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Burbania Folk

2/8/2016

7 Comments

 
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Singing songs at the Eliot Church Ski Trip!
Hey Folks,

I need your help.

I have a sabbatical coming up and am in the process of figuring out what I can do to add value to my ministry.  I am looking for places where my own interests intersect with those of the church.  I am also looking for projects that will be fun to do.  This quest naturally led to folk music.


Music in general is one of the things that brings Eliot Church together. We love singing hymns, listening to the "special music" provided by our music director and soloists. We enjoy participating in and hearing the choir. Then, of course, there is the Ukestra which has its own spot on this webpage and provides numerous opportunities to play and sing.

What I would like to do for my sabbatical (I have other plans as well) is to learn to play at least 20 folksongs without recourse to written lyrics, chord sheets, or notation. Part of the reason for my wanting to do this simply comes from the social awkwardness of people learning that I play the ukulele/mandolin/guitar, shoving an instrument into my hands, and asking me to play something. It is awkward. The fact is I only know a few songs where I don't need some form of assistance. However, that is not the only reason. I am also on a quest to accumulate songs for the Ukestra and for worship in general. Folk music is a good place to start.

There are reasons for this (some of them obvious) and I am sure that I will unpack that more over time. Right now, though, I would like to accumulate a list of songs that you my loyal colleagues, readers, and fellow Eliot members think I should learn. Since "folk" is a word with many meanings, I have some guidelines for us to think about...

WHAT I AM LOOKING FOR

1) Actual Folk Songs:
As a marketing term, Folk Music can mean a lot of things. Here, however I have a rather restricted vision. Which is to say, I mean actual folksongs. Not semi-acoustic "folky" songs like we hear a Newport.  I am not interested in contemporary singer-songwriters from the 1960s to the present. The idea is to find music that is shared (or can be shared) over a broad group of people. In fact, what I am most interested in are songs that we find ourselves singing but are (at first at least) unsure of the author. "Drunken Sailor" or "This Land is Your Land" spring to mind. They are simple and in some sense eternal.

I am not interested in fancy guitar work or introspective ballads. I love Frank Turner. I enjoy Jason Isbell. They and their ilk are great artists but I am looking for songs that identify with a people rather than a person.

2) Simplicity:
Folksongs are meant to be sung and played by actual folks. This means that they are usually structured in a simple, easy to remember way. Repeated lines, only one or two "parts" (verse and chorus), and simple tunes make it possible for a large group of people to know a song, perform it, and enjoy it. To that end, I am looking for songs with from one to five chords and no "bridges". Any more than three chords is probably showing off.  It is worth remembering, in fact, that many folksongs (work songs in particular) didn't have any accompaniment to start.


3) "Traditional" or "Anonymous" :
There are many exceptions to this rule, however in general I am interested in traditional songs. Sometimes there won't be an author. Sometimes the tune has been used before or at least echoes other songs.

Certainly some actual folksongs do have authors. Woody Guthrie, Elizabeth Cotton, Charlie Poole, and Robert Johnson are among just a few of the songwriters whose work has transcended their own performance and entered into our cultural consciousness. These are all great choices or suggestions.

​A great many commercial acts in the "Americana" vein will throw a couple covers onto their albums. Some of them are obvious and well-known songs. Some of them are not but could be. This is a good place to look. All of them are fair game for us to learn.

4) Participatory:
Finally, I would like to reiterate that the songs be the sort that people enjoy singing together. Yes, sometimes that means a hymn or spiritual. Yet sometimes it could mean a drinking song, patriotic song, or murder ballad. It just needs to have strong lyrics a steady beat and a simple tune.


WHAT I WILL DO

Once I have a collection of, say, 20 songs that fit the guidelines, I will select 10 that seem interesting and get started. My plan is to research the history of each song, learn to play it, and then record a simple version to place on this webpage.  I will throw the chord progressions in there as well.

​Ultimately, I will either keep these posts under a separate heading in Burbania Posts or create a "Burbania Folk" page.  That will depend on volume, I think.

If anyone (colleagues, bandmates, and congregants in particular) would like to be on the recordings please let me know that as well. I think the videos will get pretty boring without guest performers. Besides--as I said--I envision this project as being a participatory one! Ukestra members of course may very well see some of the songs again... In a good way.

