Get all 5 Emily Groff releases available on Bandcamp and save 15%.
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1. |
The Devil vs. The Widow
03:29
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Up high upon a lonely moor
a widow lived alone
In an inn she kept and while she slept
the pillows heard her moan
For many's the time a traveler
has spent the night with me
But there's not a man in all creation
gives content to me
For some can manage once or twice
some make three or four
What seems to be a rarity
is the man who can do more
I'd give anything to find him
in heaven or in hell
And while the words were spoken then
she heard the front door bell
Chorus:
And the wind blew cold and lonely
all across that widow's moor
And she never ever turned away
a traveler from her door
Then boldly the widow she went downstairs
and the door she opened wide
And as she did a tall and handsome
stranger stepped inside
She gave him bread and brandy
and after he was fed
He said My dear, well have no fear
it's time to go to bed
For I heard you call way down below
and I've come to see you right
But you must come to hell with me
if I can last the night
She said You randy devil!
to this bargain I'm agreed
For hell on earth or hell in hell
it's all the same to me
Chorus
Then the devil and the widow they jumped in bed
and the devil was working well
And he thought before this night was through
she'd be his in hell
But when they got to number nine
the widow cried Encore!
And when the twelfth time came around
she still called out for more
At twenty-five the devil thought
he had to take a rest
But the widow still said Come raise yer head
and put me to the test
At sixty-nine the widow laughed
again, again she cried
And the devil declared Well I can see
just how your husband died
Chorus
At niney-nine the devil he
began to cry and weep
Oh I will give you anything
just let me go to sleep
Before the morning light was on
the devil hobbled home
And the widow still unsatisfied
once more was left alone
She lay there and she grumbled
and she thought of niney-nine
If only that old devil could
have made it one more time
I'll call him up again tonight
and see what can be done
With a bit of application we
could make it to the ton
Chorus
But when she called him up that night
no devil he did appear
For the first time in eternity
the old devil he shook with fear
Of all the pain and torment
I've witnessed here in hell
I never knew what pain was
'till I rang your front doorbell
Chorus
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2. |
La Llorona
05:34
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Dos besos llevo en la frente, Llorona,
Que no se apartan de mí.
El último de mi madre, Llorona,
Y el primero que te di.
Ay de mí, Llorona
Llorona de azul celeste
Aunque la vida me cueste, Llorona
No dejaré de quererte
Si al cielo subir pudiera, Llorona
Las estrellas te bajara
La luna tus pies pusiera, Llorona
Y el sol te coronara
Ay de mí, Llorona,
Llorona llevame al río
Tápame con tu rebozo, Llorona,
porque me muero de frío.
Ay de mi, Llorona
Llorona de ayer y hoy
Ayer maravilla fui, Llorona
Y ahora ni sombra soy
[Translation:]
Two kisses I wear on my forehead
that won't leave me
The last one from my mother
and the first that I gave you
Alas, Llorona
Llorona of heavenly blue
Although it cost me my life
I'll never stop loving you
If I could climb to heaven, Llorona
I would bring the stars down to you
I would put the moon at your feet
And crown you with the sun
Alas, Llorona
Llorona, take me to the river
Cover me with your shawl
because I'm dying of cold
Alas, Llorona
Llorona of yesterday and today
Yesterday I was a marvel
And now I'm not even a shadow
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3. |
Lovely Agnes
02:59
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Oh Agnes, won't you go with me
We'll be married in style
And we'll cross Lake Michigan
So blue and so wild
We'll cross over Lake Michigan
'Till we come to the shore
And our orchards will blossom for
Our babies as they're born
Oh, yes, I will go with you
Leave Wisconsin behind
Though my parents think little of
My life on a farm
Oh, to leave the gay city life
To be buried on a farm
But I'll watch the orchards bloom in spring
Spend the winters warm in your arms
Three children he gave her
Curtis, Addy, and Dee
And their fourth child, little Gussie, came
Ten years after these
And she raised them with loving hand
And with firmness of mind
And she raised them through troubled times
Agnes, strong-willed and kind
Now three-score years have gone and passed
Like the fruit on the tree
And her children have children
With babes on their knees
And they all join in the summertime
On the crystal lake shore
To greet Lovely Agnes,
Now twelve years and four-score
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4. |
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[I learned these songs from Cathie Ryan, on The Back Door by Cherish the Ladies. Maire Mhor I had to learn phonetically, and from a non-native speaker at that. I can't vouch for any of the syllables I spit out here. Coal Quay Market is, thankfully, a little more straightforward.]
