Today I picked up the appropriate soundtrack for the fast-approaching long weekend of drinking in the Catskill mountains with Courtney’s family. John Barleycorn Must Die is an ancient song which has a number of well-established interpretations. Most obviously, though, it’s a song about barley and the drinks one can make from it – beer and whisky.
Traffic’s 1970 version is highly regarded. I think it was in an issue of Mojo that I read Steve Winwood was reincarnated was Paul Weller without actually dying. The comparison is particularly relevant when you compare John Barleycorn… to Weller’s Wildwood. There’s a similar pastoral tinge, and Weller’s instrumentation is almost a direct lift – with bluesy piano, gutsy hammond organ and fluttering flute augmenting guitar, bass and drums.
Lyrics for John Barleycorn Must Die are the other side of the link below.
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,
Threw clods upon his head,
And these three men made a solemn vow:
John Barleycorn was dead.
They’ve let him lie for a very long time,
Till the rains from heav’n did fall,
And little Sir John sprung up his head,
And so amazed them all.
They’ve let him stand ’till midsummer’s day,
Till 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 scythes so sharp,
To cut him off at the knee.
They’ve rolled him and tied him by the waist,
Serving him most barb’rously.
They’ve hired men with the sharp pitchforks,
Who pricked 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 ’round and around the field,
‘Till they came unto a barn,
And there they’ve made a solemn oath,
On poor John Barleycorn.
They’ve hired men with the crabtree 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 little Sir John in the nut-brown bowl,
And the brandy in the glass,
And little Sir John in the nut-brown bowl,
Proved the strongest man at last.
The Huntsman, he can’t hunt the fox,
Nor so loudly blow his horn,
And the Tinker, he can’t mend kettle nor pot,
Without a little Barleycorn.
19/05/2006
This is an all-time great album in my view. “Empty Pages” is a standout track. I first heard the whole thing on a John Peel programme about 1970 and have had several copies on LP and CD since then. Steve Winwood was a fully formed bluesman at an early age; Paul Weller’s playing catch-up!
No one will now remember my somewhat altered version of John Barleycorn which my kids performed in Upton church for a harvest festival many years ago. It was quite a hit.
22/05/2006
I had this on tape when I was little – I was horrified that someone could possibly sing a song about first torturing, then killing, and finally mutilating nice Mr. Barleycorn. It was all a bit Puff the Magic Dragon – Mum and Dad took the tape off me because it made me cry.
Which could explain my terrible taste in music.
23/05/2006
Since you’re enjoying this I’ll have to send along some Seth Lakeman when I send along the chronicles of Tim & Daisy. Seth’s sound has been described as a bit more “urgent” than the laid back feel of something like Wild Wood though.
23/05/2006
R, Puff the Magic Dragon made you cry?
J, yes please.
25/05/2006
Duh, of course Puff the Magic Dragon made me cry. It’s soo sad. Puff and Jackie are so happy together and they do adventures and meet kings and stuff. And Jackie clearly really likes Puff, because he brings him great presents. Then, Jackie gets old and decides that he’s too good for Puff (or maybe he dies – I was never clear on that) and then (oh, the power of the internet):
“A dragon lives forever but not so little boys
Painted wings and giant rings make way for other toys.
One grey night it happened, Jackie Paper came no more
And PUFF that mighty dragon, he ceased his fearless roar
His head was bent in sorrow, green scales fell like rain,
PUFF no longer went to play along the cherry lane.
Without his life-long friend, PUFF could not be brave,
So PUFF that mighty dragon sadly slipped into his cave. ”
How is that not incredibly sad? Puff’s all by himself. Just because stupd Jackie got some shitty job in a merchant bank and discovered girls! And, Puff has to spend the rest of his eternal dragon life crying, when he trusted Jackie, and now he’s all alone.
Of course it made me cry! It should make you cry too – meanie! Dragon hater!
R xxx
28/05/2006
yup…as soon as that verse came on, I admit I would get a tear!!