This week’s theme for Song Lyric Sunday has been suggested by Di, who blogs at pensitivity101. Jim’s post Chill You To The Bone tells us all about it: we are invited to play songs with the lyrics “eerie, ghost, haunting, paranormal or spooky.” I don’t know about you but I am at a loss to recall any songs with three of those in their lyrics – to me they are more the feeling evoked by a song rather than actual lyrics. But I know a song or several with “ghost” in both their title and their lyrics, or as something described in them, and I’m playing you two of them today.
Ghosts have long been a staple of songs, and as a lover of English folk music I’ve come across a few in my time. My second song for today is one such, but I’m starting with a much more recent original tune by one of my favourite English folk rock bands. I’m guessing that, unless you are a regular reader with a very good memory, the name Merry Hell won’t mean much to you, so welcome to their world:
And here are the lyrics:
There’s a ghost in our house It’s watching me, watching you It sees everything we are The secrets we’ve hidden from view
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It’s not death we fear, it’s mediocrity Not dying, but fading away It’s the will to do more than just exist
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It’s the chance we missed, it’s the chance we missed
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There’s a ghost in our house There’s a ghost in our house, ha
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There’s a ghost in our house It’s watching us through the years It collects our regrets, yeah Makes souvenirs of our tears
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It’s not change we fear, it’s standing still Turning to face the wall It’s holding onto nothing with a tight clenched fist
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It’s the chance we missed, it’s the chance we missed
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There’s a ghost in our house There’s a ghost in our house
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Close the nursery door very softly Someone’s at the window Hide your dreams and your deepest yearning
Someone’s at the window
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It’s not death we fear, it’s life unlived Stars unwilling to shine Upstaged by the brilliance of fate’s last twist
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It’s the chance we missed, it’s the chance we missed
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There’s a ghost in our house There’s a ghost in our house There’s a ghost in our house There’s a ghost in our house
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Source:Â Musixmatch
Songwriter: Virginia Kettle
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Merry Hell are a band from Wigan in the north west of England, who are well known on the folk music circuit here, as they play many gigs and festivals – originally in their local area but in recent years they have travelled around the country. They formed from the nucleus of The Tansads, which included the three Kettle brothers, John (guitar), Bob (mandolin) and Andrew (vocals), and others in the current eight piece lineup include John’s wife Virginia, who wrote this song and is a solo performer in her own right. They also have in their ranks Simon Swarbrick on fiddle, who is the nephew of the late Dave Swarbrick, a legendary fiddler from his Fairport Convention days. To date they have released six albums, a compilation, and two DVDs – I have them all in my collection, and am a big fan. This song was (just about) the title track of their third album, The Ghost In Our House And Other Stories, which was released in 2015. It is typical of their music: a lively tune, lyrics with a meaning, and a fun video to accompany it. As I’ve said before, folk music isn’t really a chart thing here, but that compilation album – Let The Music Speak For Itself – did make an appearance at #49 in the UK Albums chart last May. The band has a link to a fellow blogger, too: Paul Ariss has several strings to his bow, being a scriptwriter, storyteller and songwriter, and his records are produced by John Kettle. Small world, eh? You can find his music on Apple Music and elsewhere, and his blog was the wonderfully named Sliced Yogurt though he appears to have changed the name in its latest version.
