Calm down children

Children of BALPA performing at Thornbury Carnival, 2019
(Photo: Simon Meeds)

We really were scraping the barrel last Friday, starting the evening with three singers, and dropping to two before the break. You will understand then why there were fewer songs sung than usual and we called it a night when the break would usually have been.

Colin started us off with a parody of Wild Rover (Roud 1173) - Song Of The F.U. (The Kipper Family). Here FU stands for Farmers' Union. As far as I can work out, the union was the NFU from its formation in 1908, so I guess the "N" just didn't scan or maybe there is a contrary message in there somewhere?

Mike was unsure what to sing and rejected several suggestions from Colin. When Simon incorrectly muttered something about the Lusitania, Mike said "That's not a bad idea actually" and sang Firing The Mauretania. Since the Lusitania and Mauretania were sister ships, and the former gained notoriety by being sunk on 7 May 1915 by a German U-boat, an act which effectively brought the USA into the First World War, I think it's probably a forgivable slip. Wikipedia says of the song that it was '...collected by Redd Sullivan. The song starts "In 19 hundred and 24, I ... got a job on the Mauretania"; but then goes on to say "shovelling coal from morn till night" (not possible in 1924 as she was oil-fired by then). The number of "fires" is said to be 64. Hughie Jones also recorded the song but the last verse of Hughie's version calls upon "all you trimmers" whereas Redd Sullivan's version calls upon "stokers".'

Simon, who was suffering from a cold, decided to sing a song whose bottom note he can only really reach when so suffering: Ol' Man River (Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II).

I think it was Simon who first introduced the theme which emerged for the evening, singing Watermelon (Roud 15724), a song which Don McLean performs at concerts presumably to get an audience going, and as a memory from his days as a summer camp leader. And so, we were off on a theme of children's songs and songs about children (or not).

Colin suggested we would see all the animals since we were Going To The Zoo (Tom Paxton). Simon put us all to sleep with Malvina Reynolds' Morningtown Ride. After which we woke up for Colin to offer us Shortnening Bread (Roud 4209 - James Whitcomb Riley). Incidentally, Shortening Bread isn't referring to shortbread but to a bread, made of corn meal and/or flour and lard shortening.

Mike got us up and skipping (no, not really) with I'll Tell Me Ma (Roud 2649).

Simon took on the the role of a four year-old David Bowie (or should that be David Jones?) with When I'm Five. Colin remembered the Ovaltineys; not with that song but rather with Ovaltine.

Mike was perhaps the last to contribute to the theme but with something definitely about rather than for the children: The Vicar And The Frog (Stan Crowther - a better link). However Colin and Simon agreed (Simon at least from personal experience) that Colin's late contribution, Mike McGear's song, Thank U Very Much, sung by McGear's band The Scaffold, was very popular with children.

Simon finished off the evening with Haul Away Joe (Roud 809).

Here's a selection of songs sung during this session.

(Number of people present - 3, of whom 3 performed)