Folksong: The Lion Sleeps Tonight

"Mbube" (Zulu: lion) was written in the 1920s by Solomon Linda, a South African singer of Zulu origin, who worked for the Gallo Record Company as a cleaner and record packer, and who performed with a choir, The Evening Birds. According to South African journalist Rian Malan:


"Mbube" wasn't the most remarkable tune, but there was something terribly compelling about the underlying chant, a dense meshing of low male voices above which Solomon yodelled and howled for two exhilarating minutes, occasionally making it up as he went along. The third take was the great one, but it achieved immortality only in its dying seconds, when Solly took a deep breath, opened his mouth and improvised the melody that the world now associates with these words:


In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight.[1]

...

It went on to earn at least 15 million US dollars in royalties from covers and film licensing. Then, in the mid-nineties, it became a pop "supernova" (in the words of South African writer Rian Malan) when licensed to Walt Disney for use in the film The Lion King, its spin-off TV series and live musical, prompting a lawsuit on behalf of the impoverished descendants of Solomon Linda. [1]

Family of 'Lion Sleeps Tonight' Writer to Get Millions

::

Conveniently, this is a folksong we're already familiar with for the most part, so we won't have to spend much time on it considering we're a month behind and it's the day before the day before Christmas... though in comparison our December weather is a lot more African (as in tropical), than it would be in N.America this month! :)

This is our favorite youtube version:




Helpful links:
AO Folksongs
The Lion Sleeps Tonight - wikipedia

Folksong: The Ash Grove

Because of furlough and moving, we started this school year off late, but we're not really even trying to catch up.  So even though The Ash Grove is supposed to be the folksong for October according to the AO Folksong schedule, we're quite fond of doing things at our own pace. We're singing Ash Grove right now! 

I put together a page for our Family Music Book and thought y'all might like to use it too.  Here it is, another fine Fisher Academy printable: The Ash Grove! 


Here are the chords for guitar:
Part A
G--|G--|C--|D--|G--|C--|D--|G--:||
Part B
G--|G--|Am--|D--|G--|G--|D--|D7--|
G--|G--|C--|D--|G--|C--|D--|G--||

Helpful Links:
My favorite Ash Grove link from Music-for-music-teachers.com
Youtube for sing-along (lyrics are on the screen & he sings quite slow, so it's easy to keep up!)
Lively musical rendition with bagpipes
Guitar Chords

Folksong: Aiken Drum

The Van Tutt Family Singers has performed the AO Folksong for September for your viewing enjoyment! It's a little late... but I'm sure that's okay ;)





This is the modern (silly) rendering of a more traditional folksong. See the AO Folksong page for more information about this year's folksongs :)

Folksong: Tall Men Riding

When I was little, I would've liked nothing better than to be a cowboy when I grew up!
(mind you, a cowboy - I had no desire to be a cowgirl! ...how wimpy I remember thinking! ;)

I grew up in Oregon, you know, the end of the Oregon Trail... and though in those days everyone had recently left off taking the covered wagons to go to the grocery store, of course as kids we were still naturally quite taken with stories of the wild west in which we lived. (In high school, I met a girl from SC who asked me, in all seriousness, if everyone still rode horses... uh... yeah)  I always mourned that I wasn't born as Laura Ingalls' neighbor or Ralph Moody's playmate... though I probably would not have delighted in being a mother in those days.  Serious work! 


Around the age of 8 or 9 my best friend cousin and I, who were completely infatuated with horses, would spend hours pretending to be horses as we galloped through the forest around our family's cabin every summer, and looking out the window on long trips we would imagine us atop our swift mounts running on the shoulder along side of the car ...glorious days those. If I hadn't grown up in the city, I'm pretty sure I WOULD have been a cowboy (with long braided hair of course)!

