
And when pa asked him whether he be perhaps ill
He said back, nah I'm jus tired
So that much aint changed here
A junkie lies in the doorway
And an Amsterdammer standing next to me asks
Hey is he tired or is he sick?
And hey, Amsterdam, they say that you've changed
Hey, Amsterdam, you cant do no more right
But who says so, he aint no Amsterdammer
Because Amsterdam, you're still just like back then
Because foreigners junkies riots
They cant scare us with that
They can tell us some more
Its all part of Amsterdam
And hey, Amsterdam, they say that you've changed
Hey, Amsterdam, you cant do no more right
But who says so, he aint no Amsterdammer
Because Amsterdam, you're still just like back then
Hey Amsterdam you're still just like back then
Well, there are some sappy songs that were intended to make you weep. In fact, there was a whole genre called the Teenage Death songs, where teenagers sang about ill fated love.
Kicking off, we present perhaps the most well-known of the type,
Teen Angel
Quote:Teen Angel by: Mark Dinning
Lyrics by: Jeannie Dinning
Peak: 1
Year: 1960
Teen angel, teen angel, teen angel, ooh, ooh
That fateful night the car was stalled upon the railroad track
I pulled you out and we were safe, but you went running back
CHORUS
Teen angel, can you hear me?
Teen angel, can you see me?
Are you somewhere up above
And I am still your own true love?
What was it you were looking for that took your life that night?
They said they found my high school ring clutched in your fingers tight
CHORUS
Just sweet sixteen, and now youre gone
Theyve taken you away.
Ill never kiss your lips again
They buried you today
CHORUS
Teen angel, teen angel, answer me, please
Okay, not much to the lyrics. But it was a groundbreaker, y'know?
Besides, in 1960, we now see that a girl who escapes with her boyfriend safe and sound from a car wreck but who dies trying to go back in and get his high school ring was considered tearfully romanitc, instead of the insane waste of life we would think of it today.
the genre accelerated with this famous song by Ray Peterson,
Tell Laura I Love Her
Quote:Tell Laura I Love Her by: Ray Peterson
Lyrics by: Ben Raleigh & Jeff Berry
Peak: 7
Year: 1960
Laura and Tommy were lovers
He wanted to give her everything
Flowers, presents and most of all, a wedding ring
He saw a sign for a stock car race
A thousand dollar prize it read
He couldnt get Laura on the phone
So to her mother Tommy said
Tell Laura I love her, tell Laura I need her
Tell Laura I may be late
Ive something to do, that cannot wait
He drove his car to the racing grounds
He was the youngest driver there
The crowed roared as they started the race
Round the track they drove at a deadly pace
No one knows what happened that day
How his car overturned in flames
But as they pulled him from the twisted wreck
With his dying breath, they heard him say
Tell Laura I love her, tell Laura I need her
Tell Laura not to cry
My love for her will never die
And in the chapel where Laura prays
For Tommy who passed away
It was just for Laura he lived and died
Alone in the chapel she can hear him cry
Tell Laura I love her, tell Laura I need her
Tell Laura not to cry
My love for her will never die
Tell Laura I love her.....
The trend hit high gear, (notice the automotive analogy), with this tragic tale of yet another car crash:
Last Kiss by J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers. Pearl Jam was smart to choose this one of all the Teenage Death songs of that era, since it was strongest musically and had a nice beat to it. The lyrics on the refrain were a little much, though.
Quote:
Last Kiss by: J. Frank Wilson & The Cavaliers
Lyrics by: Wayne Cochran
Peak: 2
Year: 1964
Well, where oh where can my baby be?
The Lord took her away from me.
Shes gone to heaven, so I got to be good,
so I can see my baby when I leave this world.
We were out on a date in my daddys car.
We hadnt driven very far.
There in the road, straight ahead ...
The car was stalled, the engine was dead.
I couldnt stop, so I swerved to the right.
Never forget the sound that night ...
The cryin tires, the bustin glass.
The painful scream that I heard last.
Well, where oh where can my baby be?
The Lord took her away from me.
Shes gone to heaven, so I got to be good,
so I can see my baby when I leave this world.
Well, when I woke up, the rain was pourin down.
There were people standing all around.
