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Ballad of Accounting / The Ledger

from The Confluence by Stray Hens

/

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    The Confluence is a 12 track album featuring Sally Taylor, Richard Grace, Ryan Tews, Carmen O'Brien and Mandy Connell.

    Each artist leads a song (Vocals) and the CD features

    Tom Paine's Bones (Graham Moore
    Mad Tom of Bedlam (Arr Stray Hens. Tune by Nick Jones and Dave Moran)
    Diamantina Drover (Hugh McDonald)
    Song of the Inland Rain (Roger Montgomery / Jack Sorenson)
    (With Tune "The Confluence" by Ryan Tews
    The Dreadful End of Mariana For Sorcery (Karine Polwart)
    The Cruel Mother (Trad Arr Mandy Connell)
    Pot & Tinker (Mandy Connell)
    The Handweaver & THe factory Maid (Trad/ A L Lloyd)
    Riddles Wisely Expounded (Trad)
    Ballad Of Accounting (Ewan MacColl)
    The Recruited Collier (Trad Arr Mandy Stray Hens)

    Includes unlimited streaming of The Confluence via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.     ... more
    ships out within 12 days
    Purchasable with gift card

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about

Brought to the band by Sally Taylor, during a period where she was exploring a long held passion for Union songs and songs of social justice, this track was written by the great Ewan MacColl.

With some input from Sally's partner Andrew, the arrangement was developed by the full band, with scope for Ryan Tews' full drum kit, DADGAD tuning for Mandy's guitar, and a full twin fiddle arrangement for Carmen and Sally - with the tune (the Ledger) at the end, written by Sally for the album.

Written in 1964 as theme music for the BBC radio-series 'LANDMARKS', this is a summing-up song, an accounts sheet. Its Brechtian style and deceptive simplicity mark it as unique among MacColl's compositions.

lyrics

Ballad Of Accounting Ewan McColl

In the morning we built the city
In the afternoon walked through its streets
Evening saw us leaving


We wandered through our days as if they would never end
All of us imagined we had endless time to spend
We hardly saw the crossroads and small attention gave
To the landmarks on the journey from the
cradle to the grave. X3


Did you learn to dream in the morning?
Abandon dreams in the afternoon?
Wait without hope in the evening?


Did you stand there in the traces and let 'em feed you lies?
Did you trail along behind them wearing blinkers on your eyes?
Did you kiss the foot that kicked you, did you thank them for their scorn?
Did you ask for their forgiveness for the
act of being born? X3


Did you alter the face of the city?
Make any change in the world you found?
Or did you observe all the warnings?


Did you read the trespass notices, did you keep off the grass?
Did you shuffle off the pavements just to let your betters pass?
Did you learn to keep your mouth shut, were you seen and never heard?
Did you learn to be obedient and
jump to at a word? X3




Did you demand any answers?
The who and the what and the reason why?
Did you ever question the setup?


Did you stand aside and let 'em choose while you took second best?
Did you let 'em skim the cream off and then give to you the rest?
Did you settle for the shoddy and did you think it right,
To let 'em rob you right and left and
never make a fight? X3


What did you learn in the morning?
How much did you know in the afternoon?
Were you content in the evening?


Did they teach you how to question when you were at the school?
Did the factory help you grow, were you the maker or the tool?
Did the place where you were living, enrich your life and then
Did you reach some understanding of
all your fellow men? X3



Written in 1964 as theme music for the BBC radio-series 'LANDMARKS', this is a summing-up song, an accounts sheet. Its Brechtian style and deceptive simplicity mark it as unique among MacColl's compositions.

credits

from The Confluence, released December 2, 2016
Ryan Tews (Drums)
Mandy Connell (Vocal and Guitar)
Carmen O'Brien (Fiddle and Vocals)
Sally Taylor (Lead Vocals)
Richard Grace (Double Bass

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about

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Stray Hens Melbourne, Australia

Three stunning frontwomen, on fiddles, vocal and guitar, backed by drums & double bass. No one in Australia is arranging folk revival songs with such passion. Complex harmonies, jazz & old-timey inspired rythms, & anceint anglo ballads create a theatrical show.
Formed in March 2013, & already booked for some of the country's Premier festivals, their debut EP has us anticipating the full album! ... more

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