I was supposed to be packing up my house yesterday as we are about to embark on a major renovation and will need to move out. Anyway, I procrastinated and while tidying up I found an old Joan Baez folk songbook and started browsing through it... and found the lyrics to Wagoners Lad..did some research and found it is in the public domain and so I wrote some music for the lyrics. Then I recorded it. Needless to say, I didn't get much more packing done. Oh well, tomorrow is another day!

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Lyrics:
Oh, I'm just a poor girl my fortune is sad
I've always been courted by the wagoner's lad
He's courted me daily, by night and by day
But now he is loading and moving away
Gone away, gone away
Gone away, gone away

My parents don't like him because he is poor
They say he's not worthy to stanidn inside my door
He works for a living, his money's his own
And if they don't like it they can leave him alone
Gone away, gone away
Gone away, gone away

Your horses are hungry, go feed them some hay
Then sit down here beside me as long as you may
My horses ain't hungry, they won't eat your hay
So fare thee well my darlin I'll be on my way
Gone away, gone away
Gone away, gone away

Your wagon needs greasing your whip is to mend
Then sit down her beside me as long as you can
My wagon is greasy, my whip's in my hand
So fare thee well darlin, no longer to stand
Gone away, gone away
Gone away, gone away

Oh, hard is the fortune of all woman kind
She's always controlled, she's always confined
Controlled by her parents until she's a wife
A slave to her husband the rest of her life
Gone away, gone away
Gone away, gone away
Gone away, gone away
Gone away, gone away

Style used:
Blight Slow Americana with Banjo
I added the fiddle

Comments as always are appreciated.

That's a lovely setting for the lyric.
Supporting and expressing. As usual the vocals are stellar.
The only suggestion I have is to mellow the violin in the intro + 1st verse as there're a few spots in which it becomes strident - that could be achieved with a little EQ or even some subtle reverb.
Lovely listen and something JB would've been happy to have sung.

Joanne,
A gorgeous chorus that floats away...wonderful to hear your voice again.
The story is a nice blend of humour and sad truth. Substitute a modern vehicle for that wagon and who would know the lyric is from another era!
Really good simple arrangement- especially given the rapid time frame.

Robert

Ok Joanne, I think you know I'm a fan. Once again, this didn't disappoint. I REALLY REALLY like your delivery of the "gone away" parts in the chorus.

Now this is where it might be odd. I don't mean it to be. When I see your name; I have a certain expectation of how the song will sound. Not in a bad way; in the best way possible. There is something very John Denver-ish about your songs that I'm am drawn to. I'm a fan of his music; and I'm a fan of your music.

Great job once again!

Joanne,
Beautiful tune. I like your voice doubling and overall vocals are A+! Drums work exceptionally well on this song.

Thank you for sharing!

Misha.

Nicely done Joanne...
I enjoyed the listen...
And I hope your "major renovation" goes well!

Nicely done It flows beautifully, and I love the lush instrumentation. Your vocal pair with it perfectly. That aside, I thought the mix was top notch also. Really concise and professional sounding.

Thanks for sharing!

Hey Joanne,

This song is really great! Excellent.

I want to apologize for being so absent from the forum. Also, I will be candid that this part of the post is kind of a generic “form letter” to my old and new forum friends.

In brief, work is very hectic right now and I am having a hard time keeping up with the forum and even writing new songs. There is also a lot of new material hitting the boards—more than I can listen to and reply. People are on a roll!

Instead of backing away from the forum I want to stay involved by just giving the equivalent of a “like” as opposed to full-fledged commentary.

This way, I can just keep listening, and enjoying and reply with a simple LOVE IT or something like that.

I do listen, love your stuff and really want to continue following those who are so dedicated to encouraging others, even if it is only with one word.

Hope this makes sense, thanks for your artistry and forgive my brevity going forward with massive time constraints.

Also forgive me if you see this message more than once until I know I have covered all my bases.

Peace!!

Whenever I see your name in the User Showcase I know that I am in for a treat!

As usual this is perfect in every way. I especially liked the harmonies. Again as usual your vocals are outstanding and your backing track matches the story perfectly.

I'm no expert in this style of music, but it sounds good to me and I enjoyed listening. You have a great talent for writing catching songs!

Will

Lovely.

Good luck with the packing!

Love the vocals. I agree with rayc - I feel the violin was a little too strident at times. Also would have liked the violin and banjo to have some spatial separation - perhaps put one of them over in the right channel somewhere. That might have been more balanced. In all other respects at great job. Looking forward to hearing more.

P.S. I lent my Joan Baez Song Book to someone back in '76 and they 'forgot' to give it back - and then they disappeared. Some copies selling for around $50 eBay these days - outrageous!

.
Ouch! I've got a copy I've picked up from the local thrift store. I saw another last week, but figured one copy was enough.

Maybe I should go back and get it, and try listing it on eBay...

Wonderful lyric/music fit. Lovely voice and harmonies. The band is just enough to carry the song. Very much enjoyed.

Nicely done Joann. It's always fun for us to re-interpret old PD songs and poems.

Interesting that it was in a Joan Baez songbook as you are definitely channeling her
on this production with the lead and the lovely harmonies.

The backing tracks set in very nicely with your performance.

Enjoyed it!

J&B

Joanne

Beautiful interpretation. Excellent vocals and harmonies, the chorus is lovely.

Very very nice.

Peter

Hi Joanne. Love the melody you developed on this.
Very nice. Rob4580

RayC - and Ghostgum - thank so much for the feedback on the mix. I appreciate it. I have reworked it slightly. Fiddled around with the panning and put some reverb and eq on the violin. Would love to know if you think it is better (or not :))

https://soundcloud.com/joannecoopersa/the-wagoners-lad-version-2

Dave and Ghostgum - those are great stories about the JB songbook. Ghostgum maybe I have your copy because I have no idea where the one that I found came from

RobertKc, Caaron,Misha, Jim, Deryk, David, Mario, Will, Tangmo, Bud, Janice, PeterF and Rob - thank you all for taking the time to listen and for all your nice comments. I really need to hang out here more

Well done Joanne, what a marvelous song I might say! This is beautiful and a solid key signature choice too. The vocals harmonize well with the other instruments. Keep it up!

A nice job on this, Joanne.

It does bring to mind the style of Baez. Your vocal and harmony suits it well...

The mix is crisp and clear.

Good to see you around.

fj

Joanne,
1st thing there's a click just before you start singing - tiny but there.
Fiddle/violin sounds a little mellower and sits much better: now is closer in tone to the voice over that side too.
You're a marvel.

Beautiful song!! I had not heard this one before but so glad you performed it.

hi joanne I listen to this on my iPhone and it sounded outstanding then on my system wow really great vocal on this perfect mix eric

Made a fan out of me, that's for sure. Great work!!!

Hi Joanna,

I enjoyed your song very much. Can imagine that making this was much more important than emptying houses.
I want to underline all the compliments about this song of you and how you sang it. Very intense and sweet!

Hans