The Tunesmiths challenge that inspired this track was to musically adapt a Shakespeare sonnet, play or song. Having seen a version of Twelfth Night at my local theatre, I remembered the song that is sung at the very end of the play - 'Feste's Song' - and set about adapting it in a style suited to me.
Having always been fascinated by field recorder Alan Lomax's recordings of call and response songs by American church congregations and field workers, I bluesified the bard's lyrics and recorded the response vocals and handclaps eight times over. Just like any play does, this song too finishes with applause.
The original lyrics are as follows:
"When that I was and a little tiny boy,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
A foolish thing was but a toy,
For the rain it raineth every day.
But when I came to man's estate,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
'Gainst knaves and thieves men shut their gate,
For the rain, it raineth every day.
But when I came, alas! to wive,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
By swaggering could I never thrive,
For the rain, it raineth every day.
But when I came unto my beds,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
With toss-pots still had drunken heads,
For the rain, it raineth every day.
A great while ago the world begun,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain.
But that's all one, our play is done,
And we'll strive to please you every day."
credits
from The Secret Diary Of A Tunesmith,
released September 15, 2014
Written by Lins Honeyman, adapted from 'Feste's Song' by William Shakespeare.
Lins Honeyman is a singer/songwriter and performer based in Perthshire, Scotland. Lins has appeared live in bars, prisons,
churches and living rooms - both solo and with his band.
To keep things fresh, he goes between guitar, harmonica, piano, mandolin, dobro and ukulele and plays a range of original material, old blues numbers and the odd surprising cover or two!...more
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