Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms is the Folk Song Of The Week. I always love playing this song and it’s a great one to add harmonica, mandolin and fiddle to. Have fun with it and remember: don’t be afraid to sing!

Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms MP3

Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms(PDF)

Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms

I [G]ain’t gonna work on the railroad
I ain’t gonna work on the [D]farm
Gonna [G]lay ’round this shack till the [C]mail train comes back
And [G]roll in my [D7]sweet baby’s [G]arms

Chorus:
Roll in my sweet baby’s arms
Roll in my sweet baby’s arms
Gonna lay ’round this shack till the mail train comes back
And roll in my sweet baby’s arms

Where were you last Saturday night
While I was lying in jail
You were out walking the street with another man
Wouldn’t even go my jail

Mama was a beauty operator
Sister could weave and spin
Daddy’s got an interest in an old cotton mill
Watch that money roll in

I know your parents don’t like me
They run me away from your door
If I had my life to live over again
I wouldn’t go back there no more

This is a great song that I loved ever since listening to The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem. I always liked to play it in the key of D, but I thought that I would be nice to everyone and play it in the key of G. You can find the tab for this song in the Keys of C, D and G in Irish Pub Songs For The 5-String Banjo, Volume 1 in print form or as a pdf download.

Maid Of Fife MP3

Maid Of Fife(PDF)

MAID OF FIFE

There [G]once was a troop of Irish Dragoons, Come marching down through [D7]Fife-e-o

And the [G]captain fell in love with a [C]very bonny lass

And her [G]name it was called pretty [C]Pe[D7]ggy-[G]o

There’s many a bonny lass in the town of Augherlass
There’s many a bonny lassie in the Jeery-o
There’s many a bonny Jean in the streets of Aberdeen
But the flower of them all is in Fife-e-o

“Oh, come down the stairs pretty Peggy my dear,
Oh, come down the stairs pretty Peggy-o
Oh, come down the stairs, comb back your yellow hair
Bid a long farewell to your mammy-o”

The colonel he cried “mount, mount boys mount”, The captain he cried “tarry-o
Oh tarry for a while, for another day or twa’, ‘till I see if this bonny lass will marry-o”

“I never did intend a soldier’s lady for to be, I never will marry a soldier-o
I never did intend to gang to a foreign land, and I never will marry a soldier-o”

Long ‘ere we came to the town of Augerlass, We had our captain to carry-o
And long ‘ere we reached the streets of Aberdeen, We had our captain to bury-o

Green grow the birks on bonny Eithan side, and low lie the lowlands of Fife-e-o
Oh, the captain’s name was Ned and he died for a maid
He died for the chambermaid of Fife-e-o

The Folk Song Of The Week this week is Sittin’ On Top Of The World. It’s a lot of fun to play on frailing banjo so don’t be afraid, jump right in and start playing!

Sittin’ On Top Of The World MP3

Sittin On Top Of The World (PDF)

Sittin’ On Top Of The World

It was [G]in the spring one sunny day

My [C]good gal left me Lord she went [G]away

And now she’s gone but I don’t [Em]worry

‘Cause I’m [C]sitting on [D7]top of the [G]world

She called me up from down in El paso

Said come back, daddy, Lord I need you so

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust

Show me a woman a man can trust

Mississippi River, long, deep and wide

The woman I’m loving is on the other side

You don’t like my peaches, don’t you shake my tree

Get out of my orchard, let my peaches be

Don’t you come here running, holding out your hand

I’ll get me a woman like you got your man

I survived a very, very fun and festive St. Patrick’s Day season and actually was able to record a lesson!

The Winds Are Singing Freedom is a fun song on frailing banjo. This was a favorite this weekend so I decided to revisit it from a couple of years ago. Have fun with it!

THE WINDS ARE SINGING FREEDOM

THE WINDS ARE SINGING FREEDOM(PDF)

THE WINDS ARE SINGING FREEDOM

In the [G]battered [D7]streets of [G]Belfast can’t you hear the [D7]people [G]cry?

For [C]justice [D7]long [G]denied [Em]them and their [C]crying [Am]fills the [D7]sky

But the [G]winds of [D7]change are [G]singing bringing hope from [D7]dark des[G]pair

There’s a [C]day of [D7]justice [G]com[Em]ing you can [C]feel it [D7]in the [G]air

And the winds are singing freedom they sing it everywhere
They sing it on the mountainside and in the city square
They sing of a new day dawning when our people will be free
Come and join their song of freedom let it ring from sea to sea

Too long our people suffered in their misery and their tears
And foreign rulers used our land for about eight hundred years
It’s a long road has no turning and I know that soon we’ll see
That day of justice dawning when our people will be free

There’s a time laid out for laughing there’s a time laid out to weep
There’s a time laid out for sowing and a time laid out to reap
There’s a time to love your brother there’s a time for hate to cease
You must sow the seeds of justice to reap the fruits of peace

I am finally back! I can’t really walk, but at least I could sit in the barstool and play this song!

