Tag: G

G Em
Huddie sang about that old boll weevil
F D
And how that bug was looking for a home
G Em G Em
Every time I hear that song Seems he got it wrong
F D G
I know that old bug just liked to roam

Even Stephen Foster’s great plantation
And old folks at home were far away
How ever many times We all sing Stephen’s rhymes
He’s wandering creation to this day

C D G
Me and Stephen Foster and boll weevil
We’re travelers not looking for a home
Roads rambled, rivers crossed Some wanderers ain’t lost
We’re forty years from the milk and the honeycomb

Life ain’t some great eternal baseball game
There’s more for you and me than rounding third
Every child knows the poem There’s no place like home
Don’t you believe everything you’ve heard

chorus

Best beloved’s sitting by the fire
Simm’ring supper smell fills the air
But when Foster and the bug Look up from the rug
You’d best believe they’ll take you off somewhere

chorus, then
We’re forty years from the milk and the honeycomb

Huddie Ledbetter, Lead Belly, was such a great performer of folk music that the governor of Texas pardoned him after he’d served 7 years of a 30-year sentence for murder. If you grew up in California in the late 60s during the folk music revival, you knew this famous Leadbelly song about cotton farmers fighting against the seemingly indestructible weevil that destroyed cotton bolls, the seed capsule of the plant:

Boll Weevil

Now the first time I see the boll weevil
He’s a sittin’ in the square
Next time I see the boll weevil
Got all o’ his family there
Jus’ a-lookin’ for a home
Jus’ a-lookin’ for a home

In his 37 years in the early 1800s Stephen Foster wrote over 200 songs, many of which would be familiar to anyone who’s seen a Bugs Bunny cartoon.

Oh Susanna
C G D
Oh Susanna, don’t you cry for me
G D G
For I come from Alabama with a banjo on my knee

Camptown Races
G D
Camptown ladies sing this song, doodah, doodah
G D G
Camptown racetrack five miles long, oh doodah day

Beautiful Dreamer
G C
Beautiful dreamer, wake unto me,
D G
starlight and dewdrops are waiting for thee

Old Folks at Home

Way down upon the Suwannee River,
Far, far away,
There’s where my heart is turning ever,
There’s where the old folks stay

see Heb 3:13 and Ps 90:12

intro one instrumental verse
0022 0033 0055 0033
count our days search for wisdom put it in our hearts
sail our ship from star to star following the charts
F C G
as long as we can call it today
as long as we can call it today

count our days search for truth filling up our mind
sail our ship from star to star treasure what we find
chorus

D C
find that precious pearl
treasure in a field
count our days to wisdom          E
patient till the time comes to be healed

instrumental verse

count our days search for wisdom share it as we go
sail our ship from star to star carry seeds to sow
count our days search for truth filling up our mind
sail our ship from star to star treasure what we find
count our days search for wi
sail our ship from star to star following the charts
chorus x2

outro one instrumental verse
end on C (not Csus4)

‘Home’ Fiona was timid, cautious, did not try new things. ‘Travel’ Fiona was fearless, adventurous, eager for new experiences. ‘Travel’ Fiona shows up the most these days.

a million stars are shining imaginary dawn
dark and light together before the stars move on
head against the pillow, pillow on the door
snuggle in the back seat, fall asleep once more
we love to go, away we went on a drive to the next surprise
destination irrelevant follow stars to a grey sunrise

gas station’s quiet fill up the car
get juice and sandwiches before we get too far
but still we’re on the way before the sky is light
imaginary dawn spilling from the night
chorus

who are all these people up before it’s day?
where are they all going slipping through the grey?
do they love to travel always moving on?
we won’t ever tire of it imaginary dawn
chorus

welcome rest stop barn, exhibits and a snack
always something new to see whenever we come back
birds and bugs and meadows, historic marker plaques
run across the grass read the nature facts
chorus

Tea HQ and Tucson, best waffle you ever ate
Yellowstone and forests nearly every state
will you travel all your life alone or with a friend?
the imaginary dawn is a journey with no end
chorus

We’ve traveled a lot, and Fiona loves waking up before it’s light, piling in the back seat, and watching the stars as she falls back to sleep. These are her memories of all the trips we’ve taken, all the places we’ve been, and the things she loves about traveling.

Some very old notes about recording the demo:

She is still very shy about singing so she recorded this sometime in the wee hours of the morning. I played with some reverb, ducked my vocal behind hers, and love love love the staggered fade ending with just her dreamy little voice echoing at the end.

I love that I have a daughter and step-daughter with amazing voices. (Now if I can only get their mother to sing more, since she’s where they got their voices.)