Song picture
#53- The Old Maypole (1984)
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Single   $0.5
Upbeat folk song about the maypole
folk funny political sixties novelty gentle prolific idiosyncratic lehrer jefferson airplane ochs paxton steve goodman
Artist picture
Tom Paxton meets Jefferson Airplane. Extremely prolific singer songwriter with a wide range of styles from bizarre novelty tunes and surrealistic poetic songs t
With more than 300 songs and counting and for more than 30 years, I have written in a variety of acoustic styles from novelty tunes to love songs to historical ballads to poetic surrealistic songs to retro-acoustic pop. From bizarre to traditional from funny to poignant, whatever style the song is in, the melodies are usually memorable and the lyrics unpredictable. This site will eventually contain rough often first take demos of my entire song catalogue. Many of the earliest songs when I first started writing will of course be shaky. So expect the songs to get better as time goes on. Feel free to come back and browse often as I will constantly be adding songs, one by one in chronological order, starting in 1974. If you are looking for some unusual songs to cover from a little known but unique artist, you have come to the right place. Just e-mail me. If you find a song here that intrigues you, but you don't like a line or two, or you think it needs a bridge, drop me an e-mail and maybe you can earn writer's credit if it gets that song to be recorded or performed.... otherwise just enjoy. You can become a Rob Lincoln fan at no cost to you. I promise that if you keep coming back there will be some real surprises along the way. While mostly acoustic, some original material will veer into folk rock and even 60's pop, but the garage rock and loudest material will also be found in full band arrangement at soundclick.com/abrasiveflowers Eventually some of these 300+ tunes may be rerecorded and make it on to CD, including a novelty CD that would be suitable for Dr. Demento or an historical ballad CD or a political song CD--but until then, this is the only site you can hear most of these songs. (A few of my songs CAN be found on songramp.com/RobLincoln and myspace.com/lessickandlincoln)
Song Info
Charts
Peak #455
Peak in subgenre #29
Author
Rob Lincoln
Rights
1984
Uploaded
May 12, 2007
Track Files
MP3
MP3 2.2 MB 128 kbps 2:24
Story behind the song
Starting as a pagan holiday and then becoming a symbol for all workers, May Day was co-opted during the McCarthy period and renamed "Law Day." This song celebrates and romanticizes the tradition of the maypole. Mp3 listeners so far rated this a 4.2 out of 5.0..... Comments have included: "Has the right feel" "Despite some awkwardness in phrasing and timing, I liked this one alot, great theme and it immediately brought to mind the Wyatt painting of the Maypole revelers in the snow. Keeper!" "I could hear a whole lot of fiddle added" "Good for a folk tune, but folk only" "Yep, this one is a good one"
Lyrics
Just a half a mile from Saint John's Road In a quiet little clearing there in days of old People used to come from far and wide Just to dance around the old maypole Men with their shiny buttons and polished shoes Would come and dance from midnight to noon Drinking from a keg of fresh brewed ale They would dance around the old maypole Women with their flower dresses and white bonnets Would smile in the sun and dance as it set Looking for the romance that would be the one They would dance around the old maypole Little girls and boys would play all day Run in the field, sleep in the hay Dream under the crescent moon They would dance around the old maypole All working people from far away France, England, Ireland today Even once people in the USA They would dance around the old maypole For just a half a mile from Saint John's Road In a quiet little clearing there in days of old People would come from far and wide Just to dance around the old maypole
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