The Field Behind the Plow

A.K.A. Field Behind the Plow
By Stan Rogers
Rise Up Singing chapter: Farm and Prairie
Chords:
I'll have to complete this tomorrow, since I'm on the road today (visiting the Monterey Aquarium and then driving down to Santa Barbara, if you were curious).

Ok, here we go:
Verses: G - DC G / C D Am D / G - DC G / Am D G -
Bridges: D - / C - G / - D - / - - / C - G / - D - C -

Watch the field behind the plow turn to straight, dark rows
Feel the trickle in your clothes, blow the dust cake from your nose
Hear the tractor's steady roar, oh you can't stop now
There's a quarter section more or less to go

And it figures that the rain keeps its own sweet time
You can watch it come for miles, but you guess you've got a while
So ease the throttle out a hair, every rod's a gain
And there's victory in every quarter mile

Bridge 1:
Poor old Kuzyk down the road
The heartache, hail and hoppers brought him down
He gave it up and went to town
And Emmet Pierce the other day
Took a heart attack and died at forty-two
You could see it coming on 'cause he worked as hard as you

In an hour, maybe more, you'll be wet clear through
The air is cooler now, pull your hat brim further down
And watch the field behind the plough turn to straight, dark rows
Put another season's promise in the ground

Bridge 2:
And if the harvest's any good
The money just might cover all the loans
You've mortgaged all you own
Buy the kids a winter coat
Take the wife back East for Christmas if you can
All summer she hangs on when you're so tied to the land

For the good times come and go, but at least there's rain
So this won't be barren ground when September rolls around
So watch the field behind the plow turn to straight, dark rows
Put another season's promise in the ground

Farewell to Tarwathie

A.K.A. Fareweel tae Tarwaithie

The Scotsman who wrote this was George Scroggie, but he was only responsible for these words in poem form. The tune, let's say it's traditional.

D - G D / / /

Farewell to Tarwathie, adieu Mormond Hill
And the dear land of Crimond, I bid you farewell
I'm bound out for Greenland and ready to sail
In hopes to find riches in hunting the whale

Farewell to my comrades, for a while we must part
And likewise the dear lass who first won my heart
The cold coast of Greenland my love will not chill
And the longer my absence, more loving she'll feel

Our ship is well rigged and she's ready to sail
The crew they are anxious to follow the whale
Where the icebergs do fall and the stormy winds blow
Where the land and the ocean is covered with snow

The cold coast of Greenland is barren and bare
No seed-time nor harvest is ever known there
And the birds here sing sweetly in mountain and dale
But there's no bird in Greenland to sing to the whale

There is no habitation for a man to live there
And the king of that country is the fierce Greenland bear
And there'll be no temptation to tarry long there
With our ship's bumper full we will homeward repair

Billy (Bob Dylan cover)

By Bob Dylan From the movie Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid

This is a song I've been playing for years, and so the lyrics have definitely morphed a little in my memory, but it should also be said that Bob Dylan himself sings several different versions of the lyrics around, so it's not like there's one right way, even for him. I've just typed them out here from memory, so I expect they'll match what I sing in the video.

There's a weird chord - let's call it C6 - but don't worry, it's not hard, and it's beautiful. Moving to it from the G chord, you keep you fingers where they are (which is the 3rd fret) on the very top and very bottom strings, and add 2nd string 1st fret with your index and 4th string 2nd fret with your middle finger. From there it's easy to move back to a G again, since your pinky and ring finger still stay where they are on the 3rd fret of the 1st and 6th strings:
C6?
E string — — X
B string X — —
G string — — —
D string — X —
A string — — —
E string — — X

G C6 G C6 / G C6 G C6 / C - G - / D C G -

There's* guns across the river aiming at you
Lawmen on your trail, they'd like to catch you
Bounty hunters too, they'd like to get you
Billy they don't like you to be so free

Staying up all night on the veranda
Playing cards till dawn in the hacienda
Up to Boot Hill they'd like to send you
Billy, don't you turn your back on me

