Once again, we’re back in England for another journey. If you can entertain me just one more time, I’ll share with you some of the music I feel brings out the best colors of autumn. On this mix for LYL Radio I wanted to take you to those early Saturday mornings at home in November when I crack a window open, sip a cup of tea, and play my favorite British folk music.
My personal comfort music of choice, British folk music was once the object of this blog’s focus, only to have it move elsewhere. Yet, if you ask anyone I know, they probably know my heart still remains fondly attached to it. I love the simplicity of it. I love the hazy, in betweenness of it — thematically, it captures a very English idea of saudade…to “pine” for something. In the end, I love how truly universal it is through its attachment to wonderful storytelling.
You might not be British but tales told from the heartspace have this ability to cross aeons of time and spans of topography. And much like the world around us, quite simple things we normally undervalue (the earth, greenery, and sky) find their way to a simpatico musical partner (the guitar, voice, and folk instruments) crafting a palette that hearkens for your attention now. They’ve always been there but this here is different.
Walking out to a forest or looking outside a window, going to places that are resplendent in autumn, I feel blessed to experience another season where I can tap into musical history that values this time of changing life cycles.
Looking at all the photos I’ve collected in my life, I realize that most of them come from this season, that these are the ones filled with some of my closest friends and family. I realize that most of them turn away the focus from the bustle of the city and into portraiture of nature. Here are my most personal moments joy.
Body older and much more tender, I seek comfort in layers. With mind a bit older and wiser, much like the great poet William Blake, I feel it’s my turn to tap into that connection to a new Albion to seek its reflection within.
A wise man from Worcestershire will forever put it better than I would: “You know, Home Thoughts From Abroad is such a beautiful poem.”
Harvest Home
- Rod’s Song – Shelagh McDonald
- Down Narrow Streets – Mark Fry
- River Boat – Dando Shaft
- The Maids of Mitchelstown – The Bothy Band
- Portrait of a Village – John Renbourn
- Diamond Day – Vashti Bunyan
- If You’d Been There – Bridget St. John
- The Same Thing Happened – Tír na nÓg
- Hazey Jane I – Nick Drake
- Oh Bright Eyed One – C.O.B.
- Kittiwake – Bert Jansch
- Harvest Home – Ronnie Lane’s Slim Chance
- Nightingale – Clifford T. Ward
- Yellow Roses – Heron
- Antarctica Starts Here – John Cale
- Margaret – Kevin Ayers
- Widow With A Shawl (A Portrait) – Donovan
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