Get all 14 Atwater-Donnelly releases available on Bandcamp and save 10%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of The Boat You Row Atwater-Donnelly 2022, The World Is Old Tonight, Each Other's Story 2011, The Weaver's Bonny 2009, The Halfway Ground 2007, When Winter Calls 2005, The Blackest Crow 2004, And Then I'm Going Home 2001, and 6 more.
1. |
The Coxswain
02:49
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I am a rolling stone, I am a lock and chain
I am the boat you row that brings you home again
I am a decent sort, the kind you might forget
And though you know your way, I am your safety net
It’s time you learned to wake up the ghost in you
We are the ones who believe the most in you
Rally round, muster up and send for relief
There is a time to live, there is a time to die
There is a time to dance, and a time to cry
I always try and find a little grain of peace
And let my feelings show and let my love increase
There’ll come a day when we’ll forgive ourselves
That ghost we liberate will outlive ourselves
Float away, let the coxswain take over for a while
I am a rolling stone, I am a lock and chain
I am the boat you row that brings you home again
I am a decent sort, the kind you might forget
And though you know your way, I am your safety net
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2. |
My Bonny, Bonny Boat
04:21
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My home is on a craggy rock by the dark and briny sea, Where round me rolls the changing tide and wild winds whistle free.
Chorus:
And here in grave or gayer mood, I, on the waters float, And cheerly row, and cheerly row, my bonny, bonny boat,
And cheerly row, and cheerly row, my bonny, bonny boat.
Here I can watch the sportive fish, or sea bird skimming nigh,
And watch the proud and stately ships, all o’er blue waters fly...Chorus
Instrumental
The heaven’s ray that gilds the deep, lights up my cottage home
And the swelling waves my threshold lave, then break in snowy foam...Chorus
If fate should ever tempt my feet, mid far-off scenes to roam
I still should think with love of thee, my rocky wave-bound home…Chorus
Final Chorus: And here, again, in thought return, and on the waters float And cheerly row, and cheerly row, my bonny, bonny boat,
And cheerly row, and cheerly row, my bonny, bonny boat.
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3. |
Polly Put the Kettle On
01:58
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Polly put the kettle on, Sal blow the dinner horn
Polly put the kettle on, I’ll take tea
Swing Sal, swing Sue
Swing that gal with the worn out shoe
Swing Ma, swing Pa
Swing that gal from Arkansas
Take her and promenade down the hall
Pull that calico from the wall
Polly put the kettle on, Sal blow the dinner horn
Polly put the kettle on, I’ll take tea
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4. |
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You’re going far away, far away from poor Jeannette
There’s no one left to love me now, and you, too may forget
But my heart will be with you wherever you may go
Can you look me in the face and say the same, Jeannot?
When you wear the jacket red and the beautiful cockade
Oh, I fear you will forget all the promises you made
With the gun upon your shoulder and the saber by your side
You’ll be taking some proud lady and be making her your bride
You’ll be taking some proud lady and be making her your bride
Or when glory leads the way you’ll be madly rushing on
Never thinking if they kill you, that my happiness is gone
If you win the day perhaps, a general you’ll be
Though I’m proud to think of that, what will become of me?
Oh, if I were Queen of France, or still better, Pope of Rome
I’d have no fighting men abroad, nor weeping maids at home
All the world should be at peace, or if kings must show their might
Then let them who make the quarrels be the only ones who fight
Yes, let them who make the quarrels be the only ones who fight
Oh, if I were Queen of France, or still better, Pope of Rome
I’d have no fighting men abroad, nor weeping maids at home
All the world should be at peace, or if kings must show their might
Then let them who make the quarrels be the only ones who fight
Yes, let them who make the quarrels be the only ones who fight
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5. |
The Single Sailor
03:34
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As I walked out one fine May morning
A brisk young sailor I chanced to meet
Stepped up to me, asked me to marry
Said I, ‘Kind sir, can you fancy me?’
“Oh how can you fancy a poor, young woman
Who is not fit your servant to be?”