Something warm running in my eyes,
but I found my baby somehow that night.
I raised her head, and when she smiled, and said,
Hold me darling for a little while.
I held her close. I kissed her our last kiss.
I found the love that I knew I would miss.
But now shes gone, even though I hold her tight.
I lost my love ... my life, that night.
Well, where oh where can my baby be?
The Lord took her away from me.
Shes gone to heaven, so I got to be good,
so I can see my baby when I leave this world.
Strange happen in this world. They do indeed, as this Teenage Death story with a twist-I won't give it away-continued the genre into 1965. Yet another twist is that this is the only one of the Teenage Death songs that does not involve the internal combustion engine in any form. Dickey Lee, the artist, went on to have a very long and successful country career.
Quote:
Laurie (Strange Things Happen) by: Dickey Lee
Lyrics by: barry mann and larry kobler
Peak: 14
Year: 1965
Last night at the dance I met Laurie
So lovely and warm
An angle of a girl
Last night I fell in love with Laurie
Strange things happen in this world
As I walked her home she said it was her birthday
I pulled her close and said
Will I see you anymore
And suddenly she asked for my sweater
And said that she was very very cold
I kissed her goodnight at her door and started home
Then thought about my sweater
And went right back and said
I knocked at her door
And a man appeared
I told him why id come
And he said
Youre wrong son
You werent with my daughter
How can you be so cruel
To come to me this way
My daughter left this world on her birthday
She died a year ago today
A strage force drew me to the graveyard
I stood in the cold
I saw the shadows gleam
And then I saw my sweater
Lying there upon her grave
Strange things happen in this world
Of course, no survey of Teenage Death songs would be complete without Leader Of The Pack. There was difference between this one and the other Teenage Death songs, though. With the motorcycle sounds on the record, this was considered overdone and a put-on even by the young kids at the time.
Quote:
Leader of the Pack by: Shangri-Las,
The
Lyrics by: George Morton, Jeff Barry & Ellie Greenwich
Peak: 1
Year: 1964
Is she really going out with him?
Well, there she is. Lets ask her.
Betty, is that Jimmys ring youre wearing?
Mm-hmm
Gee, it must be great riding with him
Is he picking you up after school today?
Uh-uh
By the way, whered you meet him?
I met him at the candy store
He turned around and smiled at me
You get the picture?
Thats when I fell for
My folks were always putting him down
They said he came from the wrong side of town
They told me he was bad
But I knew he was sad
Thats why I fell for
One day my dad said, Find someone new
I had to tell my Jimmy were through
He stood there and asked me why
But all I could do was cry
Im sorry I hurt you
He sort of smiled and kissed me goodbye
The tears were beginning to show
As he drove away on that rainy night
I begged him to go slow
But whether he heard, Ill never know
Look out! Look out! Look out! Look out!
I felt so helpless, what could I do?
Remembering all the things wed been through
In school they all stop and stare
I cant hide the tears, but I dont care
Ill never forget him
The leader of the pack - now hes gone
The leader of the pack - now hes gone
The leader of the pack - now hes gone
The leader of the pack - now hes gone
I'm not sure if the lyrics have the same impact without the tune (especially as performed by The Rankin Family), but here goes:
LAMENT OF THE IRISH IMMIGRANT
I'm sitting on a stile, Mary
Where we once sat side by side
On a bright May morning long ago
When first you were my bride
The corn was springing fresh and green
And the lark sang loud and high
And the red was on your lips Mary
And the love-light in your eyes.
'Tis but a step down yonder lane
The village church stands near.
The place where we were wed, Mary
I can see the spire from here
But the graveyard lies between Mary
And my step might break your rest
Where I laid you darling down to sleep
With a baby on your breast.
I'm very lonely now Mary
For the poor make no new friends
But O, they love the better still
The few our Father sends.
For you were all I had Mary
My blessing and my pride
And I've nothing left to care for now
Since my poor Mary died.
Yours was the good brave heart, Mary
That still kept hoping on
When the trust in God had left my soul
And my arms' young strength had gone
There was comfort ever on your lip
And a kind look on your brow
And I thank you Mary for the same
Though you cannot hear me now.
