The evolution of a song

Back in 1964 or so, at the height of the folk song craze, I'd just gotten a cheap guitar and was learning some chords.  I'd sit around strumming chords and singing songs like "On Top of Old Smokey", "Crawdad Song", and others of that kind that only required two or three chords throughout.  Most of them worked for me in the key of C, so that's the first key I learned to chord in.

I lived in an apartment in Kansas City on my own, but most weekends I'd spend with my parents in Blue Springs.  One time I was sitting on the couch at their house struggling to chord to those simple old songs and my mom taught me one from her childhood that I had never heard anywhere, and never have since until very recently:  "In a Lonely Village Churchyard".  I recorded it on Youtube just now; it isn't perfect, but you will hear the tune and words (the ones I can still recall).  You can listen to it HERE.  I wasn't in the mood for anyone to see my face up close and personal, so you won't see me, but you'll hear the song.

I had searched the Internet for the song many, many times with no results.  However, the Internet picks up new knowledge all the time, and today I had great success.  I was actually thrilled to find lyrics that go back to 1880.  Click HERE to read them.  No wonder I never found the song; Mother used the title "In a Lonely Village Churchyard".  It was actually better known as "Since My Mother's Dead and Gone".

The next thing I found was an Alan Lomax recording of a woman in Kentucky in 1937 singing her version.  Go ahead and listen to that one, with a totally different tune.  It's pretty hard to understand because of the recording methods back then; the Lomaxes were responsible for finding most all the old mountain songs that are so well-known today.  They would have the hill people sing their songs while they got it down on a wire recorder, which was all there was back then.  HERE is Ella Sibert.

And now, a version of the song from the 1930's by the Kentucky Ramblers!  The video just shows the record label.  I'm assuming it was a disc record rather than one of the old cylinder ones, judging by the label.  Again, a different tune.  Listen HERE.

Perhaps none of my readers find the old songs all that interesting, but this made my day!  This is the process that formed all those old tunes that we learned in grade school.  It's only due to the Lomax family that we still have them.

I love it!