Woven Harmonies lyrics

Lyrics from "Many Moons"

The Haying Song
David Mallett © Cherry Lane Music Publishing

Inland Folk host, Dan Maher, introduced me to this song. Having hayed with my father, I knew I must arrange this song to perform.—Nadine

Arrangement: Nadine Sanders
Lead Vocal: Nadine Sanders
Vocals: Lisa Beaver, Kristen Ramer
Autoharp: Nadine Sanders
Bass: Stephen Luceno

When the raspberries burst from the woodbine
And the summer lies close to the ground
And the porch is the fit place for young boys to sleep
The brook in the hollow dies down
Then with straw hats and wagons and horses
Like young Tim and tired old Dan
We head for the field to the creak of the wheel with the pitchfork that blisters your hands

Chorus

And you have to make hay when the sun shines
That’s what all of the hill people say
You just keep your load wide keep your eye on the sky
and make sure it’s dry when you put it away

And I remember the chaff on the back of my neck
The cool at the edge of the trees
And you rest for a time and you talk about the weather
You drink from the spring, and get mud on your knees
Well it’s back to the wagon, it’s back to the mow
6 loads in and 8 more to go
And there’s biscuits and beans at the late supper meal
and there’s nothing like beans when you’re workin' you know.

Chorus

‘Tis the season of clover and killdeer
It’s the time when the earth does her best
And it's when all men are strong and the work days are long
And you know when to rise and you know when to rest
And in the cool of the evening I perch on the load
And let the wagon wind blow through my hair
Count off the stars and talk to the moon
And sing to myself in the sweet summer air.

Hang on at the corners and duck from the branches and sing to myself in the sweet summer air.

Chorus

A Tisket A Tasket
Van Alexander and Ella Fitzgerald ©EMI April Music Inc.

I’m a big fan of Ella. I was intrigued to arrange a song that she had not only sung, but also co-written.
Arranging this song for a capella singing allowed me to use scat to replace the instruments.--Kristen

Arrangement: Kristen Ramer
Lead Vocal: Kristen Ramer
Vocals: Lisa Beaver, Nadine Sanders

A tisket a tasket
A brown and yellow basket
I sent a letter to my mommy,
On the way I dropped it.
I dropped it, I dropped it,
Yes on the way I dropped it.
A little girlie picked it up
And put it in her pocket.

She was truckin’ on down the avenue
With not a single thing to do,
She went pick pick pickin’ all around,
When she spied it on the ground.

She took it, she took it,
My little yellow basket,
And if she doesn’t bring it back,
I think that I will die.

Dwee dat dow dwee dat-ndow
Dwee dat dow dwee dat-ndow
Dwee dat dow dwee da ba de be dow

Oh dear I wonder where
My basket could be?
Lookin' high lookin’ low
Lookin’ here where’d it go?
I don’t know.

O gee, I wish that
Little girl I could see
Oh gee, I wish that
Little girl I could be.
Oh why was I so careless
With that basket of mine?
That itty, bitty basket
Was the joy of mine.

A tisket, a tasket,
I lost my yellow basket
Won’t someone help me
Find my basket and
Make me happy again, again?

Was it red? No no no no
Was it green? No no no no
Was it blue? No no no no
Just a little yellow basket
A little yellow basket!

The Jute Mill Song
Mary Brooksbank

I started collecting songs about weaving and spinning when I created my weaving thesis show and formed Straw into Gold in 1993. I found this song when I first visited Scotland. Today there are more songs than mills left. Thanks to Alec Finney for the following translations.

“fairly make you work” : they sure do make you work
“bairnie” : child
“There’s no much pleasure living aff’n ten-and-nine” : There’s not much pleasure living on ten shillings and ninepence per week. Today, ten and nine comes to £0.5375.

Vocal: Nadine Sanders
Piano: David Lange

O dear me, the mill’s going fast
The poor wee shifters cannot get their rest;
Shifting bobbins coarse and fine,
They fairly make you work for your ten-and-nine.

O dear me, I wish the day was done,
Running up and down the pass is no fun,
Shifting, piecing, spinning, warp, weft and twine,
To feed and clothe my bairnie aff’n ten- and-nine.

O dear me, the world’s ill divided,
Them that work the hardest are the least provided;
I must bide contented, dark days or fine,
There’s no much pleasure living aff’n ten-and-nine.

Here, By This Fireside
Laurie Visher©2001

Laurie was an original member of Straw Into Gold. She commissioned me to weave a scarf and for payment; I asked that she write a new song.—Nadine

Arrangement: Nadine Sanders
Lead Vocal: Kristen Ramer
Vocals: Lisa Beaver, Nadine Sanders
Accordian: David Lange

Chorus
Here by this fireside, is beauty, quiet, peace
Warmed by the love on your face
My cares and fears are released.

How often I get caught
In a pace too fast for feeling!
I lose a sense of myself,
My senses lost and reeling

Chorus

I need to pause, to know
My deep regrets and gladness
to be human and to grow
I must feel joy and sadness.

