songs to learn.

Posted December 24, 2009 - 11:52pm by anna

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so, the year draws to a close, and i am determined to be inspired.

tonight's song, little maggie. i was picking my banjo, two finger style, and it sort of came out.

so, a listen to a great version, here's frank proffit, with his guitar. a man from laurel bloomery, says wikipedia. i remember tim eriksen talking a bit about him, and being inspired by him, but i admit i've never really sat down to listen to him. now, though, i will. (i think this project will prove a great reason to explore some musicians, the long list of them, that i've been too overwhelmed to start.)

his lyrics:

oh yonder stands little maggie

with a dram glass in her hand

she's passing by her troubles

and courting some other man

pretty flowers were made for blooming

bright stars they were made to shine

pretty girls were made for boys love

just as maggie was made for mine (or wine

well i'm going down to the station

with my suitcase in my hand.

i'm going away for to leave you

i'm going to some far and distant land

sometimes i have a nickel

sometimes i have a dime

sometimes i have ten dollars

just to pay little maggies fine

i'd rather be in a lonesome holler

where the sun would never shine

then to know you was another's darling

when you promised to be mine

so yonder stands little maggie

with a dram glass in her hand

she's passing by her troubles

and courting some other man.

a familiar tale, as his lyrics go, of a man scorned.

came accross these, on the internet:

Oh where is little Maggie?
      On yonder hill she stands,
      With her rifle crost her bosom
      And her dram-glass in her hand.

Well the flowers were made for bloomin'
And the sun was made for to shine
Little girls were made for boys to love
Little Maggie was made for wine.

Sometimes I got a nickel,
And sometimes I got a dime.
Sometimes I've got five dollars
For to pay little Maggie's fine.

Oh how can I ever stand it?
Jes' ta see them two blue eyes
They're shinin' like some diamon'
Like some diamon' in the skies.

Well there stan's little Maggie
With her dram glass in her han'
She's drinkin' down her troubles
And foolin' some other man.

Oh where is little Maggie?
On yonder hill she lies.
With her rifle crost her bosom
An' two pennies on her eyes.

I like that last verse. the song's a story of a woman ruined by alcohol; in that light, the song is much more about her, and her crazy character, than about the guy narrating it and his broken heart. i do wonder where that second version comes from. both, for that matter. wonder if it's a child ballad, from england, or one inspired in america.

anna's blog

Comments

as i learn it...

by anna - 12/25/2009 - 12:05am

as i learn this song, off of the recording, i'm struck by the way frank proffit plays around with the words, and the timing of it.

i think there is something valuable to be learned, in learning from a recording as close to the original as possible. i have no dreams of being him, nor do i want to sing like him. in the end, i want to sing like me. but to grow as a singer, to try to learn more about how to sing and how to effectively tell stories and bring songs to life, i want to learn as much as i can from those singers i admire. and on a basic level, that means imitation, an attempt to decode and explain some of the things they're doing. an extra beat here, a quck phrase there.

with my fiddling, some of these lessons have crept their way into my playing, a bowing, a grace note, a phrasing that i once learned painstakingly from a recording, of a particular song and fiddler. gave me a reason and the chance to explore that approach. i did, and it stuck and became a part of my vocabulary.

i want to get that serious with my singing, banjo playing and guitar playing.
back to learning this song....