Scholars who analyze poetry seem to have a problem with To Earthward by Robert Frost. Frost, by most accounts at least, was an imminently respectable fellow. And yet even critics agree that something is going on here. Some will go as far as to speak of passion. A few will mention something like an undercurrent of eroticism. Some dare go as far as to suggest that perhaps Frost is speaking of … [Read more...] about To Earthward by Robert Frost
the journal
Unending Love by Rabindranath Tagore
I seem to have loved you in numberless forms, numberless times… In life after life, in age after age, forever. My spellbound heart has made and remade the necklace of songs, That you take as a gift, wear round your neck in your many forms, In life after life, in age after age, forever. Whenever I hear old chronicles of love, its age-old pain, Its ancient tale of being apart or … [Read more...] about Unending Love by Rabindranath Tagore
Jack Haggerty
A FELLOW BY THE NAME OF DAN McGINNIS wrote the lyrics to take the piss out of his boss, George Mercier. Old George was engaged to Anna Tucker, and managed to land a job that McGinnis wanted. In spite, McGinnis wrote the lyrics, and tagged Jack Haggerty’s name on it, some think to make George wonder if there might have been a bit of a dalliance between Jack, who was the local heartthrob, and … [Read more...] about Jack Haggerty
On Springfield Mountain
IT'S A TRAGIC TALE ... telling of the death of one Timothy Merrick, who died on August 7, 1761 in Wilbraham, Massachusetts from the bite of a serpent. The town clerk recorded at the time, "Lieut Thomas Mirick's only Son dyed, August 7th, 1761, By the Bite of a Ratle Snake, Being 22 years, two months and three days old, and very nigh marridge." And that’s pretty much where the facts ends and the … [Read more...] about On Springfield Mountain
Nineteen Years Old (The Virgin)
ON THE FRONTIER THERE WERE NO STANDUP COMEDIANS. They were forced to make each other laugh. When it comes to topics, we haven’t progressed much as this song shows. Variations exist of this song under a number of names, including In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree, The Burgler Man, My Little Girl, A Dandy For Nineteen Years Old and Whorehouse Bells Were Ringing. This one goes out to anyone … [Read more...] about Nineteen Years Old (The Virgin)
I Courted A Wee Girl (The False Bride)
I Courted A Wee Girl is a heartbreaking tale, Scottish in origin though the Irish lay claim as well. The Brits made it popular as a broadside ballad. It's also known as “The False Bride,” "The Week Before Easter", "The False Hearted Lover", "The Forsaken Bridegroom" or "Love Is The Cause Of My Mourning" or "The False Nymph". I Courted A Wee Girl I courted a wee girl for many’s the long … [Read more...] about I Courted A Wee Girl (The False Bride)
Fair Fannie Moore
HERE'S A NEWFOUNDLAND VERSION of a British murder ballad, which drifted its way all over North America, and found some success later on as a cowboy song. It found its way to us via an album titled Green Fields Of Illinois,” put out by the Campus Folksong Club of the University of Illinois in 1963. The album was a collection of folk songs sung by regular folks who hailed from southern Illinois, … [Read more...] about Fair Fannie Moore
Whiskey You’re The Devil
Whiskey has a prominent place in the history of the frontier. There is of course the obvious reason. But one must not discount the economics. It takes a lot of grain to make whiskey, and a barrel of whiskey is easier and cheaper to transport than wagons full of grain. Whiskey You’re The Devil seems to have its source in a broadside ballad titled John and Moll, which dates from Ireland sometime … [Read more...] about Whiskey You’re The Devil