THE SONGS:
Darkest Before the Dawn Pete Seeger Voice that Lives Inside You Leon Rosselson Questions Shanee Taylor Life in the Old Girl Yet Judy Small The Soldier Armed with Sword and Gun Blake\Armstrong Growing Older Sarah Harman Bible According to Eve Sandra Kerr Dia Funia Michel Rafelli - Corsica Cease Fire Colum Sands War of the Poor Sarah Harman Reconciliation poem set by Barry Coope Real Man Sarah Harman Way of Sex Mary Lichtfield Noi Vogliamo Trad Italy Bread and Roses w James Oppenheim arr Leon Rosselson Threshold shanee Taylor
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Darkest Before the Dawn: Pete Seeger
Pete writes; "I'm delighted you're singing my song...which I put together back in the depths of the Vietnam War. I borrowed phrases from other writers, music from old folk tunes and rhythms and I'm glad to see the folk process still carried on, as in your changes to the third verse - wonderful." Frankie changed a couple of lines to refer to legs and voices as the original referred to playing the banjo. She's happy that this has received Pete's approval.
The voice that Lives Inside You: Leon Rosselson
Leon writes; "A song about the still small voice of dissent written for the Armstrong, Bailey, Rosselson trio to sing at the close of the 1987 Vancouver Folk Festival."
Questions: Shanee Taylor
Shanee wrote this song a few weeks after September 11th and its aftermath
There's Life In The Old Girl Yet: Judy Small
Judy writes - "I'll be post-feminist when the world is post-patriarchy." Lilith according to some ancient myths was Adam's first partner but was too stroppy to be contained in Eden, was banished and has been making trouble ever since.
The Soldier Armed With Sword and Gun: words William Blake tune F A
I have long loved the words of William Blake and have recorded several settings of his poems for Harbourtown before. As someone with a severe sight loss, I found his exhortation that we need to see "through” the eye rather than "with" the eye a great source of comfort and inspiration. I discovered it was part of "Augeries of Innocence" which was also a powerful anti militaristic poem. I have taken excerpts so as to bring both sentiments together.
Growing Older: Words and music by Sarah Harman: Harmony by Tracey Gummow
A tongue-in-cheek look at the joys of becoming an older, wiser, woman this song was written in 1983 and becomes more true by the day
The Bible According To Eve: Sandra Kerr
Some years back Sandra needed a song about all the boring household tasks usually undertaken by women. Sandra writes "My daughter Nancy, aged nine, gave me the hook for this song. She was reading the feminist magazine called Spare Rib and asked where the journal's name came from. I told her of its origins, about which she commented 'Charming -so the Lord created woman just to use up the leftovers'."
Dia Funia: Michel Raffelli, Corsica
This is a recently written Corsican Liberation song in the vein of many older songs created over the thousands of years of invasion. A colloquial translation might be "today, hanging by a thread, either it tears or we attain our goal. We have endured many foreign rulers throughout time. We hold our rebellion like a beautiful young girl who is yet a thousand years old, a thousand and a half. Tomorrow it will be a thousand and one."
Cease Fire: Colum Sands
War of the Poor: Sarah Harman:
This song was inspired by, and includes, part of a quotation from Sir Peter Ustinov;
‘Terrorism is the war of the poor and war is the terrorism of the rich’.
Reconciliation: Ron Kavana arr Barry Coope
This lovely song was used as part of Coope, Boyes and Simpson's piece on the First World War "Christmas Truce".
Real Man: Words and music by Sarah Harman
A heartfelt plea to the men we know and love to show some emotion
Way of Sex Mary Lichtfield
A witty ditty which for all its light touch has a way of speaking to and for just about everyone on this planet.
Noi Vogliamo: Trad Italian.
this militant cry of rebellion came from the women rice weeders of the Po Valley in Northern Italy. "Down with slavery. We want liberty ......We want the bosses off our backs" sums up the basic theme. I have been told that these were the only workers who went on strike during the Mussolini period. The recordings I have heard from the 30s and 40s make the hairs stand up on the back of my neck - very scary.
Bread and Roses: words James Oppenheim tune arr Leon Rosselson
This was a poem inspired by the words and actions of the striking mill workers from Lawrence Massachusetts U S A 1912, mostly women. The women created the slogan - "We want bread but we want roses too" - the song says the rest.
Threshold: Words and music by Shanee Taylor
Shanee wrote this song about welcoming strangers into our midst, be they visitors to our home or asylum seekers to our land. She accompanies herself on an Indian drone instrument called a tampura.

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