A Brief History of Music
by GreenMatthews
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Full Digital Discography
Get all 13 GreenMatthews releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Songs of the Sea, Festive Favourites, The Wind in the Willows, Virtual Wassail, Midwinter Revels, Roots&Branches, Come Again! Sweet Love Doth Now Invite (live), A Christmas Carol: A Folk Opera, and 5 more.
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1. |
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2. |
Orpheus
00:30
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Orpheus with his lute made trees,
And the mountain tops that freeze,
Bow themselves when he did sing:
To his music plants and flowers
Ever sprung; as sun and showers
There had made a lasting spring.
Every thing that heard him play,
Even the billows of the sea,
Hung their heads, and then lay by.
In sweet music is such art,
Killing care and grief of heart
Fall asleep, or hearing, die.
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3. |
Two Branles
03:47
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4. |
Martin Said To His Man
02:45
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Martin said to his man, fie, man, fie
Martin said to his man, who’s the fool, now?
Martin said to his man, Fill thou the cup and I the can
Thou hast well drunken man, who’s the fool now
I saw the man in the moon, fie…
I saw the man in the moon, who’s the…
I saw the man in the moon, Clouting of St. Peter’s shoon
Thou hast well drunken…
I saw the hare chase the hound, fie…
I saw the hare chase the hound, who’s the…
I saw the hare chase the hound, Twenty miles above the ground
Thou hast well drunken…
I saw the mouse chase the cat, fie…
I saw the mouse chase the cat, who’s the…
I saw the mouse chase the cat, Saw the cheese eat the rat
Thou hast well drunken…
I saw a flea heave a tree, fie…
I saw a flea heave a tree, who’s the…
I saw a flea heave a tree, twenty miles out to sea
Thou hast well drunken…
I saw a maid milk a bull, fie…
I saw a maid milk a bull, who’s the…
I saw a maid milk a bull, at every pull a bucket full
Thou hast well drunken…
Oh, Martin said to his man, fie…
Martin said to his man, who’s the…
Martin said to his man, Fill thou the cup and I the can
Thou hast well drunken…
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5. |
Bedlam Boys
04:51
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For to see mad Tom of Bedlam
Ten thousand miles I'd travel
Mad Maudlin goes on dirty toes
For to save her shoes from gravel
Still I sing bonnie boys, bonnie mad boys
Bedlam boys are bonnie
For they all go bare and they live by the air
And they want no drink nor money
Me staff has murdered giants
And me bag a long knife carries
For to cut mince pies from children's thighs
With which to feed the fairies
Still I sing bonnie boys, bonnie mad boys
Bedlam boys are bonnie
For they all go bare and they live by the air
And they want no drink nor money
And when that I have murdered
The man in the moon to a powder
His staff I'll break and his dog I'll shake
And there'll howl no demon louder
Still I sing bonnie boys, bonnie mad boys
Bedlam boys are bonni
For they all go bare and they live by the air
And they want no drink nor money
So drink to Tom of Bedlam
He'll fill the sea with barrels
I’ll drink it all, well brewed with gall,
And Maudlin drunk I’ll quarrel.
Still I sing bonnie boys, bonnie mad boys
Bedlam boys are bonnie
For they all go bare and they live by the air
And they want no drink nor money
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6. |
My Thing Is My Own
04:26
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I, A TENDER young Maid have been courted by many,
Of all sorts and Trades as ever was any:
A spruce Haberdasher first spake me fair,
But I would have nothing to do with Small ware.
My Thing is my own, and I’ll keep it so still,
Yet other young Lasses may do what they will.
A cunning clockmaker did court me as well
And promised me riches if I'd ring his bell
So I looked at his clockwork, and said with a shock
Your pendulum's far too small for my clock
My Thing is my own, and I’ll keep it so still,
Yet other young Lasses may do what they will.
A sweet scented Courtier did sue for a Kiss,
And promis’d me Mountains if I would be his,
But I’ll not believe him, for it is too true,
Some Courtiers do promise much more than they do.
My thing is my own, and I’ll keep it so still,
Yet other young Lasses may do what they will.
A Master of Music came with an intent,
To give me a Lesson on my Instrument,
I thank’d him for nothing, but bid him be gone,
For my little Fiddle should not be played on.
My thing is my own, and I’ll keep it so still,
Yet other young Lasses may do what they will.
A blunt Lieutenant surprised my Placket,
And fiercely began to rifle and sack it,
I mustered my Spirits up and became bold,
And forced my Lieutenant to quit his strong hold.
My thing is my own, and I’ll keep it so still,
Yet other young Lasses may do what they will.
