A folk song is what's wrong and how to fix it or it could be
who's hungry and where their mouth is or
who's out of work and where the job is or
who's broke and where the money is or
who's carrying a gun and where the peace is.
Woody Guthrie
My wickedly willow song series would be seriously lacking if it didn't include an all-American piece, and since this is 4th of July week, I though it very fitting to include Woody Guthrie's "Bury Me Beneath the Willow". Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie (July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan "This Machine Kills Fascists" displayed on his guitar. His best known song is "This Land Is Your Land", which is regularly sung in American schools. Many of his recorded songs are archived in the Library of Congress. Such songwriters as Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs and Tom Paxton have acknowledged their debt to Guthrie as an influence. (wiki)I chose this version, sung by Alison Krauss and Lyle Lovett.
My heart is sad and I am lonely
For the only one I love
When shall I see her? Oh, no never
'Til we meet in Heaven above
Chorus
Oh bury me beneath the willow
Under the weeping willow tree
So she will know where I am sleeping
And perhaps she'll weep for me
She told me that she dearly loved me
How could I believe her untrue
Until the angels softly whispered
She will prove untrue to you
Tomorrow was our wedding day
Oh God, oh God, where can she be
She's out a-courting with another
And no longer cares for me
just beautiful willow...love the allison kraus version...hope you and yours are having a great 4th week...
ReplyDelete"Thanks for the Memories"
ReplyDelete'A folk song is what's wrong and how to fix it...' I wonder if a blues song is also about what's wrong but the writer doesn't know the solution. Enjoying your willow series.
ReplyDeleteAllison Kraus has such a haunting voice, perfect for this song. Really enjoyed it. I just love this series that you do.
ReplyDeleteLove this--will keep it in my head all day. Thank you. Have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteGreat "willow" song (& one that I perform in my duet incarnation w/singer Heather U), & always good to see Woody Guthrie! Have a great weekend.
ReplyDeleteHe pulls at our heart strings, still. Thanks, Willow.
ReplyDeleteAlways great to revisit Woody Guthrie. We have all sung This Land is Your Land in school, but many may not be aware that some verses of Guthrie's original were left out of the version sung in school. One was not regarded as sufficiently respectful of private property:
ReplyDeleteAs I went walking I saw a sign there
And on the sign it said "No Trespassing."
But on the other side it didn't say nothing,
That side was made for you and me.
And the other asked a dark question about some of the troubles in the country at that time:
Nobody living can ever stop me,
As I go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody living can ever make me turn back
This land was made for you and me.
In the squares of the city, In the shadow of a steeple;
By the relief office, I'd seen my people.
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking,
Is this land made for you and me?
Guthrie was a master. Rather like Dylan, it's always good to read his lyrics.
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend, Bisou, Cro.
Woody was a beautiful and prolific writer and one of my heros. And a great pick for your July 4th week! Enjoyed the "Willow song" again.
ReplyDeleteOh, Woody Guthrie! An amazing songwright.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter Anne had a lead role in "Woody Guthrie's American Song" her senior year in college so now she and I sing Guthrie a LOT -- I am an unrepentant harmonizer.
Yes, folk songs -- real ones -- do talk of what's wrong, although they don't always get the "how to fix it" part.
Have a wonderful and tune-filled weekend.
Cass
Recently viewed a special on Woodie Guthrie on PBS and learned so much of his personality, his struggles and his early life...so good to hear Lyle...thank you!
ReplyDeleteI'm a big fan of Allison Krauss's. That's a beautiful song. I'll have to backtrack in your blog for the other songs - been away for a bit.
ReplyDeleteKat
Allison Kraus has such a captivating voice. i enjoy that song, and especially while viewing another great blog post of yours. . .
ReplyDeletehope your doing well
love visiting here,
ReplyDeleteand Allison Kraus.
and that b&w photo
There is a funny twist to the end of the song!.. I like it!
ReplyDelete:) The Bach
I love Woody Guthie and am a huge fan of Alison Kraus....wonderful post, now I have to find my AKraus cd and put it on my Ipod...bkm
ReplyDeleteAnother fine rendition for the Willow library of song! Hope you've enjoyed your Patriotic week.
ReplyDeleteA Great American Hero.You All In The USA Need To Be Very,Very Proud Of This Wonderful Human Being.
ReplyDeleteYour willow song series is so much fun! Woody Guthrie is an American icon for sure.
ReplyDeleteGreat song! The weeping willow figures in many a folk song.
ReplyDeleteAs usual I had to wait until I got home - I still don't know why they won't let me listen to music at work :)
ReplyDeleteAlison is one of my very favorite singers - I thoroughly enjoyed this duet with Lyle Lovett. I have her album with Robert Plant - a whole OTHER animal, but fun.
It is always a pleasure to read your posts. I like the look of your blog and I so like your subjects of the posts. Top notch.
