Song picture
Poppy and Nanny
Comment Share
Americana
acoustic folk social commentary political satire western massachusetts oil coal climate change fracking incineration music for social change nuclear energy
Folk singer, social commentary, satire, people's stories, children's music
Hi Folks, The Bard Insurgent here. My comrade D.O. (the Poet Roofer) and I got that handle (The Bard Insurgents) from traveling town to town performing songs and poetry about people's lives. I've been performing since I was 3 years old, cutting my vocal chords on liturgical and classical music. I was a concert soloist as a child, when I wasn't herding cows, throwing hay and shoveling manure. During the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam war, I began writing songs about social change. I left the country in 1970 and my dozen years in other countries, mostly in Africa & South America, have provided a global perspective to my music. My travels helped me realize that people all around the world are essentially the same in their basic life needs and their desires to live peacefully in their communities. These experiences have informed my commitment to working for international understanding as I organize at home. A powerful way to educate and inspire is with music. I tell people's stories, do social commentary with a touch of satire that I hope you enjoy and share with your friends, as well as sing together in the streets and in your living rooms. I also have children's music written for the children in my life with Jacob and Kayla as primary muses. Looking forward to seeing you on the road, Tom
Song Info
Charts
Peak #149
Peak in subgenre #16
Author
Tom Neilson
Rights
Tom Neilson
Uploaded
August 31, 2013
Track Files
MP3
MP3 5.4 MB 160 kbps 4:43
Story behind the song
Poppy and Nanny, Tom's maternal grandparents met at the Woolworth's 5 & dime in Vincennes, IN. He was a traveling salesman who ended up buying a small dairy farm in upstate NY where Tom was born.
Lyrics
Luther was a stock boy, worked on a Vincennes loading dock Anna worked on the floor from 8 to 6 o'clock. Lou's tenor filled up his day, stockin & singing his time And he turned the head of the one he would wed in the aisles of the 5 and dime. Anna quit school in the 8th grade. Lou when he was 16 They were both the youngest at home With families caught in between Anna ran away from the step-mom – Luther from the Poes Then they ran away together down where the Wabash flows. And they lay down in the moonlight on the banks where the Wabash flows And they danced among the shadows. That's how the story goes. Luther sold statuary & traveled from town to town. Anna had my mom & in her sisters in 3 different states, when they settled down. And all during prohibition, Lou made bathtub gin & Anna would whistle and sing along to any tune he'd begin. Lou taught Mama to play in F, her ear did all the rest They would sing to any old song – at harmonies they were the best Then we moved in with cows, & chickens & pigs on 120 acres of land There was ham in the smokehouse, & dozens of jars of veges and fruit that she canned But times were hard on that little farm, trying to make ends meet Lou got a job in Sidney at night. When did that man ever sleep? Nancy & Chubby pulled the plough through the field for 20 acres of corn At midnight he went to the factry & worked there til 8 in the morn 18 hr days was more than the heart could take on this farmin man And for him to die at 54 was never part of the plan Anna smokes her Raleighs, hookin rugs to put on the floor But she ne'er was the same, harbors the pain for the man not around anymore.
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