Lively traditional folk song, about the making of whiskey
Evocative acoustic balladeer
Story behind the song
This is an old British Folk song, about the making of Whiskey - which gives it some credibility in MY eyes! It personifies the barley used in the production as enduring sundry torments and indignities on it's way to the bottle - but it's all in a good cause! John Barleycorn must die to make our spirits - so, raise a glass to old John there, eh!
Lyrics
There were three men came out of the west
Their fortunes for to try
And these three men made a solemn vow
John Barleycorn must die
They've plowed, they've sown, they've harrowed him in
Thrown clods upon his head
’Til these three men were satisfied
John Barleycorn was dead
They’ve let him lie for a very long time
‘Til the rains from heaven did fall
And little Sir John’s sprung up his head
And so amazed them all
They’ve let him stand 'til the mid-summer's day
'Til he looked both pale and wan
And little Sir John's grown a long, long beard
And so become a man
They've hired men with the scythes so sharp
To cut him off at the knee
They’ve rolled him and tied him about the waist
Serving him most barbarously
They've hired men with sharp pitch forks
To prick him to the heart
And the loader he has served him worse than that
For he's bound him to the cart
They've wheeled him around and around in the fields
'Til they came unto a barn
And there they made a solemn oath
Concerning John Barleycorn
They've hired men with the crab tree sticks
To cut him skin from bone
And the miller he has served him worse than that
For he's ground him between two stones
And there’s beer in the barrel
And brandy in the glass
But little Sir John in the nut brown bowl
Has proved the strongest man at last
And the huntsman, he can't hunt the fox
Nor so loudly blow his horn
And the Tinker can mend neither kettle nor pots
Without a little Barleycorn
Oh, John Barleycorn!
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