Your touch kindles my desire
Your voice whispers my name
My passion sparks to fire
And giving feeds the flame!

Your hands trace gentle paths
Across my hungry skin.
You fill my heart, my hope, my life!
My spirit soars again!

Chorus

Walkin’ After Midnight
Don Hecht and Alan Block© Acuff Rose Music Inc.

When my parents visited me a few years back, my dad and I bonded over a Patsy Cline tape he brought me. This arrangement pays tribute to the old time country music I grew up with.--Kristen

Arrangement: Kristen Ramer
Lead Vocal: Lisa Beaver
Vocals: Kristen Ramer, Nadine Sanders
Bass: Stephen Luceno
Guitar: Orville Johnson

I go out walkin’ after midnight out in the moonlight just like we used to do.
I’m always walkin’ after midnight searchin’ for you.

I walk for miles along the highway, well that’s just my way of sayin’ I love you.
I’m always walkin’ after midnight searchin’ for you.

I stopped to see a weepin’ willow cryin’ on his pillow
Maybe he’s cryin’ for me
And as the skies turn gloomy, night winds whisper to me,
I’m lonesome as I can be.

I’m always walkin' after midnight out in the starlight just hopin’ you may be somewhere out walkin’ after midnight searchin’ for me.

God’s Green Earth
Holly Tashian ©Poodle Paw Music

Arrangement: Katrina Haeger
Lead Vocal: Katrina Haeger
Vocals: Kristen Ramer, Nadine Sanders
Bass: Stephen Luceno
Guitar: Jon Ten Broek
Mandolin: Orville Johnson

Thanks to Holly for sending us this song of hers. Katrina’s arrangement finally brought it to life for us. –Nadine

How I long to leave this place; city streets, the city pace;
All the cars and traffic lights I never see the stars at night.

So many years passed me by sitting here with staring eyes
Behind these walls that hide the sun I can’t tell when day is done.

Chorus

Oh, if I could I’d leave it all to find a place that has no walls
Out beyond the smoke and dirt where I can walk on God’s green earth
Where I can walk on God’s green earth.

I long to see the silent night; watch the moon go sailin’ by.
Rollin’ hills call me away, back to the fields of yesterday.

Chorus

The Cross Step Waltz
Nadine Sanders©2003 Making Hay Music

Fiddle: Nadine Sanders
Guitar: David Wahler-Edwards

I love to waltz and lately it is waltzes that come out of me when I sit down to write. The cross step was a popular type of waltz being taught across the Northwest in 2003.—Nadine

If I Only Had A Brain
Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg©EMI Music Publishing

Katrina sung this in a mixed vocal jazz ensemble in college. She re-arranged it for our three voices.--Nadine

Arrangment: Katrina Haeger
Lead Vocal: Katrina Haeger
Vocals: Kristen Ramer, Nadine Sanders

I could while away the hours
conferring with the flowers,
consulting with the rain;
and my head, I'd be scratchin'
while my thoughts were busy hatchin'
if I only had a brain.

I'd unravel every riddle
for every individ’l
in trouble and in pain.
With the thoughts I'd be thinkin'
I could be 'nother Lincoln
if I only had a brain.

Oh, I could tell you why
the oceans near the shore,
I could think of things I 'd never thunk before,
and then I'd sit, and think some more.

I would not be just a nuffin'
my head all full of stuffin'
my heart all full of pain
Perhaps I'd deserve you,
and be even worthy erv you,
if I only had a brain.

Lemon Tree Yellow Bird
Lemon Tree By Will Holt ©Wise Brothers Music
Yellow Bird by Alan and Marilyn Bergman and Norman Luboff ©Warner Chappell Music

When choosing new songs at our winter retreat on Mt. Hood, we couldn’t decide which song, so created a conglomeration of the two. --Nadine

Arrangement: Straw Into Gold
Lead Vocal: Lisa Beaver
Vocals: Kristen Ramer, Nadine Sanders
Bass: Stephen Luceno
Guitar: David Wahler-Edwards

When I was just a little girl, my father said to me
“Come here and learn a lesson from the lovely lemon tree” “My dear it’s most important,” my father said to me
To put your faith in what you feel and not in what you see.
Chorus
Lemon tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweet
But the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat
Lemon tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweet
But the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat

Yellow bird, up high in banana tree
Yellow bird, you sit all alone like me
Did your boy frien’ leave de nest again
Dat is very sad, make me feel so bad
You can fly a way, in the sky away,
you more lucky dan me

I also have a pretty boy, he not with you today
Dey all the same de pretty boy
Make dem de nest, den dey fly away.

Beneath the lemon tree one day, my love and I did lie
A boy so sweet that when he smiled
the sun rose in the sky
We passed the summer lost in love
beneath the lemon tree
The music of his laughter hid
my father’s words from me.

