This is a bit of a long shot, but there’s a song that’s recently popped back in my head and I don’t have a clue who sings it, but I do have a decent amount of description on it. I frequently used to listen to the folk/trad live streaming music on http://www.liveireland.com and heard this song there.
Basically, it is a duet. There is a male and female singer, and the male is singing as though he is the female’s father, and she, his daughter. They are singing to each other every other verse I would say. He sings, "Daughter dear, daughter dear… " and she sings “Father dear, father dear…”
I want to say that she is singing about her father going far away, or something along those lines. The male singer has a bit of a nasal resonance to his voice, almost reminds me of Paul Brady a bit, but I don’t know if it is him or not.
The only other thing to tell is that the track was acoustic overall, it had acoustic guitar, drums and possibly whistle and/or accordion.
Like I said, it is a total longshot, but I thought I’d throw it out there to those of you who are big time audiophiles!
It’s a well-known ballad, though not a Child Ballad, I think.
Father, dear father, you’ve done me great wrong
You have married me to a boy who is too young
I am twice twelve and he is but fourteen
He’s young but he’s daily growing
Daughter, dear daughter, I’ve done you no wrong
I have married you to a great Lord’s son
And he will be a man for you when I am dead and gone
He’s young but he’s daily growing
MTGuru, how did I know you would be the one to solve my mystery?! And so quickly too!!
My daughter turned the big “one” back in March, and my wife and I are expecting kid #2 in September, for whatever reason this new stage of my life has me listening with a different ear of late. I will have to pick up this album. The funny thing is I have never been acquainted with Paul Brady until very recently when I picked up his Andy Irvine collaboration album from the 1970s. I have been listening to this music almost daily, and I simply can’t get enough of it. In fact, I am bummed that the annual Celtic Connections thing in Scotland doesn’t record albums or DVDs of the performances. (At least I don’t think they do, and what a shame!) I would love to have been there to hear the Paul Brady and Andy Irvine reunion show, and so many other great artists sharing the same stage. Perhaps I will be able to afford a ticket to Glasgow next January…
I first dove into Planxty a few years back now, which kinda got the whole ITM in the first place. And from there I branched out into a bunch of other fantastic music. Every day it seems I hear a new trad Irish or Scottish tune/song and fall deeper into the magic of the genre. It’s like a fire inside my head that can’t be quenched, and more to the point, why would I want to? I love all music more or less, but I must say that nothing seems to come close in technique, color, tone, dynamics, rhythm, etc.
Cheers, and as always, thanks again you made my weekend!