Fooling around with some sweet señorita
Into her dark hallway she will lead you
In the shadow of the mesa she will greet you
Billy you're so far away from home

They say Pat Garrett's got your number
So sleep with one eye open when you slumber
Every little sound just might be thunder
Thunder from the barrel of his gun

So hang on to your woman if you've got one
Remember in El Paso once you shot one
Down in Santa Fe one time you bought one
Billy you've been running for so long

The businessmen from Taos want you to go down
They've hired Pat Garrett to force you to slow down
Billy don't it make you feel so lowdown
To be hunted by the man who was your friend

There's* mirrors inside the minds of crazy faces
Bullet holes and rifles in their cases
Always one more notch and four more aces
Billy and you're playing all alone

*"There are"

Pancho and Lefty (Bonus)

By Townes Van Zandt
Verse chords:
D - A - / G - D A / G - D G / Bm GA A* G Bm -
Chorus chords:
G - D G / Bm GA A* G Bm - (same chords as the last two lines of each verse)

Lyrics:
Living on the road my friend was gonna keep you free and clean
Now you wear your skin like iron and your breath's as hard as kerosene
You weren't your mama's only boy, but her favorite one it seems
She began to cry when you said goodbye and sank into your dreams

Pancho was a bandit boys, his horse was fast as polished steel
Wore his gun outside his pants for all the honest world to feel
Pancho met his match you know on the deserts down in Mexico
Nobody heard his dying words - Ah, but that's the way it goes

All the federales say they could have had him any day
They only let him hang around out of kindness, I suppose

Now Lefty he can't sing the blues all night long like he used to
The dust that Pancho bit down south, it ended up in Lefty's mouth
The day they laid poor Pancho low, Lefty split for Ohio
Where he got the bread to go, there ain't nobody knows

And all the federales say they could have had him any day
They only let him slip away out of kindness, I suppose

The poets tell how Pancho fell and Lefty's livin' in a cheap motel
The desert's quiet and Cleveland's cold and so the story ends we're told
Now Pancho needs your prayers, it's true, but save a few for Lefty too
He just did what he had to do... and now he's growing old

And all the federales say they could have had him any day
They only let him slip away out of kindness, I suppose

A few old grey federales say they could have had him any day
They only let him go so wrong out of kindness, I suppose

Puff the Magic Dragon Guitar Chords Lesson

For uknavynige. Thanks for asking.

Chords:
G D(Bm) C G / C G A D / G D C G / C GEm AD GD

The Bm in brackets means you play either a D or a Bm. They both sound fine.

The final D in this progression is to anticipate, or set you up for, the beginning of the next verse, so on the very last line of the whole song ("in a land called Honaleeeeee...") you should drop it: C GEm AD G

If the video isn't too helpful, try following this layout. Here's how the chorus goes:

[G]Puff the magic [D]dragon [C]lived by the [G]sea
And [C]frolicked in the [G]autumn mist in a [A]land called Hona[D]lee
[G]Puff the magic [D]dragon [C]lived by the [G]sea
And [C]frolicked in the [G]autumn [Em]mist in a [A]land called [D]Hona[G]lee...[D]

And again, in the last line of the entire song, just drop that final D, so you end on G, which is your tonic.

2 Songs on Mandolin

Oh, Mary Don't You Weep on Mandolin

This is only the first verse and chorus. Here's the full song on guitar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAukf_lh0b4
Rise Up Singing chapter: Freedom, p.63

Chords: D A / - D / G D / DA D ://

If I could I surely would
Stand on the rock where Moses stood
Pharaoh's army got drownded
Oh, Mary don't you weep

Chorus:
Oh, Mary don't you weep, don't you mourn
Oh, Mary don't you weep, don't you mourn
Pharaoh's army got drownded
Oh, Mary don't you weep

If You Miss Me from the Back of the Bus

Words: a group of people including Charles Neblett; melody: traditional ("Oh, Mary Don't You Weep")
Rise Up Singing chapter: Freedom, p.61
Chords: D A / A D / G D / DA D

If you miss me from the back of the bus
And you can't find me nowhere
Come on up to the front of the bus
I'll be riding up there
I'll be riding up there (Lord / friend / [nothing])
I'll be riding up there
Come on up to the front of the bus
I'll be riding up there

If you miss me from Jackson State* / And you can't...
Come on over to Ole Miss
I'll be studying over there / I'll be studying...

