Roud 9, "The Cruel Mother." A product of the society and moral/political climate it formed in, this 400ish-year-old song weaves a haunting and disturbing tale. While possibly borne of politics long past, this song still has a deep impact when viewed against the social problems of the day. Another song about murder...

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Roud 8, "the Twa Sisters" or "the Two Sisters" or 30 different other titles. This ballad, first published in 1656, has its roots in European culture as far back to the 9th Century and spreads out like a great tree from there, with different leaves on each branch but the same trunk underneath. If you like the way I murdered that metaphor, you'll love this tale of murder and jealousy and dismemberment and fiddle-making.

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Roud 6, "Long Lankin." This horrifying and dark folk song comes from the Northern UK, dating back to at least the 15th century. It's not an easy one to digest and its origins are as clouded in darkness and mystery as the story it tells. WARNING: This episode is pretty creepy and probably not suited for anyone very young or with a very young-like proclivity to fear.

Citations and other content at:

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Roud 5, "The Three Ravens." An old English ballad thought to date back to the 13th century, this bleak, BLEAK song was first printed in 1611. Find out just how bleak it is and just how much bleaker it could get when it finds its way to Scotland. This is really a dark-twilight-of-the-soul kind of podcast episode.

http://everyfolksong.xyz

This episode focuses on Roud 3, "The Sprig of Thyme." Originally collected by Cecil Sharpe as "Seeds of Love" in 1903. Matt dissects the often-questionable poetry of the song, discusses the attitudes on gender and sexuality that the song expresses, and touches on an English New Wave band from the early 80's.

CONTENT WARNING: Sex is referred to quite a bit in both mature and immature fashions. Matt says "bone down on" at least once. Sorry.

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This episode focuses on Roud 2, "The Unfortunate Rake" and its journey across Europe, into and out of the Crimean War, and then over the Atlantic, where it settled in the American West and New Orleans. Made popular as "The Streets of Laredo" and "St. James Infirmary" by artists like Johnny Cash and Louis Armstrong.

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In this inaugural episode, we start off with Roud 1, The Raggle Taggle Gypsy, a Scottish ballad originating from the 17th century. Plus, a brief explanation of this podcast and this "Roud Folk Music Index" everyone (matt) has been talking about.

http://everyfolksong.xyz