Peace and Justice is a great, great song and I hope you like it as much as I do. Just remember that all you need to know how to do is change a couple of chords, the basic frailing strum and some single note strikes.

Peace and Justice

Peace and Justice(PDF)

PEACE AND JUSTICE

Raise the [G]cry for peace and justice, let the [D7]people sound the [G]call
Justice [C]for our battered [G]country. Peace for [D7]one and peace for [G]all

Chorus:

Peace and [G]justice are our watchwords. Peace and [D7]justice is our [G]call
Peace and [C]justice for our [G]people. Peace for [D7]one and peace for [G]all

Tell the RUC and the English soldiers, the UVF and the IRA
Guns can’t silence all the people calling out for peace to light another brand new day

In Armagh, Belfast and Derry, people walking hand in hand
Cry with love and heartfelt yearning, “Help us heal our broken land”

Man’s injustice to his neighbour, for too long has been our fate
Practice love and understanding, all we need to hate is hate

Though the road be rough and rocky and the problems mountain high
Hold your hand out to your neighbour
And we’ll all find peace and justice by and by

We must all sit down together share our hopes, our joys, our fears
Understanding and forgiveness will dry up our country’s tears

Every day that peace continues, hope will help to ease the pain
Sisters, brothers understanding will make our land a nation once again

The Folk Song Of The Week is Old Plank Road. It’s a fun, fun song and even though there are only a few verses, if you do it right, you can make it last for 15 minutes with a couple of friends!

It’s a blast on frailing / clawhammer banjo and if nothing else, it will make your foot tap!

Old Plank Road MP3

Old Plank Road(PDF)

Old Plank Road

[G]Rather be in Richmond, [C]midst all the hail and [G]rain, Than for to be in Georgia boys, [C]wearing that ball and [G]chain

Chorus:

Won’t get drunk no more, won’t get drunk no [D7]more, [G]Won’t get
drunk no more, way [D7]down on the old plank [G]road

I went down to Mobile for to get on the gravel train, Very next thing heard of me, had on a ball and chain

Dony, oh dear Dony, what makes you treat me so? Caused me to wear the bail and chain, now my ankle’s sore

Knoxville is a pretty place, Memphis is a beauty If you want to see them some pretty girls, hop to Chattanoogie

I’m going to build a scaffold on some mountain high So I can see my Dora girl as she goes riding by

My wife died on Friday night, Saturday was buried Sunday was my courting day, Monday I was married

I love this song and I sang it low for my wife Sandy. She loves when I sing the lower octave. I usually don’t do it for the videos and I had fun with it. The Irish Pub Song Of The Day is Red Is The Rose on frailing / clawhammer banjo.

Red Is The Rose MP3

Red Is The Rose(PDF)

Red Is The Rose

Come [G]over the [Em]hills, my [Am]bonny Irish [C]lass

Come [G]over the [Em]hills to your [G]dar[D7]ling;

[C]You choose the [G]rose, love, and I’ll [Am]make the [C]vow

And [G]I’ll be your [C]true [G]love for[D7]ev[G]er.

Red is the rose that in yonder garden grows,
And fair is the lily of the valley;
Clear is the water that flows from the Boyne
But my love is fairer than any.

‘Twas down by Killarney’s green woods that we strayed
And the moon and the stars they were shining;
The moon shone its rays on her locks of golden hair
And she swore she’d be my love forever.

It’s not for the parting tht my sister pains
It’s not for the grief of my mother,
“Tis all for the loss of my bonny Irish lass
That my heart is breaking forever.

I decided to do a two for one on this week’s Folk Song Of The Week. I had a lot of requests for a clawhammer or frailing version of The Ballad of Jed Clampett and more for revisiting Somewhere Over The Rainbow so I combined the two. I hope you enjoy!

I had a lot of requests for this song, so I did it in the keys of G, C and D. So here is Dirty Old Town on frailing / clawhammer banjo.

This time around the Folk Song Of The Week is This Land Is Your Land. It’s a great song and a lot of fun to sing. This is one of those songs that everyone loves to sing along to. Try it out and don’t be afraid to belt it out.

This Land Is Your Land MP3

This Land Is Your Land (PDF)

This Land is Your Land

[G]This land is [C]your land, this land is [G]my land,

From Calif[D7]ornia to the New York [G]Island,

From the Redwood F[C]orests to the Gulf Stream wa[G]ters;

[D7]This land was made for you and [G]me.

As I was walking that ribbon of highway,
I looked above me, there in the skyway,
I saw below me, the Golden Valley;
This land was made for you and me.

I roamed and rambled, and followed my footsteps
Through the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts,
And all around me this voice kept sounding,
“This land was made for you and me.”

As the Sun was shining, and I was strolling
Through the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling,
I could feel inside me and see all around me,
This land was made for you and me.