“I intend to marry, make you my lady
And have a servant to wait on thee”
“I thank you sir for your kind intention
But I have a lover over the sea.
It’s seven long years I have waited for him
And now I await his return to me.”
“It’s seven long years makes an alteration
Perhaps he may be dead and gone.”
“Well if he’s living, I love him dearly
And if he’s dead, he’s in glory slain.”
Instrumental
He took his hand out from his vest coat
His fingers were both neat and small
And showing her the ring that was broken between them
And when she saw this, she did fall
He picked her up by the waist so slender
And giving her kisses one, two, and three
Saying, “I am your own true single sailor
Who has just returned for to marry thee.”
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6. |
Red Winged Blackbird
01:30
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Oh, can't you see that pretty little bird He sings with all his heart and soul He's got a blood-red spot on his wing But all the rest of him is black as coal
Of all the colors I ever did see Red and black are the ones I dread For when a man spills blood on the coal They carry him back from the coal mine dead
So fly away you pretty little bird And leave behind the miner's wife She'll dream about you when you're gone She'll dream about you both day and night
Oh, can't you see that pretty little bird He sings with all his heart and soul He's got a blood-red spot on his wing But all the rest of him is black as coal
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7. |
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Did you see him going
It was early this morning
He passed by your houses
On his way to the coal
He was tall, he was slender
And his dark eyes so tender
His occupation was mining
West Virginia his home
It was just before twelve
I was feeding the children
Ben Mosley came running
To bring us the news
“Number 8 is all flooded
Many men are in danger
And we don’t know their number
But we fear they’re all doomed.”
So I picked up the baby
And I left all the others
To comfort each other
And to pray for our own
There is Timmy fourteen
And there’s John not much younger
Their own time soon will be coming
To go down the black hole
Well, if I had the money
To do more than just feed them
I’d give them good learnin’
The best could be found
So when they grow up
They’d be checkers and weighers
And not spend their time drillin’
In the dark underground
Instrumental
Now what can I say To his poor little children Or what can I tell
His old mother at home
Or what I can say
To my heart that's clear broken To my heart that's clear broken If my darlin' is gone
Say, did you see him going
So early this morning
He walked by your houses
On his way to the coal
He was tall, he was slender
And his dark eyes so tender
His occupation was mining
West Virginia his home
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8. |
Deep Shady Grove
04:14
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I got up one May morning for to hear the birds sing sweet
I seated myself in a deep shady grove for to hear those true lovers meet
For to hear those true lovers meet, sweetheart,
and to hear what they might say
I wanted to know a piece of their mind before they went away.
Come set you down, come set you down,
come set you down upon the green
For it’s been three quarters of a long, long year
since together we have been
Don't you remember about three years ago
with your arms around my waist?
You could make me believe by the false that you swore
that the sun rose up in the west
That the sun rose up in the west, sweetheart, and turned away to the east
And now I've returned and found you here and found you on your knees
Instrumental
Well, I never will believe what another woman says
let her hair be yellow, dark or brown,
Unless she is on some high gallows tree
and a-sayin' that she wants to come down
And a-sayin' that she wants to come down, sweetheart,
for no one would like to be hung
And the words of a young girl is so hard to believe
that has lied to everyone
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9. |
A Country Life
03:05
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Chorus:
I like to rise when the sun she rises
Early in the morning
And I like to hear them small birds singing
Merrily upon their lay land
Hooray for the life of the country girl
And to ramble in the new mown hay
In the spring we sow, in the harvest mow
And that’s how the seasons around they go
But of all the times if choose I may
It’s to ramble in the new mown hay...Chorus
Instrumental
In winter when the skies are grey
We hedge and ditch our lives away
But in summer when the sun shines gay
We go rambling in the mew mown hay...Chorus 2X
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10. |
Bill Turner
05:01
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I was walking from the pasture when the man came through the gate
Bill had started out the screen door and I saw him hesitate