If you miss me from the cotton fields...
Come on down to the court house
I'll be voting right there...

If you miss me from Thrifty's drug store...
Come on over to Woolworth's
I'll be sitting in there...

If you miss me from the picket line...
Come on down to the jailhouse
I'll be rooming down there...

If you miss me from the Mississippi river...
Come on down to the municipal plunge
I'll be swimming in there...

If you miss me from the front of the bus...
Come on up to the driver's seat
I'll be driving up there...

*Jackson State University and Ole Miss (University of Mississippi) are both in Mississippi, and Jackson State is a historically black school. Ole Miss was the site of the anti-desegregation riots sparked by the enrollment of James Meredith, a black man and United States Air Force veteran.
See here for more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ole_Miss_riot_of_1962

Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel?

A.K.A. Didn't My Lord Deliver Danuel, Dan-u-el, Danuel?
A traditional Black American spiritual
Rise Up Singing chapter: Spirituals, p.208

Jesus Won't You Come by Here? (Daniel in the Lions' Den)

Anonymous (of unknown authorship)

Rise Up Singing chapter: Gospel, p. 94

Chords:

D - G D - - A - / D - G D - A D -

Although I just realized that I play this:

D - G D - A D - ://

The difference is small. I should have gone up at the end of the first line and then resolved only at the end of the second line. Instead, I sung each line as if it were a verse, ending them by going down - know what I mean?

Annnyway, the lyrics:

Jesus, won't you come by here? (2x) Jesus won't you come by here?

Now is the needed time (2x) Jesus won't you come by here?

Listen, can't you hear me call? (2x) Jesus won't you come by here?

Now is a needed time (2x) Jesus won't you come by here?

And Daniel was in the lions' den (2x) Daniel in the lions' den

He said, "Lord, have mercy on me" (2x) Jesus won't you come by here?

He said, "Lord, you said you'd answer prayer" (3x)

or

"You promised that you'd answer prayer" (3x)

Well the Lord, He sent an angel down (3x)

And the angel shut the lions' mouths (3x)

or

And the angel locked the lions' jaws (3x)

There Was a Young Woman

Words by Meredith Tax, Melody by Alan Mills (adapted by Peter Alsop)
Rise Up Singing chapter: Women, p. 251

First verse:
D - / Em A / A D
I play it evenly, as above. Rise Up Singing has this:
D - / Em A / AD D

Subsequent verses:
D - / Em A //: D - (as needed):// Em A / A D

There was a young woman who swallowed a lie
We all know why she swallowed that lie
Perhaps she'll die

There was a young woman who swallowed a rule
"Live to serve others" - she learned it in school
She swallowed the rule to hold up the lie / And we all know why...

There was a young woman who swallowed some fluff
Lipstick and candy and powder and puff
She swallowed the fluff to sweeten the rule...

There was a young woman who swallowed a line
I like 'em dumb, baby, you suit me fine
She swallowed the line to tie up the fluff...

There was a young woman who swallowed a pill
Her doctor said, "I know that you will"
She swallowed the pill to go with the line...

There was a young woman who swallowed a ring
She looked like a princess and felt like a thing
She swallowed the ring to make up for the pill...

There was a young woman who swallowed some Spock
"Stay at home mother, take care of your flock"
She swallowed the Spock to go with the ring...

