Midsummer Girl
© Steve Vanik
On a Midsummer’s Day
We met in the village square
The sunlight gleaming
On her long braided hair
Oh how I love my Midsummer Girl
Oh how I love my Midsummer Girl
Our eyes met as if in a dream
The most beautiful lady
That I’d ever seen
Oh how I love my Midsummer Girl
Oh how I love my Midsummer Girl
Chorus:
Midsummer Girl, stay with me
Your knight in shining armour I will always be
Love me forever, love me true
Midsummer Girl how I love you
On that Midsummer’s Day,
She entered my life
By summers end,
She was my wife
Oh how I love my Midsummer Girl
Oh how I love my Midsummer Girl
Repeat Chorus
Life can be harsh
Its’s sad but it’s true
It’s the love in our life
That helps us get through
Oh how I love my Midsummer Girl
Oh how I love my Midsummer Girl
Repeat Chorus
Teach Me Nature
© Steve Vanik
Teach me Nature,
Help me to grow
Show me the things
I need to know
As above, so below
Teach me Nature,
Help me to grow
Teach me Nature,
That which I need
To bloom a rose
From just a mere seed
Make me receptive
Help me take heed
Teach me Nature
That which I need
Chorus:
Teach me Nature
All that I need to know
Teach me Nature
That which I need to grow
Teach me Nature
Your wisdom of old
The earth and her rhythms
Your warmth and your cold
Within your sweet bosom
What secrets you hold
Teach me Nature
Your wisdom of old
Repeat Chorus
Teach me Nature
Help me to see
The cycles of life
All connected to me
We reap what we sow
We take what we need
Teach me Nature
Help me to see
It’s May!
© Steve Vanik
It’s May, it’s May!
What a wonderful May Day
The sun is out, everyone’s about
How wonderful it’s May!
It’s May, it’s May!
There’s nothing more to say
Life is sprouting everywhere
It’s a wonderful May Day!
Chorus:
The birds all are all a-singing
The church bells they are ringing
The maypole topped with a flowery wreath
And all the food that you can eat
It’s May, it’s May!
It’s time to laugh and play
Feast and drink and make love too
How wonderful it’s May!
Repeat Chorus
It’s May, it’s May!
It’s time to dance and play
Feast and drink and make love too
How wonderful it’s May!
How wonderful it’s May!
It’s a wonderful May Day!
Put Your Money Down
© Steve Vanik
She was smart and sassy
I thought true love I had found
Asked her if she’d be my girl
She said put your money down
Chorus:
Put your money down
Put your money down
It makes the world go round and round
So put your money down
Tried to save my soul today
Went to a church downtown
Asked the preacher what I should do
He said put your money down
Repeat Chorus
Instrumental Break
Went to a gypsy woman
Who turned my smile into a frown
She gazed into her crystal ball
And said put your money down
Repeat Chorus 2 x
The Raggle Taggle Gypsy
There were three young gypsies come to our hall door,
They came brave and boldly-o.
Well there’s one sang high and the other sang low,
And the lady sang the Raggle Taggle Gypsy-o.
It was upstairs, downstairs the lady went.
Put on her suit of leather-o.
And there was a cry all around our door
She’s away with the Raggle Taggle Gypsy-o.
It was late that night when the Lord came in,
Enquiring for his Lady-o.
And the servant girl she said to the Lord,
She’s away with the Raggle Taggle Gypsy-o.
Then saddle for me my milk-white steed,
My bay one’s not so speedy-o.
Tonight I’ll ride, to seek my bride,
She’s away with the Raggle Taggle Gypsy-o.
Well he rode east, and he rode west,
He rode north and south also,
Until he came to a wide open plane,
That’s where he spied his Lady-o.
How could you leave your house and your land?
How could you leave your money-o?
How could you leave your newly-wedded Lord,
All for the Raggle Taggle Gypsy-o?
Well what care I for my house and my land?
What do I care for money-o?
I’d rather have a kiss from a yellow gypsy’s lips,
I’m away with the Raggle Taggle Gypsy-o.
How could you leave your goose-feather bed?
The sheets pulled down so comely-o?
How could you leave your newly-wedded Lord,
All for the Raggle Taggle Gypsy-o?
Well what care I for my goose-feather bed?
The sheets pulled down so comely-o?
Tonight I’ll lie in a wide open field,
In the arms of my Raggle Taggle Gypsy-o.
The Smuggler’s Song
Chorus:
Five and twenty ponies, trotting through the dark,
Brandy for the parson, and bacchy for the clerk,
Laces for the ladies, and letters for the spie,
Now watch the wall my darling, while the gentlemen go by.
If you wake at midnight to the sound of horses’ feet,
Don’t go drawin’ back the blinds nor lookin’ in the street.
Them that asks no questions, isn’t told a lie.
Now watch the wall my darling while the gentlemen go by.
Runnin’ through the woodlands you might chance to find
Little barrels roped and tied all full of brandywine,
Well don’t you shout to come and look nor use ’em for your play,
Just push the brushwood back again and they’ll be gone next day.
If you see a stable door settin’ open wide,
And if you see a tired horse a lying down inside,
And if your mother mends a coat that’s cut about and torn,
And if the linin’s wet and warm, well don’t you ask no more.
Chorus:
Five and twenty ponies, trotting through the dark,
Brandy for the parson, and bacchy for the clerk,
Laces for the ladies, and letters for the spie,
Now watch the wall my darling, while the gentlemen go by.
Knocks and footsteps ’round the house, whistles after dark,
You’ve no call for runnin’ out until the house dogs bark,
For Trusty’s here, and Finch is here, and see how dumb they lie,
They don’t fret to follow, when the gentlemen go by.
If you see the king’s men, dressed in blue and red,
Well you be careful what you say, and mindful what is said,
And if they call you pretty maid and chuck you ‘neath your chin,
Well don’t you tell where no one is, nor yet where no one’s been.
Repeat Chorus
If you do as you’ve been told, likely there’s a chance
That you’ll be give a dainty doll that’s all the way from France,
With a cap of Alyintsin’s and a velvet hood,
A present from the gentlemen along with being good.
Repeat Chorus
Fare Thee Well (Dink’s Song)
If I had wings like Noah’s dove
I’d fly the river to the one I love;
Fare thee well, my honey, fare thee well.
I’ve got a woman, an’ she’s long and tall,
Moves her body like a cannon ball –
Fare thee well, my honey, fare thee well.
One o’ dese days, an’ it won’t be long,
Call my name an’ I’ll be gone.
Fare thee well, O honey, fare thee well.
I remember one evening, it was drizzling rain,
And in my heart, I felt an aching pain –
Fare thee well, my honey, fare thee well.
Muddy river runs muddy and wild,
You can’t care the bloody for my unborn child –
Fare thee well, my honey, fare thee well.
Just as sure as the birds fly high above,
Life ain’t worth living without the one you love –
Fare thee well, my honey, fare thee well.
Fare thee well my honey, fare thee well.