The Rising Of The Moon

November 11, 1988.
Tom Clancy with brothers Bobby and Paddy and nephew Robbie O'Connell as part of a concert special for PBS.

and come tell me Sean O'Farrell
where the gathering is to be
at the old spot by the river
quite well known to you and me
one more word for signal token
whistle out the marching tune
with your pike upon your shoulder
by the rising of the moon

Judy Collins: "Both Sides Now"

2009 Newport Folk Festival
Newport Beach, Rhode Island

rows and flows of angel hair
and ice cream castles in the air
and feather canyons everywhere
i've looked at clouds that way
but now they only block the sun
they rain and snow on everyone
so many things i would have done
but clouds got in my way
i've looked at clouds from both sides now
from up and down and still somehow
it's cloud illusions i recall
i really don't know clouds at all

moons and Junes and Ferris wheels
the dizzy dancing way you feel
as every fairy tale comes real
i've looked at love that way
but now it's just another show
you leave 'em laughing when you go
and if you care don't let them know
don't give yourself away
i've looked at love from both sides now
from give and take and still somehow
it's love's illusions i recall
i really don't know love at all

tears and fears and feeling proud
to say "i love you" right out loud
dreams and schemes and circus crowds
i've looked at life that way
but now old friends are acting strange
they shake their heads they say i've changed
well something's lost but something's gained
in living every day
i've looked at life from both sides now
from win and lose and still somehow
it's life's illusions i recall
i really don't know life at all

--joni mitchell

Doors: "My Wild Love"

my wild love went riding
she rode all the day
she wrote to the devil
and asked him to pay
the devil was wiser
it's time to repent
he asked her to give back
the money she spent

my wild love went riding
she rode to the sea
she gathered together
some shells for her hair
she rode and she rode on
she rode for a while
then stopped for an evening
and lay her head down

she rode on to Christmas
she rode to the farm
she rode to Japan
and we entered a town
by this time the weather
had changed one degree
she asked for the people
to let her go free

my wild love is crazy
she screams like a bird
she moans like a cat
when she wants to be heard
my wild love went riding
she rode for an hour
she rode and she rested
and then she rode on

--jim morrison

Pogues: "Dirty Old Town"

St. Patrick's Day, 1988
with Joe Strummer, Kirsty McColl, David Byrne and others

clouds are drifting across the moon
cats are prowling on their beat
spring's a girl from the streets at night
dirty old town
dirty old town

Emmylou Harris: "Boulder To Birmingham"

well you really got me this time
and the hardest part is knowing i'll survive
i have come to listen for the sound
of the trucks as they roll down
out on ninety five
and pretend that it's the ocean
coming down to wash me clean
to wash me clean
baby do you know what i mean
i would rock my soul in the bosom of Abraham
i would hold my life in his saving grace
i would walk all the way from Boulder to Birmingham
if i thought i could see, i could see your face

Bon Temps Rouler

David Lindley lets the good times roll on Night Music.

Dougie Maclean: "She Loves Me"

2009 Fylde Folk Festival

here comes the morning
cruel and clear
there is no reasonable chance
that it might disappear
and here comes the evening
it's still the same
we are just passengers
upon this godless, ghostly train
but she loves me when i try
she thinks about me when i'm gone
oh she helps me when i can't hold on
--dougie maclean (from "she loves me ")

Paul Hipp: "We're Number 37"

The World

Health

Organization

now ranks

healthcare

in the

United States

at 37th best

on the planet.

If I Should Fall Behind

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
New York City, New York
2001

we said we'd walk together
baby come what may
that come the twilight
should we lose our way
if as we're walking
a hand should slip free
i'll wait for you
and should i fall behind
wait for me

Grace

Grace has gone on ahead.
Light a candle to help her find the way.

Not the least hard thing to bear
when they go from us,
these quiet friends,
is that they carry away with them
so many years of our lives.
Yet, if they find warmth therein,
who would begrudge them those years
that they have so guarded?
And whatever they take,
be sure they have deserved.
--John Galsworthy

Tom Waits: "Downtown Train"

outside another yellow moon
has punched a hole in the nighttime
yes i climb through the window
and down to the street
i'm shining like a new dime
the downtown trains are full
with all of those Brooklyn girls
they try so hard
to break out of their little worlds
well you wave your hand
and they scatter like crows
they have nothing
that will ever capture your heart
they're just thorns without the rose
be careful of them in the dark
--tom waits

Jackson Browne: "Lives In The Balance"

