O the Wind and Rain / the Singing Bones
Radix Women's Vocal Ensemble: Mad Love
Historic Alberta House - Portland, OR
June 10, 2023
Radix Vocal Ensemble: Helen Allen, Naama Friedman, Emily Gimba, Keely Wright Gvakharia, Christine Johnson, Iris Mairead, Mhari Scott, Mila Trank-Greene & Devon Webster
Amy Stuart Hunn, director
The earliest roots of the Appalachian folk song The Wind and the Rain stretch back to a many centuries-old tune entitled “The Twa Sisters.” The first known published version was in a broadside song sheet printed in 1656. It has since been performed in various forms by countless singers and bands, including folk icon Peggy Seeger - whose version inspired this arrangement for Radix. The addition of a shruti box is most definitely not traditional (it originates from the Indian subcontinent), but evokes the drone of a fiddle or autoharp of American folk practice.
O the Wind and Rain / The Singing Bones
Music: Appalachian folk song; arr. A. S. Hunn
Lyrics: traditional
Early one mornin’ in the month of May,
O, the wind and rain,
Two sisters went a’fishin’ on a hot summer’s day,
Cryin’ the dreadful wind and rain.
Two sweet sisters, side by side,
O, the wind and rain,
Both of them want to be Johnny’s bride,
Cryin’ the dreadful wind and rain.
Johnny gave the young one a gold ring,
O, the wind and rain,
Didn’t give the older one anything,
Cryin’ the dreadful wind and rain.
The sisters went a-walkin’ by the water’s brim,
O, the wind and rain,
The older one shoved the younger one in,
Cryin’ the dreadful wind and rain.
Shoved her in the water to drown,
O, the wind and rain,
And watched her as she floated down,
Cryin’ the dreadful wind and rain.
She floated on down to the miller’s dam,
O, the wind and rain,
Father, father, there swims a swan,
Cryin’ the dreadful wind and rain.
The miller ran for his driftin’ hook,
O, the wind and rain,
And pulled that poor girl from the brook,
Cryin’ the dreadful wind and rain.
He laid her on the bank to dry,
O, the wind and rain,
A fiddler man came walkin’ by,
Cryin’ the dreadful wind and rain.
He saw that poor girl a-lyin’ there,
O, the wind and rain,
He took thirty strands of her long, yellow hair,
Cryin’ the dreadful wind and rain.
He made a fiddle bow of her long, yellow hair,
O, the wind and rain,
He made fiddle pegs of her little finger bones,
Cryin’ the dreadful wind and rain.
He made a fiddle of her little breast-bone,
O, the wind and rain,
With a sound that could melt a heart of stone,
Cryin’ the dreadful wind and rain.
The only tune that fiddle could play,
O, the wind and rain,
The only tune that fiddle would play,
Cryin’ the dreadful wind and rain, was:
Yonder’s my sister, sittin’ on a rock,
O, the wind and rain,
Tyin’ my Johnny a true love’s knot,
Cryin’ the dreadful wind and rain.