I forgot to mention in last night’s post that the version of “The Fox” we listened to is by David Jones, off his wonderful Widdecombe Fair album. Mr. Jones is a familiar figure at South Street Seaport and at folk music festivals around the Northeast: I had the good fortune to see him at the […]

It is the first real November night. The moon is just past full, and it was coming up as we went to the train station to pick up Mami. We were listening (and singing along) to “The Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night”, a most appropriate song for this time of year. It was […]

We received an e-mail from a German toymaker recently, responding to our question as to which song plays in a certain music box he makes. The title was unfamiliar, so I turned to the ever-helpful Robokopp Folksong Index / Volkslieder Verzeichnis and quickly found both the lyrics and a MIDI of the music.
I have […]

“The Coo Coo is a pretty bird, / She warbles as she flies,
She never hollers “Cuckoo” / ‘Til the Fourth of July.”
Clarence “Tom” Ashley, “The Coo Coo Bird” (The Anthology of American Folk Music, Vol. 3).
It is a haunting piece, this “Coo Coo Bird”. Clarence Ashley sounds ancient, or ageless; the verses he sings are […]