The Bird Song
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Transcription: by Darryl D. Bush
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Lyrics:
Says the robin as he flew,
“When I was a young man I chose two.
If one didn't love me the other one would,
Don't you think my notion good?”
“Hoot!” says the owl with his head so white,
“It's a lonesome day and a lonesome night.
I thought I heard some pretty girl say,
She'd court all night and sleep all day.”
“No, no,” says the turtle dove,
“That's no way for to gain his love.
If you want to gain his heart's delight,
You must keep him awake both day and night."
"The Bird Song", also known as "The Hawk and the Crow", "The Woodpecker Song", "The<br> Blackbird and the Crow", "The Bird's Courting Song" and several other similar titles is an<br> English song known in England, Ireland and America. It is similar to "Leatherwing Bat".<br> It is often sung to the same tune. The tune given here was collected by Cecil Sharp from<br> Mrs. Jane Gentry at Hot Springs, North Carolina on September 12th, 1916. There is often a<br> chorus as in "Leatherwing Bat" but Mrs. Gentry did not sing one.<br> Liam O'Connor of Pomeroy, Co. Tyrone, sang "The Hawk and the Crow" to Peter Kennedy in 1953.<br> Kennedy noted:<br> "This was a rare find. Previously I'd only come across this "Birdie Song" in Cecil Sharp's<br> collection from the Southern Appalachians, made during the First World War, from North<br> Carolina and Virginia, so we were delighted to encounter this version in its probable<br> place of origin".<br> It was recorded by Sean Doyle on The Light and the Half-Light (2004) (as "The Hawk and<br> the Crow"),<br> Said the Maiden on Here's a Health (2017) (as "The Birds' Courting Song") and numerous<br> other singers.<br> It was printed in<br> Kennedy's Folk Songs of Britain and Ireland (1984),<br> McNeil's Southern Mountain Folksongs (1993),<br> Burton & Manning's Folksongs, Vol 1 (1970),<br> Sharp's Nursery Songs from the Southern Appalachians 1 (1921) ,<br> Sharp's Eighty English Folk Songs Southern Appalachians (1968),<br> Sharp's English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians (1917),<br> Morris' Folksongs of Florida (1950),<br> Randolph's Ozark Folk Songs, Vol 2 (1949) and many other publications.<br> It is #747 in the Roud Folk Song Index.<br> <br>
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