Questions tagged [folk]
For questions about folk music, both traditional as well as contemporary.
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Am I confused about the message of the "Monday Morning" folk song?
I've listened many times to this:
I recognize that I may be completely wrong, and probably are (judging by how often I've misinterpreted lyrics in the past), but is ...
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Does anyone have the lyrics and meaning of Kulusizi by Dixie Kwankwa?
Dixie Kwankwa was popular in Ghana and Zambia in the 1960s. I've tried to find the lyrics for Kulusizi but nobody seems to have it online as she doesn't have much of a following today.
Extra points ...
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Go_A - ШУМ (Shum: Noise) video interpretation on the team dance move
Question about the musical dance arrangements of the video Go_A - ШУМ:
There are 9 people dancing as a team in the YouTube video --- are there certain deeper meanings/motivations behind the dance?
...
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The Irish Rovers - Wasn`t that a party lyrics
I've been going through the mentioned song's lyrics and got stuck on a few phrases:
They were sittin' in my back yard, blowing on a sireen From somebody's police car. What does blowing on a sireen ...
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Is there a connection between talking blues and hip hop/rap?
Is there some connection between the talking blues of the sixties (e.g. Dylan Subterranean Homesick Blues) and its folkier predecessors such as Guthrie and Leadbelly and the rap and hip hop lyrics?
I ...
Three Diag
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Is there a term for this style of ethnic European folk song?
The style features verses that are slow, sometimes speeding up, but ending with a rallentando and often a fermata, then going into a chorus that begins slowly (sometimes very slowly) with a gradual ...
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seeking to identify popular folk song "when the darkness of the night begins to show / streetlight always says hello" [closed]
In the 1970s, I lived in a strict religious communal organization, part of the Jesus People Movement, in which we sang (as it now seems) all the time. We sang spontaneously, a capella --- never used a ...
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Were royalties paid in the USA folk scene in the 60's? -- The Bob Dylan example
Taking as an example the album Bob Dylan, released in 1962 by Columbia, how likely is it that the fees for covering famous folk songs were paid and that original authors actually received the fees?
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Where can I read information about the English folk song "Monday Morning"?
I'm talking about this song:
For years now, I've tried to find a Wikipedia article on it, or any information at all. Oddly, I've been unable to. All I know is that a ...
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What traditional songs do parents and close family sing to their young (birth - 4) children? [closed]
Background
I met a boy, about five years old, from a Persian family, and wanted to teach him some familiar (to him) songs on the piano. However, the children's songs familiar to me were not familiar ...
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Does anyone know of any bagpipe albums I could buy that have just 2 or 3 bagpipes performing together?
Does anyone know of any bagpipe albums I could buy? Not massed pipes (i.e. lots of pipes, sometimes up to 100), but 2 or 3.
I really like the Triumph Street Band, from Canada, but I don't think they ...
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In the folk song "The Wild Rover," how did the narrator get the money he has in the tavern?
In the Irish folk song "The Wild Rover," the narrator has been spending his money on beer for a long time, many years (and maybe living nomadically). He regrets this very much and resolves ...
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What do these lyrics in "Angeline the Baker" mean?
In the song "Angeline the Baker," the lyrics go:
Angeline the baker, age of 43
Fed her sugar candy, but she still won't marry me
What does "fed her sugar candy" mean? Is it referring to sweet ...
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Is Santiano's "Mädchen von Haithabu" intentionally very similar to Tha Mi Sgith?
An excerpt from this Wikipedia page:
Santiano is a German band from the northern region of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, whose genres include Irish folk, sea shanty, and schlager music. The name ...
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What kind of instrument/synthesizer did Finntroll use for 2012's "Under Bergets Rot"? [closed]
I'm currently on an adventure to find the best folk/black metal bands in Scandinavia and the rest of Europe. I have just come across the wonderful band Finntroll, which describes their music as "...
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Looking to find out the name and origin of this song
Here is a clip of the Spanish Children's song
My cousin started singing it, but he made up words. However, the melody sounded vaguely familiar, so I sang along.
