As a blog post: I was thrilled to be able to perform this at an OVFF juried one-shot a few minutes ago. I was also totally stunned to receive a Pretty Princess tiara from Cecilia, which I'm going to find problematic as I never intend to TAKE IT OFF!!! For anyone who might want to hear Cecilia's lovely version of this NOT in a duet, it's available here: https://soundcloud.com/cecilia-eng-320153920
For Sally and Barry, helpful judges extraordinaire -
These are the lyrics. We didn't know another way to get them to you :-) Cecilia's first, then mine, as autumn transitioning to spring (which was why we did the unusual hum-plus-autumn into blend into hum-plus spring).
Phoenix In Autumn
© 2/13/2023 Cecilia A. Eng[Am]Flames in [G]glory
A[Am]cross the heavens [Em]high
[G]Trees in [Em]autumn
Re[Am]flect its [G]blazing [Am]sky
[Am]Leaves are [G]fading
[Am]Falling to the [Em]earth
[G]Embers [Em]dimming
[Am]Glowing [G]’round its [Am]girth
A [Am]shooting star, a [G]meteor
The [Am]sacred phoenix [Em]falls
The [G]ancient forest [Em]shudders
To [Am]hear its [G]final [Am]calls
[Am]Flee the [G]forest
It [Am]brings the wild[Em]fire
[G]Elder trees will [Em]perish
With[Am]in its [G]funeral [Am]pyre
[Am]Winter [G]snowfall
[Am]Hides the blackened [Em]scar
[G]Ice and [Em]crystals
En[Am]case both [G]ash and [Am]char
And [Am]to those [G]ashes
The [Am]sun brings warmth a[Em]gain
Fire[G]weed and re[Em]newal
A[Am]wait the [G]warm spring [Am]rain
-----
The Spring Phoenix – ©2023 Heather Preston (for use with Cecilia Eng’s Phoenix in Autumn)
From [Am] ashes old, a [G] flame begins, a [Am] new-born bird will [Em] rise
With [G] feathers of a [Em] flaming gold, and [Am] fire [G] in its [Am] eyes.
It [Am] stretches out its [G] mighty wings, a[Am]blaze with second [Em] birth,
Cre[G]ates the warming [Em] wind that [C] brings re[Am]newal [G] to the [Am] earth.
With [Am] every fiery [G] death and fallow [Am] time in ashes [Em]deep,
The [G] phoenix loses [Em] all and yet its [Am] powers [G] only [Am] sleep.
The [Am] phoenix springs re[G]surgent in a [Am] sign of hope and [Em] change,
To [G] bring new life from [Em] ruins, [C] dying [Am] structures [G]re-ar[Am]range.
So [Am] let this bird, with [G] feathers bright, send [Am] peace into our [Em] hearts –
For [G] though the old way [Em] seems to end, a[Am]nother [G] journey [Am] starts.
So [Am] let the phoenix [G] soar again, in[Am]to the springtime [Em] sky,
For [G] though it dies, it [Em] lives a[C]gain – and [Am] so mote [G] you and [Am] I.
Edit: oops! Old chords. Had to update them once Cecilia's version came back to me. Fixed now. - H
Kaona o Lahaina – by HL Preston, 8/21/2023, based on Kawaipunahele by Keali`i Reichel
Nou e Kaona o Lahaina
Kuʻu lei aloha mae ʻole
Pili hemoʻole,
Pili paʻa pono
E huli hoʻi kāua
E Kaona o Lahaina
Kū ʻoe me ke kiʻekiʻe
i ka nani o Hanakaʻōʻō
Kuʻu ipo henoheno,
Kuʻu wehi o ka pō
E huli hoʻi kāua
E Kaona o Lahaina
Eia ke ku nei kou ipo
Kali ʻana i ka mehameha
Ua puhi loa ʻoe,
Aka, e mau ana kou nani
E huli hoʻi kāua
E Kaona o Lahaina
Puana ʻia ke aloha
Kuʻu lei aloha mae ʻole
Pili hemo ʻole,
Pili paʻa pono
Ke pono hoʻi kāua
E Kaona o Lahaina
Translation:
For you Town of Lahaina
My never-fading lei
Never separated,
Firmly united.
Come, let's go back.
O Town of Lahaina.
You stand majestically
In the splendor of Hanaka’o’o.
My cherished sweetheart,
My adornment of the night
Come, let's go back.
O Town of Lahaina
Here is your lover
Waiting in loneliness
You have burned completely,
Yet your beauty remains
Come, let's go back,
O Town of Lahaina.
Tell of the love,
Of my never-fading lei.
Never separated,
Firmly united
When it's right, we'll go back,
O Town of Lahaina
Original: Kealiʻi Reichel's album "Kawaipunahele" - Copyright 1994, Punahele, Inc. The current work is intended as a respectful parody only and not intended for any commercial purpose.