Chorus

One day he left without a word he took away the sun
And in the dark he left behind I knew what he had done
He left me for another a common tale but true
A sadder girl but wiser now I sing this song to you:

Chorus

Better fly away in de sky away. Picker comin’ soon,
pick from night to noon.
Black an’ yellow you like banana too.
Dey might pick you some day!

Wish dat I was a yellow bird, I fly away with you
But I am not a yellow bird, so here we sit
Nothin’ else to do
Yellow bird, yellow bird, yellow bird

Just in case you somehow missed the “O Brother Where Art Thou” movie or recording, here is our version of Allison Kraus’s hit.

Arrangement: Straw Into Gold
Lead Vocal: Katrina Haeger
Vocals: Kristen Ramer, Nadine Sanders

As I went down in the river to pray
Studyin’ about that good ol’ way
and who shall wear the starry crown
Good Lord, show me the way.

Oh sisters let’s go down,
lets go down come on down
Oh sisters let’s go down, down in the river to pray

As I went down in the river to pray
Studyin’ about that good ol' way
And who shall wear the robe and crown
Good Lord, show me the way

Oh brothers let's go down,
let's go down come on down,
Come on brothers let's go down, down in the river to pray

As I went down in the river to pray
Studyin’ about that good ol’ way
and who shall wear the starry crown
Good Lord, show me the way.

Oh fathers let's go down,
let's go down, come on down,
Oh fathers let's go down, down in the river to pray

As I went down in the river to pray
Studyin’ about that good ol' way
And who shall wear the robe and crown
Good Lord, show me the way

Oh mothers let’s go down, let’s go down
don’t you wanna go down
Come on mothers, let’s go down,
down in the river to pray

As I went down in the river to pray
Studyin’ about that good ol’ way
and who shall wear the starry crown
Good Lord, show me the way.

Oh sinners let’s go down,
lets go down come on down
Oh sinners let’s go down, down in the river to pray

As I went down in the river to pray
Studyin’ about that good ol' way
And who shall wear the robe and crown
Good Lord, show me the way

This arrangement goes back to the original group of Laurie Miller, Pam Sloper and myself. We’ve made it a point to sing songs with uplifting lyrics over the years. –Nadine

Arrangement: Straw Into Gold
Lead Vocal: Kristen Ramer
Vocals: Katrina Haeger, Nadine Sanders
Guitar: Pat Locke

There stands a misty mountain in the soft and gentle rain
Against the flight of endless time forever to remain
Through all the passing seasons, through every night and day
I can see that misty mountain and I hear the spirits say

Chorus

Oh sister (mother, people) don’t you weep O sister don’t you weep no more
The sun’s gonna shine on a golden shore, O sister don’t you weep
O brother (father, people) don’t you weep, O brother don’t you weep no more
The sun’s gonna shine on a golden shore, O brother don’t you weep

Up the rocky road of trouble and down the twisted path of pain
Sometimes it is a struggle, sometimes you come up lame.
But with the children on our shoulders, you know we face another day
And through their shining eyes of innocence, I can hear the children say.

Chorus (mother, father)

When there’s music all around you, but you just can’t seem to hear.
When the answer’s just around the bend, but never comes up clear.
When there’s darkness right above you, it’s hard to know and understand
That there’s a heart out there that loves you, and a promise in your hand.

Chorus (people)

Oh sister don’t you weep! O brother don’t you weep!
Oh mother don’t you weep! O father don’t you weep
Oh lover don’t you weep! Oh children don’t you weep! O people don’t you weep!

Arrangement: Nadine Sanders
Lead Vocal: Nadine Sanders
Vocals: Lisa Beaver, Kristen Ramer
Accordian: David Lange
Bass: Stephen Luceno
Guitar: Orville Johnson

Listening to KBEW A.M. radio from my hometown of Blue Earth, MN contributed to my eclectic taste in music. They played everything from cowboy songs, to the Ray Coniff singers, to Burl Ives..--Nadine

Ev’ryday along about ev’nin’
When the sunlight’s beginnin’ to fail
I ride through the slumberin’ shadows
Along the Navajo Trail.

When it’s night and crickets are callin’
And coyotes are makin’ a wail,
I dream by a smouldering fire,
Along the Navajo Trail.

I love to lie and listen to the music,
When the wind is strummin’ a sagebrush guitar,
When over yonder hill the moon is climbin’
It always finds me wishin’ on a star.

Well, what do you know?
It’s mornin’ already,
There’s the dawnin’ so silver and pale,
It’s time to climb into my saddle,
And ride the Navajo Trail

I love to lie and listen to the music,
When the wind is strummin’ a sagebrush guitar,
When over yonder hill the moon is climbin’
It always finds me wishin’ on a star.

Well, what do you know?
It’s mornin’ already,
There’s the dawnin’ so silver and pale,
It’s time to climb into my saddle,
And ride the Navajo Trail,
The Navajo Trail.