So anyway, what are your thoughts? Are there folksongs that you would like to hear in church? Ones that you would like to learn yourself? Ones that you would like me to learn because you think it would be funny? Let me know! I have some ideas but I am very interested in others.





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7 Comments
Sarah Ward
2/8/2016 01:02:18 pm

A classic, and one of my favorites, is Indigo Girls' 'Closer to Fine.'
The song could be interpreted as being religiously subversive, but for one thing, The Eliot Church is used to that, and for another, I see it as more of an exploration of what it means to struggle through some great human questions, which is part of what the Church is all about!

Reply
Sarah again
2/8/2016 01:09:34 pm

Hmm, just read through your entire post... Closer to Fine definitely stands in violation of condition 1, but in my opinion, it easily meets conditions 2 and 4, so there's that.
I guess it's not quite what you're looking for, but in any case, I'm curious to see which folk songs are chosen! Good luck, Adam, and have fun!

Reply
Adam Tierney-Eliot link
2/9/2016 06:58:04 am

Thanks for the suggestion! You are right. It doesn't quite fit the parameters of the project. However, it would probably make a good song for the Ukestra to consider playing in church!

Reply
Carol Hildebrand
2/9/2016 08:57:13 am

I think of the sort of song you are describing as a campfire song, while (to me, at least) folk has more of a social commentary undertone to it. On the other hand, I don't really of what I speak.
So for old songs without authors that I sang as a kid I offer the following:
I've been working on the railroad
Green Grow the Rushes (o)
How much is that Doggie in the Window?
Does the Spearmint lose its flavor on the bedpost overnight?
It Ain't gonna rain no mo, no mo
Good Night, Ladies
I'm a lonely little petunia in the onion patch
Greensleeves
You are My Sunshine
My Darling Clementine
In the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virgina

Do they have to be American folk songs? If not, how about:
Whiskey in the Jar or Fields of Athenry?

If you'd lift the "nothing after the 1960s" requirement, the field widens considerably. And if you are looking for songs that people will know and want to sing along with, that might be helpful.

Reply
Adam Tierney-Eliot link
2/9/2016 10:24:53 am

I answered in the regular stream but the real question is which song are you going to play with me? :-)

Reply
Adam Tierney-Eliot link
2/9/2016 10:09:35 am

They don't have to be campfire songs and many fols songs are very political. I grew up in the labor movement, for example and we have plenty of songs. The 1960's rule isn't about the date but about a genre. That is to say I am not interested in popular acoustic music that is marketed as "folk" but really doesn't have a separate life of its own. For example, "The Times They are a Changin'" could be a folk song. "Tangled Up in Blue" not so much.

Reply
Adam Tierney-Eliot
2/9/2016 10:35:44 am

Also, I didn't mean to say that they couldn't have authors (though I could see how you would think that given my doctrinaire headings), just that the songs have to have transcended the original context of the person who wrote it. So the real question is, is it a "pop" song OR does it (or could it) exist as something that people sing/play (and interpret) for themselves rather than listen to a particular recording (or attempt to approximate the recording)?

Here is the list that others have contributed so far on FB and email...

wondrous love,
simple gifts,
how can i keep from singing,
amazing grace,
blessed assurance,
I'll fly away,
will the circle be unbroken
eyes on the prize
Hard Times Come again no more.
Hymn for the Russian Earth
The Wreck of the Old 97,
Lowlands,
Whiskey in the Jar,
Two Brothers,
Barbara Allen
(from here down is me and/or my live-in bandmates)
I Hate the Capitalist System
Take this Hammer
Freight Train
Pastures of Plenty
Democrat Man
Long Handled Spoon
On the Other Side
The Man Frank Weems


To which we can add (from this thread)

Closer I am to Fine

I've been working on the railroa
Green Grow the Rushes (o)
How much is that Doggie in the Window?
Does the Spearmint lose its flavor on the bedpost overnight?
It Ain't gonna rain no mo, no mo
Good Night, Ladies
I'm a lonely little petunia in the onion patch
Greensleeves
You are My Sunshine
My Darling Clementine
In the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virgina
Whiskey in the Jar
Fields of Athenry? (foreign is fine)
Delete

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    Adam Tierney-Eliot

    This is my old weblog of many years.  I will probably post here from time to time is there is a subject that does not fit WWG.  However WWG is the more active page at this point.

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