good ones, pom. This kind of ties in with the Magdalenes, a John Prine song--the songwriting is extraordinary in its economy, the few, simple words he needs to draw the picture:
In an Appalachian, Greyhound station
She sits there waiting, in a family way
"Goodbye brother, Tell Mom I love her
Tell all the others, I'll write someday"
Chorus:
From a teenage lover, to an unwed mother
Kept undercover, like some bad dream
While unwed fathers, they can't be bothered
They run like water through a mountain stream
In a cold and gray town, a nurse says "Lay down
This ain't no playground, and this ain't home"
Someone's children, out having children
In a gray stone building, all alone
On a somewhere-else-bound, Smokey Mountain Greyhound
She bows her head down, hummin' lullabies
'Your daddy never, meant to hurt you ever'
'He just don't live here, but you've got his eyes'
Repeat Chorus:
Well, they run like water,
Through a mountain stream
I will come back to the thread later today, when I can put my full attention on these last songs, pom and mj.
Incredible combination of some the greatest talents to ever made music: Yip Harberg, Odetta and Dr. John.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3KoJj4dz2I
@plainoldme,
Wonderful. I know the song and the artists. First time I found them all together like this.
@edgarblythe,
First time for me as well. I heard them this morning on the radio and knew I had to share the experience.
@plainoldme,
I am still listening to them.
@edgarblythe,
Ah, yes, edgar. The Highway is My Home is a great story by Merle.
One of Poe's Last poems.
Edgar Allan Poe: El Dorado
Gaily bedight,
A gallant night
In sunshine and in shadow,
Had journeyed long,
Singing a song,
In search of El Dorado.
But he grew old --
This knight so bold --
And -- o'er his heart a shadow
Fell as he found
No spot of ground
That looked like El Dorado.
And, as his strength
Failed him at length,
He met a pilgrim shadow --
"Shadow," said he,
"Where can it be --
This land of El Dorado?"
"Over the Mountains
Of the Moon,
Down the Valley of the Shadow,
Ride, boldly ride,"
The shade replied --
"If you seek for El Dorado."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F945LQG6fuA&feature=related
The name Conquistador (Spanish for Conqueror) was a term applied to the vagrants, adventurers, explorers of the New World, scouring the New World for gold, glory and fame. Sometimes they sought to spread the Christian faith, but for the multitudes crossing the Atlantic, they fought and died for wealth and to secure their names in the annals of history.
The character of a conquistador was varied, but at the very core, a thirst for opportunities which was most often agitated by gentrified poverty. Usually they were hidalgos, minor noblemen and not the inheritors of whatever wealth their family could afford them by birthright, and forced to choose between either a career in the military or the church.
Took this from a web site, but lost the link -
That word "hidalgo" is an interesting one, ed, it's a compressed form of "hijo de algo", literally "son of someone", or rather "Someone" with a capital S--someone of high rank or position,, with too many sons, most of whom wouldn't inherit anything much on the father's death.
A lot of them were not of "noble" birth, but . got out of Spain and invented new genealogies for themselves. If you read their chronicles and the histories, probably most of them were greedy, avaricious murderers who were totally convinced of their own superiority and native inferiority, who were perfectly ready to murder, rape, and backstab their comrades if it meant they themselves could get more loot. The overall impression is of pirates on land.
@panzade,
I knew it in part. That was an interesting time period.
Here are several stories.
Do you all know about The Black Cab Sessions? It began as a project of two film students in London who started filming musicians, playing acoustically in the back of a cab. Almost sounds like the lead in to a dirty joke.
Anyway, the fascinating Black Cab sessions are one story, but the Great Richard Thompson is another. The man is a walking, strumming, singing, chording course in music theory.
Here, he plays a traditional ballad, its own story, which came out of another story, just as the Black Cab Sessions are a third story.
http://www.blackcabsessions.com/sessions.php?id=1232713556
@plainoldme,
I was not aware of the Black Cab Sessions.
Charlie Louvin died this month. He is best known for his performances with brother Ira. They were billed as The Louvin Brothers.
@edgarblythe,
That was a sad song by Charlie, edgar.
Here's one that was inspired by Sarah McLachlan.
There may have been a real King Arthur.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQ5Z04PSBtg&feature=related
@edgarblythe,
The Black Cab Sessions are fun. I've been listening to them for at least 2 years.
