Introduction: Revenant Ballads and Ghost Stories This episode is an exploration of ghost songs or, more accurately, “revenant ballads.” Ghosts are not particularly common in English ballads, so we’ll look at what circumstances are needed to summon a revenant into a song and discover how these supernatural lyrics interact with ancient superstitions from multiple cultures. … Read More
Introduction: The Unfortunate Lad and Other Members of Roud 2 The Anglo-Irish ballad “The Unfortunate Lad,” the cowboy classic “Streets of Laredo,” and the blues song “St. James of Infirmary” are often considered different versions of the same song. But it’s possible that this categorization was influenced by careless and dubious scholarship. In addition to … Read More
Introduction: The Origin of the Blues According to many textbooks, the blues is a genre that was born in the rural Mississippi Delta, with roots in the “sorrow songs” of enslaved people. It’s easy, however, to poke holes in this origin story and instead start to see the blues as a joyful, rebellious musical expression … Read More
Introduction – The MTA Song and its Origins This episode primarily deals with “The MTA Song,” also known as “Charlie on the MTA.” It describes the story of a man who rides the Boston subway system forever because he can’t afford the exit fare. The song is one of the latest variants of a song … Read More