Prospect Park,
Brooklyn, New York
July 2009

i've been waiting for something to happen
for a week or a month or a year
with the blood in the ink of the headlines
and the sound of the crowd in my ear
you might ask what it takes to remember
when you know that youve seen it before
where a government lies to a people
and a country is drifting to war
there's a shadow on the faces
of the men who send the guns
to the wars that are fought in places
where their business interest runs

on the radio talk shows and the t.v.
you hear one thing again and again
how the U.S.A. stands for freedom
and we come to the aid of a friend
but who are the ones that we call our friends
these governments killing their own
or the people who finally can't take any more
so they pick up a gun or a brick or a stone
there are lives in the balance
there are people under fire
there are children at the cannons
and there is blood on the wire

theres a shadow on the faces
of the men who fan the flames
of the wars that are fought in places
where we cant even say the names
they sell us the president the same way
they sell us our clothes and our cars
they sell us everything from youth to religion
the same time they sell us our wars
i want to know who the men in the shadows are
i want to hear somebody asking them why
they can be counted on to tell us who our enemies are
but they're never the ones to fight or to die
and there are lives in the balance
there are people under fire
there are children at the cannons
and there is blood on the wire

Karine Polwart: "The Sun's Coming Over The Hill"

Shrewsbury Folk Festival
2009

A Picnic In The Park With Leonard Cohen

This segment from a documentary entitled "This Beggar's Description" was directed by Pierre Tétrault and chronicles the ups and downs in the life of his brother Philip.
In this clip, Leonard Cohen sits with his neighborhood buddy Philip Tétrault and talk about old times, poetry and other stuff at what has come to be known as "Leonard's Park" in Montreal.

You are playing to people who have experienced a catastrophe.
This should make you very quiet.
Speak the words, convey the data, step aside.
Everyone knows you are in pain.
You cannot tell the audience everything you know about love
in every line of love you speak.
Step aside and they will know what you know
because they know it already.
You have nothing to teach them.
--Leonard Cohen (from "Death of a Lady's Man")
How To Speak Poetry

Dolores Keane: "Galway Bay"

with Dé Danann

'tis far away i am today from scenes i roamed a boy
and long ago the hour i know i first saw Illinois
but time nor tide nor waters wide could wean my heart away
forever true it flies to you, my dear old Galway Bay

o grey and bleak by shore and creek the rugged rocks abound
but sweet and green the grass between as grows on Irish ground
so friendship fond all wealth abound and love that lives always
bless each poor home beside your foam, my dear old Galway Bay

had i youth's blood and hopeful mood and heart of fire once more
for all the gold the world might hold i'd never quit your shore
i'd live content whate'er God sent with neighbors old and gray
to lay my bones 'neath churchyard stones, beside you, Galway Bay

the blessing of a poor old man be with you night and day
the blessing of a loving man whose heart will soon be clay
'tis all of Heaven i'll ask of God upon my dying day
my soul to soar forever more above you, Galway Bay

Pogues: "Summer In Siam"

when its summer in Siam
and the moon is full of rainbows
when its summer in Siam
and we go through many changes
when its summer in Siam
then all i really know
is that i truly am
in the summer in Siam

Peter, Paul and Mary: "The Great Mandala"

Mary Travers (11/9/36--9/16/09)

take your place on the Great Mandala
as it moves through your brief moment of time

Acoustic Soul: "Into The Mystic"

Rick Branch and Don Miller
Kenosha, Wisconsin
1/16/08

we were born before the wind
also younger than the sun
ere the bonnie boat was won
as we sailed into the mystic
hark, now hear the sailors cry
smell the sea and feel the sky
let your soul and spirit fly
into the mystic
--van morrison

Crosby, Stills and Nash: "Wasted On The Way"

Universal Amphitheater, Los Angeles
1982

and there's so much time to make up
everywhere you turn
time we have wasted on the way
so much water moving
underneath the bridge
let the water come and carry us away

Tulsa Queen

Emmylou Harris from 1987

lately i speak your name too loud
each time it comes up in a crowd
and i know it when i do
that the Tulsa Queen and you
are gone

Warren Zevon: "My Shit's Fucked Up"

well, i went to the doctor
i said, "i'm feeling kind of rough"
he said, "let me break it to you, son,
your shit's fucked up"
i said, "my shit's fucked up?"
i just don't see how"
he said, "the shit that used to work
it won't work now"

Loreena McKennitt: "Cymbeline"