One day this young woman woke up and she said
"I've swallowed so much that I wish I were dead"
I swallowed the Spock to go with the ring...
...to hold up the lie
Why in the world did I swallow that lie?
Perhaps I'll die

She ran to her sisters, it wasn't too late
To be liberated, regurgitate
She threw up the Spock and she threw up the ring
Looked like a princess and felt like a thing
She threw up the pill and she threw up the line
"I like ' em dumb, baby, you suit me just fine"
She threw up the fluff and she threw up the rule
"Live to serve others" - she learned it in school
And last but not least, she threw up the lie
We all know why she threw up that lie
She will not die

You Gotta Go Down

Words and new music adapted by Woody Guthrie
Adapted from "(Jesus Walked this) Lonesome Valley"
Rise Up Singing chapter: Work, p.261
G - - - / D - G - / C - G - / GEm AD G -

1. You gotta go down and join the union
You gotta go join it by yourself
Nobody here can join it for you
You gotta go down and join the union by yourself

2. Your brother's gotta go down and join the union / He's gotta...
3. Your sister's gotta go down...
4. I'm gonna go down...
5. And when the road gets rough and rocky
And the hills get steep and high
We can sing as we go marching
And we'll win our big union by and by

Angels Watching Over Me

A traditional Black American spiritual
Rise Up Singing chapter: Lullabies, p.131

This is a zipper song, meaning that you can throw it a lot of different lyrics and they'll work. A lot of verses from other black spirituals you may know are likely to fit. For example: I went down the river to pray (Angels...) / My soul got happy and I stayed all day (Angels...)
The river Jordan is deep and wide... / I got a home on the other side...

But here's what Rise Up Singing has:
D - G GD / D - DA D
Chorus:
All night, all day, angels watching over me, my Lord
All night, all day, angels watching over me

Verses (same chords):
Day is dying in the west, angels watching over me, my Lord
Sleep my child and take your rest, angels watching over me

Now I lay me down to sleep, angels watching over me, my Lord
I pray the Lord my soul to keep, angels watching over me

If I die before I wake... / I pray the Lord my Soul to take...

Children, sleep, the moon is high... / You are safe and Love is nigh...

The Valley of Strathmore

From Santa Barbara, in the chapter Love.
By Andy M. Stewart
Rise Up Singing chapter: Love
Verses: C F C - / F - G - ://
Chorus: Am G F - / - - G - / C F C - / F - G -

By the clear and the winding streams
In the Valley of Strathmore
Where my love and I have been
Where we'll wander nevermore

Chorus:
But if time were a thing man could buy
All the money that I have in store
I'd give for one day by her side
In the valley of Strathmore

From the glen and the golden and green
I left for a land far away
Where sadness has never been seen
Aye, and joy only costs a day's pay

In Strathmore there's a long working day
For a man wi' his hands on the ploo
But it's work I'd be happy tae dae
If at night I were lying wi' you

As I take a long draught from my glass
Oh, I'm drinking alone here again
And I try no tae think o' my lass
For the old days will ne'er come again

Scots words:
wi' = with (no, it's not an abbreviation, it's a word)
tae = to
dae = do
ploo = plough
no' = not
Wir ain leid = Our own language

Scots dictionary:
http://www.scots-online.org/dictionary/index.htm

I Live in a City

By Malvina Reynolds
Rise Up Singing chapter: City, p.19
Chords in Rise Up Singing: D - - - / A7 - - - / D - Em - / A7 - D -
D - Em A / D - Em A / D - Em A / D - EA D
Chords I used in the video: D - - - / A7 - - - / D - Em - / A7 - D -
D - Em A / D - Em A / D - Em - / A - - D

Chorus:
I live in a city, yes I do (3x)
Made by human hands

Black hands, white hands, yellow and brown
All together, built this town
Black hands, white hands, yellow and brown
All together make the wheels go round

Black hands brown hands, yellow and white
Built the buildings tall and bright
Black hands brown hands, yellow and white
Filled them all with shining light

Brown hands, yellow hands, white and black
Mined the coal and built the stack
Brown hands, yellow hands, white and black
Built the engine and laid the track

