Monday, March 30, 2009

T'was On One April Morning...

Here's a proposition for an opening number on Friday:



Ken will play the guitar in the key of G. I will occasionally hit the correct notes on the concertina. Ken's chords go something like this:

T’was [G]on one [D]April [G]morning just as the sun was ri[D]sing,
T’was [G]on one [D]April morning I [C]heard the small birds [D]sing.
They were singing ‘Lovely [C]Nan[G]cy’, for love it is a fan[D]cy
And [G]sweet [C]were the [G]notes that I heard the [D]small birds [G]sing.

(Don't watch Ken's fingers; he's in an obscure tuning!)
In an effort to encourage singers to join in there will be a repetition of a couple of verses, and orchestral breaks are included for those instrumentalists so-inclined, as below:

V.1
T’was on one April morning just as the sun was rising,
T’was on one April morning I heard the small birds sing.
They were singing ‘Lovely Nancy’, for love it is a fancy,
And sweet were the notes that I heard the small birds sing.


V.2
Young men are false and full of all deceiving.
Young men are false; they seldom do prove true.
For they’re roving and they’re ranging, and their minds are always changing,
And they’re thinking for to find out some other girl that’s new.


V.3
O, if I had my own heart in keeping;
O, if I had my own heart back again,
Close in my bosom I would lock it up for ever
And it should wander never so far from me again.


Repeat V.1

Instrumental break

Repeat V.3

V.4
So why would you spend your long time in courting?
Why would you spend your long time in pain?
For I don’t intend to marry; I would rather longer tarry.
O, young man, don’t you spend all your single life in vain.


Repeat V.3

Instrumental break

Repeat V.1

Please note, depending on the outcome of a rehearsal on Thursday, and failing short-term memory on Friday, Ken and I reserve the right to change this at a moment's unpublished notice!

4 comments:

London Apprentice and Special Bitter said...

This is all rather "Folksy" isn't it? I don't mind the dance so much but tell me this isn't really rather twee. Oh it's a Folk Club. Sorry never struck me before.
"Change without notice" eh! What does this mean? I won't live long enough to ever get this down. Go on go ahead, amuse me. Make me all better.
"Fiddly dee - fiddly dah. Fiddly dee I've lost my car!

The City Folk Club said...

Twee? That is an especially bitter comment, Berry. Of course it's "folksy"; where do you think you are?
Think of a sentence containing the words 'pot', 'kettle' and 'black'!

"Change without notice," means it could all go terribly wrong.

Be amused, receive my all-better-making cyber-greeting.

Surely, your car is next to the lost hub cap where you left it on the Bognor Road!

Dogsbody said...

'Twee'? This heart-wrenchingly sad tale of love-gone-wrong and rejection-of-the-world is set to a jaunty tune to avoid putting the listener into a mood of deep depression (the performance, should it occur on Friday, might have quite enough of that effect by itself). Perhaps London Apprentice should keep his ill-advised judgements to himself, until he is in a better position to justify them. Can't find his car? He can't even find the key sometimes! "Change without notice" is as succinct a phrase as you'll find in English. LA would do well to learn the language; there are classes available - or perhaps he'll allow me to punch some larnin into him (it worked with computers in the old days).

London Apprentice and Special Bitter said...

"Light blue touch paper & retire" I love it!
Very good result from so few words, but I must try for even less. I do know a more succinct way of putting it but protocol forbids me.
As an aside and just to mitigate my acidic temper, have you ever tried to use tabulation on your BLOG? I'm telling you that would give anyone a loss of self control.
As to the Bognor Road, the council have been ripping it up and causing utter havoc. There's no point to even having a car.
Fiddly dee, fiddly dah. Fiddly dee I've found the scar.