********************************************************
"THE OLD RUSTY MILL IS STILL, MAGGIE..."
********************************************************
Many of us old timers come from a long time ago when
people took their love songs with a dash of melody
thrown into the mix...in fact, all-melody was fine with us
and still is! We like beautiful tunes!
There are dozens and dozens, likely hundreds of
great ballads in our American music, dating all the way
back into the mists of the nineteenth century, many before
the Civil War. These beautiful tunes from that time seem
almost to capture the mood of the times and epitomize
those simple and innocent early years of the republic.
America's great gift to music, in mid-nineteenth century,
was Stephen Foster, with his incredibly haunting and
simple melodies. It is doubtful if anyone in world
history has contributed as many (over 150) melodic tunes
to the world...and with excellent, warm lyrics, as well.
Here is an example of one his finest:
If you have never heard or sung this Foster song, you are
the poorer: (yes, it is sad.)
"Thou wilt come no more, gentle Annie...
Like a flow'r thy spirit did depart;
Thou art gone, alas, like the many
Who have bloomed in the summer
Of my heart.
Shall we nevermore behold thee...
Never hear thy winning voice again;
When the springtime comes, gentle Annie,
And the wild flow'rs are scattered o'er the plain."
Perhaps we have set the mood here for our featured
song. Foster was not the only one contributing to
ballad-type love songs in those olden times.
In 1864, George Washington Johnson, a Canadian from Toronto,
was a school teacher who fell in love with a younger student,
"Maggie"---Margaret Clark. They took walks together
through the beautiful countryside and had picnics. They
became engaged in 1864. Not long after, she was diagnosed
with TB. She became very ill.
They went ahead and married. During her periods of being
confined to bed, George, in an effort to cope with the sad
development in their lives, began to walk into the countryside,
visiting places they had frequented together. "The old mill"
was one of their oft-visited spots.
George wrote a poem as he visited their favorite places.
Strangely, though they were both young, and hadn't aged as
yet, George wrote his famous lyrics as if he visualized their
having spent a long lifetime together, as though writing might
make it so. It is this poetic treatment that makes his song
so great.
Maggie's health deteriorated and she died on May 12, 1865.
George Washington Johnson lived until 1917. J.C. Butterfield set
Johnson's poem to music and it became popular world-wide---in
fact one of the most popular ballads of the mid-nineteenth century.
(Note the beautiful lines: "But to me you're as fair, as you were,
Maggie, when you and I were young.")
I wandered today to the hills, Maggie
To see the scene below
The creek and the creaking old mill, Maggie
As we used to long long ago.
The green grove has gone from the hills, Maggie
Where once the daisies sprung
The creaking old mill is still, Maggie
Since you and I were young.
O, they say that I'm feeble with age, Maggie
My steps are much slower than then
My face is a well written page, Maggie
And time all alone was the pen.
They say we have outlived our time, Maggie
As dated as songs that we've sung
But to me you're as fair as you were, Maggie
When you and I were young.
And now we are aged and grey, Maggie
The trials of life nearly done
Let us sing of the days that are gone, Maggie
When you and I were young.
Check out these videos on YouTube:
When You and I Were Young, Maggie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVEzmiSn_ZQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Gentle Annie:
http://www.maxilyrics.com/kate-%26-anna-mcgarrigle-gentle-annie-lyrics-d36f.html
Sent from my iPad
"THE OLD RUSTY MILL IS STILL, MAGGIE..."
********************************************************
Many of us old timers come from a long time ago when
people took their love songs with a dash of melody
thrown into the mix...in fact, all-melody was fine with us
and still is! We like beautiful tunes!
There are dozens and dozens, likely hundreds of
great ballads in our American music, dating all the way
back into the mists of the nineteenth century, many before
the Civil War. These beautiful tunes from that time seem
almost to capture the mood of the times and epitomize
those simple and innocent early years of the republic.
America's great gift to music, in mid-nineteenth century,
was Stephen Foster, with his incredibly haunting and
simple melodies. It is doubtful if anyone in world
history has contributed as many (over 150) melodic tunes
to the world...and with excellent, warm lyrics, as well.
Here is an example of one his finest:
If you have never heard or sung this Foster song, you are
the poorer: (yes, it is sad.)
"Thou wilt come no more, gentle Annie...
Like a flow'r thy spirit did depart;
Thou art gone, alas, like the many
Who have bloomed in the summer
Of my heart.
Shall we nevermore behold thee...
Never hear thy winning voice again;
When the springtime comes, gentle Annie,
And the wild flow'rs are scattered o'er the plain."
Perhaps we have set the mood here for our featured
song. Foster was not the only one contributing to
ballad-type love songs in those olden times.
In 1864, George Washington Johnson, a Canadian from Toronto,
was a school teacher who fell in love with a younger student,
"Maggie"---Margaret Clark. They took walks together
through the beautiful countryside and had picnics. They
became engaged in 1864. Not long after, she was diagnosed
with TB. She became very ill.
They went ahead and married. During her periods of being
confined to bed, George, in an effort to cope with the sad
development in their lives, began to walk into the countryside,
visiting places they had frequented together. "The old mill"
was one of their oft-visited spots.
George wrote a poem as he visited their favorite places.
Strangely, though they were both young, and hadn't aged as
yet, George wrote his famous lyrics as if he visualized their
having spent a long lifetime together, as though writing might
make it so. It is this poetic treatment that makes his song
so great.
Maggie's health deteriorated and she died on May 12, 1865.
George Washington Johnson lived until 1917. J.C. Butterfield set
Johnson's poem to music and it became popular world-wide---in
fact one of the most popular ballads of the mid-nineteenth century.
(Note the beautiful lines: "But to me you're as fair, as you were,
Maggie, when you and I were young.")
I wandered today to the hills, Maggie
To see the scene below
The creek and the creaking old mill, Maggie
As we used to long long ago.
The green grove has gone from the hills, Maggie
Where once the daisies sprung
The creaking old mill is still, Maggie
Since you and I were young.
O, they say that I'm feeble with age, Maggie
My steps are much slower than then
My face is a well written page, Maggie
And time all alone was the pen.
They say we have outlived our time, Maggie
As dated as songs that we've sung
But to me you're as fair as you were, Maggie
When you and I were young.
And now we are aged and grey, Maggie
The trials of life nearly done
Let us sing of the days that are gone, Maggie
When you and I were young.
Check out these videos on YouTube:
When You and I Were Young, Maggie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVEzmiSn_ZQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Gentle Annie:
http://www.maxilyrics.com/kate-%26-anna-mcgarrigle-gentle-annie-lyrics-d36f.html
Sent from my iPad
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