"Listen While [the Irish Rovers] Tell You Tales to Warm Your Mind"

I recall sitting as a two-year-old and listening to “the pig song” by a group of young Irish guys – Will, George, and Joe Millar, Wilcil McDowell, and Jimmy Ferguson - while gazing at the whimsical cover of the record that featured the surprisingly morbid ditty. It was one of my favorite albums. At some point, it disappeared. Years later, I discovered a tape we had made of the record, and I listened to it constantly. Then, mysteriously, it too disappeared. I went to a couple Irish Rovers concerts and bought several of their albums, but I never was able to locate the coveted album Tales to Warm Your Mind. Then I received a package from my Uncle Dave in the mail for my birthday (I believe it was my 16th). Turns out he not only had Tales to Warm Your Mind, but several other early Rovers albums as well. He put them all on a tape for me, and I once again have my first and favorite Irish Rovers album. This time, I will not lose it. I don’t know why this album is so rare. I’ve never seen it in stores, and it’s not in the Epinions database. It was their eighth record, and while some songs appear on other albums, this one itself is unfortunately very hard to find, though with a little searching it is possible to find used copies through the Internet. Of all their albums, it will always be my favorite.

Stop, Look, Listen - The song from which the title is taken, and a great way to begin the album. This one has a definite lullabye feel to it, as do many on the album. The Rovers’ tones are hushed throughout as they sing of the wondrous world of fantasy and imagination. Very nice guitar backing and harmony, and the abrupt ending is unique and enough to jolt the listener out of semi-sleep (I often listen to this album before bed, and I’m usually conked out before the end). “An orangutan who can sing, pirate ships and gypsy kings, now a horse who’s learned to fly, don’t know how, don’t know why. Listen while I tell you tales to warm your mind. Stop, look, listen, see what you can find.”

The Stolen Child - A strange and mournful song with a violin adding to the tragic feel. It features Joe on lead vocals, with the others providing full, rich vocals for the chorus. The speaker is a man whose baby was stolen, apparently by faeries, while she was left unattended in a field. I find the lyrics a little hard to understand at times; balladeer Joe’s enunciation is a little off on this one. And it’s hard for me to imagine someone leaving his baby lying in a field by herself. But it’s a nice song, and very haunting. The chorus, as far as I can tell, is just nonsense words up until the final declaration: “Ho-van, ho-van gorry o go, gorry o go, gorry o go; ho-van, ho-van gorry o go, I never found my baby o.”

Penny-Whistle Peddler - A whimsical-sounding song heavy on the penny-whistle and the harpsichord . The predominantly light-hearted ballad tells the tale of a mystical rover who spreads love throughout the land. The narrator urges listeners to keep an eye out for him, and to make an effort to be nice to one another so that he will be encouraged to come back. In a way, this song is rather like the Dr. Seuss classic The Lorax, as the protector of an idyllic land vanishes after his land is corrupted, and the only hope of his return is the restoration of the land. Also could probably be read in a religious sense, with the peddler as a Christ-like figure. At any rate, it’s a great song, fun to listen to and inspiring random acts of kindness. “I hope you meet the peddler with a feather in his hat, the penny-whistle man with the orange-colored cat. Bells on his coat and a rangle-tangle kind of grin. He’ll teach you how to love if you believe in him.”

The Village of Brambleshire Wood - I’m not sure of the origin of all these songs, but I know Will and George wrote this one. It begins with a slow TAPS being played, but the guitar comes in at the end of the intro to set an upbeat tone for the song. The song fades out with the whistling of a fight song which I always think of as the Comet song, due to the unfortunate elementary school parody of the same melody (“Comet will make your teeth turn green, Comet, it tastes like gasoline…”). It is actually The Colonel Bogie March, written for the New Zealand corps in World War I and featured in the film Bridge on the River Kwai. At any rate, these songs are incorporated to add to the song’s appearance as an overzealous pro-war song. At first glance, that is just what it appears to be. But I’m pretty certain that this song is meant to be ironic and is, in fact, a strong anti-war statement. The guitar and harmonica are the prominent instruments here, as well as a tambourine that adds to the song’s feel as a war march. The song is centered around a war memorial dedicated to the fallen men of the village. Near the memorial are an assembly of grizzled old men and bright-eyed lads, and the old men impress upon the children that there is no greater honor than having your name listed in gold on that memorial. Not much to look forward to, if you ask me. “We won,” cried the aged old sergeants and corporals. “Look at the long list of names of the dead! The names of your fathers who won all the victories gave honor to the village of Brambleshire Wood. And just think how proud we would be if only one day we were able to see your name in gold letters impressively listed on the pillar of marble in Brambleshire Wood.”

Oh You Mucky Kid - A quiet song in the voice of the mother of a carefree little kid and wife of a drunken, abusive father. Affectionate, but also showing the darker side of domestic life, it’s a traditional tune with words written by a man named Stan Kelly. Accompanied primarily by the guitar and accentuated by violins, the boys take the chorus together and let Will (my favorite – I was very sad when he left :( ) go solo on the verses. His gentle rendition, punctuated by affectionate giggles, perfectly captures this mother’s voice. “Oh you are a mucky kid, dirty as the dustbin lid. When he hears the things that you did, you’ll get a belt from your dad.”

