Instructions

Read the following song lyrics and compare them to Fix You by Coldplay.
Consider the similarities and differences between the two songs in terms of:

• an individual’s sense of home
• other aspects of belonging
• the tone and mood
• the relationship between the text and the reader
• other language devices

Man of Constant Sorrow
By Bob Dylan

Man of Constant Sorrow,
I’ve seen trouble all my days.
I’ll say goodbye to Colorado
Where I was born and partly raised.

Your mother says I’m a stranger;
My face you’ll never see no more.
But there’s one promise, darling,
I’ll see you on God’s golden shore.

Through this open world I’m about to ramble,
Through ice and snows, sleet and rain,
I’m about to ride that mornin’ railroad,
P’raps I’ll die on that train.

I’m going back to Colorado,
The place I started from.
If I’d knowed how bad you’d treat me,
Honey I never would have come.

Honey, if you don’t think I love you
Just look what a fool I been.
And if you don’t think I’m sinkin’
Honey, look what a hole I’m in.

It’s a hard, hard road to travel
When you can’t be satisfied.
I’ve got a rope that’s hanging o’er me
And the devil’s at my side.

Arrangement and New Lyrics by Bob Dylan
1962,1965 Music Coporation of America, Inc

An American treasure – Dr. Ralph Stanley – has just released a memoir entitled Man of Constant Sorrow:  My Life and Times. Many people came to know Stanley through his haunting rendition of O Death in the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou?.  But longtime bluegrass and old-time music fans know of Stanley from his days with his late brother Carter when they performed some of the most moving music ever heard from the mountains of Virginia.

Mother Jones online has a good review of the book.  Here’s an excerpt of Stanley talking about his childhood:

“There were no books I can recall, save for the family Bible,” he says of the home place. “There wasn’t much in the way of toys and playthings like children have today. My parents wouldn’t allow even a deck of playing cards in the house, because it could lead to gambling and all kinds of trouble. For Christmas, we’d get an orange, one for Carter and one for me, and a handful of rock candy. Maybe a cap-gun, too. It wasn’t ’til years later that I got a bicycle of my own and I had to trade a dog to get that bike.”

Trading a dog to get a bike…that’s a tough life.

More to come…

DJB

Ralph Stanley

For an entertainer best known for a song detailing the harsh physical deterioration of approaching death, a cheerful Dr. Ralph Stanley seemed very much alive and kicking as he took the stage at The Roanoke Rapids Theatre Friday night.

Dressed in an immaculately tailored western-style suit and white cowboy hat, the 81-year-old bluegrass legend led his six-piece band through a set of hot-picking and high, lonesome harmonies as they performed songs from the Virginia native’s six decades at the forefront of traditional bluegrass artistry.

Before kicking off the show with a tuneful romp through the bluegrass chestnut “Sitting on Top of the World,” Stanley encouraged the crowd to show their appreciation for the band by telling one of the many jokes he peppered the audience with between musical numbers. “Giving the band applause is like making love to an old maid — you can’t go overboard,” he quipped in his slow mountain drawl, as the small but vocal crowd roared its approval.

Since forming the Clinch Mountain Boys with his brother Carter in 1946, Stanley has gained a reputation as a master showman who performs with some of the finest musicians ever to grace a stage.

Friday night proved that legacy was well deserved as the band, which included Stanley’s son, Ralph Stanley Jr. on rhythm guitar, and his grandson, Nathan, on mandolin, tore through classics such as “Little Maggie,” “Orange Blossom Special” and “A Robin Built a Nest for Daddies Grave” with a mix of practiced showmanship and seemingly effortless skill.

As entertaining as the band may have been, however, there was never any doubt as to the star of the evening’s show. From the moment he ambled into the spotlight, the smallest figure on the stage commanded attention by his mere presence and the weight of musical history resting on his frail shoulders.

