When I was a little kid,
I had a very privileged upbringing,
In a way, in that my family was just musical.
And it wasn't really something that we thought about much,
We just liked singing folk music,
My parents would put on old LPs of Joni Mitchell or the
Clancy Brothers or Gordon Lightfoot, and we'd just sing along!
My dad would grab a banjo or a guitar,
There was always a kid-accessible shelf that had little noisemakers
And harmonicas and recorders and
Things, and so we all just made music.
My mum played piano and we all sang.
And um, it took me a long time before I realised that a lot of other
Families didn't do that,
And so when we were putting together a new CD a couple years back,
We called it My Celtic Heart,
And we secretly recorded some of my favourite
Ones that we used to sing around the kitchen table.
There were Irish and Scottish tunes,
There were old y'know North Carolina tunes, all that stuff.
And when we finally had it all done and printed,
I sat my parents down and I said 'hey, I've got a new CD!
' And they were like 'really?
' Because usually they hear about this well earlier in the process.
And I started playing it for them,
And some of the best memories of those two is the two of them-- they
Got a little bit misty-eyed and then they
Just started singing with us, and it was amazing.
So, that CD-- we're gonna do a couple from that one over the course
Of tonight, but this is one that I learned very young,
And I always loved the Irish lilt to it,
It's quite a sad, sweet little song called Fair and Tender Ladies.
Come all ye fair and tender ladies,
Take warning how you court young men.
They're like a star on a cloudy morning;
First they'll appear and then they're gone.
They'll tell to you some lovin' story
They'll swear to you that their love is true,
But straightway they'll go and they'll court some other
That's the love they have for you.
I wish I was a little sparrow,
That I had wings and I could fly
I'd fly away from this grief and sorrow
And try to pass this trouble by
Come all ye fair and tender ladies,
Take warning how you court young men.
They're like a star on a cloudy morning;
First they'll appear and then they're gone.
Thank you!