Once upon a time in the Sixties there was a band called Steeleye Span, and they were amazing. Their singer Sandy has a lovely and powerful voice and deft phrasing for these traditional English folk songs. Pair this with the electric instrumentation that accompanies her and you have a truly unique and undeniably compelling final result.
My favorite of their songs is called “One Misty Moisty Morning” and is about the seduction and eventual marriage of a milkmaid. It is a romp, quick-paced and utterly charming. If ever I marry again, you can be sure this song will play at my reception to riotous laughter and unbridled delight. Maybe, just mine, but still. How can one resist a song wherein the lover admits “with many idle phrases I stroked her double chin, singing how-de-doo, and how-de-do, and how-de-do again!” When Hodie was little, she would clamor to hear this one
“Play HOW DE DOO MAMA!!!”
and then we would join hands and spin around the living room singing to each other at the tops of our lungs. I still feel the urge to do this whenever I hear it, though she is now much more mature than I am and just gives me a tolerant look when I holler
“HOW DE DOOOO!!!!”
They are also moderately renowned for their redition of “Gaudete” which is a classic and hauntingly beautiful Christmas carol performed flawlessly a capella. It regularly appears on compilations of the best carols ever, and justifiably so. When, on occasion, I go to listen to my voice echo in the silences, I will often choose this as my means of filling the quiet.
For a stark and unusual insight into the political climate in Great Britain during the reign of George V we have “Cam Ye O’er Frae France” at least, as much insight as one can have with the admixture of Old and modern English employed in the lyrics.
Each of these songs is posessed of a particular and wonderful energy, no less “All Around My Hat” which is a cautionary tale about the costs of a romance with a distant and possibly fickle lover. A rollicking tune and matter of fact emotional tenor make this song both sweet and slightly wry, just as the best romances are.
I love hearing these songs. They lift my spirits and send shivers through my body. They are enlivening and a pleasure to listen to, and even more to sing. Whether or not Hodie will spin around with me while I do.
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