I'm bidding you a long farewell My Mary, kind and true
But I'll not forget you, darling
In the land I'm going to
They say there's bread and work for all
And the sun shines always there
But I'll not forget old Ireland
Were it fifty times as fair.
And often in those grand old woods
I'll sit and shut my eyes
And my heart will wander back again
To the place where Mary lies
And I'll think I see that little stile
Where we sat side by side
In the springing corn and the bright May morn
when first you were my bride
Need more friends with wings
All the angels I know
Put concrete in my veins
I’d always walk home alone
So I became lifeless
Just like my telephone
There’s nothing to lose
When no one knows your name
There’s nothing to gain
But the days don’t seem to change
Never played truth or dare
I’d have to check my mirror
To see if I’m still here
My parents had no clue
That I ate all my lunches
Alone in the bathroom
There’s nothing to lose
When no one knows your name
There’s nothing to gain
But the days don’t seem to change
There’s nothing to lose
My notebook will explain
There’s nothing to gain
And I can’t fight the pain
Teach us that it’s just a phase
When I grow up my children
Will probably do the same
Kids just love to tease
I know it put me under ground
At seventeen
There’s nothing to lose
When no one knows your name
There’s nothing to gain
But the days don’t seem to change
There’s nothing to lose
My notebook will explain
There’s nothing to gain
And I can’t fight the pain
There’s nothing to lose
When no one knows your name
There’s nothing to gain
But the days don’t seem to change
There’s nothing to lose
When no one knows your name
There’s nothing to gain
And I just died today
Kelticwizard,
Those were great! <grins> Very effective, indeed.
"Strange things happen" is more eerie than weepy, to my taste, and "leader of the pack" is a bit overdone yeh, but man - those first three! Enough to make you cry, indeed. I like the first one (Teen Angel) best, all in all. Wonder if its on Kazaa ..
Crikey, just realized I didn't post one of my faves:
FAR FROM THEIR HOME (A SONG OF GROSSE ILE)
Brendan Nolan
Brendan's notes:
Over a million people left Ireland during the so-called famine. Many left one hell only to have it substituted for another. The island of Grosse Isle in the St. Lawrence near Quebec city was a quarantine station which saw its resources stretched to the limit during the years of 1846 and '47. To the thousands who are buried there, R.I.P.
Song:
Oh we left our homes and traveled
Though many not know where we lie
They said 'twas a land of promise
But few saw it with their own eyes
For it's here on this sad lonely island
Where the wind blows cold to the bone
We rest in its soil forgotten
Far away from our home.
On the 14th day of June
Our packet it set sail
Down the eastern coast we wound
Past Wexford and Kinsale
Till sadly the sunset faded
Gently from our eyes
And the lights of the Southwest flickered away
As we said our last goodbye.
Oh it's hard to describe the suffering
As this awful voyage began.
Two weeks out to sea, we had lost 10 or more
As the fever took the strongest of men
And the holds were battened for days on end
To stifle the sickness below
While the waters of the ocean swallowed our dead
Far away from their home.
Our spirits they were weary
As the great broad river began
And a whale rose up from the waters
As we sailed into this new land
With its hillsides that sloped toward the shoreline
And villages cradled within
We prayed these people could pity our plight
And find a new home for our kin.
Within sight of Grosse Isle
We were anchored far off shore
For many more ships lay waiting
And we'd stay maybe five days or more
For the lost ones outnumbered the living
And a terrible sight it was plain
As a packet floated out in the bay
With its human cargo aflame.
And the sheds overflowed with suffering
And their cries pierced the silence at night
And the brave ones who tended these travelers
Some paid with their lives in the fight
I've lost my own on this island
And my candle's near dying away
To have traveled so far on our journey
Humble voyagers together we'll stay.
Je m'appelle Léo Quinn
Mes ancêtres sont ici
Enterrés sur Grosse Isle
Qui fait face à ma ville Montmagny
Mes souvenirs ne sont que des fantômes
Qui survollent et dansent dans le vent
Ils demandent qu'on se souviens d'eux
Même si ce n'est qu'en chantant.
There are no boats tied in the river
And the cross stands gaunt on the hill
No wretched shadows trod from the shore
To the fever sheds now that lie still
Just the white markers guard their memory
No names carved in granite or stone
And the long grass waves to the wind as she blows
O'er these brave ones far from their home.