Although the march of time has slowed his movements and robbed him of the ability to play his beloved banjo for extended periods, all eyes were on the Grand Ole Opry and Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor member as he stood at center stage and led the band on bluegrass touchstones such as “I Saw the Light,” “Man of Constant Sorrow,” and a particularly moving version of “Angel Band.”

One of the evening highlights, as at any Ralph Stanley show, was his a cappella reading of the chilling dirge “O Death,” which earned him a Grammy in 2002 when it was included on the soundtrack of the movie “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”

With starkly unsentimental lyrics such as “I’ll fix your feet till you can’t walk, I’ll lock your jaw till you can’t talk, … Oh Death, won’t you spare me over for another day?” the song both pointed up Stanley’s courage at facing up to life’s inevitable finale and made one ponder just how much longer the good doctor, entering his eighth decade, would be with us to share his remarkable talents.

Yet not unlike the best blues performances, which somehow seem to bring a smile to your face while detailing life’s more depressing aspects, the crowd’s festive mood only seemed strengthened by the song’s honesty. Stanley clearly feed off their enthusiasm, calling out for requests as a wide grin played across his still boyish face.

After making a joke about his failing memory, he grabbed a sheet of handwritten lyrics and led the band through his self-penned number “I’ll Answer the Call” before turning them loose on several instrumental numbers showcasing each musicians considerable talents. After disappearing from the stage for several minutes, Stanley returned with a chair and proceeded to sit behind his band, listening and nodding in approval.

He wasn’t down for long, however, as he rose, took off his jacket, strapped on his banjo and showed why he has long been considered an innovator on the instrument, having pioneered a technique still referred to as “Stanley style.”

Saving the best for last, the veteran performer kicked his voice into high gear, cutting through every instrument and harmony singer with his piercing mountain rasp on “Little Maggie” and “Angle Band” and closing the night with a sped up, punk-raw version of the Appalachian murder ballad “Pretty Polly” that left several of the audiences younger members nodding in appreciation.

As the lyrics to “I’ll Answer the Call” state:

“I cannot sing like an angel,

I cannot preach like Paul,

But Lord when you get ready,

I’ll try to answer the call.”

Judging from the applause of the audience and the smiles on the faces making their way into the warm spring night outside the theater, Dr. Ralph Stanley continues to answer the call of bluegrass fans the world over each and every time he steps out onto a stage.

Having promised to make his way back to Eastern North Carolina on future tours, one can only hope he continues to answer that call for years to come.

Prossimamente, su questi schermi “Man of the constant sorrow” (chissà, forse anche già sabato 25 aprile).

MAN OF CONSTANT SORROW

(In constant sorrow through his days)

I am a man of constant sorrow
I’ve seen trouble all my day.
I bid farewell to old Kentucky
The place where I was born and raised.
(The place where he was born and raised)

For six long years I’ve been in trouble
No pleasures here on earth I found
For in this world I’m bound to ramble
I have no friends to help me now.

[chorus] He’ll meet you on God’s golden shore.

Perchè, come diceva Bob, nel suo bellissimo localino, “Noi facciamo tutti e due i generi. Facciamo il country ed il western“.

E visto che adesso hai anche  il testo, potresti studiartela per poterla cantare con noi.

Viene meglio, quando la si canta con più voci.

E se non la impari… beh, voglio vederti a sgranocchiare una pannocchia senza i denti.

Parola di Good Ole Boys.

Bob’s vocals blow me out on this performance. Whenever I think I know what his vocal range was for a certain time period, I’m always proved wrong by the man Himself. I really enjoy this song which was first released on Bob’s first album – ‘Bob Dylan’

The GRAMMY Awards released their nominations December 1 for the 2009 GRAMMY awards on February 8. Recorded projects must have been recorded between Oct 1, 2007 and Sept. 30, 2008 to be eligible for the 51st annual awards ceremony.

Rounder Records and Skaggs Family Records tie with two records up for nomination each. The other record, Del McCoury Band’s Live at the 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, was released by MunckMix, a live music recording and marketing company.