When I went out to the Coal Quay for to buy an old chemise
The first thing I picked up in my hands, I found it full of fleas
"How much d'ya want for that old thing?" "Eighteen pence," said she
"Eighteen pence for that old thing? D'ya think I am a fool-o?"
So I took it home and I washed it out and I hung it out to dry
"How much d'dya pay for that old thing?" "Eighteen pence," says I
"Eighteen pence for that old thing? D'ya think I am a fool?
Take it out of the house, you dirty old thing" and he walloped me with the stool-o
So I took it back to the Coal Quay and says "Ma'am, would you be so kind
To take back the old chemise that hangs so long behind?"
The woman she gave a look at me, and her lips began to squeeze
Then all around the Coal Quay, sure, she walloped me with the chemise-o
So come all you pretty females if you want to buy new clothes
Never buy a chemise that will hang down to your toes
Never let your man interfere with your starch and blue
And if you want to buy a chemise, be sure you buy one new-o
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5. |
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Pale was the wounded knight
That bore the rowan shield
Loud and cruel were the raven's cries
That feasted on the field, singing
Beck water, cold and clear,
Will never clean your wounds
There's none but the Witch of the West-mer-lands
Can make thee hale and soond
So turn, turn your stallion's head
Till his red mane flies in the wind
And many a drop of your blood shall fall
E'er you see this field again
And clear was the paley moon
And the wild wind stung his eyes;
Below the hills his great heart siezed
When he heard the houlet cry, Singin'
Why do you ride this way,
And wherefore came ye here?
I seek the Witch of the West-mer-lands
Who dwells by the winding mere
And it's weary by Ullswater
And the misty Brakefern way
Till through a cleft o' the Kirkstane Pass
The winding water lay
And it's down to the water's brim
He's borne the rowan shield,
And the goldenrod he has cast in
To see what the lake might yield
And wet rose she from the lake,
And fast and fleet went she,
One half the form of a woman fair
With a jet black mare's body
And loud, long, and shrill he blew
Till his steed was by his side;
High overhead the grey hawk flew
And swiftly he did ride
She said, Pray sheath thy silvery sword,
Lay down the rowan shield,
For I see by the briny blood that flows
You've been wounded in the field.
And she stood in a gown of the velvet blue,
Bound 'round with a silver chain
And she's kissed his pale lips once and twice
And three time 'round again
And she's bound his wounds with the goldenrod;
Full fast in her arms he lay,
And he has risen hale and soond
With the sun high in the day, Singin'
Ride with your brindled hound at heel
And your good grey hawk in hand;
There's none can harm the knight who's lain
With the Witch of the West-mer-lands
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6. |
Broomfield Wager
02:59
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There once was a lord in the old country
And he courted a lady gay,
And as they were riding through the town
It's a wager she did lay
And I will wager five hundred pounds
Five hundred pounds to one
That a maid I'll go to the Broomfield Hill
And a maid I will return
And there she stood at her bower door
And there she made her moan
Saying, Shall I go to the Broomfield Hill
Or shall I remain at home?
When up spoke an old witch woman
Sitting by the blazing burn
Saying, You will go to the Broomfield Hill
And a maid you will return
For when you get to the Broomfield Hill
You'll find your love asleep
With his horse and his hounds as his silky-satin gowns
And his ribbons all down to his feet
And you'll pluck the blossom off of the broom
And the blossom that smells so sweet
And you'll strew some around at the crown of his head
And some more at the soles of his feet
So she's away to the Broomfield Hill
And she found her love asleep
With his horse and his hounds as his silky-satin gowns
And his ribbons all down to his feet
And she plucked the blossom off of the broom
Saying, Oh but it smells sweet
And aye, the thicker she scattered it around
The deeper her love did sleep
And she took the gay gold ring from her finger
And she put it on his right hand
So that when he woke he would know
That his love had been there at his command
And when they saw him stir from his sleep
All the birds began to sing,
Crying, Awaken, awaken, awaken, Master,
Your lady's been and gone
Oh where were you, my good grey hound
And where were you, my steed?
