Last few song tweaks

I’ve made some edits to the original version of the Widcombe song, having identified a few things that I thought were wrong with the first draft.

• The melody didn’t rise enough in the chorus – so I’ve taken it up a diatonic third and got rid of the scalic 3-note rise.
• I didn’t like the ‘give a damn’ lyric in verse 3 – replaced with something less abrupt.
• The sibilant consonants in ‘canalside safe’ were a bit ugly when sung at speed – now fixed.
• The melodic shape of the end of the chorus was too repetitive – pitches now moved around a bit.
• The song needs to be applicable to the Widcombe Mummers (who now get a mention in the chorus). This has worked out OK, because I wasn’t happy with the original chorus lyric anyway “all join together” – too clichéd.

Here’s the final version. Probably.

Download pdf version

Here it is as text only…

English Morris feel, 2/4 bounce; crotchet=92

Chorus
D
So let’s all join the Mummers
G                     C
Listen can’t you hear?
G                           C
It’s the sound of Widcombe Rising
G        D7     Em        C
and we sing it every year, oh yes
G/D           D7    G
we sing it every year

G                          D
As I walked down this fair Parade
G                 D
One sunny day in June
G                D
I met a man along the way
G                    D
Who said good afternoon
C                      G             C                     G
I asked him for directions to get to Pulteney Weir
C                G                  D                          G
He said if I was going there I wouldn’t start from here

I asked him if he had a job
He cheerfully replied
“I sit by the canal all day
(Just) watching for the tide
And since I started working, I think I’ve done some good
From Allie Park to Beechen Cliff there’s never been a flood!”

So let’s all join the Mummers…

He said he lived in Abbey View
Had been there all his life
And now that he was ninety-two
He wanted for a wife
He said “I’ll love her truly, and give her all I can
As long as she lives less than fifty paces from The Ram!”

So let’s all join the Mummers…