ReplyDeleteLove this version of it! Those two are faves for me. I am on a road trip to a funeral with Joe and this morning, while meandering through the backroads of VA, I thought of you several times, with street names and stores with "Willow" in them! See? You're omnipresent, Willow!
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing all the songs and references to willow that you continue to find. A special memory of my childhood was a pussy willow tree that in the spring would be covered in soft furry lemon coloured sweet smelling catkins - I would climb into the tree and daydream.
ReplyDeleteHe's a legend and so lovely. Arlo Guthrie will be in our town tomorrow giving a free kids concert!
ReplyDeleteI love your blog.
ReplyDeleteThat's a pretty sad song, Willow. Lost his love who is out courting another on their wedding day! Sounds like a country song!!
ReplyDeleteThat's a pretty sad song, Willow. Lost his love who is out courting another on their wedding day! Sounds like a country song!!
ReplyDeleteOh my heavens, I love that song, it's one of my very favorite ones ever! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteNancy
Thank you for the treat!
ReplyDeleteA wonderful weekend to you,
Merisi
A poignant post and rather appropriate for the news in the UK today of a wanted gunman's suicide.
ReplyDeleteI love Alison Krauss's voice.
I am a hugh Alison Krauss fan. I became a convert halfway between Alice Springs and Ayers Rock (Uluru) in Central Australia about 8 years ago. Andrea and I had a campervan and a long way to drive so borrowed a few CDs from friends we were staying with. I had no idea who she was. As for Woody Guthrie- well he is a champion of music as the catalyst for social change and of the folk movement here as in the USA. Thanks. Maybe I'll search my memory for an Australian song with Willow content. There must be some. The river systems are lined with Weeping Willows.
ReplyDeleteI always liked the "This land is made for your and me" part. Now that is stuck in my head.
ReplyDeleteStill doing as little as possible. Saw your comment and retaliated.
Love Woody Guthrie. Love Allison Kraus. Love your Willow series.
ReplyDeleteWonderful! I think this is my favorite, so far, in your Willow series. It was so great to revisit the great Woody Guthrie.
ReplyDeletePerfect rendition of the song..how lucky we are to have had a hero such as Woody Guthrie..his guitar was a weapon indeed, his words told us who we are!
ReplyDeleteGee that was pretty to listen to. Every time I hear one of his ballads and/or political songs, I hear his influence on Bob Dylan. Such poetry of purpose in both songwriters.
ReplyDeleteI love this song. I sure pulls at your heart strings.
ReplyDeleteQMM
I'm more Dylan than Guthrie even though some say Dylan is more Guthrie than Guthrie. I think you picked the best version. I've just been singing it in open D in the garden. Thanks willow for introducing ANOTHER song I've never heard before.
ReplyDeleteIt's a very beautiful song and a perfect edition to your willowy collection!
ReplyDeleteLAsdt weekend, our 4-year-old, and she wanted a CD to go to sleep to because she hadn't brought any of her own, and she didn't want classical music. So S gave her an Allson Krause album. She'd never heard Allison Krause before. The next morning, she told us "I love Allison Kraus."
ReplyDeleteHi, Willow. Thanks for spotlighting Woody Guthrie.
Well, I know I sang this when I was in school, and learned more about Guthrie through my love of Bob Dylan. Allison Krauss is such a great talent! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI have been in MOCKINGBIRD mode all this week, but wouldn't you know it led to a Willow! The 19th century popular American folk song, "Listen to the Mockingbird" features these lines in the chorus:
Listen to the mockingbird,
listen to the mockingbird.
Still singing where the
weeping willows wave.
It is similar story of a lost love named Hally.
Oh, the sadness of this...
ReplyDeleteTomorrow was our wedding day
Oh God, oh God, where can she be
She's out a-courting with another
And no longer cares for me
The Willow songs always seem to have a haunting beauty!
Lovely, as always!
FireLight, Listen to the Mockingbird is a song that for odd reasons is near and dear to my heart. Here's a post explaining...
ReplyDeletehttp://willowmanor.blogspot.com/2010/05/mocking-bird.html
Willow, I just reread your poem. In fact, I am sure your recent humming of that song stayed with me. As part of my week long celebration of To Kill a Mockinbird, I watched FEARFUL SYMMETRY: The Making of To Kill a Mockingbird. Part of the narrative of this program suggests that the entire book was Harper Lee's mockingbird song...a love story...for her father and for Boo...and innocent people like Tom Robinson. I think it is an apt conclusion.
ReplyDeleteI do enjoy the folk family. Woody had a way of telling it like is and telling how it should be and still (mostly) get everyone in the same room. -J
ReplyDeleteI love all these songs. This is were I'll come for my musical inspiration. I'm so impressed with your research!!
ReplyDelete