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Keywords:
Feter (19), mandolin (37), ancient (8), medieval (14), English (24), folk (354), traditional (65), melancholy (56), homesick (2)
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Description:
I was recently approached by Feter McBlues about an old English folk song he'd recorded on his mandolin and wanted me to sing for him. When he sent me the backing track I was bowled over by it ... the simplicity and fragile delicacy of it really touched me on a deep level. It sounded like a medieval recording which had somehow spun its way down the centuries.
I've done my best to sing it in the same spirit as Feter's original track, with the same fragility and honesty.
The song is hundreds of years old and exists in many versions ... it's also sometimes known as The North Country Maid. It certainly resonates for me because I'm a country girl and loathe London!
For those who don't know Feter, he's an Iraqi musician from Baghdad and creates his music under circumstances very different from mine. The fact that my country is embroiled in the military occupation of his makes this collaboration all the more poignant for me, especially as the song is about homesickness. It certainly brought me to the verge of tears while I was recording it.
I'm afraid if you're looking for technical perfection you won't find it ... this is lo-fi magic.
Rebsie: voice
Feter: 4-string mandolin
Lyrics:
A north country maid to London has strayed
Although with her nature it did not agree
She's wept and she's sighed, she's wrung her hands and cried
Oh I wish once again in the north I could be
Now sadly I roam and lament my dear home
Where lads and lasses are making the hay
Oh the oak and the ash and the bonny ivy tree
They flourish at home in my own country
Oh the oak and the ash and the bonny ivy tree
They flourish at home in my own country
No doubt if I please I could marry with ease
Where bonnie lasses are, soon lovers will come
But the lad that I wed must be north country bred
And carry me back to my north country home
Oh the oak and the ash and the bonny ivy tree
They flourish at home in my own country
I like not the court, nor the city resort,
Since there is no fancy for such maids as me
Oh the oak and the ash and the bonny ivy tree
They flourish at home in my own country
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We are the world &mdash 03/14/07 - 08:05:30 AM
Another excellent example of the power of macjams.
It's good to see what magic can come from this place:)
Beautiful work from both of you.
[ Reply to This ]
Thanks Thoddi &mdash 03/14/07 - 06:03:29 PM
Indeed the reach of MacJams seems limitless. It's brought me a lot of unexpected blessings. [ Reply to This ]
?????? &mdash 03/14/07 - 08:45:44 AM
now how in the world can such a simple little backing sound so perfect? kudos to Mr McBlues for using minimal for maximum effect. lovely voice, rebsie - harmony was a pleasure to witness. it's truly a beautiful piece of delicacy. enjoyed! anne [ Reply to This ]
&mdash 03/14/07 - 06:10:20 PM
MJ should rule the world &mdash 03/14/07 - 09:21:06 AM
I've said it once before... why can't the world work the way MJ does... I think i even nominated Thoddi as King... When I think of all the resources that get sucked into war, prisons, police, courts... when all that each of us would have to do is treat others the way we would be treated... with all those resources world wide, every person could be cared for...
WE DREAM [ Reply to This ]
Sorry.. &mdash 03/14/07 - 09:24:10 AM
as for the song... delivered with typical Rebsie purity and clarity... definatley the minstral/troubadore [ Reply to This ]
No need to apologise &mdash 03/15/07 - 11:33:18 AM
Thank you ... you're quite right, how much better might it be if we weren't living in a world governed by distrust and self-interest. Looks like we're stuck with it for a while though. [ Reply to This ]
Sweetness &mdash 03/14/07 - 02:20:56 PM
Wonderfully put-together - on so many levels, this is a timeless piece, Rebs. Feter's playing is an amazing bridge between Olde English music and middle-eastern flavor, there's much of both in his exquisite rendering. Your voice is perfect for this track - truly, the two of you are representative of all that's right and beautiful with people and the gift of music! [ Reply to This ]
&mdash 03/15/07 - 11:42:23 AM
Thank you Bing! I'm glad you noticed the blend of eastern and western flavours, that was one of the things that made the mandolin track appeal to me in the first place. [ Reply to This ]
"Tis a gift to be simple..." &mdash 03/14/07 - 03:11:56 PM
...just such a pleasure to listen to. Whether I'm closing my eyes or working on something with it in the background.