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Other than the electric guitar, which plucked chordophones (guitar-like instruments) originated in the United States?
Many countries all around the world took inspiration from stuff like the Lute, the Baroque Guitar, and the Classical Guitar to develop new forms of guitars, that deeply shaped the folklore of the ...
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Origin and meaning of "Didn't Leave Nobody but the Baby"
Most famously heard in the movie "O Brother, Where Art Thou", the traditional lullaby "Didn't Leave Nobody but the Baby" is performed by artists Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, and ...
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Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" origin
I recently found this band that plays Jewish folk songs or uses motives from them in their own material. They're called Black Ox Orkestrar. One of their songs called "Tsvey Tabelakh" seemed very ...
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Are "Londonderry Air", "Danny Boy", and "You Raise Me Up" the same song?
I notice that the Irish air Londonderry Air, the ballad Danny Boy by Frederic Weatherly, and You Raise Me Up by the band Secret Garden sound pretty much the same (or at least similar) when I listen to ...
user7708
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What's the difference between Bluegrass and Country?
I'm diving into North American folklore music of the 20th century, and two of the staples are the Bluegrass and Country genres / styles.
They seem to be intimately connected though, so: How are they ...
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What's the difference between Cuban Son and Mexican Son?
Both are very important folkloric, traditional, styles in their respective countries. They sound very similar, but seems that they developed somewhat independently, at least at their beginnings.
Here ...
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Who is Johanna in this Joan Baez song - The Winds of the Old Days
In this song, The Winds of the Old Days, by Joan Baez, the last stanza is:
And get you down to the harbor now
Most of the sour grapes are gone from the bough
Ghosts of Johanna will visit you there
...
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The inspiration behind the song: What Have They Done To My Song, Ma
I recently came across this beautiful song, but could find very little about what inspired this song. Any details about what inspired it, any other information about it, would be appreciated.
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End of AVICII's The Nights: Why is the end of the sound wave not centered around zero?
This is the end of AVICII's The Nights (YouTube) viewed in Audacity:
Question: Is there a particular purpose for keeping the wave out of the center?
I guess it does not change the sound (or at least ...
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Does anyone know examples of old Danish rowing songs?
Some friends of mine told me they were on a trip with an old viking dragonboat when some of the girls started to sing some ancient rowing song.
To be able to have some imagination how that might have ...
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Who knows the name of this song? [closed]
I am looking for name of this music and it's artist. Thanks!
https://ufile.io/bvai5
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What is going on in the lyrics of Kate Rusby's song “The Lark”?
What is going on in the lyrics of Kate Rusby's song “The Lark”?
This song is moving but cryptic—it's hard for me to tell what's going on. There may have been a breakup between the narrator and the ...
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Original "Glory To The Sun" Russian folk song used as a theme in Beethoven String Quartet No. 8 and others
In String Quartet No. 8, Beethoven made use of a Russian theme based on the folk song (or hymn) "Glory To The Sun". Other composers also used this song as a theme: Mussorgski in "Boris Gudunov", ...
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Roma 2018 - Alfonso Cuaron - beach wedding song
I'm trying to identify the title of the simple beach wedding music, performed by a local Mexican orchestra in Roma (the great movie on Netflix, Venice festival winner, from Alfonso Cuaron)
It is not ...
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What's the origin of the phrase "Rise Up Singing"?
There's a famous song book called "Rise Up Singing."
That expression appears in the lyric of Summertime, from Porgy and Bess. I wonder whether that's the whole story of the phrase (it was created by ...
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Song used on "Maps that Will Change the Way You See Russia" video
Does anybody know what is the name of this music?
I find it very interesting.
Thanks
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"I Riden Så" (Ye Ride So Carefully) Interpretation
There are lyrics of a song that I'd love to understand better:
"I Riden Så" (Ye Ride So Carefully) by the Finnish band Gjallarhorn
My questions are:
How is the singer related to Silibrant and his ...