And the long grass waves to the wind as she blows
O'er these brave ones far from their home.
(Translation of French Verse:)
My name is Leo Quinn
My ancestors lie here
buried on Grosse Isle
Which faces my town of Montmagny
My memories are ghosts
Who swirl and dance in the wind
They ask that we remember them
Even if only in song
My name is Leo Quinn
My ancestors lie here
buried on Grosse Isle
Which faces my town of Montmagny
My memories are ghosts
Who swirl and dance in the wind
They ask that we remember them
Even if only in song
--------------------------------
wow i really liked that part... thats a really sad/beautiful song...
From the same album:
THE WIDOW'S WALK
Brendan Nolan
Brendan's notes:
In the summer of 1978 I stayed in a house in Maine that had a widow's walk, a very small room at the top of the house. It looked out over the harbor and had a good view of the boats as they came home. Many years later while thinking about that time, this song materialized. The reference to "silkie" is the legend of the seal-people who have the ability to come on land and live as humans. However, if they return to the water they revert to their original form forever.
Song:
She stood by the window
As the waves crashed the shore
To watch him come home
As he had times before
REFRAIN
Carry him home to me
Break the sea down for him
Carry my love home to me
It's late in the year
And the storm winds awaken
To the hardiest of sailors
The sea does not beckon
REFRAIN
At their shady cove moorings
The small boats rock gently
Safe from the sea winds
Till the new season's plenty
REFRAIN
This room is my refuge
From the toils of the day
It's here I find peace
And it's here I can pray
REFRAIN
If the sea take my love
To his rest in the ocean
God make me a silkie
That I could lie with him.
When Natalie Imbruglia had a hit with this song, I completely ignored it, until I heard Edna Swap do an acoustic, non-boppy version of it on Howard Stern. The singer of Edna Swap wrote the damn thing, and sang it with the passion the lyrics are worthy of:
TORN
I thought I saw a man brought to life
He was warm, he came around like he was dignified
He showed me what it was to cry
Well you couldn't be that man I adored
You don't seem to know, don't seem to care what your heart is for
But I don't know him anymore
There's nothing where he used to lie
My conversation has run dry
That's whats going on, nothing's fine I'm torn
I'm all out of faith, this is how I feel
I'm cold and I am shamed lying naked on the floor
Illusion never changed into something real
I'm wide awake and I can see the perfect sky is torn
You're a little late, I'm already torn
So I guess the fortune teller's right
Should have seen just what was there and not some holy light
To crawl beneath my veins and now
I don't care, I have no luck, I don't miss it all that much
There's just so many things that I can't touch, I'm torn
I'm all out of faith, this is how I feel
I'm cold and I am shamed lying naked on the floor
Illusion never changed into something real
I'm wide awake and I can see the perfect sky is torn
You're a little late, I'm already torn. Torn.
There's nothing where he used to lie
My inspiration has run dry
That's what's going on, nothings right, I'm torn
I'm all out of faith, this is how I feel
I'm cold and I am shamed lying naked on the floor
Illusion never changed into something real
I'm wide awake and I can see the perfect sky is torn
I'm all out of faith, this is how I feel
I'm cold and I'm ashamed bound and broken on the floor
You're a little late, I'm already torn.
"The Kilkelly Ireland song now a famous ballad in many parts of the world, draws its inspiration from a series of ten surviving letters written on behalf of Bryan and Elizabeth Hunt by the local school master Pat McNamara. These letters were written to their emigrant son in America. John Hunt emigrated to the States in 1855 and was one of seven children. He was twelve years old and travelled with some neighbours to the new world, never to return to his native home in Urlaur. The letters written to him by his parents were rediscovered in an attic in Bethesda Maryland by his American descendents, the Jones family. Some 120 years after they were written, Peter Jones a great, great grandson of John Hunt composed the ballad based on the contents of the letters.