Black hands, white hands, brown and tan
Milled the flour and cleaned the pan
Black hands, white hands, brown and tan
The working woman and the working man

If I Were a Feather Bed

By John McCutcheon

The City of New Orleans

(Song begins at 2:20)
Erika and Sam of HelveticaUkes: www.youtube.com/user/helveticaukes
Bob and Hector of Bertosvids: www.youtube.com/user/bertosvids

By Steve Goodman (Sircoughsalot sent me his version, which I hadn't heard before recording, and it's great.)
Rise Up Singing chapter: Traveling, p.230

C G C - / Am F C - / - G C - / Am G C -
Riding on the City of New Orleans
Illinois central, Monday morning rail
Fifteen cars and fifteen restless riders
Three conductors, twenty-five sacks of mail

Am - Em - / G - D - / Am - Em - / G - C -
All along the southbound oddyssy the train pulls out of Kankakee
Rolls along past houses, farms and fields
Passing towns that have no name, freight yards full of old black men
And the graveyards of rusted automobiles

F G C - / Am F C CG / C G Am D / BbF G C -
Good morning America, how are you?
Don't you know me? I'm your native son
I'm the train they call the City of New Orleans
I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done
...

The Swimming Song

By Loudon Wainwright the third
Rise Up Singing chapter: Outdoors, p.156
C - / G Am / - F / G Am / G C

This summer I went swimming
This summer I might have drowned
But I held my breath and I kicked my feet
And I moved my arms around / I moved my arms around

This summer I swam in the ocean
And in a swimming pool
I got salt in my wound, cleaned my eyes
(Alt: I got salt in my wounds, chlorine in my eyes)
I'm a self-destructive fool / A self-destructive fool

This summer I did the backstroke
And you know that that's not all
I did the breaststroke and the butterfly
And the old Australian crawl / The old Australian crawl

This summer I swam in a public place
And a reservoir to boot
At the latter I was informal
At the former I wore my suit / I wore my swimming suit

This summer I did swan dives
And jackknives for you all
And once when you weren't looking
I did a cannonball / I did a cannonball

http://www.youtube.com/user/elazarn2

I Know an Old Lady (Who Swallowed a Fly)

(Song begins at 1:11)
A.K.A. There WAS an Old Lady (Who Swallowed a Fly)
Words by Rose Bonne, melody by Alan Mills
Rise Up Singing chapter: Play, p.171

Larry Groce is spelled L-a-r-r-y G-r-o-c-e if you want to look him up.

Chords
Fly verse: G - / A D / D G
(R.U.S. has the last line as / DG G /, but as you can see, I like just / D G /)
Spider + fly verse:
G - / A D / G - / A D / D G

Every other verse is the same, but you add a / G - / line for each new animal you list.

To Stop the Train (Round)

By James Wild
Rise Up Singing chapter: Rounds, p.192

Rise Up Singing lyrics:
To 1. Stop the train in cases of emergency
2. Pull on the chain, pull on the chain
3. Penalty for improper use five pounds. To...

Alternate:
To 1. Stop the train in cases of emergency
2. Pull on the cord, pull on the cord
3. Violaters prosecuted, pay five pounds / pay ten cents / pay five cents

Down at the Station

Traditional? Not attributed in the R.U.S. songbook.
Rise Up Singing chapter: Rounds, p.189

Even though we do it as two here, this is a four-part round. Here they are:
1. Down at the station, early in the morning
2. See the little puffer billies all in a row*
3. See the station master pull the little handle
4. Puff puff, toot toot, off they go!*

Alternate lines:
*2. See the little puffabillies all in a row. (This is according to Rise Up Singing, but as a kid I always sang "puffer bellies" because Sharon, Lois and Brahm did movements along with the song and the movement for that word was to mime a big round belly on yourself. The correct term is "puffer billies".)
*4. Chug, chug, woo, woo, off we go!
*4. Puff puff, woo woo, off we go!
*4. Chug chug, toot toot off they go! Etc.

