A Fine Road is my contribution to Steve Krell’s challenge to write an Irish tune/song for St Patricks Day. I used a Chieftain Low G, and played it twice on two seperate tracks to get that sound. http://www.banjohangout.org/myhangout/media-player/audio_player2.asp?musicid=20550&archived=
[center]
It’s a fine road I’ve traveled
And wandered so far
Seldom been caught in the rain
I’ve had lots of good fortune
I’ve gazed at the stars
But only a few know my name
O
I have smelled the flowers
On the path that I’ve been
And heard the wind through the trees
Just a patch of clover
On a sunny hillside
That’s all that is needed for me
O
Well I found my companion
Early along
And we’ve followed each other for years
It doesn’t much matter
What trail we’re on
The warmth of the Sun reappears
O
It’s a fine road I’ve traveled
And I’ve not yet arrived
Too many things left to do
There is so much more wandering
Beyond the next hill
Before I can say that I’m through
[/center]
Well done, Greg. I very much like marriage of the lyrics and the music as the latter well conveys the imagery presented by the former.
I didn’t see the posted challenge to which you were responding and I’m not sure if it was posted here or at the BHO. I finished a song recently that I won’t get around to recording until sometime this summer at the earliest, but I’ll share the lyrics for anyone that’s interested.
A little back story…
Between research done by myself and a cousin whom I’ve yet to meet in person, we’ve reason to believe that some of our ancestors may have been part of the group of Lansdowne immigrants that came over from Kenmare during the famine. When they got here, they wound up living in the Five Points section of Manhattan which might have been the worst place to be living in the entire country at the time …so much for the “luck o’ the Irish.”
This is something I wrote for them…
The Last Picture of Ireland
There’s a painting on the wall
A faded scene from long before
A sod house on a Kerry shore
A shadowed face in the door
This was the last place that we called home
Before the trip to Amerikay
And though it’s aged and a little frayed
To me it feels like yesterday
The boat is leaving in an hour’s time
Relations stop to shake our hands
We pretend we’ll see them by and by
This is the last picture of Ireland
Chorus: The last picture of Ireland
Goodbye home, goodbye friends
With as much courage as souls could command
We wave goodbye to Ireland
Nary enough for kit nor kin
We worked sick fields with back and hoe
Potatoes, black as the landlord’s soul
Goodbye to Kenmare, our only home
Lansdowne’s banker made the plan
With no concern for the cruelty
Cheaper than the tax for poverty
Would be to send them all across the sea
Like cattle at the marketplace
The poor are herded, tickets in hand
No hint of a smile on any face
This is the last picture of Ireland
Chorus: The last picture of Ireland
Goodbye home, goodbye friends
With as much courage as souls could command
We wave goodbye to Ireland
Thanks Greg. And yes, those folks had an incredibly difficult life. It was interesting to see through census records and old phone books entries just how often my ancestors had to move. They rarely lasted a year in the same location. I’m not sure if the constant moving was due to financial hardship or bettering their financial situation. I have some hope it was the latter as they seemed to be slowly creeping their way away from the very worst streets but it took more than a couple of decades before they wound up in a neighborhood that wasn’t really horrific. But it could be equally true that they often fell behind on the rent and were forced to move.
And thanks also for the kind words on Rand-McNally. There are a few more songs I’ve written on my mp3 page, feel free to check them out if you’re interested. I think there are some issues that sometimes happen when trying to go there with Firefox, but IE should work fine if that’s the case.
As always, a very nice listen, thank you! I like your laid back style-it sure suits my ears. Also liked your backup voices-sounds like there are some very harmonizing guys singing along! Guess that’s also what gives the whistle track some depth too. Keep up the good work.
Hey, mickey66. Have you considered putting
the tuxedomusic link in your signature instead
of in the post itself? This has a couple of
advantages:
It’s automatically included so you don’t have
to type or cut/paste it every time you post.
Signatures start with a separator so that it’s
pretty clear to readers like me that the link is
your signature and not pertinent to the rest of
your post. (I spent a few confused moments
when I clicked on it in this thread…)