Below is the list of albums nominated for the 51st GRAMMY Awards’ Best Bluegrass Album nomination:

Cherryholmes III: Don’t Believe

Produced by Skaggs Family Records, this album was released on Sept. 30, 2008 – the deadline for the 51st GRAMMY Awards eligibility.

The album features a Nashville-based sound as this family band pushes the boundaries of traditional bluegrass.

Del McCoury Band - Live at the 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival

Del McCoury Band performed at the 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival Fais Do Do stage (pictured left) on April 27, 2008. 

The album is produced by MunckMix.

 Earl Scruggs - The Ultimate Collection: Live at the Ryman

Earl Scruggs and his family and friends performed at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn. in the summer of 2007.

The album, produced by Rounder Records, features several Scruggs classics.

Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder – Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass

Skaggs Family Records produced Kentucky Thunder’s Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass: Tribute to 1946 and 1947. The album is dedicated to Bill Monroe and other fathers of bluegrass including Earl Scruggs, who is featured on the c.d.

Dan Tyminski – Wheels

Dan Tyminski has received much critical acclaim for his latest album, Wheels. Tyminski, who plays mandolin with Allison Krauss & Union Station, became even more popular after 2000 with his rendition of Man of Constant Sorrow, featured in the movie Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?

When I talk about the use of music in movies, I throw around a lot of names (Wes Anderson, Paul Thomas Anderson and Martin Scorsese are the most common) but I often forget to include the Coen Brothers. And that’s a major oversight, because these guys have done great things with music in all their films.

Start with the original scores, all penned by the wonderful Carter Burwell. From the banjo-and-yodel version of Beethoven’s ‘Ode to Joy’ in Raising Arizona to the pounding bass drums of Fargo’s Nordic-inspired title song; from Barton Fink’s edgy violins to that gorgeous and melancholy Miller’s Crossing theme.

But they’ve made great use of songs as well. Take Albert Finney’s triumphant escape from ambush set to a soul-stirring rendition of ‘Danny Boy’ in Miller’s Crossing or The Dude’s drug-enhanced bowling-themed dream sequence set to Kenny Rogers’ ‘Just Dropped In.’

And of course their most popular soundtrack of all (it even won a Best Album Grammy) was the collection of songs featured in O Brother Where Art Thou, their hilarious blend of hick and Homer.

In this scene, three escaped fugitives and a friend they picked up on the road pose as The Soggy Bottom Boys and “sing into a can” for some spending money. Take it away, boys!

Our model is that song, Man of Constant Sorrow, by the Soggy Bottom Boys. You probably know it if you saw, Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou? With George Clooney.

We are going to start performing for festivals in July of 2008 and we’ll have some music you can download too.

We are from Staunton, VA.

Ho recentemente visto e apprezzato l’Odissea dei fratelli Cohen, O Brother where art thou? .

Un film che mixa riferimenti di vario tipo: non solo Omero, ma anche citazioni musicali (inconfondibile Robert Johnson, che in pellicola diventa Tommy) e storici (li sto scoprendo a posteriori) sul sud degli States della grande crisi.

Mi ha tanto entusiasmato che ho voluto stanare i “veri” Soggy Bottom Boys di “Man of constant sorrow”, pezzo di punta della soundtrack.

Immaginatevi la mia sorpresa quando ho scoperto che si tratta degli Union Station di Alison Krauss, che ho già proposto nel blog per la cover di Carolina in my mind di James Taylor. Come è piccolo il web.

The Dan Tyminski Band is coming to the Brown Theater on March 15th.  Most of us recognize Dan for his updated version of the song “Man of Constant Sorrow” from O Brother, Where Art Thou? I have my doubts, but if that’s your thing, you can take the $25 gamble and see whether or not he plays it.  The show starts at 8pm & tickets can be purchased through KCA.