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"Are you going to leave me here alone and forsake your own country?" [closed]
I'm trying to remember a folk song I heard (recorded, sung by a man with a guitar) as a child. The only part I can remember now is from the refrain, which goes
Singing Jimmy, dearest Jimmy,
On ...
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Identify traditional Scottish folk song about a kiss
Trying to figure out the name of a traditional Scottish (and not Irish folk song I heard on the Ed Miller radio show last year. I recall it was performed by a woman and I know I found a video of her ...
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What does characterize "dirty" folk?
As different to "normal" folk? Is it so because of "dirty" sounds?
Example
https://youtu.be/_ILe0_DovlU
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How could Iron and Wine open for Jason Isbell in concert
I recently went to a concert in Canandaigua, NY, in which Iron and Wine opened for Jason Isbell.
Iron and Wine seems to be a much more established artist.
A quick glance at Wikipedia shows that ...
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Name for commercial song which becomes accepted as folk song?
Is there a term for a commercial song, in a folk/roots style, which gets accepted as an authentic folk original ?
I'm thinking of a song like The Wheel of the Wagon is Broken.
Country/Western Swing ...
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The connection between Kurdish music and the sound of horses galloping?
The characteristic background rhythm of Kurdish music (like this) is very similar to the sound of horses galloping. Given that horses were domesticated by Indo-Europeans, it seems likely there could ...
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What Do The Lyrics Of "O Shenandoah" Refer to?
I've been looking at some arrangements of "O Shenandoah", and am utterly confused about the lyrics. First of all: None make too much sense. I always thought it was about a river, but a good number of ...
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Australian or NZ bands like Mountain Goats, Neutral Milk Hotel, etc.?
I am looking for Australian or New Zealand bands like Mountain Goats, Neutral Milk Hotel, etc.? This may not exist.
I am also interested in any bands with a similar sound from other languages or ...
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Lyrics to Jake Bugg song 'Swept Away"
I have seen several different transcriptions of the lyrics to this Jake Bugg song. And I was wondering if anybody had seen a physical copy of the lyrics like sometimes come in the case when you by a ...
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What is the meaning of this line in Loch Lomond?
This verse of Loch Lomond is usually sung as :
The wee birdies sing
And the wild flowers spring
And in sunshine the waters lie sleeping
But the broken heart it kens, nae second spring again
...
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Name of Irish-like Christmas song?
I was watching this video to get some ideas on what to play on an informal Christmas concert. From 0:21 to 0:56 the boy plays a song that sounds quite good. It looks like and Irish song , but I don't ...
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Meaning of "Blowing in the Wind"?
The song Blowing in the Wind has the following lines
How many roads must a man walk down
Before they call him a man
I have no clue what this means
How many seas must a white dove sail
...
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Where does the 5th line in Wild Mountan Thyme go?
The song "Wild Mountain Thyme" (or "Will Ye Go, Lassie, Go", "The Blooming/Purple Heather" or any other line you'd like to pull out of it) has this verse/chorus structure:
Oh the summer time is ...
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Russian folk song sung in the movie Russkies?
Approximately 30 minutes into the 1987 film "Russkies" the main character, Mischa, sings what I assume to be a Russian folk song. A clip is available on YouTube at this link. Can you name that tune ...
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Are there any records of Woody Guthrie's FBI verses to "Acres of Clams"?
In Pete Seeger's Introduction to Acres of Clams, he states that he and Woody Guthrie once improvised verses to it, including the verse:
They asked, "would I fight for my country?"
I answered the ...
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Sponge Cake in "True Blue" by John Williamson
In the famous Australian folk song "True Blue" written by John Williamson, he asks "If they sell us out like sponge cake, Do you really care?" Is this referring to anything in particular? For example, ...
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What are the two hornpipes in "Two Hornpipes" from the Pirates of the Caribbean
In the soundtrack to the second Pirates of the Caribbean, there is a track titled "Two hornpipes" (Video). I can only hear one in it, and it sounds rather similar to the Lamplighter's Hornpipe, but ...
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