Kate McGarrigle: The Work Song

You can't really separate the McGarrigles (Kate and Anna) from each other. I'm as big a fan of Anna as I am of Kate. But this being Wimyn's Week at the SongMine, I had to feature one woman singer-songwriter whose work consistently bubbles up in my mind as being extra challenging, extra honest, extra tuneful, extra crafty and deserving of being placed in the list of greats that has gone before on this site.  And Kate McGarrigle kept bubbling up.  (She's the one on the left in the pic).

And this was the song that kept bubbling--The Work Song.  Try as I might I couldn't find a version sung by Kate or the McGarrigles. (if anyone has one and wants to send me an mp3 I'll be glad to upload it.).So here's Maria Muldaur performing it on her wonderful eponymous 1973 album--the one that introduced a lot of folks to songs by Dolly Parton, Wendy Waldman, Dan Hicks, David Nichtern and many other great writers. (Remember when performers like Judy Collins and Tom Rush did that? We need more of that today.) Enjoy, and then we'll talk some more...

© Kate McGarrigle

Back before the blues were blue 
When the good ol' songs were new 
Songs that may no longer please us 
'Bout the darkies, about Jesus 
Mississippi minstrels color of molasses 
Strummed their banjos to entertain their massas 
Some said garbage, others cried art 
You couldn't call it soul, you had to call it heart 

Backs broke bending digging holes to plant the seeds 
The owners ate the cane and the workers ate the weeds 
Put the wood in the stove, the water in the cup 
You worked so hard that you died standing up 

When I was a little thing 
Papa tried to make me sing 
Home Sweet Home and Aura Lee 
These were songs that my daddy tought me 
Camptown Races and Susannah Don't You Cry 
Gentle Annie still brings a tear to my eye 
Label it garbage, label it art 
You couldn't call it soul, you had to call it heart 

Backs broke bending digging holes to plant the seeds 
The owners ate the cane and the workers ate the weeds 
Put the wood in the stove, the water in the cup 
You worked so hard that you died standing up 

Sing me songs of days gone by 
Make me laugh, make me cry 
Break my female heart in two 
Sing me songs that say "I love you" 
Lower your eyes, raise your hand to your breast 
Sing me one about the sun setting in the west 

Backs broke bending digging holes to plant the seeds 
The owners ate the cane and the workers ate the weeds 
Put the wood in the stove, the water in the cup 
You worked so hard that you died standing up 

Back before the blues were blue... What a wonderful opening line! This song speaks to so many of the themes of the SongMine that I had to include it. The importance of songs themselves, first of all. (See "Songs Are", posted in the SongMine's first week, for my own credo on the subject.) The honesty about our ugly racist heritage, which has been a theme in the work of many of the writers covered here so far. Songs that may no longer please us, bout the darkies about Jesus.  It speaks to the injustice of the gap between rich and poor.The owners ate the cane and the workers ate the weeds. Isn't that the same entitlement the bankers on Wall Street are living by now?  And of course, it talks about hard work.  It's a different type of work from working in the SongMine.  This is the type of work that wears you down and kills you. You worked so hard that you died standing up.  But hard work being the secret to song mastery comes up again and again in the interviews with the writers.

"Kiss and Say Goodbye" is from the McGarrigles first album and it's a cheeky look at a certain cavalier attitude toward adult casual sex. Kate is looking forward to a big one-day romp with a lover who apparently has other entanglements.  So she knows full well this is not a forever type of love.  But she's revelling in it.  I can't think of another song that expresses these sentiments.  Plus, it's so darn catchy!...

© Kate McGarrigle

Call me when you're coming to town 
Just as soon as your plane puts down 
Call me on the telephone 
But only if you're travelling alone 
Counting down the hours 
Through the sunshine and the showers 
Today's the day 
You're finally going to come my way 

Let's make a date to see a movie 
Some foreign film from gay Paris 
I know you like to think you've got taste 
So I'll let you choose the time and place 
Have some dinner for two 
In some eastside rendezvous 
Then we'll walk 
Arm in arm around the block and talk 

Tonight you're mine 
Let's not waste time 

I do believe the die is cast 
Let's try and make the night-time last 
And I don't know where it's coming from 
But I want to kiss you till my mouth get numb 
I want to make love to you 
Till the day comes breaking through 
And when the sun is high in the sky 
We'll kiss and say goodbye