A Ram Sam Sam

Traditional Morocco (Moroccan) apparently

Rise Up Singing chapter: Rounds, p. 188

Part 1: A Ram Sam, a ram sam sam

Guli guli guli guli guli ram sam sam

Part 2: A rafi, a rafi

Guli guli guli guli guli ram sam sam

Alll-THOUGH, I always though it was "Oh Ralphie, oh ralphie, goolee goolee goolee goolee goolee ram sam sam"

Calon Lân (R.U.S. Bonus)

Welsh hymn. Calon Lân translates as "Clean Heart", or, more poetically, "Pure Heart". The adjective comes second, so Calon = heart and Lân = clean/pure.

Words by Daniel James, melody by John Hughes
Arranged by Benjamin Vaughan (my brother, the tall guy).
This is a patriotic song in Wales, which is interesting, since the lyrics say nothing about Wales. This version of the English lyrics was taught to us by Ashley Penrose, who learned it from his granny. We only sing the first verse and the chorus here, but there are a few more verses to the song.

My friend Steph filmed this for us in front of the Fairmount bagel shop in Montreal. They're open all night

I'll Fly Away with me on accordion

My first attempt at the accordion. One day I'll get a squeeze box of my own, and one day I'll be able to play in a trio with Bob and Hector, as long as they give me the easy part. That day hasn't come yet, though. Here's how my first try went.

I'll Fly Away

With my brother Ben on the accordion. Rob and Hector, I was thinking of you.

By Alfred E. Brumley
Rise Up Singing chapter: Gospel, p.93
D - G D / - - A D ://

Some bright morning, when this life is o'er, I'll fly away
To a home on God's celestial shore, I'll fly away
I'll fly away, O Lordy, I'll fly away (in the morning)
When I die, hallelujah, by and by, I'll fly away


When the shadows of this life have grown, I'll fly away
Like a bird that prison bars has flown, I'll fly away
I'll fly away, O Lordy, I'll fly away (in the morning)
When I die, hallelujah, by and by, I'll fly away

Just a few more weary days and then I'll fly away
To a land where joys will never end, I'll fly away
I'll fly away, O Lordy, I'll fly away (in the morning)
When I die, hallelujah, by and by, I'll fly away

The Lark in the Morn (Bonus)

Sung with Megan on De Lorimier street in Montreal. Our hitting of notes needs a little work, I know. That's maybe why I prefer to sing along to a guitar. It distracts from the fact that I do tend to wander off key when I'm having too much fun.

This isn't in the Rise Up Singing songbook, but it's a great little round, and I like it especially because it has only two parts, which makes it twice as easy to find enough people to sing it with.

La Complainte du phoque en Alaska (Bonus)

By Beau Dommage

Sweet Baby James

I'm sorry I've been so behind on the daily project. Who would have thought it would actually be more difficult to keep up now that I'm on vacation? These are only some of my brothers, actually. One's missing. We're coming to you here from Saint-Hubert, just outside Montreal, Quebec. The song is by James Taylor.

Old Joe Clark

Recorded in Montreal, rue de Lorimier.

Be Kind to your Web-Footed Friends

This is my (our) first video on vacation in North America.

Seriously, you should be kind to waterfowl. Particularly in the realm of habitat conservation.

Words: anonymous. Melody: "Stars and Stripes Forever"

Rise Up Singing chapter: Funny Songs, p.70

C - - - / - - G - / - - - - / C F G - / C - - - / - -

Be kind to your web-footed friends

For a duck may be somebody's mother

Be kind to your friends in the swamp

Where the weather is cold and dahmp

Now you may think that this is the end

Well it is

Alternate lyrics:

Be kind to your web-footed friends

For a duck may be somebody's mother

Be kind to the denizen[s] of the swamp

He's a dilly through and through [where the weather is very very dahmp]

Now you may think that this is the end

Well it is