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For today’s second song I’m going with a traditional piece, which revolves around a favourite topic: the supernatural. I think I can claim that this one scores on four of Di’s five criteria. I tried to find a live performance but none were suitable, so I’m giving you the original album track, which is absolutely lovely. It is long, but very much worth hearing:
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Pentangle were relatively short-lived in their original incarnation – Â just six years – but they have regrouped on a number of occasions and are still playing now. They have made some superb music featuring great musicianship and the beautiful vocals of Jacqui McShee. This tale of the girl coming back from the afterlife to haunt her cruel sister, who had murdered her, is one that has been recorded several times, but Pentangle’s is my favourite. I didn’t get to see them in concert until they reformed the original lineup and undertook a number of tours. Their final dates were in 2011, including performances at the Cambridge Folk Festival and at Glastonbury, and one last concert at the Royal Festival Hall in London on 1 August, which was guitarist Bert Jansch’s last ever public performance, just two months before we lost him to lung cancer (on 5 October). They must have known his end was near, which makes what was an amazing concert all the more remarkable – that was my one and only time seeing them. They closed the first half of the show with this, and it was magical. Cruel Sister was the title track of their fourth album, released in November 1970, which spent two weeks at #51 in the UK Albums chart in the run up to Christmas that year.
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That’s it for today, and I hope you enjoyed this little dabble in the paranormal. See you again on Tuesday 😊
Interesting song choices today, Clive. No big surprise, I wasn’t familiar with Merry Hell. In all honesty, I didn’t love their song. It and the video were both somewhat strange so not a favorite. Pentangle, on the other hand, is a group I can relate to – because of their unique sound and the fact that we saw them many moons ago at the Fillmore East. We’d never heard of them before that concert (obviously they were a warm up act) but we liked their music and their performance so much, we bought their album, The Pentangle. Your pick of Cruel Sister was an excellent choice for today’s theme.
Thanks for sharing your music, Clive. I’m always guaranteed something different, interesting and fun from you. 😌
Thank you, Nancy, I’m glad I found at least one you liked. Amazing that you saw Pentangle all those years ago – I’d have loved that. I have all of their albums from that first period and all are superb.
I knew I was taking a risk playing English folk music, but as supernatural themes are such a large part of the genre it was the obvious place for me to begin!
Rightly so, and I think it’s important to take risks, especially when you feel strongly about something. I have a couple of Birthday Thursdays coming up that I’m sure will leave people shaking their heads! 😂 🫨
I’ll see how worthwhile it was with the numbers after a week or so! Please tell me you aren’t going to play the felon with the J6 Choir! Oh, it’s ok, I checked and his birthday is on Friday of next week, so it can’t be that 🤣
God no! I learned long ago to keep my political leanings to myself. People on social media are piranha. The worst of the pack are the vicious rabid dogs who have no facts to back up what they’re saying but will tear anyone else apart for stating what they perceive as the wrong thing (which is anything against the guy they support). Nope. I do not care to put myself on the chopping block like that.
Oh, you’re right about blogging being the friendliest and most accepting. I have, however, run into a few hungry hyena and their stance is anything but welcoming. So be it. I know who they are and I’ve learned when to steer clear. It’s fine when we respect each other’s space (if not each other’s ideals). Not everything we’re thinking need to go public. 😎
Very folky two today. It’s too early in the morning for me to think of anything outside of, obviously, ‘Long Black Veil’ other than Eels ‘Friendly Ghost.’
That seemed the right route for me, as there are so many folk songs about ghosts and the supernatural. I did Long Black Veil a few months back: if you do it I’ll be interested to see if you go for either of the versions I played 😊
Merry Hell is new to me, but I found this song to be very pleasant. I have listened to Pentangle before, but I am not sure what songs I heard. I am glad you were able to come up with these two gems today, Clive.
Thank you, Jim, I’m pleased you liked them. To my surprise this was the first time I’d ever played anything by Pentangle, but they are worth exploring further. I’ve played Merry Hell several times, including the very first Tuesday Tunes but not recently. I like them a lot, as you may have gathered!
Remembered – and loved – the Pentangle but Merry Hell completely new to me. Brilliant, I will try to listen to more
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Pentangle were a class act. Those albums they made in the 60s and 70s are all superb.
I hope you enjoy what you hear when you follow Merry Hell up. This is typical of them so if you liked this you should find many more to your taste.
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Hi Clive, both of these are great songs. I didn’t know either of them.