The sparse use of instrumentation is perfect. You know what I mean, I'm sure. [ Reply to This ]
&mdash 03/14/07 - 07:17:34 PM
Yes, Feter knows how to make the spaces in between the notes as important and poignant as the tune itself. I think he got the balance just right. [ Reply to This ]
Urban Corruption &mdash 03/14/07 - 05:33:49 PM
Ah, it had started all the way back then ehh? A sweet young country girl comes to the big city and finds out that she is not at all pleased. Now the term, "making the hay" could definitely have double entendre meanings to such as I but that is exactly why the lass wants to go back to the north country.Apart from the philosophical underpinnings, I find this to be a delightful tune which as you said has a rare delicacy about it. Kudos to you and Mr. Feter. Nicely done! [ Reply to This ]
hehe! &mdash 03/14/07 - 06:21:02 PM
Yes, I expect "making the hay" is a double entendre ... most English folk songs are about sex in one way or another. (There's not a lot else to do here, with our weather being so dreary.) [ Reply to This ]
nice one Rebsie &mdash 03/14/07 - 06:02:34 PM
I like the low fi approach...nice clear vocals and good mandolin backing! Very intimate....
Steve [ Reply to This ]
&mdash 03/15/07 - 12:04:42 PM
Thanks for dropping by, Steve! I can always rely on you to appreciate the appeal of low-fi. :) [ Reply to This ]
In them days... &mdash 03/14/07 - 07:49:04 PM
... did North Country mean coming from Watford?
I get the sense that the maid in question rates her chances of her being whisked away back home by a strapping northern lad at about zilch such is the quality of resignation in the words and delivery. Instead she sees spinsterhood as her future estate and her 'own country' as somewhere very remote.
Your performance (backed by Feter's delicate and vulnerable lute-sounding mando) conveys the sense of a life changed irrevocably and the deep loss this has given rise to filtered through the need to maintain some courtly decorum.
Just lovely
KK
PS - probably at the time that this was written London would have been the size of Tewkesbury! [ Reply to This ]
&mdash 03/15/07 - 12:18:04 PM
Watford? Never heard of it. I don't know anywhere north of Tewkesbury.
I think you're right about the resignation and despair, though I'm not sure how much of it is inherent in the song and how much is in my miserable singing. But clearly there's some deeper longing being expressed here than simply missing the pretty countryside, otherwise she could just get on the next bus home.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to the Oak and Ash session no.2 and hearing what it sounds like with the Special KK treatment. Yip yip! [ Reply to This ]
In my estimation, it's the "just-right-fi magic". &mdash 03/14/07 - 09:35:41 PM
I like it simple like this, it suits the story so well, wonderfully sung, and the little mandolin breaks are really delightful, delicate and clear. Thank you for another jem! [ Reply to This ]
this made me homesick... &mdash 03/15/07 - 12:21:05 AM
...while i'm at home! Rebsie, your voice once again raised the hairs on the back of my neck. I just love it. What a wonderful collaboration. I agree with Scott Carmichael, MJ is a microcosmos of how the world should work....and I think you Rebsie would make a lovely queen! [ Reply to This ]
Such honor ! &mdash 03/15/07 - 03:44:08 AM
I m so delightfull and so pleased
to see this happened this way ...
so easy and so nice ... you are a
real sweet spirit Rebsie and I m
realy so Honored to do such song with
with ... thank you for everything !
[ Reply to This ]
Thank you Feter &mdash 03/15/07 - 10:57:09 AM
Aw! Well it's an honour for me too ... and I had the easy bit. The song is ideal for my voice and was in exactly the right key for me. The original idea and the haunting mandolin arrangement came from you. [ Reply to This ]
One of my favourite English folk songs &mdash 03/15/07 - 04:12:58 AM
My roots are in northern England, and this really touched a whole heap of emotions I haven't visited for a while. Rebsie, your vocal is perfect, and Feter, Mr Sanchez is sounding wonderful. Rebsie's comment about a mediaeval recording are so appropriate on many levels. This will be one of my all-time favourites here at MJ - sure, it's not perfect in the production sense, but wow, it's rare to hear so much emotion in an mp3!