It is a poignant song dealing with the effects of famine, poverty and emigration on one Irish family. However, its universal appeal comes from the fact that this could be a saga of countless thousands of other Irish families; after they were forced to emigrate through famine and poverty in the 19th Century. A dramatisation of the "Kilkelly Ireland" story written and enacted in an open air pageant in the square in Kilkelly in the summer of 1995. Peter Jones, his brother Stephen, sister Emily and mother Jenny were invited to this re-enactment of the story. Peter himself gave many reditions of the song while here and met his cousins, also Hunts, who still live in the area where John Hunt had finally returned to its roots and his native home. John Hunt himself married a native of Co. Laois, in America, and they had eleven children. The memory of the Hunt family and the hardships they and countless other families suffered will live on forever in the words of the ballad "Kilkelly Ireland".
The old church yard mentioned in the song has now been renovated and restored and lies on the banks of the Trimogue river beside Kilkelly town. A poet once wrote "A man's village is his peace of mind". Through the years many have walked the streets of Kilkelly, worked the land and reared their families. The legacy they have left us, their efforts and their hard work have helped mould and create the community we live in today. We can all be proud of our, local and national, heritage and should endeavour to pass the legacy, we received, on to future generations.
I would like to thank Paul Tarpey or letting me use this valuable piece of history."
KILKELLY, IRELAND
Kilkelly Ireland, eighteen and sixty, my dear and lovin' son John
Your good friend the Schoolmaster Pat McNamara, so good as to write these words down.
Your brothers have all gone to find work in England, the house is so empty and sad,
The crop of potatoes is sorely affected, a third to a half of them bad.
And your sister Bridget and Patrick O'Donnell, are goin' to be married in June,
Your mother says not to work on the railroad, and be sure to come on home soon.
Kilkelly Ireland, eighteen and seventy, my dear and lovin' son John
Hello to your missus and to your four children, that they may grow healthy and strong
Michael has got in a wee bit of trouble, I suppose he never will learn
Because of the dampness there's no turf to speak of and now we have nothing to burn.
And Bridget is happy you named the child for her, although she's got six of her own
You say you've found work, but you don't say what kind, or when you'll be comin' home.
Kilkelly Ireland, eighteen and eighty, dear Michael and John my sons
I'm sorry to give you the very sad news that your dear old mother has gone.
We buried her down at the church in Kilkelly, your brothers and Bridget were there,
You don't have to worry, she died very quickly, remember her in your prayers.
And it's so good to hear that Michael's returning with money he's sure to buy land
For the crop has been poor and the people are selling, for any price that they can.
Kilkelly Ireland, eighteen and ninety, my dear and lovin' son John
I suppose that I must be close on eighty, it's thirty years since you've gone
Because of all of the money you sent me, I'm still living' out of my own
Michael has built himself a fine house, and Bridget's daughters have grown
And thank you for sendin' your family picture, they're lovely young women and men
You say you might even come for a visit, what a joy to see you again.
Kilkelly Ireland, eighteen and ninety two, my dear brother John,
I'm sorry I didn't write sooner, to tell you that father has gone.
He was living with Brigid, she said he was cheerful and healthy right down to the end
And you should have seen him play with the grandchildren, of Pat McNamara your friend.
And we buried him alongside of mother, down at Kilkelly churchyard
He was a strong and a feisty old man, considering that life is so hard.
And it's funny the way he kept talkin' about you, he called for you at the end
And why don't you think about comin' to visit, we'd all love to see you again.
Weeps me up every time I hear it....
I've read all the weepy songs and love every one of them, except to say that none of them compare to those written by IRVING BERLIN. such as
Say it isn't So
All Alone
Be carefu, it's my heart
When I lost You
Remember
Always
They are, in my view the quintessential "weepers"
of all time. I'm sure most of the younger members
of ABLE2KNOW have never even heard the
haunting music that went along withg the lyics of
those Berlin songs.
Let me just me repeat oneof them :
What'll I do when you are far away
And I am blue
What'll I do?
What'll I do with just a photograph
To show my troubles to
When I'm alone with only dreams of you
That won't come true
What'll I do?
And if that isn't the saddest song ever, for someone
who has loved and lost, just listen to the lyrics of
this one,written 75 years ago :
All alone, I'm so all alone
There is no one else but you
All alone, by the telephone
Waiting for a ring, a ting-a-ling
I'm all alone every evening
All alone and feeling blue
Wondering where you and how you are
And if you are all alone too.
"What'll I Do" is one of my all-time favorites, ronmac. It's elegant, romantic and heartbreaking all at the same time.