Now here I could reckon a hundred and more,
Besides all the Gamesters recited before,
That made their addresses in hopes of a snap
But as young as I was, I understood Trap.
My thing is my own, and I’ll keep it so still,
Until I be Married, say Men what they will.
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7. |
Pepys on the Bagpipes
00:30
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8. |
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9. |
Sovay
04:00
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Sovay, Sovay all on a day
She dressed herself in man’s array
With a sword and a pistol all by her side
To meet her true love, to meet her true love, away did ride.
And as she was a-riding over the plain
She met her true love and bid him stand;
“Your gold and silver, kind Sir,” she said,
“Or else this moment, or else this moment, your life I’ll have.”
And when she’d robbed him of his store
She says, “Kind sir, there is one thing more:
A golden ring which I know you have,
Deliver it, deliver it, your sweet life to save.”
“Oh that golden ring a token is:
My life I’ll lose, the ring I’ll save.”
Being tender-hearted just like a dove,
She rode away, she rode away, from her true love.
Oh next morning in the garden green
Just like true lovers they were seen;
Oh he spied his watch hanging by her clothes
And it made him blush, made him blush like any rose.
“Oh what makes you blush at so silly a thing,
I thought to have had your golden ring:
It was I that robbed you all on the plain,
So here’s your watch, here’s your watch and your gold again.”
“I did intend and it was to know
If that you were me true love or no.
For if you’d have give me that ring,“ she said,
“I’d have pulled the trigger, I’d have pulled the trigger, and shot you dead.”
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10. |
Tom Tough
04:43
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My name, d'ye se's Tom Tough, I've see'd a little service,
Where mighty billows roll, and loud tempests blow:
I've sail'd with valiant Howe, I've sail'd with noble Jervis,
And in gallant Duncan's fleet I've sung out Yo! heave ho!
Yet more shall ye be knowing, I was coxen to Boscawen,
And even with brave Hawke have I nobly faced the foe;
Then put round the grog, so we've that on our prog,
We'll laugh in care's face, And sing Yo! heave ho!
We'll laugh in care's face, And sing Yo! heave ho!
When from my love to part, I first weighed anchor,
And she was sniv'lling seen on the beach below;
I'd like to've cotch'd my eyes sniv'lling too,
d'ye see, to thank her,
But I brought my sorrows up with a Yo! heave ho!
For sailors, tho' they have their jokes,
And love and feel like other folks,
Their duty to neglect must not come for to go;
So I seized the capstan bar, like a true, honest tar,
And in spite of tears and sighs sang out Yo! heave ho!
And in spite of tears and sighs sang out Yo! heave ho!
But the worst was on't was that time
When the little ones were sickly,
And if they'd live or die, the doctor did not know;
The word was gov'd to weigh, so sudden and so quickly,
I thought my heart would break as I sang Yo! heave ho!
For Poll's so like her mother, and as for Jack, her brother,
The boy, when he grows up, will nobly face the foe;
But in Providence I trust, for you see, what must be, must,
So my sighs I gave the wind, and sang out Yo! heave ho!
So my sighs I gave the wind, and sang out Yo! heave ho!
And now at last laid up in a decentish condition,
For I've only lost an eye, and got a timber toe;
But old ships must expect in time, to be out of commission,
Nor again the anchor weigh with a Yo! heave ho!
So I smoke my pipe and Sing old songs;
My boys shall well avenge my wrongs,
And my girls shall have young sailors
Nobly for to face the foe;
Then to Country and Queen, Fate no danger can mean,
While the tars of old England sing out Yo! heave ho!
While the tars of old England sing out Yo! heave ho!
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11. |
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“Sally where are you going that you do look so gay?
I know that I’ve not asked you to take a walk today.”
“You have not asked me, well indeed, it’s a tidy cheek of you,
For you think that there’re no more young chaps; I’ve got a dozen or two.
Billy don’t you weep for me, I’m going to St James’s Park my cousin Joe to see.”
“Cousin Joe, now who is he, he’s a soldier I can tell,
For I know that you’re fond of lobsters, both raw and boiled as well.”
“My Cousin Joe’s a guardsman; he is a handsome chap,
And he wears such fine mustachios and a stunning furry cap.
Oh Billy don’t you weep for me, I’m very fond of Cousin Joe and I’ll sit all on his knee.”
“We’re going to the play tonight, Jack Sheppard* for to see,
And when that it is all over, we’ll all have a jolly good spree.
I’ve got money for a pint of stout and when we’re short of tin,
I’ll even go and pawn my smock to buy us a bottle of gin.”