Congratulations to you both! I hope the tears haven't stained the manuscript.
Peace,
Neil
See, I didn't even mention anything political : ) Take care Feter my friend! [ Reply to This ]
Great going you two &mdash 03/15/07 - 04:13:40 AM
So delicate the mandolin, so pretty the voice. It is wonderful to hear this. Love to see such harmony between distant lands spring from the darkness a light, amid the struggle for peace. Perhaps it will be like a seed for peace. This is really wonderful. [ Reply to This ]
timeless &mdash 03/16/07 - 10:41:48 PM
this rendering is amazing, both of you. such an elegance, yet such profound emption, both musically and vocally. though, i feel saying anything at all is moot, since the strength of the song speks for itself. wonderful piece. thank you for sharing. [ Reply to This ]
Truly timeless... &mdash 03/17/07 - 11:51:37 AM
This is excellent. It sounds so authentic. The minimalist approach here is inspired. Seems you both knew exactly what this piece needed and, perhaps even more importantly, exactly what it did not need. Bravo and encore!
Be well! [ Reply to This ]
Great &mdash 03/17/07 - 02:52:45 PM
Great Job... With My Teacher FETER McBLUES ...
I Relly Love The Beautfiul Sound & Mandolin Feelings.
Keep Doing This .. Thanks For This SONG
Regardz
Yeman Auf Al-Rawi (BIRDMAN WAYNE) [ Reply to This ]
mmmmmmmmmm..... &mdash 03/18/07 - 04:41:51 AM
... this is as pure and sparkling as a little stream twinkling through an english forest - lovely job you two - ty xoxox [ Reply to This ]
sweet and intimate &mdash 03/18/07 - 12:24:12 PM
This is a wonderful example of "simple is best".
A song, sung with feeling by a lovely voice.
An accompaniment by a single instrument, playing one note at a time.
Timeless.
I love the sweet and intimate emotion in this song. [ Reply to This ]
Yes Aye. &mdash 03/21/07 - 08:06:27 AM
Good to hear this fine song again. You did it well - now stick a dance beat on, release it and I confidently predict it'll reach number 4 in Latvia, [ Reply to This ]
Time Traveling &mdash 03/23/07 - 03:23:37 PM
This is such a wonderful blend of such articulate mandolin work and a truely wonderful singing and mixing
with Feter's playing. My heart goes out to Feter as he
lives in what must be hell on earth and yet could play
such a beautiful mandolin (and record it as well)
I for sure would love to hear more of you two working together and I pray for Feter's safety. What we take for
granted..... [ Reply to This ]
... &mdash 04/01/07 - 01:19:25 PM
I thought I'd heard this before on Feter's page ...this
sounds a slightly more embelished version, great runs on the mandolin therein. Very appropriate voice for this too, very authentic sounding and perfect delivery. Great partnership.
Now if I can just the idea of it bursting into "Brave Sir Robin" from the Holy Grail at any point out of my head, I'll be sorted .. darn that Neil Innes ;o) [ Reply to This ]
The Oak and the Ash &mdash 04/16/07 - 10:30:26 PM
Rebsie & Feter...
It took me a good month to get around to hearing this collab, but I am glad I stopped by tonight to hear your work. Such a gentle piece performed without flourish%u2014very direct and simple and "honestly played." It speaks as music and lyrics should: clearly.
Paul [ Reply to This ]
Excellent &mdash 04/18/07 - 04:19:10 PM
I enjoyed this very much indeed. Lovely, understated arrangement with great vocal delivery. Superb stuff. [ Reply to This ]
oh &mdash 04/30/07 - 10:52:35 PM
It's great to discover your music (as of today), I look forward to listening to all your tunes. This one was wonderful!
Hokey [ Reply to This ]
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It's good to see what magic can come from this place:)
Beautiful work from both of you.
[ Reply to This ]