That when my lady was so near
You did not waken me?
Oh, I stamped with my hoof, Master,
Till all the earth did hum
But all the more that I did stamp
Awaken would you none
And I barked out,
But no kind thing would awaken you
Till your lady'd been and gone
So haste, haste, me good grey steed
To wherever she may be
Or all the birds of the Broomfield Hill
Will have their fill of thee
When she went out, she right bitter wept
But she came laughing home,
Saying, I have been to the Broomfield Hill
And a maid returned again
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7. |
Maid in the Garret
02:27
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Well, I've often heard it said, from me father and me mother
That going to a wedding is the making of another
Well, if this be so then I'll go without a biddin'
Oh, kind providence, won't you send me to a wedding
And it's oh, dear me, how will it be
If I die an old maid in the garret?
Well, now, there's me sister Jean, she's not handsome nor good-looking
Scarcely sixteen and a fella she was courting
Now she's twenty-four with a son and a daughter
Here's me [insert your own age] and I've never had an offer
And it's oh, dear me, how will it be
If I die an old maid in the garret?
I can cook and I can sew, I can keep the house right tidy
I rise up early morning and I get the breakfast ready
But nothing in this wide world would make me half so cheery
As a wee fat man who would call me his own dearie
And it's oh, dear me, how will it be
If I die an old maid in the garret?
Well I'm off away home, 'cause nobody's heeding
Nobody's heeding to poor Annie who is pleading
I'm away home to me own wee bit garret
If I can't find a man, then I'll surely find a carrot
And it's oh, dear me, how will it be
If I die an old maid in the garret?
So come landsman or come kinsman, come tinker or come tailor
Come fiddler, come dancer, come plowman or come sailor
Come rich man, come poor man, come fool or come witty
Come any man at all who will take me out of pity
And it's oh, dear me, how will it be
If I die an old maid in the garret?
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8. |
Wind and Rain
04:05
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There were two sisters in old England
Oh the wind and rain
They were courted by the very same man
Oh the dreadful wind and rain
He courted the elder with ribbons and rings
But he loved the younger one above anything
Sister, sister walk with me
And watch the river flow down to the sea
Then she pushed her in to the water to drown
And watched her as she floated down
Well, sometimes she sank and sometimes she swam
Till she came down to the miller's dam
Come see, come see on the miller's pond
She looks just like a golden swan
Then the miller fished her out with his long hook and line
As the King's own fiddler was passing by
He made fiddle pegs of her long finger bones
He made fiddle pegs of her long finger bones
He strung his fiddle bow with her long yellow hair
He strung his fiddle bow with her long yellow hair
And he made a fiddle fiddle of her white breast-bone
And he made a fiddle fiddle of her white breast-bone
But the only tune that the fiddle would play was...
Yeah, the only tune that the fiddle would play was...
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9. |
Oda a la Pareja
03:55
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Aquellos
que no han sentido cada
día del mundo
caer
sobre la doble
máscara del navío,
no la sal sino el tiempo,
no la sombra
sino el paso desnudo
de la dicha,
cómo podrán cerrar
los ojos,
los ojos solitarios y dormir?
Yo quiero
que las vidas se integren
encendiendo los besos
hasta ahora apogados.
Yo soy el buen poeta
casamentero. Tengo
novias
para todos los hombres
[Translation by Margaret Sayers Peden:]
Those
who have never felt
the weight of day
fall
upon the ship's
twin figureheads,
not salt but time,
not shadow
but the naked footsteps
of happiness,
how can they
ever close
their lonely eyes in sleep?
I want
lives to blend together,
kindling kisses
unknown until now.
I am the good matchmaker
poet. I have
a sweetheart
for every man.
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