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B-Sides: Child ballads provide refreshing stories among sea of repetitive music

By Andrew Bain

April 29, 2013 12:00 a.m.

There’s something about old stories that manage to hold our interest long past their telling. I noticed this in Ireland when I studied abroad in the fall: The past and its tales are revered and treasured as part of Ireland’s national history. America doesn’t necessarily have the same long-standing history (a country can’t have 17th-century folk tales if it wasn’t around till the late 18th).

But the Child ballads have been adopted by musicians in the United States, as NPR reports in a recent story. Collected by Harvard professor and folklorist Francis James Child, these stories are Scottish and English folk songs from the 17th and 18th centuries, and even from earlier times. Through the years, they’ve been attracting various folk and rock musicians as well. For example, Simon and Garfunkel’s song “Scarborough Fair” is based on a Child ballad called “The Elfin Knight” from the 1670s. Their content has been relevant for hundreds of years, something you can’t say for many pop songs.

And now, a pair of American singer-songwriters named Anais Mitchell and Jefferson Hamer are modernizing and reviving these tales. The pair has recently released an album of musical variations of Child ballads, and it’s excellent. The duo plays a subtle and delicate variety of folk (no bluegrass here), which fits perfectly with the timeless aesthetic of the songs themselves.

All I can say is, phew, because the music world needs a break from the newest songs by Taylor Swift, Ke$ha, Lady Gaga and *insert other pop star here.*

Songs are best when they tell some sort of story, or at least have something meaningful to say. These two qualities can often be found in concept albums, though to say the album of Child ballads is a concept album may be a little bit of a stretch.

In any case, when it comes to narrative, these ballads far outdistance those of today’s pop stars. “Tam Lin,” for example, is a variant of a Child ballad in which a young maiden has to hold onto her shape-shifting lover until he becomes human. Interesting story, right?

Of course, you could always listen to a song about lending someone an “umbrella-ella-ella,” or listen to the umpteenth breakup song about someone who was “trouble, trouble, trouble” (which, face it, you knew when they walked in). But please don’t, you’d be doing yourself a disservice.

The music world needs more albums like this, that take the lifestyles of the past and modernize it for the present. These Child ballads are a perfect example. Another great example is “Diamond Mine,” a concept album by King Creosote and Jon Hopkins. The pair wrote the album to reflect life in an old Scottish town, and both the narrative and sense of history in the album is tangible, as well as wonderful to listen to.

I know there’s a time and a place for Top 40 music. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes it’s perfectly fine to be in the mood to hear the latest pop hit. Those songs are catchy, that’s the point.

I know you can’t really dance to Child ballad songs. But when you have this depth and quality of music, lyricism and storytelling right at your fingertips, why not just take a deep breath and listen?

What folk tale would you like to hear in the form of a song? Email Bain at [email protected] to let him know. “B-Sides” runs every Monday.

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Andrew Bain
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