Caros audiophiles, this week I am highlighting one of the great voices of English folk music. Sandy Denny began performing solo in small folk clubs in the late 1960s before joining the soon-to-be-legendary folk group Fairport Convention. Reflecting later on Sandy's audition for them, the group noted: "It was a one-horse race...she stood out like a clean glass in a sink of dirty dishes."
In the space of only two years there followed three still classic albums which deeply influenced and evolved traditional English folk music towards electric folk rock, thanks to the combination of the group's multi-talented rock musicianship and her folk roots.
With their innovative reputations cemented, Sandy Denny decided to pursue a solo career again and develop her songwriting during the 1970s. During this period, she was invited to become the only guest singer ever to record with Led Zeppelin. Sadly, like so many, she also pursued drink and drugs, and in 1978 she fell down some stairs and suffered a fatal brain haemorrhage, aged only 31 years.
However, her artistic status was already secured, most notably by one of her very earliest compositions, which recently has been voted the greatest English folk song ever.
This song exemplifies her constant songwriting preoccupations with love and loss, the passage of time and the changing seasons, and highlights her timeless evocative voice, matched perfectly by Fairport Convention's understated instrumental accompaniment and, in particular, the legendary Richard Thompson's sympathetic guitar.
Who knows where the time goes?
Across the evening sky, all the birds are leaving
But how can they know it's time for them to go?
Before the winter fire, I will still be dreaming
I have no thought of time
For who knows where the time goes?
Who knows where the time goes?
Sad, deserted shore, your fickle friends are leaving
Ah, but then you know it's time for them to go
But I will still be here, I have no thought of leaving
I do not count the time
For who knows where the time goes?
Who knows where the time goes?
And I am not alone while my love is near me
I know it will be so until it's time to go
So come the storms of winter and then the birds in spring again
I have no fear of time
For who knows how my love grows?
And who knows where the time goes?
But how can they know it's time for them to go?
Before the winter fire, I will still be dreaming
I have no thought of time
For who knows where the time goes?
Who knows where the time goes?
Sad, deserted shore, your fickle friends are leaving
Ah, but then you know it's time for them to go
But I will still be here, I have no thought of leaving
I do not count the time
For who knows where the time goes?
Who knows where the time goes?
And I am not alone while my love is near me
I know it will be so until it's time to go
So come the storms of winter and then the birds in spring again
I have no fear of time
For who knows how my love grows?
And who knows where the time goes?
A proxima.
PO
Voz sublime, doce e suave.
ResponderEliminarAlgumas das coisas que me fascinam nesta época, apesar dos excessos de droga e álcool,são a ingenuidade e a simplicidade com que estes músicos se expunham ao seu público.
Belíssima escolha.
Thank you, Ana. I agree. And in the genre particularly of pop music (which this is not really) I have always been fascinated how a song can express so much in just 3 minutes or less. It is an art that has more or less been lost today. PO
ResponderEliminarLots to do, P, impossible to listen to the song at the moment. However, the lyrics are exceptional. Rather melancolic, but beautiful. Maybe I am thinking more about the passing of time nowadays .... bjs. pcp
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