Lily the Pink - Definitely the most raucous song on the album, this one’s not written by the Rovers either. It’s a silly drinking song about the woman who invented “medicinal compounds” and, incidentally, is the song that introduced the word “efficacious” into my vocabulary (not that I use it much). Driven by a constant drumbeat, it also features a variety of instruments appropriate to the verse (regal horns for the would-be Julius Caesar, operatic warbling for the opera singer, bells for the final verse). The boys alternate verses on this one, introducing the song, providing several zany examples of people who took Lily’s medicinal compounds, and concluding the song on a somber yet comical note with Lily’s death. The choruses grow richer as the song continues, adding more instruments and harmonies. A very entertaining song. “Lily died and went up to Heaven, oh the church bells they did ri-i-ing. She took with her medicinal compounds… hark the herald angels sing! We drink-a drink-a drink to Lily the Pink, the Pink, the Pink, the savior of the human ra-a-ace, she invented medicinal compounds, most efficacious in every case.”

Mrs. Crandall’s Boardinghouse - A mostly affectionate ode to the speaker’s not-so-nice landlady featuring clever lyrics and backed by the bass and harpsichord. Again, the Rovers alternate verses and take the chorus together. You hafta feel for this poor shmuck stuck in a boardinghouse run by this wacky landlady. A fun song. “In the boardinghouse I lived in, everything was growing old. Silver threads among the butter, and the cheese was green with mo-o-old. When the dog died we had sausages, when the cat died catnip tea. When the landlord died, I left there; spare ribs were too much for me.”

Coulter’s Candy - Another lullabye, this one a traditional Scottish song. Another recording of this song features a rhymed tale related by Will, reflecting on how nice it would be to be a little boy again. I don’t actually have this version, as my uncle didn’t include it because the song showed up on another album. As best I remember, though, this version is free of the spoken part and fit into the album after Mrs. Crandall’s Boardinghouse. This was my second-favorite song on the album when I was little, the first being Pigs Can’t Fly, the final song on the album. Told in the father’s voice, it speaks of his young son’s addiction to Coulter’s candy, which costs a penny a bag. She gently chides him for eating too many of the sweets but ends up sending him off to buy some more. “Ah me boy, you’re getting’ awful thin, a wee pile of bones covered over with skin. Soon you’ll be getting’ a wee double chin from suckin’ on Coulter’s candy.”

Little Boy Blue - One of my favorite lullabyes, the text is a Eugene Field poem, with a tune composed by a fellow named Ethelbert Levin three years later in 1891. I was dismayed to find this poem in a literary anthology as an example of a bad poem; too schmaltzy for the editor, I guess. I think it’s a sad and lovely song, and very well done by the Rovers. Featuring guitar, strings, and a metronome towards the beginning and end. Will gets this one to himself as well, with the rest on the chorus. He seems especially adept at these affectionate lullabyes. The song tells the tale of a young lad who instructs his toys to behave themselves while he is sleeping and not stir until he instructs them. The boy dies in the middle of the night, but his toys are forever obedient, gathering dust as they wait for the child who will never return. The song begins and ends with what I believe is Brahams’ Lullaby. A lovely song. “While he was sleeping, an angel song awakened our little boy blue. Oh, the years are many, the years are long, but our little toy friends are true. ‘Don’t you go till I come,’ he said, ‘and don’t you make any noise.’ So toddling off to his trundle bed, he dreamt of the pretty toys.”

The metronome continues after Brahms’ Lullaby concludes, and Joe recites a short poem that doesn’t seem to have anything to do with anything. It’s a fun little poem, though I don’t even know the name of it. Another of Field’s perhaps? These are the words, as closely as I can make them out: “The Quizzy Quoddy (I have no idea how close that is to being right…) went for a stroll down by the rollicking sea. He sang a short song 59 verses long and he said from his perch in a tree, I’ll start drinking now without taking a bow, not even take time for my tea. And I’ll drink the sea dry, or at least I will try, or I’ll die. Aye. [giggles]” Rather random, but kinda fun.

The Minstrel of Cranberry Lane - A cheery tambourine and what sounds to me like a mandolin are the prominent instruments in this tune that’s a different take on the story of the Pied Piper of Hamlin by Mike and Judy Calahan. The Rovers take turns going solo and together in this tune about a dream-spreading man similar to the one featured in Penny-Whistle Peddler who is loved by the children but feared and misunderstood by the adults. The shabby wanderer with a heart of gold then disappears, but the townsfolk pay the price for their unkindness; their children disappear along with him. “Now sadder but wiser I fear are the folks who’ve lost children so dear. For each child must be free to follow, like me, the Minstrel of Cranberry Lane.”

Pigs Can’t Fly - This was always my favorite song when I was little. It’s a goofy little Will Millar tune about a man who has an enterprising pet pig who is not content to remain the narrator’s pet. Joe takes most of the verses, though one verse is sung entirely in a weird falsetto voice by an unknown Rover; I think it might be Jimmy. The verses are almost a cappella with a strum of a guitar here and there. The choruses feature the group and lively guitar and penny-whistle instrumentals. It’s a weird little ditty, off-the-wall and slightly morbid. But I gotta love it. “Pigs can’t swim and pigs can’t fly, but pigs can see the wind go by. Pigs make lovely household friends when winter comes and summer ends.”

For the most part, this strikes me as a children’s album. Most of the songs are lullabies or whimsical tunes that children would find enjoyable. It’s a shame that it is not widely available. It was the first Rovers album I ever heard, and my favorite. If you can get ahold of it, you won’t be sorry. You’ll want to listen to these endearing Irish musicians again and again.