Ranald and Iain
Jun. 26th, 2011 05:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
daibhidcThe Ranald and Iain Midsummer Gig yesterday.
They said in their annoucement that they'd be trying some new songs. Mum hoped they might be a bit more cheerful than their standards. This hope was dashed when Ranald announced that he was in competition with one of the audience members to find the world's most depressing song, and thought he'd achieved it. So "Sam Stone" was swapped out this year for "Jimmy Clay" -- same war but even sadder.
At the start of the second half Iain announced "If the songs so far have made you depressed, prepare to cut your throat. Knives will be provided by the hotel staff."
They said they were going to do a more cheery one next ... it turned out to be "Mr Bojangles". Yep, the song about Jerry Jeff Walker meeting a homeless man in the drunk tank, who's still in mourning for his dog. I suppose it's all relative.
The new songs meant they didn't do "And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" this year, Eric Bogle instead being represented by "One Morning In Bar Harbor", his 9/11 song. See what I mean? Swap out a beautiful but tragic song for an equally beautiful and even more tragic one.
They ended, as ever, with the genuinely rousing "Going Home". So they can do "not depressing" if they want to...
(And as I think I've mentioned before, the nature of the songs gets counterbalanced by the banter. The audience consists almost entirely of former Inverness Folk Club members, and Ranald and Iain know them all personally, so the friendly digs fly back and forth. This is why Mum always insists we sit at the back...)
They said in their annoucement that they'd be trying some new songs. Mum hoped they might be a bit more cheerful than their standards. This hope was dashed when Ranald announced that he was in competition with one of the audience members to find the world's most depressing song, and thought he'd achieved it. So "Sam Stone" was swapped out this year for "Jimmy Clay" -- same war but even sadder.
At the start of the second half Iain announced "If the songs so far have made you depressed, prepare to cut your throat. Knives will be provided by the hotel staff."
They said they were going to do a more cheery one next ... it turned out to be "Mr Bojangles". Yep, the song about Jerry Jeff Walker meeting a homeless man in the drunk tank, who's still in mourning for his dog. I suppose it's all relative.
The new songs meant they didn't do "And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" this year, Eric Bogle instead being represented by "One Morning In Bar Harbor", his 9/11 song. See what I mean? Swap out a beautiful but tragic song for an equally beautiful and even more tragic one.
They ended, as ever, with the genuinely rousing "Going Home". So they can do "not depressing" if they want to...
(And as I think I've mentioned before, the nature of the songs gets counterbalanced by the banter. The audience consists almost entirely of former Inverness Folk Club members, and Ranald and Iain know them all personally, so the friendly digs fly back and forth. This is why Mum always insists we sit at the back...)