From his mouth the man’s teeth gleamed at Bill like hot coal in a grate
Now look here Mr. Turner, oh hell, I’ll just call you Bill
We’re gonna build a highway and we need this field
We’ll fatten up your bankbook; you can leave it in your will
We’ve offered you a whole lot more than this old farm is worth
And I don’t know why you insist on staying
We’re gonna build a highway nothing like you’ve ever seen
Line it up with Long John Silver, Pizza Hut and Dairy Queen
Now this farm was my father’s and his father’s before him
They want me to sign a paper now and give it to them
If they think I’m that crazy then they’d better think again
First they took the timber; then they took the coal
Strip-mine got the water; black lung took its toll
I’ve precious little left to lose except maybe my soul
The black cloud’s drawing closer but its meaning isn’t clear
Push too far a man begins to harden
Look down on me Jesus; guide my eye and still my hand
They’ll get my independence long before they get my land
In Bill’s hand was his old pistol; I could see it through the door
I told you the last time never come up here no more
The bark from Bill’s revolver left the stranger on the floor
They sent him off to prison, a bitter broken man
His children got his money; the highway got his land
Justice is a mistress sometimes hard to understand
Don’t sing another chorus of “My Old Kentucky Home”
She stands arrayed in splendid desecration
A vision of a people in a world that might have been
Apparitions drifting on the coal dust in the wind
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11. |
Block Island Song
03:00
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Roll onward, ever roll, deep surging ocean
Wild is thy restless soul, ever in motion
Waves round me ever flow, swelling and leaping
Winds round me keenly blow, never are sleeping
Bravely on crests of foam, bear thou me upward
Loved ones wait me at home, waft thou me onward
Roll onward, ever roll, deep surging ocean
Wild is thy restless soul, ever in motion
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12. |
The Song Will Remain
04:11
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If I were a singer I'd sing you a song
A song that would live in your heart forever
I'd sing it loud and strong
Every single word
So that, when my life is over
And I ne’er see you again
The singer may die but the song will remain
For all I have is gold and silver
And such things so easy to find,
And that's all I have to leave you
When I leave you behind
But, if I were a singer I'd sing you a song
A song that would live in your heart forever
I'd sing it loud and strong
Every single word
So that when my life is over
And I ne’er see you again
The singer may die but the song will remain
Instrumental
So that when my life is over
And I ne’er see you again
The singer may die but the song will remain
The singer may die but the song will remain
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13. |
Hush Be Still
02:53
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Hush be still, as a mouse
There’s a baby in the house
Not a dolly, not a toy
But a sleeping baby boy...repeat
Instrumental
Hush be still, as a mouse
There’s a baby in the house
She’s a treasure, she’s a pearl
She’s a sleeping baby girl...repeat
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14. |
The Rest Of Our Lives
03:18
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What will you do with the rest of your life?
I asked her mother and I asked my wife
The first one smiled and the second one said,
“Let’s talk about this when we’re in bed.”
All these days we’ve had time to blink
Months gone by, we’ve made time to think
What to do with the rest of our lives?
My mother-in-law just wants to write
Read some books and sleep at night
And Aubrey’d like to have some rest
Regard the things for which she’s blessed
Like grow some flowers, plant some more next year
Sing some songs, hold her husband near
What we’ll do with the rest of our lives.
Other ones have tried to lead the way
Only you have words that can convey my view
Now, I’ll turn that love on you
Everyday, every way I can
That’s what I’ll do with the rest of my life.
Instrumental
Other ones have tried to lead the way
Only you have words that can convey my view
Now, I’ll turn that love on you
Everyday, every way I can
That’s what I’ll do with the rest of my life.
What we’ll do with the rest of our lives.
What to do with the rest of our lives
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Atwater-Donnelly Warren, Rhode Island
Aubrey Atwater and Elwood Donnelly, present delightful programs of traditional American and Celtic folk songs, a capella pieces, old-time gospel songs, dance tunes, and original works, blending gorgeous harmonies with guitar, Appalachian mountain dulcimer, mandolin, tin whistle, harmonica, banjo, bones, spoons, limberjacks, and Appalachian clog dancing and French Canadian footwork. ... more
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