Riddles Wisely Expounded (Child 1) asb Jean Redpath, Kevin Elam, millions of others :-)
A lady lived in the north country Lay the bent to the bonnie broom
And she had lovely daughters three Fa la la LA la la la la la-la
There was a knight of noble worth
Who also lived into the north
One night when it wa-as cold and late
This knight he came to the lady's gate
The eldest daughter she let him in
She's pinned the door with a silver pin
The second daughter she's made his bed
And Holland sheets so fine she spread
The youngest daughter so fair and bright
She lay abed with this noble knight
“If you will answer me questions three
It's then fair maid I will marry thee:
Oh what is louder than a horn
And what is sharper than a thorn
And what is longer than the way
And what is deeper than the sea
And what is greener than the grass
And what more wicked than-a
Woman-e'er was?”
“Oh thunder's louder than a horn
And hunger sharper than a thorn
And love is longer than the way
And hell is deeper than the sea
It’s envy's greener than the grass
And the devil-more wick-ed than a woman-e'er was
As soon as she the fiend did name
He flew away in a blazin' flame ["bleezin' flame" in Scots dialect <3]
They Just Don’t Build Bridges Like They Used To - Heather L. Preston 2022 (updated 2024)
(use the Em alternative shown in line 3 around every second or third verse...!)
[in case it's not obvious, this song is 'old-timey country' in style]
G C D G
Twenty thousand years ago there was a land bridge, when ice upon the continents did lie
And people took their working dogs across it, spreading through the-Americas by and by
They [Em] hunted and they traveled though Ber[G]ingia, and [D] up and down the coasts that were ice-[G]free
Eight thousand years from then, the waters rose again, and the Bering wasn’t what it used to be!
G C D G twice
Oh they just don’t build bridges like they used to
When glaciers melt, low-lying lands get hid
No, they just don’t build bridges like they used to
And I’m star-ting to think they never did!
G C D G
The Romans they built the Pons Fabricius, / ‘way back in 62 BC(E)
It carries traffic still across its arches, and never fell, which just impresses me!
800 years before in Smyrna, Turkey, the Ker-van Koprusu spread its arch
With traffic every day, it doesn’t even sway, don’t bother breaking step when on the march!
G C D G twice
Oh they just don’t build bridges like they used to
They built it fast and well, as Senate bid
No, they just don’t build bridges like they used to
It’s been near 2000 years now since they did!
G C D G
In 1806 Ponte das Barcas was an engineering marvel of Porto
They linked up - some 20 boats with cables, and across the Douro River they would go!
But in three years, along came old Napoleon, attacking that city, on a spree
And 4000 drowned when that bridge went down, / overloaded when they tried to flee
CH: : G C D G twice
Oh they just don’t build bridges like they used to
They built it fast and used the lowest bid
No, they just don’t build bridges like they used to
And I’m star-ting to think they never did!
G C D G
In 1845 out in Great Yarmouth, a fine suspension bridge was hung on chains
Then a circus clown came drifting in a washtub, the onlookers all started changing lanes
They’d crowded to one rail to watch him coming, then to the other side they’d quickly zoom
So as he doffed his cap, the well-torqued chains did snap, and those upon that bridge then met their doom CH
G C D G
On an iron suspension bridge in 1850, the storm winds lashed 500 troops in France,
Across the Pont Basse-Chaine and through that windstorm, they marched along, the bridge did sway and dance
They tried to stagger step but with the swaying, they found themselves too often still in sync
The resonance’ driving power collapsed one iron tower, and half the troops were drownded in the drink.
CH: G C D G twice
Oh they just don’t build bridges like they used to
They built it fast and used the lowest bid
No, they just don’t build bridges like they used to
And I’m star-ting to think they never did!
G C D G
The bridge that once spanned Tacoma Narrows was built upon an elegant new design
They opened Galloping Gert in 1940, and hoped that in the winds she’d do just fine!
But only four short months into her service, on a windy, bright and fine November day
The drivers left their cars, and fled those bucking spars, as the oscillations carried Gert away! CH
G C D G
Close beside historic Fort McHenry, a wondrous bridge was named for Francis Key
Continuous truss the span, second LONGest built by man, until it met container ship Dali!
In 2024 from Port’o’Bawlmer, that ship was moving briskly, outward bound
She lost the power to steer, so crashed into one pier, and stunningly the whole darn’ span came down! CH
G C D G
When Kirk-said they could detach the saucer section, the crew were all relieved that he did not
But in TNG it was easily accomplished, which would have given hives to Mr. Scott!