“Billy don’t you weep for me, I’m very fond of Cousin Joe and I’ll sit all on his knee.”
So what’s the use of him, he never can keep you;
You’ll have to work from morn till night, that’s what you’ll have to do.
You’ll have to make shirts at a penny each or else stand at the tub,
And mark my words, it’s many a day you’ll go very short of grub.
Sally you’ll cry for me, you get back to Cousin Joe and sit all on his knee.”
In about a twelve months after, young Sally came back to me
And she said that she was sorry she’d ever been on that spree.
Wanted me to take her back; says I, “It is no go,
For do you think that I’m such a fool? Go back to Cousin Joe.
Sally you can’t come over me for I see you’ve got a baby to dance all on your knee.”
“Billy how can you serve me so? You really drive me mad!
I’ll have you up before the beak and I’ll swear you are its dad.
When that you get before the bench, they will not let you speak,
And you’ll have to keep the young one on thirty pence a week.
So Billy, how can you serve me so? I’m sure the child belongs to you and not to Cousin Joe.”
Well in a week she gets this summons but she found it was no go;
The magistrate decided that the child belonged to Joe.
She went up to Billy’s back yard, quickly the door she shut,
And when at last they found her, she’d drowned in a water butt.
So young women take a warning from me: never love a soldier or sit all on his knee.
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12. |
Blighters
00:31
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The House is crammed: tier beyond tier they grin
And cackle at the Show, while prancing ranks
Of harlots shrill the chorus, drunk with din;
‘We’re sure the Kaiser loves our dear old Tanks!’
I’d like to see a Tank come down the stalls,
Lurching to rag-time tunes, or ‘Home, sweet Home’,
And there’d be no more jokes in Music-halls
To mock the riddled corpses round Bapaume.
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13. |
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They were summoned from the hillside
They were called in from the glen,
And the country found them ready
At the stirring call for men.
Let no tears add to their hardships
As the soldiers pass along,
And although your heart is breaking
Make it sing this cheery song
Keep the Home Fires Burning,
While your hearts are yearning,
Though your lads are far away
They dream of home.
There's a silver lining
Through the dark clouds shining,
Turn the dark cloud inside out
'Til the boys come home.
Overseas there came a pleading,
"Help a nation in distress."
And we gave our glorious laddies
Honour bade us do no less,
For no gallant son of freedom
To a tyrant's yoke should bend,
And a noble heart must answer
To the sacred call of "Friend."
Keep the Home Fires Burning,
While your hearts are yearning,
Though your lads are far away
They dream of home.
There's a silver lining
Through the dark clouds shining,
Turn the dark cloud inside out
'Til the boys come home.
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14. |
Goodbyee
03:02
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Brother Bertie went away
To do his bit the other day
With a smile on his lips
And his Lieutenant's pips
Upon his shoulder bright and gay.
As the train moved out he said,
"Remember me to all the birds!"
And he wagg'd his paw
And went away to war
Shouting out these pathetic words:
"Goodbye-ee, goodbye-ee,
Wipe the tear, baby dear, from your eye-ee!
Tho' it's hard to part I know,
I'll be tickled to death to go.
Don't cry-ee, don't sigh-ee,
There's a silver lining in the sky-ee,
Bonsoir, old thing, cheer-i-o, chin, chin,
Nap-poo, too-dle-oo,
Goodbye-ee."
At a concert down at Kew
Some convalescents dressed in blue
Had to hear Lady Lee
Who 'ad turned eighty three
Sing all the old, old songs she knew.
Then she made a speech and said:
"I look up-on you boys with pride.
And for what you've done
I'm going to kiss each one."
Then they all grabb'd their sticks and cried:
Good-bye-ee, good-bye-ee,
Wipe the tear, Lady dear, from your eye-ee,
Tho' it's hard to part I know,
I'll be tickled to death to go.
Don't cry-ee, don't sigh-ee,
There's a silver lining in the sky-ee,
Bonsoir, old thing, cheer-i-o, chin, chin,
Nap-poo, too-dle-oo, Good-bye-ee!
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credits
released September 1, 2013
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all rights reserved
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about
GreenMatthews Coventry, UK
Chris Green and Sophie Matthews play English traditional songs and tunes in a thoroughly 21st-century kick-ass style. Using a blend of ancient instruments such as cittern, English bagpipes and shawm as well as modern folk instruments such as guitar, flute and piano accordion, they breathe new life into material from hundreds of years ago, making it fresh and relevant for a modern audience. ... more
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Jun 19Hoddesdon, UK
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