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Hi Robbie. Always happy to introduce you to new music and I’m glad you enjoyed them 😊
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I did
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Interesting song choices today, Clive. No big surprise, I wasn’t familiar with Merry Hell. In all honesty, I didn’t love their song. It and the video were both somewhat strange so not a favorite. Pentangle, on the other hand, is a group I can relate to – because of their unique sound and the fact that we saw them many moons ago at the Fillmore East. We’d never heard of them before that concert (obviously they were a warm up act) but we liked their music and their performance so much, we bought their album, The Pentangle. Your pick of Cruel Sister was an excellent choice for today’s theme.
Thanks for sharing your music, Clive. I’m always guaranteed something different, interesting and fun from you. 😌
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Thank you, Nancy, I’m glad I found at least one you liked. Amazing that you saw Pentangle all those years ago – I’d have loved that. I have all of their albums from that first period and all are superb.
I knew I was taking a risk playing English folk music, but as supernatural themes are such a large part of the genre it was the obvious place for me to begin!
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Rightly so, and I think it’s important to take risks, especially when you feel strongly about something. I have a couple of Birthday Thursdays coming up that I’m sure will leave people shaking their heads! 😂 🫨
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I’ll see how worthwhile it was with the numbers after a week or so! Please tell me you aren’t going to play the felon with the J6 Choir! Oh, it’s ok, I checked and his birthday is on Friday of next week, so it can’t be that 🤣
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God no! I learned long ago to keep my political leanings to myself. People on social media are piranha. The worst of the pack are the vicious rabid dogs who have no facts to back up what they’re saying but will tear anyone else apart for stating what they perceive as the wrong thing (which is anything against the guy they support). Nope. I do not care to put myself on the chopping block like that.
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I think blogging is the friendliest of the social media and would hope not to see that. But the rabid pack dogs are everywhere, aren’t they.
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Oh, you’re right about blogging being the friendliest and most accepting. I have, however, run into a few hungry hyena and their stance is anything but welcoming. So be it. I know who they are and I’ve learned when to steer clear. It’s fine when we respect each other’s space (if not each other’s ideals). Not everything we’re thinking need to go public. 😎
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I’ve come across some like that too. I play them the same way as you – don’t get involved!
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Very folky two today. It’s too early in the morning for me to think of anything outside of, obviously, ‘Long Black Veil’ other than Eels ‘Friendly Ghost.’
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That seemed the right route for me, as there are so many folk songs about ghosts and the supernatural. I did Long Black Veil a few months back: if you do it I’ll be interested to see if you go for either of the versions I played 😊
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Not a fan of folk, but I liked both of these!
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Good to hear. We’ll have you converted yet 🤣
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Ha!!
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A classy folk song and a great ghost one
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Thanks, Glyn, glad you enjoyed them 😊
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Both are new to me, and I liked the first one best. I’m going to save it to my favorites. The video was fun to watch, too. 🙂
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I’m pleased you liked that one. They are a very good band and have several more fun videos on YouTube: try The Baker’s Daughter for starters.
The Pentangle one has been a favourite of mine for more than fifty years. They are a class act.
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Thanks, I will! 🙂
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Merry Hell is new to me, but I found this song to be very pleasant. I have listened to Pentangle before, but I am not sure what songs I heard. I am glad you were able to come up with these two gems today, Clive.
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Thank you, Jim, I’m pleased you liked them. To my surprise this was the first time I’d ever played anything by Pentangle, but they are worth exploring further. I’ve played Merry Hell several times, including the very first Tuesday Tunes but not recently. I like them a lot, as you may have gathered!
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Both of these are enjoyable songs (and not too spooky!)
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I’m glad you enjoyed them, Darlene. I save my spooky songs for Halloween – come back in five months 😉
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Two fabulous choices …when it comes to tastes in folk folk music modern or traditional I think we agree! 💜💜
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Thank you, Willow, I’m pleased you liked them. We clearly both have very good taste 🤣
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Indeed we do 😀
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