Fear no more the heat of the sun
Nor the furious winter's rages.
Thou thy worldly task hast done,
Home art gone, and taken thy wages.
Golden lads and girls all must,
As chimney-sweepers, come to dust.
--William Shakespeare (from "Cymbeline ")

Tony Rice: "Freeborn Man"

Tony Rice--guitar
Jerry Douglas-- dobro
Sam Bush-- mandolin
Mark O'Connor--fiddle
Mark Schatz--bass
Béla Fleck--banjo

Matthew King: "American Dream"

look at this face
it won't come clean
tell me if you see
the american dream

Laurie Anderson: "White Lily"

from "Home Of The Brave "
1986

what Fassbinder film is it?
the one-armed man comes into a flower shop and says:
what flower expresses days go by
and they just keep going by endlessly
pulling you into the future
days go by endlessly
endlessly pulling you into the future?
and the florist says:
white lily

Helen and Amy: "Across The Great Divide"

i've been walking in my sleep
counting troubles instead of counting sheep
where the years went i can't say
i just turned around and they've gone away
i've been sifting through the layers
of dusty books and faded papers
they tell a story i used to know
it was one that happened so long ago
it's gone away in yesterday
now i find myself on the mountainside
where the rivers change direction
across the Great Divide

well i heard the owl a-calling
softly as the night was falling
with a question and i replied
but he's gone across the borderline
it's gone away in yesterday
now i find myself on the mountainside
where the rivers change direction
across the Great Divide

the finest hour that i have seen
is the one that comes between
the edge of night and the break of day
it's when the darkness rolls away
it's gone away in yesterday
now i find myself on the mountainside
where the rivers change direction
across the Great Divide

--Kate Wolf (1942--1986)

It Makes No Difference (600th Post)

Giving
and taking
the constant
recissions
in an
ongoing
whack-a-mole
contest
with the
censorious
YouTube
gremlins,
this marks
Folk Queue's
600th post.
Thanks to
any and all
who have
come along
for the ride.
More soon.
--tw

The Band
Winterland, San Francisco, Ca.
11/25/76

Gillian Welch/David Rawlings: "Billy"

there's guns across the river aiming at ya
lawman on your trail, he'd like to catch ya
bounty hunters, too, they'd like to get ya
Billy, they don't like you to be so free

camping out all night on the veranda
dealing cards 'til dawn in the hacienda
up to Boot Hill they'd like to send ya
Billy, don't you turn your back on me

playing around with some sweet senorita
into her dark hallway she will lead ya
in some lonesome shadows she will greet ya
Billy, you're so far away from home

there's eyes behind the mirrors in empty places
bullet holes and scars between the spaces
there's always one more notch and ten more paces
Billy, and you're walkin' all alone

they say that Pat Garrett's got your number
so sleep with one eye open when you slumber
every little sound just might be thunder
thunder from the barrel of his gun

guitars will play your grand finale
down in some Tularosa alley,
maybe in the Rio Pecos valley
Billy, you're so far away from home

there's always some new stranger sneaking glances
some trigger-happy fool willing to take chances
and some old whore from San Pedro to make advances
advances on your spirit and your soul

the businessmen from Taos want you to go down
they've hired Pat Garrett to force a showdown
Billy, don't it make ya feel so low-down
to be shot down by the man who was your friend

hang on to your woman if you got one
remember in El Paso once you shot one
she may have been a whore but she was a hot one
Billy, you been running for so long

guitars will play your grand finale
down in some Tularosa alley
maybe in the Rio Pecos valley
Billy, you're so far away from home

--Bob Dylan

Yellow Dog Story

Grateful Dead
Honolulu Civic Auditorium,
Honolulu, Hawaii
1/23/70

Dino Valente: "Time"

1968

we may only be here one time
for all anyone knows
and we already share one mind
what more could we ask for
than sunlight born of the dawn
night dreams having all flown
in tune with creation

Joni Mitchell: "Urge For Going"

1965

now the warriors of winter
gave a cold triumphant shout
all that stays is dying
and all that lives is getting out
see the geese in chevron flight
flapping and racing on before the snow
they've got the urge for going
and they've got the wings to go
they get the urge for going
when the meadow grass is turning brown
summertime is falling down
and winter is closing in

Wild Mountain Thyme

Dick Gaughan with Emmylou Harris and Kate and Anna McGarrigle

i will build my love a bower
near yon pure crystal fountain
and on it i will put
all the flowers of the mountain