Good morning,

We have another musical Friday this morning, brought to you by the feminist delights of folk songs. I am sure you are looking askance at that sentence, but have a listen to these and let me know what you think.

Before you get your headphones on, though, here’s an interview with Maddy Prior, intermittently of Steeleye Span. My parents were massively into Steeleye Span, so Prior is the reason I love folk music. Here she is talking about what she, in turn, loves about folk music:

"The thing about that material," Prior says, "is what they used to say about The News of the World: all human life is here. It really is with traditional material: you can study it, you can read about it, it brings you into history; it was only getting into the music that got me into history. And traditional music has such scope in it; it has the humour, there’s great ribald stuff and there’s the archetypal material if you want to get into interpreting that, which I love."

http://ericawagner.co.uk/you-have-to-be-maddy-to-sing-this/

Now let’s listen to Marrow Bones by Steeleye Span. This song has one of the best punchlines I know. Please listen right to the end, it will not disappoint.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMNEjs5fkTY

Sovay, here performed by Pentangle, truly is a song with everything – cross-dressing, death threats, and true love. Enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBXdyM1Unr0

OKAY OKAY this one isn’t strictly speaking feminist but it is hilarious, and it’s about a woman. It’s Queen Eleanor’s Confession by Tim Hart and Maddy Prior. If you know me in real life, and have ever walked home from a pub with me, you have absolutely heard me bellow the refrain and funny bits of this song on the walk back. Now you can hear it as it is meant to be, i.e., featuring the otherworldly beauty of Maddy Prior’s voice:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoKLn3aEOyE

Happy happy Friday,

Alex.