My kids know NOTHING of the wild west experience, having grown up here in Peru, excepting our handful of stateside rodeo experiences...  which by the way are SO fun!  I love going to relish in the life that might have been mine... ;)

Regardless, this video might make you a little sad for bygone days too, but it's worth it! :)



Helpful Links for this term's Folksong:

More Cowboy poetry by S.Omar Barker (author of Tall Men Riding)
Midi, lyrics and history
Downloadable Lyrics (PDF)
Sheet music and lyrics
A video of a guy playing the tune on a banjo!  cool.
Guitar Chords for a different song to a similar tune (see below)
Alternate Chords with video [Tramps And Hawkers (Irish song)]

Helpful Links for Folksong Study

Folksong and Hymn Study
Buy Homestead Picker CDs (pretty much all AO Folksong Folksong selections are on these 2 discs... super convenient!)

Other Folksong Posts:

Waltzing Matilda
Farewell to Nova Scotia
Land of the Silver Birch
Follow the Drinking Gourd

Folksong: Waltzing Mathilda

The unofficial Australian national anthem...

Including fun new vocabulary like, swagman, billabong and coolibah tree...

A whole new definition of waltzing, that doesn't mean dancing...

and a Mathilda that ISN'T a girl?!

Are you curious?

Check out this term's folksong: Waltzing Mathilda!
Listen to it as you read along HERE (includes Australian and American lyrics).

Oh. my. Listen/watch this video... does he not have the nicest speaking voice you've EVER heard?! oh. second only to my husband's of course. :)

Folksong: Farewell to Nova Scotia

This Term's Folksong:

Farewell to Nova Scotia


photo by philly_j

While the exact author is unknown, Helen Creighton is the folklorist who first published it.  It seems to have been inspired by the poem The Soldier's Adieu, by Robert Tannahill.  You'll want to read the wiki HERE, but the Canadian Encyclopedia actually has more detailed information.  I'm not sure why, but a several of the folksongs are actually Canadian... not that I have a problem with that... [ahem.]  But AO having mainly American adherents I wonder why we don't choose American folksongs... hmmm.  Well, I don't mind either way.  Just sayin'.

Listen and learn the song:

This version is in the Celtic Punk genre and frankly, I didn't hate it... but, it was different.

This one by the Irish Rovers pretty much sounds identical to the Homestead Picker Folksong version.

Ryan's Fancy - Farewell to Nova Scotia Sing-a-long! - This is my kids first pick because they say the music is more lively.  The instruments definitely sound more folkish if you know what I mean ;) I liked that it was a kid-safe page with no inappropriate images.  I also like that the page has the sheet music with more than just the guitar chords + the lyrics, so you can follow along as the song plays.

Free downloads:

I've made a printable of the lyrics which match the version by the Irish Rovers linked above.

Right click HERE and 'save file as...' to your computer.

Go to this page for a FREE mp3 download of Farewell to Nova Scotia by jeez And Cheez And Kineez.  

Land of the Silver Birch

This Term's Folksong:

Land of the Silver Birch

This is a different version than we learned from the Homestead Picker Folksong CDs. But the guy's voice is beautiful, and the quality sound of the guitar is rich and deep. We noted the differences in lyrics and then because there are word prompts and chord prompts for the guitar, we were able to follow along quite nicely.  He has an online guitar tutorial here (careful of unlovely image/ads on the same page). There's a page of printable lyrics HERE.

Michael Mitchell - Land of the Silver Birch Sing-a-long!  This is my kids first pick because it has fun sound effects and word prompts.  I liked that it was kid-safe with no inappropriate images.  The first verses were new to us, but that's the way with folksongs as oral tradition... everyone passes them on a little differently. 

See a mom-with-a-beautiful-accent's hand motions, watch her video here. I'm thinking that even though my kids laughed at the moose motions, the hands-on aspect would probably help my littlest littles learn it more quickly.

Free download - downloadable mp3 of a children's choir version at the bottom of the wiki page. I personally can't stand the choir version, but it is interesting to contrast the difference of music style.

Here is the emusic download link where you can listen to a sample first for free. You can also get a certain amount of free downloads but I don't know the details of that. (I used to have a membership, but got annoyed at the constant e-mails they sent and having search and figure out which music to download, but that was years ago, maybe it's better now).

Follow the Drinking Gourd

This term's Folk Song:
Follow the Drinking Gourd


Love this guy!

Amy