The Banjo as an Instrument of Liberation

When my daughter set up Tales from under Blackhill for me some time back all I knew was that after five years of not writing anything the time had come to return to the keyboard. I had no idea about what to put in a profile or how the blog would develop and so I included a mention of occasional references to the banjo. The time has come for an explanation.

Unlike so many politicians, most of whom are sadly, a long way off retirement, and probably have jobs and income which make their work fairly rewarding, I have always been a firm believer in retirement. I deliberately worked towards this end for many years and although I like to think I was pretty good at my job, I always felt there were other things I might do just as well, but would enjoy more. As my chosen time of retirement approached I was glad that I had the choice to go a bit earlier as the prospect of another five years on the educational conveyor belt was not an attractive proposition. I wonder whether all the advocates for raising the retirement age will feel the same as they approach their sixties?

Plans are always so attractive and I was quite prepared for the great retirement plan to hit the rocks at some point. The idealised image of my retired self which accompanied the concluding years of employment was that of sitting in a chair, in a bib and brace overall, with a banjo. I would like to have placed this image on a veranda on a silent, dry afternoon with just the crickets for the rhythm section, but that was going a bit too far.

Nevertheless, the new banjo already purchased, the day of liberation arrived. Sadly the number of hot dry afternoons over the past few years has not been very many and as with most of my DIY, the veranda has not got beyond the planning stage. But the banjo playing has come on a treat in so far as self amusement is concerned. When I say ‘come on a treat’, I mean that its five strings and its open back sound has accompanied me into a liberated life, which is now proving to be the true reward for what I look back on as a lifetime of obstacles, irritations and frustrations. Not from the many students that I had the privilege to teach, many of whom said thanks, but with the dunderheads who thought they knew how to run a teaching environment and were only trying to run the show because they neither liked, nor could perform, other than in a mediocre fashion, the teaching function. There were of course some notable exceptions but unfortunately they were in the minority.

So for me the banjo is my symbol of liberation which is apt, as the instrument comes to us through slavery. It is an African instrument thought to have originated in the Gambia. With the liberation of the slaves the banjo soon found its place in New Orleans Jazz. Those early jazz musicians, so close to their slave forbears, expressed their freedom in a way which I first heard in the late fifties and which continues to set my feet tapping. I later discovered white banjo music through the civil rights music of Pete Seeger and in the Britain of the sixties, the playing of Peggy Seeger which so often accompanied much of Ewan Mc Coll’s repertoire. I will never be bored with the instrument. It is rather like my public speaking, more suited to rabble rousing rather than the refined after dinner speech, and I love it for that, if nothing else. One day I will find a tutor and have a lesson but in the meantime my DIY veranda awaits and I am still waiting for that long hot summer afternoon with the crickets in rhythm section.

Dacier

Hard Times Waltz

At long last here are the lyrics. Music is now available. Please leave a comment should you want it sent to you. All rights reserved, see earlier blog for terms and video of the first and last performance. Lets hope this song has a short shelf life. Judging by the lack of any responses to date it looks as though this will be the case.


Hard times they have come to old England
Hard times they have come round again
We are told that it’s going to get better
But we know that they do not know when.

Now those banks that were once built of marble
With a cash point at every door
Have run out of loans of our money
And alls quiet on the factory floor
And those vaults that were once filled with silver
Have been swapped for derivative bets
But the bookies have all done a runner
Leaving us with the gift of their debts
Now we all should have seen what was coming
But our jobs seemed quite safe at the time
And we are now being robbed of our warm homes
But no ones been charged with a crime

Chorus

Now our nation is said to be wealthy
Second homes second cars plastic yachts
But the bailiffs came round, did a clear out
Now my life being sold in three lots
Now those banks that were all kept oh! so shiny
Are now owned by you and by me
But they still won’t lend us our money
Or tell us our banking is free
So who has got all of our money?
And where have those bankers all gone?
Perhaps they are hiding and hoping
That no one joins in with this song

Chorus

Is the spirit of Albion sleeping?
Is it time to strike up on Drakes Drum?
Do you think that King Arthur will hear us?
To rise from his slumbers and come
Will the monkeys still stay on Gibraltar?
And the ravens not fly from the tower?
Will Nelson set sail to our rescue?
To control those great levers of power
Will some heroes stand for election?
Will they know what they really must do?
Will they keep to their word, and surprise us
And pull poor old Albion through?

Chorus

But we mustn’t get sad and downhearted
We must pick ourselves up from the floor
Keep an eye on those banks of fake marble
And the man with the key to the door.
Yes, the boom has gone bust and the bust has gone boom
And the profits have melted away
And it’s now we must join together
And win back a bright shiny day
Because the people who have all the answers
With the power to make dreams come true
Are here with us standing together
Yes, the people of BRITAIN it’s you!

The Hard Times Waltz

First public performance of the Hard Times Waltz ( C) 2009

The video and the link to you tube you will see below is our first outing with our recession song at our Community Concert. We hope the topicality of these present words will soon be lost but updated versions will be written in due course as the national predicament changes.

As the banjo player I confess to fouling up some chords and losing track of the tune every so often. The best achievement was getting the audience to join in with the chorus. Getting the words right would help as well. Sian Bach Sean ( tamborine and vocals) on the other hand kept to the words and most of the melody in spite of having a cold and losing her voice somewhere around 800 feet above sea level before the descent into the valley for the performance. She also remembered to wear her hat while I was so verbose in the intro I forgot to make the final joke about my hat ( a black fedora), and then forgot to put it on. The joke was that I was aiming for the anarchist spiv look, so perhaps this alleged joke was best left out.

We hope you enjoy our efforts. Copyright for the words and music remains with the composers but if you want to use it let us know via a comment with your e-mail address and we will get back to you. As we sing to raise money for good causes we will happily give permission if you sing for charity. However, in the unlikely event of commercial exploitation for profit the usual copyright laws will apply as we have many good causes that we would like to give money to should this little effort be taken up by professional musicians or singers. These include feeding the hungry, educating the disadvantaged and trying to prolong the life of this poorly planet. We know this all seems rather presumptuous but we might as well ‘hedge or bets’ so to speak, and make sure any commercial exploitation is put to some good. Stranger things have happened. The words and music will be available when we have tidied them up. It is hoped that we will be able to write appropriately modified lyrics for other parts of the UK such as Wales and Cornwall. In the meantime more rehearsals are needed

The Community Concert raised £250 for the Acorns Children’s Hospice and£250 for the Village Hall Fund.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51Gtvoutfrg