Way back in the old starship Discovery, they’d sported tech advanced beyond Kirk’s ken,
But only ten years on, those high-tech toys were gone: no “normal” bridge-detaching saucers then! CH
G C D G
When they said “write a song on building bridges,” I thought of friendship, music, teeth and pool
[humming a non-bridge for 2.5 lines] – bridges can be cruel! CH
===
Got more verses but this is getting ridiculous… H
La Chienne Est Morte – TTO English Version of La Vie En Rose - Louis Armstrong
(words by Heather L Preston 4/3/2022)
Ah, the con is done at last
The filkers have all passed
This is “La chienne est morte”
When you sing I hear soft sighs
And though they close their eyes
They’re at “la chienne est morte”
When the rooms are broken down
We’re set to leave this town
Where dandelions bloom
And when we sing, with harmonies above
All of our filks seem to turn into love …songs
Re-gister for next year now
We’ll make it through somehow
Until “la chienne est morte!”
For the very first time one of my songs (this one) has received a first place in a filk contest (OK, it was a tie for 1st with an adorable song about magical penguins, but I digress). Thank you, FilkOntari-NO3! That is two of my firsts for you all - first invited concert slot, too. Woooow, too cool, thank you all so much!
Coevolution – Penguin* Song words and music 4/1/22 Heather L. Preston
The black and the white
The stars and the snow
Were playing one night
Above and below
In the frozen land in the southern seas
Jungles used to stand, vast groves of trees
Swirling solar system
Cauldron of creation
The whitecaps kiss them
The black waves roll on
In the frozen land in the southern seas
Jungles used to stand, vast groves of trees
Birds that once had flown
Changed with that place
Tens of million-years gone
Turned flight to diving grace
In the frozen land in the southern seas
Jungles used to stand, vast groves of trees
One thing hasn’t changed
The black and the white
Six months of growing
Six more of night
In the frozen land in the southern seas
Jungles used to stand, vast groves of trees
Waimanu our mother
We rode currents long
We shield one another
And chant our penguin song
In the frozen land in the southern seas
Jungles used to stand, vast groves of trees
Six cold months of dark, six months then of day
In our icebound world of black, white and gray
Hi. I wanted to sing the original French carol Picardy (AKA "Jésus-Christ s'habille en pauvre"), which is probably a 17th-century carol although its first publication was in an 1840s collection of old French traditional carols. But I could not find a complete translation of the rather ferocious lyrics, and I wanted to share the actual emotional heft of the hymn with English-speaking song circles, so... translation time (below the original):
[btw, the brackets that go |: your text here :| mean that we sing "your text here" twice before going on to the next line]
Picardy (the original French carol. The tune has travelled.)
|: Jésus-Christ s'habille en pauvre / L'aumône va demander :|
« Monsieur qu'êtes sur la porte / Faites-moi la charité. »
|: Ah! va-t'en coquin de pauvre, / Je n'ai rien à te donner. :|
« Des miettes de votre table / Je ferais bien mon dîner. »
|: « Les miettes de ma table / Je les garde pour mes chiens! :|
Mes chiens m'apportent des lièvres, / Toi, tu ne m'apportes rien. »
|: Dame qu'êtes à la fenêtre / Faites moi la charité. :|
« Entrez, entrez, mon bon pauvre, / Un bon repas trouverez. »
|: Quand le pauvre sort de table / Il demande à se coucher. :|
« Venez, venez, mon bon pauvre, / Un bon lit vous trouverez. »
|: En entrant dedans la chambre / Fit une grande clareté. :|
« Oh, dites-moi, mon bon pauvre, / C'est la lune qui vient briller? »
|: Oh non, ce n'est pas la lune, / Sont vos grandes charités; :|
« Votre très grand coeur, madame, / Qui partout s'est épanché. »
|: Dans trois jours vous serez morte; / En paradis vous irez :|
« Mais votre mari, madame, / En enfer ira brûler. »
Picardy scansion translation (except lines 1, 7 & 8) Heather L. Preston 12/21/2021
I left in lines 1, 7 and 8 from the Ehret/Evans version, as they were lovely, close to the original in meaning, and scanned already.
|: Jesus came in garment lowly / “Give to me thy charity” :|
"Sir, who stands so stately at the door / Give to me thy charity."
|: "Get ye gone ye poor poor rascal, / I have naught to give to thee." :|
"From your table crumbs remaining / would a dinner make for me."
|: "All the leavings from my table / my own dogs are bound to feed! :|
My dogs bring me hares to grace my table, / But you, you bring me naught that I need."
|: "Lady standing by the window / Give to me thy charity”. :|
"Come in from the cold, my poor one, / I will find a meal for thee. "
|: When the poor man leaves her table / He asks for a bed to sleep. :|
"Come along, my good poor fellow, / We a warming pallet keep. "
|: As he softly stepped o’er the threshold / The room was bathed in glorious light. :|
"Oh, tell me, my poor good fellow, / Is that but the moon so bright? "
|: "It is not the moon’s soft brilliance, / but the light of your charities" :|
“Your great heart, my blessed lady, / Which-now all who have eyes can see."
|: "In three days you were to have perished; / but to paradise you will go" :|
“Your husband lacks the light of human kindness, / and I fear he’ll burn below."
You can hear a fine version of the original here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvkLMEpusDE
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